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February 28, 2005
Visitors!
I've added a new link under "Sophie's Favorites" that takes you directly to some pictures of the visitors we've had over the recent years, along with some helpful hints for future trips. Thanks to all our visitors over the years we've built up a fairly extensive itinerary of local sights to see. Here are just a few, we're delighted to recommend advanced tours to repeat visitors.
Local Sights
Nearby, there's antiquing and shopping in Petaluma and Point Reyes Station, visiting Napa or Sonoma Valley wineries, canoeing on the Russian River, and a host of San Francisco sights to explore like the Marin Headlands' view of the Golden Gate; the Exploratorium and Palace of Fine Arts; Golden Gate Park's Tea Garden (go early to avoid crowds and enjoy the quiet); Yerba Buena's Museum of Modern Art, Metreon and the best restaurant in the world, Hawthorne Lane; the Castro; Twin Peaks' view of the city; Haight Ashbury; Ghirardelli Square and Alcatraz (make reservations in advance, they sell out year-round) and North Beach's delis, bars and restaurants. Further east is the Berkeley campus and some of the nicest Craftsman-style homes in the area, shopping on Fourth Street and further out the Jelly Belly factory.
Day Trips
Some great day trips from our area include Monterey/17-Mile-Drive/Carmel, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Each is about 3-4 hours drive from our house and pretty unique. If you're staying overnight near Yosemite we recommend the town of Sonora, about 45 minutes outside the gate. If you're planning to visit Monterey's excellent aquarium (highly recommended) make sure to reserve tickets online in advance (the will-call window allows you to skirt the long lines and enter the side door.)
Cuisine
For dining, San Rafael has some of the best Thai food in the Bay Area, as well as our favorite Indian restaurant (Lotus) and pizza (Amici's). Petaluma of all places has our favorite Italian (Cafe Giostra), Japanese (Hiro's), and breakfast (Hallie's). Sadly, Petaluma's Girl & the Fig has closed so we have to drive the extra miles to Sonoma. On weekends Petaluma Market's outdoor barbeque serves up the best tri-tip sandwiches around. As you can probably tell from the photos, we also love taking people to Krispy Kreme on weekend mornings, but the Bovine Bakery in Point Reyes Station is definitely a step up from there.
Posted by Jacob at 6:56 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2005
Denny Visit
Grandpa Weaver drove down from Boise last week to visit us for a long weekend. He arrived Thursday night in the midst of a pretty good (for the Bay Area) winter storm, and got caught in traffic resulting from the weather: the last six miles of his 640-mile trip took two hours! In spite that and an absessed tooth he was in good spirits for his entire visit, cooked some great meals for us (elk steaks, yum!) and helped us run errands before Brandie had to start back at work. As you can tell from the pictures on the right Sophie enjoyed his visit too - we didn't get the camera out fast enough to capture her nearly pulling his mustache off, but she gave it a pretty good tug! Thanks again, Grandpa!
Posted by Jacob at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2005
Happy Birthday Dieter!
Best wishes and many happy returns to our friend Chris (here's a picture of him luging!)
We'd love to pop over for a night of Old Speckled Hen and Pot Pies, but we'll have to wait til he can come visit us. Have a good one, Mr. F!
Posted by Jacob at 12:08 PM | Comments (3)
February 22, 2005
First Daycare!
Today was Sophie's first trip to daycare, and Brandie's first day back at work since November. We all survived, but it wasn't a lot of fun. The daycare folks are all very nice, but leaving Sophie with them this morning was very difficult! Brandie compared it to her skydiving experience: there's something primal in your brain that tells you not to let go of the plane (and baby).
We called after an hour to check on her, then spent our lunch hour over there. She was asleep the whole time but we got to hold her anyway. Her report card said she had a good day and smiled a lot for everyone.
Posted by Jacob at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2005
WonderCon!
Today John and I went to WonderCon, the Bay Area's big comic book convention. It was a lot like San Diego's ComicCon, only smaller. We attended several sessions, including the Kevin Smith talk (very entertaining), the Fantastic Four (not too much content), Batman Begins (a very awesome 6-minute trailer and a great Q&A by Christian Bale) and Star Wars (very capably hosted by Steve Sansweet, not too much new to see though unfortunately). Also out on the show floor several celebrities were signing autographs, including Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Ray Park (Darth Maul) and Sala Baker (Sauron). All in all we had a very good time, and John got Peter Mayhew's autograph!
Posted by Jacob at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2005
Happy Birthday Bompy!
A big Happy Birthday to Jake's grandfather Norm! We wish we could be there to celebrate with you!
Posted by Jacob at 6:03 PM | Comments (0)
February 16, 2005
Happy Birthday Matt!
