Thanksgiving 2015

We just returned home (to a frigid house as our heater is out and hasn't been replaced yet...but it will be this week) from hanging out in SB for Thanksgiving.

Ellie had the whole week off of school and she spent time at Kids Klub, hanging with friends, and the up in SB. Nick came up and then came back down to go to a hockey game with his cousin who is living in SD. Jim was up in SB and hung out with the kids at a museum. However, Susie stayed in Boston.










Thanksgiving, the meal, was fantastic. Ellie helped with almost everything that was in the table. All the traditional fixings and fun people and conversations.



























The weekend had fun times at the Natural History Museum with Jim, digging through baby boxes, watching VHS tapes of young Ann and Susie dancing in the Nutcracker, quality time with Grandma Van, napping, and playground time.


























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Happy 20 Month Birthday, Cal!

It was a late-night (for Calvin and a tired Daddy) photo session with Hobbes today. Late because Ellie, Cal, Grandma Pam and I enjoyed a fundraising dinner for Ellie's school at Maria's, an Italian restaurant here in Pasadena. Ellie enjoyed the typical breadsticks and macaroni & cheese. Cal, having apparently inherited my infamous hollow leg, ate one and a half substantial breadsticks, four roasted Brussels sprouts (with balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, and pancetta) which he mooched off of Grandma Pam, a few bites of my antipasto salad & meatballs, chopped carrots, zucchini & broccoli, and more macaroni & cheese than Ellie ate. And he was still shoveling food in as we walked out the door. So.. he was in a good mood at picture time.

He wanted to tickle, hug, and carry Hobbes away.. apparently.

Happy 20 Months, Cal! We love you!

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Halloween 2015

It was just me (Nick) and the kiddos this Halloween.. well, and a bunch of friends. Ann took off for a work trip to KC on the holiday's afternoon so Ellie, Cal and I spent some time with Ellie's old preschool teacher and her family.. as well as some old friends.

It was a fun evening.. one in which we all discovered Calvin much prefers edamame (served at our friend's place along with some other snacks) and corn nuts to pretty much any kind of candy. It took some convincing to get him to even try some M&M's.

Cal dressed up as the same duck Ann made for 2-year-old Ellie. He wore it well, but its inherent warmth was definitely better suited for a 50-degree Halloween night in Boston than an 80-degree Halloween night in Pasadena. Ellie went as an Ann-made Wonder Woman in the afternoon for a carnival at Cal's school, and then as Princess Leia (courtesy of KTLA & Disney -- video link here: http://ktla.com/2015/10/27/disney-halloween-costumes/?ak_action=reject_mobile&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fktla.com%2F2015%2F10%2F27%2Fdisney-halloween-costumes%2F) for evening trick-or-treating. She really didn't want to wear the wig or have her hair in side-buns or a braid.. as they "bother" her.






















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Calvin is 19 months old!

Calvin turned 19 months old today. Its official...he is a full-blown toddler. On Monday he will move up to the next class where instead of being the oldest, he will be the youngest. Sigh. 

He is acting now like a big kid. He won't hold your hand, unless he needs your help to get up or down stairs. He refuses to sit in a high chair...even at home. He has to do everything his sister is doing, including using real silverware and eating the same foods. He will try and try and try to do things that she can do, even at the playground. I have seen him climb up nets and ladders at the playground just like his sister. Hes not very quick to give anyone a smile. However, he is equal opportunity when it come to hugs and kisses when he is in the mood...if he gives me a kiss, he has to find his sister and/or dad to give them kisses too. 

Its a pretty exciting time in our household...lots of baseball going on.

Today we also did his 18-month portraits (yeah, better late than never). They are doing things differently now where you pay a flat rate and get all the photos digitally only. And you get them almost instantly. Works for me. So enjoy some portrait photos. He didn't really cooperate with the smiles, so we tried having Ellie in the pictures to make him smile...didn't really work. In the end we got some good ones though.

Our weekend trip to Sequoia National Park

Just before the Labor Day weekend Nick and I had a crazy thought about heading out of town on a quick little vacation. We were all a little stir crazy, especially with the bathroom remodels going on. And so we decided to head up to Sequoia National Park to check out some trees. 

We picked Ellie up right at the end of her school day on Friday and headed up about 3 hours north. We stopped for dinner in Bakersfield which was exciting for everyone...ha! Just kidding. Bakersfield, if you don't know, isn't anything too exciting, kinda a little joke for those from Cali. But, it was the furthest north (that isn't an airport) in California for 3/4 of the family. So maybe that was exciting. But dinner was actually really really good and all were very happy. Of course, this was the first account of Calvin refusing to sit in a high chair at a restaurant, something that has only continued and become a little more difficult to go out to restaurants with him. 

We arrived at our hotel after dinner and got settled in. Nick found a hotel that had suites for a decent price just outside of the national park, so we were able to get Calvin put to bed while the rest of us had dessert and watched a little Friday night TV.

We got up early on Saturday morning and drove to the national park. We had plan to go to Crystal Cave in the park and wanted to get there early. We were a little nervous about taking an active almost 18-month old to a cave where carriers and backpacks weren't allowed. Also, none of us had ever been there and didn't know what we were getting into (well, I may have been there, but I probably was Ellie's age and whined the whole time). There was a pretty serious hike down to the cave (30 stories down and 3/4 mile), which we knew about, and so we took the baby carrier for me to carry Calvin in because there was no way he would have been safe on the hike to the cave. But when we got there we were surprised at how well the whole cave expedition went. Ellie had fun and learned a few things. Calvin actually walked for some of it (he was carried for other parts). It was short and fun.

After a very serious hike back up to our car from the cave, made even more exciting by having to carry a 30-lb baby back up with you, we headed off to see the trees. Although we headed to lunch first which allowed both kiddos a chance to take a nap before another hike. It was chilly which was pretty exciting...I mean we had to wear sweatshirts which was a novelty since it was 100 degrees down at home.

So after lunch and rest we headed out to check out the largest tree on earth (in volume) which after a few questions from Ellie and follow-up discussion made us realize that it is likely the largest tree in the universe, milky way, galaxy...which made seeing The General Sherman super exciting.  Nick carried Calvin in the backpack so I got a little bit of a break.

 We then headed to check out the sequoia museum to learn some new facts, one being the differences between sequoias and redwoods and checking out more trees and some amazing views. There was also time to allow Calvin to climb up some stuff.

We made it back to the hotel, after stopping for dinner (where Calvin proceeded to eat all the black olives off of my pizza...only the black olives). And we all got a good night's rest...crisp, clean, cool mountain air and long hikes definitely lead to good nights rest.

The next day we slept in as long as Calvin would allow us and then we started to drive home. Calvin was very upset when it was time to leave the hotel.

We stopped again in Bakersfield for some stretching of the legs and an adventure. Bakersfield is one of the largest cities in the central valley, which is the part of California which pretty much produces all the agriculture for the United States and the world. So of course we had to visit a farm and have some fresh produce and go apple picking. Calvin was fascinated by some animals on the farm, Ellie enjoyed the activities including a bouncy pad thing, and Nick couldn't get enough apples.

It was a short weekend as we had to be home by Sunday night as Nick had to work, but it was long enough and a great time for everyone. We got the kids out of the city to see some nature and the country and learn some stuff. Win-win.