ONE WEEK, TWO DIRECTIONS

It's not often we get visitors, or "visit" for that matter. But somehow, in one week's time, Greg went to Alaska; Karen (w/delicious family in tow) came to California; and Andrew traveled back from Ketchikan to the Bay.

Time With Andrew...

As soon as Greg finished a long period of "work madness" he flew off to Alaska. He spent time with Andrew and the rest of the Magnificent 7 South African swimmers in Ketchikan. While they braved the Alaskan cold waters for a swim race, Greg hitched a ride on a boat and took in some sun. Fishing. Eating (sashimi at its freshest!). Swimming with phosphorus'. Air tour. Drinking. Bonfires. That's what I know. :-)

Andrew flew back to the Bay with Greg. It was great to see Andrew and for him to finally meet the girls. I don't think Zoe ever spoke to him (shocker!) but Ruby eventually warmed up as the afternoon progressed. Spent a little time in Sausalito...a few ice creams and a walk later, we grabbed dinner and drove back to San Francisco. All too brief...

The Other Zoe (& Jonathan & Karen & Molly)

While Greg was eating fresh sushi and taking a dip in the cold Alaskan water, the girls and I were having fun with Karen, Jonathan, Molly and Zoe S.

The girls put on a super cute "Jelly Show" where they created a picture, showed it off and explained the "story." Super cute and Zoe's first official "performance."

Another day we met the Sepsenwol crew at Pier 39 in San Francisco. We cheered on jumping maniacs, Molly & Zoe S.; caught a magic show; watched the seals (cool but stinky); looked for things to "win" (Zoe didn't like the prize choices! Who's picky?); and bought SERIOUS amounts of candy. Needless to say, nobody wanted to go home.

ZOE IS 4!

I can't believe my little girl is 4 years old. Was I not just swaddling her yesterday? She went from teether to stylist in mere moments.

We opted out of the big birthday bash this year. With both girls suffering terribly from princess fever, we thought it best to get them to the Disneyland treatment center instead. More on that in the fall...

In the meantime, we had plenty of celebrating old-school style. Zoe told everyone that she is having a "...three day celebration!" (CLICK on "Day 1" or "Day 2" below for related pics)

Day 1: a visit from Grammy & Pa -- park, dinner and a special princess/barbie cake I more than happily slaved over for a day and a half.

Day 2: a fantastic "princess play date" with her two best friends, Clara and Alison. It was super sweet, fun and a lot less exhausting than past extravaganzas (thank you JH!)!

Day 3: a special cupcake to bring to camp!

Zoe came over to me several times over the weekend, gave me a big hug and told me that this was "the best birthday EVER!" Now, considering she has only had 4 birthdays and two of them she likely doesn't remember, I shouldn't get too carried away. Buuuut, I will anyway. There was nothing better than seeing her have so much fun. Love it. Love it. Love it! Note to self: simple works.

FANTASTIC videos below.

Happy Birthday to You!

Stick the Princess in Her Castle!

JULY, BUT WHY????

July has been packed with fun and a lot of questions from Ruby and they all start with "Why?".

Here are a few of the highlights from July:

Ms. Zoe is very into...

• Matching outfits with Ruby;
• Being my helper/assistant;
• "I'm totally into fashion...";
• Barney ("I learned it on Barney!");
• Lots of talking on the phone ("What are you doing now? What are you doing later?");
• Her first big girl "ride" at Train Town all by herself;
• Swimming;
• Wanting a dog...and telling everyone that we're getting one REALLY soon (we're not!);
• The Charlie & Lola books and TV shows; and
• Riding her big girl bike (video below).

Zoe also sadly lost her first pet -- a fish named Flower who she loved more than lollipops (and that's a lot!). We found a pretty box for her and gave her a lovely burial with all the trimmings (a special rock, stick, flower and a picture and message from Zoe). In all seriousness, I never thought I'd spend so much time in deep philosophical discussions about death, G-d and heaven with my almost 4 year-old. Flower has been replaced by Finny, a lovely boy fish who gets a lot less attention than his predecessor.

Ms. Ruby Tuesday is very into...

• Saying: "But, I want it!" or "I need it!" or "But, why Mommy?" or "'Cause why, Mommy?";
• The birds and Flies waking her up;
• Announcing she has a poopie!;
• Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!
• Doing everything herself!
• Asking for a "Mommy Hold" (wonder where she gets that from? mmmhhh...);
• Having a boo-boo as soon as Zoe gets one (same exact place and everything...the odds!);
• Pretend talking on the phone;
• Bandaids, in general; and
• Stickers!

Ruby also got Chicken Pox (yes, she was immunized!) which shocked us, but, apparently kids still get this even with immunizations. Who knew? Luckily, no itching, no "sickness" involved...only the little "pox" to mark their visit. No scars! ;-)

Greg and I are really into...

• Juggling (life);
• Thinking about moving (and looking around a bit) into a house that's closer to town with room for another monkey (if we so choose...no news!);
• Working. Working. Working.;
• Getting the new iphone w/video (Sam) and getting Sam's old iphone (Greg); and
• Trying to get our "date nights" back on track!

Click here for A LOT of fun pics. And, check out these delicious videos below.

Zoe Rides Her New Big Girl Bike!

Rolling. Rolling. Rolling.

Girls Will Be Girls?

This Girl Can Swim!

Love and Face Feelies for Ruba!

STARTING ANEW... AND, FATHER'S DAY 09

A false start if I ever had one...

I finally took the plunge and combined my photo/text blog (old school, Shutterfly Share Site) and video-only blog into one true, “official blog." And, what happened? It got deleted by Blogger. So, here I go trying to remember what I posted and to do it again quickly. There’s nothing more boring than re-inventing the past.

Here's a super quick recap of Father's Day 2009:

Fantastic time at Vesona Park where we picnicked ("we must do this all the time" says Zoe) and took over the playground.

Super fun and relaxing. Click here for a few pics.

And, this is a sweet video of Greg and the girls.

Finally, take a peak at my Father's Day gift to Greg this year. He announced that he'd run into the house if it was burning down (and we were out) to get this video. I told him not to since we can just order another one online. But, you get the idea... ;-)

Happy Daddy's Day