#31 Happy New Year!

We spent our final day of 2013 hanging out in the city, having fun, shopping, lunching, people watching...!  We love showing the kids our old stomping grounds and finding new places to explore together.  We toasted Good Riddance to 2013 with delicious margaritas at a place called Colibri, phenomenal Mexican food a few blocks from Union Square.  The kids loved the huge Christmas tree and watching the ice skaters on the square.

Tonight we had a pajama party and let the kids stay up til 9 (!!!) to watch the ball drop.  Even though they didn't even show the ball drop on TV. Whoops.  But we had fun. We played a game of candy memory waiting for midnight (9pm) and ate raspberries with our sparkly party crowns on.  I sure do love my sweet girl + boy.

And their dad.. 

Happy 2014!  May it be even better than 2013.  We are making a long list of dreams, goals, hopes & desires for 2014 and have nothing but the best expectations for a solid year ahead.  

December Daily #30

Our day started out like this...

...Cleaning out the Playroom!!!  We did a major overhaul to purge & make room for new stuff.  It was a big job.

So then we rewarded ourselves with this...

...A little boogie over to the breathtaking Marin Headlands.  

What a beautiful spot in the world we live in. We packed a picnic lunch and went down to the beach to eat & chase waves.    The kids also loved driving through Fort Cronkhite and seeing the barracks and military posts that have been preserved.  Lucca made the correlation between soldiers who served long ago & the old army men she saw in the 4th of July parade, realizing who those guys were that got to ride on the floats. Pretty special to talk about with her. 

It was a beautiful day, and tomorrow?  Take down the Christmas tree!

December Daily #29

Christmas morning Round 2

A happy little shrinky dinker

And the most useful/thoughtful/comical gift from my father-in-law, due to my minor cooking mishap earlier this month that landed me in the ER.

Twas a good Christmas this year!!!  

December Daily #27

Today was spent celebrating Grammie & Pops 38th wedding anniversary.  We headed to their favorite winery in Amador County for a tasting and fabulous picnic on a gorgeous 65 degree December day.  Not quite the same setting as the actual day of their wedding in freezing, snowy South Dakota.

Thanks Mom & Dad for continuing to show us a great example of love & commitment after all these years.  We are  thankful.

December Daily #25 ... CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Day 2013 in iPhone pics

It was a good day.

December Daily #22

We loved having the Swishers at our house the past few days!   We are not so secretly trying to lure them to move to California someday. Thankfully our December weather is cooperating with our mission. Today was a gorgeous day for a little nearby hiking...

And balance beam walking...

And dancing...

And playing...

And tonight we moved the party to Grammie & Pops house where the real Christmas magic will happen.  

Only three more days!  

December Daily #21

These guys are loving every minute spent together!   I always wished I had close cousins growing up & this just makes me really, really happy.   

Tahoe has my heart.

We went on a spontaneous trip to Tahoe this past weekend and loved every minute of this little family adventure.  The weather was GORGEOUS, even though Lucca was hoping for snow the entire time and wouldn't take off her beanie.  We swam at the (heated) hotel pool, ate at our favorite spots, walked down memory lane and showed the kids where we got married, and even took a walk on the Rainbow Trail at Taylor Creek to watch the salmon spawn.   Educational trip!  Parent points!

Staying in a hotel was the kids favorite part.  Being in the fresh mountain air was mine.

 

Taylor Creek

Coco looking adorable and loving nature

The spawning salmon.  Unbelievable!  

They come back to Taylor Creek (where they were born) to lay their eggs and die.  Then the young salmon swim out to Lake Tahoe in spring, return to Taylor Creek in the fall and repeat the cycle.   Watching them do their thing up close and personal was a-mazing.  

(and Jackson only threw one rock at them, so that was a win?)

 

On our way back down the mountain, we met up with Grammie & Pops at Apple Hill to eat some apple donuts and drink fresh apple cider.   And to give Lucca the chance to ask Daddy for her very own horse someday...

I'm already ready to go back!  Having kids of good traveling ages is a dream we've been waiting for.  We are having fun imagining all the places we want to take our little adventurers.  They loved being away, seeing new sights and exploring.  And now that they can be well-behaved at nice restaurants, sleep in strange beds, and entertain themselves for hours in the car, we will be doing many more weekend trips.  I'm so excited!