May 2010 Archives

Ok, this one is just a bit overdue but I have a great excuse.... actually, I don't.

Sophie celebrated her 5th birthday surrounded by family in Reno during our trip to the States in December.  She had requested a Hawaiian birthday so my mom and I stayed up the night before making her cake.  It was a really easy and cute plumeria that I had seen in Women's Weekly.  

Mom and Grandma Mary decked the whole table out with leis and golden necklaces, foil garland.  It was after all, Sophie's Golden Birthday.  My mom planned a treasure hunt for the girls and they had clues as to where to find everything.  They really enjoyed running all around and finding the treasures.  The Birthday Fairy (something created by Mom) hid all of the presents and the very last one was The Golden Necklace.  Sophie was enraptured that a fairy had come with everything for her.  

Sophie was showered in presents and love by all the family who rarely get to see her.  It was really a special treat being able to celebrate with all of them together.

..to all the moms out there, greenhorns to seasoned veterans: thanks for all you do! Most especially to my best friend, the best mom and partner anyone could wish for.

Here is the dream Sophie had this morning, as described by her:

"Jessica was swimming underwater and was trying to find a key to Voltron and when she found it she flipped it up in the air at night and all the roofs on the houses became all Christmasy and when she threw it up in the sky it was Christmas. And it never came down again. Actually it came down again and then haha-hmhm-haha" (starts humming).

Please allow me to start this post by saying way back in early January I had grand plans of recording each day of our awesome holiday tour, supported in colorful detail by our SmugMug photos, but in the effort of updating the blog itself (among other things) I've let months slip by and now the events are starting to become hazy. Here however is the last post I started way back when (may as well put it to some use!), and I will do my best to broad-brushstroke the rest before it all turns to dust in my head!

The second day of our big holiday trip began with a trip to feed the ducks by the Marin County Civic Center with our fabulous hosts, the Eversons. We all hit the playground together and then split off to drive up to Petaluma for lunch. It was exciting to make that familiar drive again, now with the girls so much older. On the way we stopped by our old house to see how it was holding up, and were happy to see how good the neighborhood looked. We were also surprised at how established all our front yard plantings had gotten:



After snapping some pictures we crossed the D Street Bridge (and Rivertown Feed, thinking mightily about Eula and the dog park!) for lunch at Mike & Susie's house. We hadn't seen their family since our combined trip to Martha's Vineyard a few summers ago, but Sophie still remembered her friend Kane. We had a grand time catching up, playing and relaxing in the sun in their backyard (ah, late fall in northern California!):


After lunch we headed into San Francisco for a gorgeous sunset and belated Thanksgiving dinner with our newlywed friends Matt & Jane (whom we had last seen in Wellington just a year prior, thanks again for all their help during a very difficult time!!!) Dinner was over-the-top delicious, but possibly overshadowed (in Sophie's mind at least, not mine or Brandie's!) by their very cool wedding presents:

Today we had a bunch of friends over to celebrate Josie's birthday. It was cold and raining when we woke up, but the sun started piercing through while we were getting ready and by the time everyone arrived it was a gorgeous morning.

After months of deliberation, Josie had finally settled on a Hello Kitty theme for her party. Brandie & I decided to try making Hello Kitty-themed cake pops after seeing them on Bakerella (amazing stuff on there, if you've never been!) They turned out to be really easy and as usual fun to do a project like that together - plus they seemed to be a hit with all the kids today (click on the picture of the birthday girl above to see them).

We also had a dance-party theme to the party, inspired by the dance parties we had with our cousins during their visit. On today's playlist:

Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest - Various (Pulp Fiction)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) - Beyonce
So What - Pink
Don't Stop Believin' - Glee Cast

It was really a fun day, thanks all who made it out (and to everyone we wish were there!)