Managing the Crew

Uncle Dan and Uncle Dave putting in new sod at Grandmom Martin's house last Friday. Nate was anxious to get his lawnmower out on the grass...mom had to tell him to wait until the lawn was all there.

Redwood City Fire Station

Two weeks ago Gina took Nate and Julie for a firehouse station tour. Here he is practicing being a "firefighter guy". He was particularly excited about seeing the fire poles, which mom kept him a good 6ft away from. He also liked that there were 4 refrigerators and that each freezer had at least 3 cartons of ice cream. Julie liked sitting in moms arms up four flights of stairs. (p.s. mom wrote this, can you tell?)

Double rainbow above our house, Sunday

 

Busy block builders

Time Magazine

Their photos from Google: Life in the Googleplex

Delighted to see the beach

 

Dressed for success

 

Sunset on the Sonoma coast

 

Jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Family portrait

At Horseshoe Lake. 

Julie's new walk

We remember Nate doing this too, around 15 months: walking like an old man with the hands clasped behind the back. 

First family hike

On Sunday we hiked around Horseshoe Lake off of Skyline Boulevard, our first family hike. Both Julie and Nate walked the entire 1.5 miles or so, stopping for numerous breaks of course. On the way home we swung by our new ice cream palor for a scoop of chocolate ice cream to celebrate. 

"Big steam engine......Toot! Toot!"

Boundless joy for one small boy (and his daddy). After we left the aquarium we were driving out of Monterey and spotted a park that we thought we'd drive by - but there was no driving by a big black Union Pacific steam engine right at the park entrance. Nate was in heaven. Dennis the Menace Park was amazing. Julie had fun in the sand, Nate on the train and the play structures, and all stomping along a great wobbly suspension bridge.

Entering the Aquarium

Gina looks for the bathroom, Nate looks at the divers in the kelp display, and Julie just looks worried. 

Sea Otter

Three otters played in the water, while this one had other ideas. 

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We braved the crowds heading to the PGA Tournament at Pebble Beach and did the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Saturday. The biggest hits (besides burning off some energy outside) were the divers feeding the fish, the sharks, jellyfish, and touching exhibits. Later we saw two train coaches on Cannery Row which had been converted to shops, which caused Nate to worry about the missing steam engine and tender. By coincidence and on a whim we stopped at a playground on our way out of town, only to find a huge steam train engine in the center of the park. "We FOUND it!" Nate cried out.

Movie: Julie's first fork

Here's Julie and her first attempt at using her fork. Not bad! But she won't be winning any speed eating contests anytime soon. (Taken on Jan 24, 2006)

Superbowl XL

We took exception to our "no commercial TV" rule for the kids, and let them watch the Superbowl on Sunday. Gina reacted to one of the first plays, and from then on Nate copied her. Whenever someone was tackled, Nate would exclaim "Oh, my GOSH!" Then during half time while the Rolling Stones played, Nate struck a pose holding a microphone then stabbed his finger in the air yelling "GINGERBREAD MAN!" (the only lyrics he decided worth singing). Julie even got into the action, gyrating her hips like Mick Jagger.

Another movie

Julia loves wrapping herself with small towels or clothes. She got ahold of her sweater recently and spent the next 20 minutes playing in the sunlight.

We're sick

Julie, Gina, Nate and I somehow managed to get sick all at the same time. Just the normal winter cold bug, with lots of runny noses and scratchy throats. We'll get through this, with a little help from our friends Tylenol and Kleenex.