Sofi and Natalie.com

Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get to writing about the holiday, but two children playing and carrying on can be an enormous drain and unfortunately we’ve also had a cold going around the family so everyone has been dragging a little bit.  Don’t worry, though, for those of you that are still reading, I will catch up and it’s going to keep getting better and better from here.

Christmas was a whirlwind and it started out with a fun Christmas Eve day.  We raked up some of the leaves in the back yard - I think they’re mocking me, because many are back.  Both girls got into the fun helping us do the work (raking) and playing in the leaves that we piled up.  Of course, in the midst of all that they were little princesses, too.

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After visiting Natural Bridges State Park we went a few miles North on Highway 1 to Wilder Ranch.  None of us had been before, and frankly if it hadn’t been recommended by the guide at Natural Bridges we probably wouldn’t have even tried to go.  Fortunately for us, we did, and this brief trip off the beaten path was well worth the visit - on this day more than most.

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Whew!  What a weekend.  The girls went all out this weekend and, I believe, had a wonderful time.  We spent most of the day Saturday in the beach communities of Watsonville and Santa Cruz.  We started at Gayle’s Bakery (for a Santa cookie) and then inched our way to Babi’s house before starting out tripto Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz and Wilder Ranch just North of there in Sea Bright.  Both of which I highly recommend.

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Santa Clara’s First Baptist Church put on their annual journey to the Biblical city of Bethlehem this year from December 6 - December 10, 2007, and we were lucky enough to attend this week.  (info)  Most of you know already that I’m not an overly religious person, and I was extremely reluctant to take the kids down to this thing thinking that it would be some hokey display of religion.  Fortunately, I made the effort, because the quality of this event was beyond anything that I could have imagined.  They’ve decorated over 40,000 square feet with actual-size buildings and bridges and plan on over 5,000 visitors each night between 6:30 and 9:00PM. 

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This past Sunday we made a trip over to Cupertino to walk at one of the parks near to the resevoir.  I’m sure that it has a name, but for the life of me I can’t remember.  I do remember, however, that it’s very near to Deep Cliff Golf Course.  The girls really seemed to enjoy walking around the park and we even got to stop into the 4H gardens and goat farm to view the late harvest and goats.  Both of the girls had a lot of fun petting, calling out to, and feeding the goats.  I think the goats had a good time, too.

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I would guess at one point in time we’ve all had a dream so real that we wake up wondering if it was real.  Until now, I had never thought about that from a child’s perspective.  Sofi apparently had a dream that involved a pink puppy that she saw/left/remembered underneath a magazine.  We couldn’t figure out what she was talking about - she doesn’t have a pink puppy - and she was adamant about it to the point of tears.  When she is brought to tears, so are we, but how do you explain a dream to a three year old?

We calmed her a bit with a picture of a puppy on the internet (and one for Natalie), but I wonder what we’ll end up doing next time.

Papa

There is really something wonderful about fall, and even though we don’t have the more traditional “seasons” out here in California, we do have leaves that fall out of trees, and what a world of fun those leaves can be.  Natalie was sleeping and Sofi wanted to spend some time outside, so we broke out the leaf-blower to clean up the yard.  For someone that normally abhors loud noises, Sofi had a wonderful time playing, laughing, and running about.  You can see in some of these pictures that we were blowing the leaves in her direction and at other times she was throwing them back.  Sure, it added to the work, but that’s okay.

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I imagine that the first day of school - any school - qualifies as something of a right of passage.  It symbolizes that you’re maturing and getting ready to endure everything that life has to offer.  What nobody ever talks about is how traumatic it can be - for the parents.  That’s right, I can hardly believe that my daughter is off to preschool, starting this week, and complete with her backpack, lunchbox and a whole lot of enthusiasm Sofi headed off to “Mama’s School” to start her education.

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The worst part about having to go to work every morning during the week is the knowledge that my children are going to be adorable during the day and I am going to miss some of it.  Fortunately, there are pictures to remind me that they are adorable and to show me what they’ve done during the day.  This week they went to Sears and had their holiday photos taken.  They’ve left me smiling and in near tears.  I’ve come to realize that they are adorable and growing up SO quickly.

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I am always thankful that we live so close to downtown Campbell, because they have managed to keep the small-town heart while existing right in the middle of the Silicon Valley.  This weekend they had their annual downtown festival that included Santa, snow and a winter wonderland for the children.  It was extra special for us, because we were joined by Kitai (the now world-famous pooch and television personality), from http://www.cutestdogever.com/and his ”manager,” newlywed Stacie Tamaki .

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