Re: January parties, at home...

We had a fun weekend late Jan. with cousins Brooke, Dahrius, Ranier, Nikki, and Bella. The celebration was Ahrash's aunt Mona's (grandmother of the above girls) 70th birthday. The kids all had a great time together, and especially loved the silly hats and the kids table.

Ranier just after a haircut. He used to say (in response to "how big is Ranier?") ...so big, now he say's "so cute!" followed be squeals of terribly cute laughter.


Maman stopped by one evening for a few stories with the boys.

The kids again in their party hats. They practically WERE the party, at least they were where the action was.

Watching the much-anticipated cake cutting.

Mona (guest of honor) above little Nikki and the cake.

The next morning the kids rode around in the various kid-centric cars, scooters, toys, and the favorite kid-sized gator...which Dahrius got to drive and couldn't stop talking about.


Back at home, Ahrash dug through boxes of old things and found the game "SORRY!", which Dahrius (and Ranier, in his own way) had fun playing.

Dahrius at yet another birthday party. Fun times on the giant slide!! Apparently, it was mostly all boys and dads, and everyone ran around and played on these things. I'm not sure who had more fun, Ahrash or Dahrius...

Here's Ranier reading one of his books...stay and watch till the end.

Re: another Dahrius-ism

We spent a fun weekend last week visiting Ahrash's cousin at their property east of Sacramento. There were goats, chickens, and a lot of toys and fun rocks to climb. Dahrius had a lot of fun running around with his twin cousins, Brooke and Isabella ('Bella) who are also almost 5 and little Nikki (2.5). The highlight for Dahrius was driving the kid-sized gator they have. After climbing some large boulders in their front yard, Dahrius jumped down and said, "That was magnificent!" More photos soon...

Re: Dahrius-isms

Dahrius says the most sophisticated things sometimes...at least for a 4-yr old.

A few days ago, I was putting away salt and pepper shakers and knocked over the baby monitor. Dahrius had been singing loudly or making some kind of noises, and when the monitor fell to the ground, he said, "did I startle you, mommy?"

I was blowing out the pair of candles from dinner as I cleaned up, and I was being a bit silly by humming, "happy birthday to me...." while blowing, and Dahrius exclaimed, "Wait! You're not TWO!"

Dahrius and I were talking about dinosaurs, and as he recalled seeing a giant T-Rex skeleton at the museum, he said, "Yeah, that was terrifying."

Ranier mostly likes to say, "OK" in response to things. Ranier, do you want some leche? "OK" Ranier let's change your diaper. "OK" It's really the way he says it that is so cute.

Re: work and play

We've had a moderately crazy January...filled with a lot of anxiety over figuring out Kindergarten for Dahrius and preschool for Ranier. We have spent a substantial amount of time at school tours, information nights, only to discover that we have almost no 'say' in where the kids end up. So we'll hope for the best and look forward to not having to deal with this again for awhile. The 3 "boys" spent New Years Day hiking and fell asleep on the car ride home (above).

We've had exceptionally warm and pleasant January weather, with weeks in the upper 60s and even 70s. We really need the rain, but we are certainly enjoying this springlike weather. We take many trips to parks, and Ranier very much enjoys kicking balls and going down slides. Dahrius prefers the more adventurous slides and is now adept at monkeybars.

We answered Obama's call to service in honor of MLK, Jr this weekend, and went to nearby Albany Hill with the boys to help restore native vegetation. It was very steep, so we ended up mostly picking up trash in flat areas. It was great to be part of helping out the community, and many friendly dog-walkers were grateful for our commitment to help out. We are hopeful this will incite action and community involvement throughout the nation. YAY Obama, we are SO ready for "the end of an error" and for something more positive.
Yesterday, Dahrius went to his friend Nicolas' (in red) birthday party at a gymnastics place. The kids all had great fun running, jumping, tumbling, and somersaulting all around the place. But we were thinking that the kids should really eat cake FIRST at the party, and THEN run all that sugar off.

Re: Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! We had a busy, but fun holiday, with our very first Christmas at home. FUN! On Christmas Eve, cousins Chloe and Walker helped us bake Christmas cookies.



The kids definitely had too much sugar that day...

On Christmas morning, Ranier enjoyed some of his new toys (above), and also trying on mommy's new slippers (below).




Later in the day, we went to the Bissells for a tasty duck dinner.


Ranier with Baba.

...and more presents.


On the 27th, we party-hopped with the extended Bissell family (below) for appetizers, dinner, then dessert. All the little cousins (7 total) had great fun running loose in new places and playing together. On to a VERY mellow New Year's. Perhaps a movie after the kids are in bed? Such a luxury!!



Ranier is quite fond of "globos" (balloons), and has a new one to play with here:

Re: preparing for the holidays!

Just a couple of weeks ago, we went out and chose our very first Christmas tree ever!!!! We got this nice pine tree, which certainly smells nice. The boys had great fun helping to decorate the tree, although I should say that Ranier mostly helped UNdecorate the tree. As of now, the entire lower half of the tree is bare because Ranier just cannot help himself (pulling off and breaking ornaments). He's getting quite the reach!! We call him mr. trouble.


Here are the boys helping daddy pack for one of his trips. Ranier thought he might come along in the suitcase.


Nana sent a WONDERFUL package with homemade stockings for the boys, ornaments from her collection, books for Dahrius, and BEST OF ALL...a box for Ranier to play in!!!! He's had great fun with it. We are definitely re-using this box.

It's nice to see the boys beginning to play together. It's a HUGE help when they can play for 30 min. or so while I prepare dinner, rather than both whine and hang on my legs.

Here's one of their silly moments:

Re: huckamungas and gugs

Here are the boys playing at home. Ranier is hiding...
Dahrius smiles.
Ranier is quite obsessed with zapatos, esp. daddy's big ones.

Here's Dahrius trying on daddy's shoe...then Ranier. HAZARDOUS WALKING!!


On the day before Thanksgiving, we went for a hike in the rain at Inverness. S0rry, no photos of the trip. We all had a good time exploring outside, and we found a couple of king bolete mushrooms, which we had for Thanksgiving as an appetizer. Also, we found some very late huckleberries to snack on, and the kids were quite pleased. Ranier begged for "mas huckamungas" (translation: more huckleberries).

Then, the day after Thanksgiving we took a hike in very thick fog to the Sibley Volcanic Area nearby. We were sure there were some views, but we couldn't see further than about 20 feet through the impressively thick fog. It was quite fun...and lent a bit of mystery to the hike.



Here's Dahrius having a snack, resting on volcanic basalt rock.

Ranier had a bit of a cold, and when he was nearly falling asleep in the backpack, we took him out to walk...which he enjoyed quite a lot, esp. when holding Dahrius and mommy's hands.

We also saw a couple of banana slugs on our walk, and Dahrius was quite entranced. Apparently, Ranier was, as well, and said "adios gug" as we left it. This video below shows Ranier asking for Dahrius' HAND and saying ADIOS GUG....