4 posts tagged “kirsten”

Well, I have just returned from a nice visit to Fresno to visit with the Medhurst family. Maggie and I drove down for the day, and I made sure that I had my camera to take lots of photos.

Ella was her regular charmingly adorable self. She was very huggy and was extremely excited by the new batch of shoes that Maggie brought her.

Then Barrett woke up and shared with us all of his different expressions. He was quiet as a mouse, and the only time I heard him make any noise was when he was eating. Cracked me up. He is adorable.

Ella seemed to be okay with the whole idea of having a little brother. She really was sweet to him. And there were no tantrums and no fussiness. Nothing. K. has got the whole routine down to a fine art!
      Here are a few more photos of the happy parents and their children

Last weekend we went to Montecito Lodge in the Sierra Nevadas. It is about 5 hours away, right in the middle of the huge Sequoia redwoods.

Amazing, right? You can't even get a scale of just how freakin' gigantic this tree is. It is very very very BIG. And we were about the only people in the midst of this woodland wonderland. Sequoia Kings Canyon is just amazing. It looks out over the same heart stopping view as Yosemite But this place is nowhere near as crowded as Yosemite. And for that reason, I love it even more. Plus, this lodge where we stayed was just fabulous. It was cozy with two great big fireplaces. And games and books in a lending library. There were activities planned everyday. Lessons and artclasses and nature hikes for kids. Plus night activities like dances and movies and BINGO ( I love Bingo). And we could check out all kinds of snow gear all day long, for just $5 -- TOTAL!! A day. In one day we checked out tube sleds, snowshoes, crosscountry skis and a pull along dogsled type sled. Such a wonderful deal! The low price made it less annoying when Maggie FREAKED OUT about the snow shoes and screamed her head off when we suggested that they might help her to walk in the five foot deep snow.

"No! Oh my god, spawn of satan snowshoes! No!"  All of the screaming and crying bouncing off the snowbanks and echoing up into the cloudless blue sky.  Ummm. Okay....How about Daddy pulls you in this super cool sled?

"akkkkkk! No, never! I will never go in the sled! No never! Don't try and make me or I will lie down in the snow and tantrum until  complete strangers walk by and make tsk tsk noises!"

Well, so, Maggie walked. And that was fine. Because in the end, Ella used the sled. Plus it was just $5, oh, and also, we had bundled Maggie up pretty good, using the good old ghetto technique of waterproofing : plastic bags tied on with rubber bands. yeah baby.

The bags worked pretty well. And so she was able to frolic in the snow and build snowmen (we built three separate ones over the three day weekend.)
And she played with Ella and Cockeye. (Nigel couldn't come because he had to work unexpectedly on his thesis and he was sorely missed) But the girls had a really good time. Ella was adorable all bundled up in her cozy coat. And we all enjoyed the fact that none of us had to cook any of the meals. And there was hot chocolate on tap at all hours of the night and day. (Heaven -- that is pure heaven!) Really, it was the perfect vacation. We plan to go again next year. Especially since Maggie will be 5 then, and old enough for all of the kids activities. (let the counselors deal with her irrational fear of snowshoes and cozy sleds...Kevin and I will be off cross country skiing!)
 
We had a great time catching up with Kirsten, and Kevin and I both read novels each night before bed (cell phones and internet were not an option -- so freeing!) But I think that the best part for me was watching Kevin and Maggie enjoy each other's company. Those two are quite a pair.
 

Happy Birthday, to my dear dear friend, Miss K. Miss Fresnog, Miss Cockeye (Maggie's name for her). What a wonderful thing for all of us that you came into this world 38 years ago today. I love you.

Princess Curls would like to sing you some opera to further celebrate your day. (you may want to go get some earplugs before playing it...)

I believe that that says it all! Ahem. Have a terrific day.

I turned 37 last weekend and it was a WONDERFUL weekend. First of all, I didn't cook on Friday, Saturday OR Sunday. Wheeeee! A blessed break. I love it. On Friday, my new friend D. invited us all over for dinner at her house. While Kevin and I lounged around eating a delicious meal (she is a terrific cook), drinking margaritas, eating cake and having delightful conversation with D. and her husband, Maggie played with with their two children. It was a very relaxing way to begin the weekend.

Then on Saturday I just sort of lazed around, napped, talked to friends who called for my birthday, and basically just enjoyed myself and prepared for the fancy dancy romantic dinner Kevin had planned. The babysitter came, and we were out of there like a shot. When we got to Palo Alto, Kevin started acting mysterious, and leading me to a restaurant where we hadn't made reservations ...When we walked in -- SURPRISE!!! There were Aaron (from all the way up in the city), Kirsten (all the way from Fresno -- with Ella -- yay!) and the biggest surprise, my friend Helen, who was there from San Diego. Oh. I was so surprised. And pleased. All of my favorite (California) people together in one room. Fabulous. We ate Burmese food.

And Kevin had ordered a cake from Whole Foods (well done, Kevin!)

And then we all went home to our house in Fremont and played my favorite game in the whole entire world -- the Name Game. I love love love that game. And so I had my friends, a dinner out, a delicious chocolatey cake and the name game -- all on my birthday. It was the best day ever.

And the weekend still was only half over! Helen and Kirsten and Ella all spent the night, and we got to play together in the morning.

Then we took Helen to the airport and the rest of us went up to the city to take part in a Scavenger Hunt in Golden Gate Park that was sponsored by the greatest free tour guide group in the world -- City Guides. It was really hard. I gotta say. And with two small children, well, we were definitely, um, handicapped... But we did a good job, it was a gorgeous day in the city, I was with all of the people I love, and so I was happy. I am 37 years old. And this is the start of another year of my life. Lucky me.