Space Colonel Matt turns 32 today. Have a great one, Colonel!
Posted by Jacob at 3:44 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2005
Happy Valentine's Day!
In case you didn't know it, today is Brandie's favorite holiday! Be sure to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day!
Posted by Jacob at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)
February 13, 2005
Sophie: 2 Months Old
Sophie had her 2 month well visit to the doctor and all is well. She now weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches tall. She recieved four immunization shots which was a terrible experience not only for her but for me as well. I ended up crying with her through the whole thing. I realize immunizations are good things and help us live longer but it was hard to see my baby in pain.
Sophie is really getting good at smiling and greets her dad and me with big smiles when we go to get her out of her crib in the morning. She has also discovered her hands and loves putting them in her mouth to suck on. She coos a lot and loves her swing.
Posted by Brandie at 4:26 PM | Comments (0)
Featured Commentary: Grammy!
Grammy is Brandie's Mom, me. Also the proud Grandmother of one beautifil baby girl, little Sophia. As my daughter knows this is only the fourth time I've ever even been on a computer. Just getting into the web sight is such a pleasure for me as I am too far away to call every day. Even though we do speak often.. Everyone must think I was born in the dark ages and well I was. ha ha. It is simply amazing to be able to keep up on the every day news of Jake, Brandie, and my little Sophie. So at this point I am thrilled. I live in Coos Bay, Oregon. Thanks to everyone who is patient enough to listen to me. Barbara
Posted by Jacob at 4:15 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2005
Happy Birthday Shannon!
Phew, lots of birthdays this week - Geoff must be more tired than we are though! Happy first birthday Shannon!
Posted by Jacob at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2005
Double Trouble! Happy Birthday John and Eula!
That's right, two of our favorite people, err, mammals share today as their birthday. John is the big 32 and Eula is the big 2! (Jake is sick today or I am sure he would have some very funny joke to post here. Sorry, you'll just have to do with me.)
Anyhow, happy, happy birthday to two wonderful friends.
Posted by Brandie at 7:33 PM | Comments (2)
February 9, 2005
Best Brownies Ever!
I found the brownie recipe that will forever stay in my recipe box yesterday. It has a fudgey consistency and is super easy to make. I've decided to share the recipe here in case you love brownies too!
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8 inch baking dish with foil and coat foil with butter or cooking spray.
Melt chocolate and butter in small bowl in the microwave, stirring occasionally to combine. Cool mixture for several minutes.
Whisk sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs and vanilla together in a medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in flour until no streaks of flour remain. Scrape batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center of pan comes out clean, 22 to 27 minutes. Cool brownies on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Using foil, lift brownies from pan to cutting board. Slide foil out from under brownies and cut brownies into 2 inch squares.
Posted by Brandie at 8:38 AM | Comments (3)
February 8, 2005
Happy Birthday Erin!
Wishing a very happy birthday to our friend Erin, along with many thanks for all your help this past year - Eula, Brandie, Sophie & I all appreciate you guys very much! Keep on rocking, Erin!
Posted by Jacob at 6:00 PM | Comments (1)
February 6, 2005
Featured Commentary: Tim Steele!
In our latest bid to elicit posts from hapless family and friends, please give a Tiny e Ranch welcome to our first Featured Commentator: Jake's cousin Tim!
When you post a comment, an email notification is sent to us with the option to publish the post or not; this allows us to prevent the blog from getting filled up with spam. So don't worry if your post doesn't show up right away, especially on the weekend - we'll get to it as soon as we're back to the computer!
Posted by Jacob at 8:12 AM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2005
Second Date!
Today we went to see In Good Company while Grandma and Grandpa Great watched Sophie. This was the longest we've been away from her yet, and the first movie we've been to since Sideways the weekend before she was born. Everything went off without a hitch however, and we both enjoyed the movie quite a lot: only a few phone calls were made between the time we left the house and the time we returned.
We all had dinner together when we got back, before the babysitters retired to their hotel for the evening. Thanks again Mary and Joe, we really appreciate it and Sophie enjoyed meeting her great-grandparents!
After two weekends in a row we're feeling quite spoiled by our babysitters, but are taking applications for next weekend now...
Posted by Jacob at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)
February 4, 2005
Happy Birthday Grammy!
Happy Happy Birthday to Sophie's Grammy Barbara! We love and miss you Grammy!
Posted by Brandie at 9:30 AM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2005
Happy Birthday Myrna!
A big Happy Birthday today to Jake's Godmother, Myrna. She is a wonderful lady and we wish she lived closer.
Posted by Brandie at 4:16 PM | Comments (0)