SofiandNatalie.com

It seems like just yesterday that I was standing in the maternity ward waiting (and stressing) about the birth of our first child.  We didn’t even know what sex she would be, let alone how much work and joy that she would bring to our lives.  Five years later and the only thing I want is more time to spend with my children so that I can enjoy each and every moment of their lives.

Celebrating birthdays -- milestones -- are little reminders of our successes and of the life that we have created.  In these words I hope that you will see my pride and realize the happiness and joy that both my children have brought to my life, and know that for every milestone we achieve I learn more and more the value that these lives bring to mine.

Happy Birthday, Sofi.  We love you.

Papa

It has already been a few weeks since I last posted, but not for lack of want or content.  With the beautiful weather, we’ve all just been out enjoying the “winter.”  I did want to share, though, so that everyone could see, some of the video that we took on a recent trip to Moss Landing, just south of Watsonville.  The weather was awesome -- especially so for the end of January -- and we spent a few hours around the beach enjoying the sun, sand, water, and local wildlife.

The videos below will show off some of what we saw there, with the main attractions being the beautiful (and very friendly looking) sea otters who were both enjoying the sunshine and getting a little lunch to pass their day.

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I was totally joking earlier today when Isuggested on Facebook that global-warming might not be such a bad thing, but it’s truly difficult to imagine that a 73 degree day in January could be all that bad.  Of course, that was at 4:00 in the afternoon on the beach in Santa Cruz, so I imagine earlier in the day could have been nicer.  It almost shattered my happiness to hear that this is the first day in the past eight that hasn’t created a new record high temperature in the Bay Area.  I hear that some areas of the country are seeing snow.

So what did we do today… after a brief visit to urgent care to see the doctor for Sofi’s mystery rash, we went to enjoy a walk through Mountain View before heading off to the beach.  Both parts were wonderful, but it’s amazing to realize how beautiful the weather has been these past few days.  There were hundreds of people at the beach and it looks like -- with the holiday -- it’s going to be a great night down there, too.  After an hour or so at the beach we picked up Babi and headed home.

I took another video and even asked the girls to tell Audrey how much they wish that she could be there, too.  I figured since she was enjoying the last round of videos so much it might be nice to be mentioned on their site, too!  Hope you enjoy it Audrey (and everyone else, too)!

Papa

I’ll have some photos coming up to the site sometime really soon, but I wanted to share with everyone that we have actually completed the unwrapping (not too out of control this year) and right now Mama, Sofi and Natalie are all playing with the new Cinderella game (complete with battery powered musical, lighted shoe) trying to understand that not everyone can win every time.

In the meantime and especially for those waiting for pictures, I’m attaching another short video clip to share some of the unwrapping.

Papa

Christmas is off to a rip-roaring start this year and the girls are as excited as can be.  So far they have found the bicycles that Santa left and cleaned out their stockings.  The first gift, from Grammy and Grampy has caused quite a stir.  They each got a barbie doll that includes a golden retriever.  The excitement from this comes from the fact that you can actually feed the dog.  Parent’s will get a chuckle from the fact that this dog also “poops” the biscuits and barbie comes with all the appropriate attachments for cleaning up the poopie.  Brief video attached for those that really must know.

Papa

This past week was a blast -- going by way too quickly.  I can’t believe that there are only 5 more days until Christmas!  This past week we went to see the lights and fun at Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose (pictures coming in a later post).  Mike, Lisa and Audrey joined us to enjoy this annual fun-fest.  Best of all, this year we got to see Santa!!  Check out the video for an idea of how much fun we had.

Papa

Lisa C Being a Great Sport with PJ's on Her Head!

It’s been a long time since Mama and I have had a party that didn’t include a princess related theme, more children than adults or a jumper, and I realized this morning (after yesterday’s party) that’s it been way too long.  Needless to say, we did a friendly potluck yesterday (with more adults than children) and it was awesome.  Thank you so much for everyone that joined in.  The food was fantastic, the weather was amazing (especially for November), the wine was divine, and the company cannot be matched.  Thank you to everyone that joined in, we appreciate it more than you know.

Of course, no good party would be great without some stories, a few pictures and maybe a video or two.  Fortunately for all, we got a few of each.  Don’t worry, nothing too embarrassing for anyone.

Many of our friends that came to this party were co-workers of Gina and their spouses and children.  It’s nice to see that most of the teachers have geeky husbands, and that similarity seemed to give everyone something to talk about.  John Ironmonger was in town for his daughter’s basketball game (University of Oregon vs. San Jose State) and was able to make it by for a snack and catch-up.  I’ve missed seeing John every day, and am very happy to know that he’s doing well, enjoying life and very, very happily married to his sweetie.  Carolyn and Carl are (finally) engaged, which added some additional celebration, and there was plenty of good food – for the meaties and the vegies – to go around.  Everyone brought along a bottle or two of wine and I think we consumed all but one.  That made for a very light afternoon, and at 6:00PM we were still sitting outside enjoy a 71 degree evening in November!

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Generally speaking, I don’t like posting items out of order, and I still have a ton of stuff leftover to share from Halloween.  That will come, I promise, but I had to share today’s trip to the beach and thought I’d drop in a quick little video to show you how great it was.  More pictures, more story, click more…

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Being honest, the reason that I post is as much to share what the girls are doing as it is to have a place that I can go to during the day to see their little smiling faces.  Now that video is becoming so easy to get and attach to the web I thought I’d give myself -- and you -- a video of Sofi and Natalie playing after this past weekend’s Boo at the Zoo.  I know, I know, it’s relatively boring, but they were having so much fun on the rides that I had to take a few and record their laughter.  Hope you enjoy!

Papa

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Note: this video is somewhat large and depending on your internet connection may take a few minutes to load. 

Some of the best trips that we’ve had as a family are to places that don’t cost a lot of money and don’t add too much other than a place for the children to have fun.  The Coyote Point Recreation Area, just outside of Burlingame, is one of those places.  I’m not sure how they started, but what it really ends up being is a combination golf course, picnic ground, beach (the San Francisco bay), playground, marina, and museum.  I’m sure there’s more there, too, but that’s what I saw during our day there and our travels.

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