Monterey

Roadtrip

We went on a little road trip this weekend up to the state capitol. First stop was Krispy Kreme (hey, there are only 2 left in the Bay Area now or something!). Then a stop at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield to be sure we had maximum sugar content.

Who's too cool now to look like a jelly belly?

Not him!


After this we had an errand to take care of. TT had to finish it up, so I took the boys on my own to the California State Railroad Museum. It seemed pretty cool, but I was being pulled in two different directions. Will have to go back someday!


Our hotel was right next to the riverfront promenade so we walked around and enjoyed the area. This is the golden tower bridge.



After dinner we got an old timey photo in Old Town. The woman let us take some extra pictures of the boys, which was really nice. They enjoyed being cowboys!



Sunday we checked out the capitol building and then went to Berkeley where we had lunch with friends, I played in an ultimate frisbee tournament, the boys went to look at some dinosaur skeletons, we had dinner with another friend and then finally drove home...

Now what was our errand bringing us to Sac Town? TT got a new car! Isn't it pretty?

Happy Valentine's Day

LT & DT have a treat for you!



And from last weekend, DT & I made some treats for a Superbowl party. As you can tell, DT is a very willing helper. LT supervised the toppers and I must say they came out cute! We tried a new recipe... (okay from box/package, does it still count as a recipe??). You take the break & bake cookie dough and then break it up and stick it in the freezer for a while. Then you beat up your batter and put it in the cups and right before it goes in the oven, put a blob of cookie dough in each one. It doesn't cook through since it's frozen. Voila! Cookie dough cupcakes! Yum!

Kiwi PIckings

Still time to sqeeze in a January blog. It has been absolutely beautiful here while much of the rest of the country has been covered in snow. Last weekemd was especially nice, sunny and in the high 60s. We spent a beautiful day picking kiwis, or at least exploring the orchard, and hiking down to the beach. We finished it off with a campfire dinner in the backyard with friends. (Pizza pudgie pies and s'mores!)








These pictures are from our new(ish) video camera. Not bad for the non primary purpose!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it's true that it has been almost 2 weeks since Christmas. Which of course means it is time for a quick recap! We had very nice guests, 6 adults and 2 kids.



We all tracked up to SF. We went up to Coit tower and looked around. It was very beautiful, but you couldn't go to the top since they're renovating the elevator. Here's Jenn!

Here I am driving down Lombard street, the wacky curvy street. We were calling it the curviest street in the US, but we may have made that up! I did CSI zoom in and I only look like I am concentrating, not that I am terrified.

We even got a group shot at Ghiradelli square (and squeezed in a boat ride) before going to a delicious fondue dinner.

Somehow we didn't take pictures of present opening, but here is a mid-day Christmas nap.

DT playing with one of the gifts! I really wanted to make this for the boys even if it wasn't their top gift choice. I hope they will enjoy it anyways!

Then we all tracked down to Santa Cruz. The bigger boys had a blast on this ride.

The grown ups, meanwhile, rode the Giant Dipper many times. It was ride once, get a wrist band for unlimited rides, so we took advantage! It's usally about $5 for one ride, so it was great to ride as many times as we wanted, which was approximately 3 times each.

Before everyone departed, we did get some nice group shots. Mom & Dad with the girls

The T family

And the whole gang!

Happy New Year!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

The boys went to see Santa on Friday. Due to rain, Santa & Mrs. Claus relocated from the porch to the garage. LT would like Pokemon cards and DT didn't say much!

PS. LT would like to add that he forgot to mention Bey Blades.

The Tree Hunt

2 years makes a tradition, right? We went on our annual trip to the Santa Cruz mountains to find the perfect Christmas tree.

First DT picked this one...


Then LT measured up this one for size!

And then we saw the perfect one.

DT insisted on helping with the sawing!

Then a Christmas tree grew legs and walked out of the forest.

We took it home and got it all gussied up. Somehow every year we end up having to saw off quite a bit of tree when we get home. TT made a wreath for the front door out of the extra branches. Very crafty, that one!

The outdoor light extravaganza. We have not set it to music yet, maybe in the future!

Little Too Cute...

The last DT guitar video was a big hit, so here's another. This time he's going with an electric.

We Were Thankful

Thanksgiving = fried turkey
Going in
Bubbling away

And all fried up

We will be trying this again at Christmas time.

Then we were off to Aunt J's. We had lego building.

And dog walking..

And a hug with Great Grandma.

There was also a lot of food. And a lot of pickles. Now we are enjoying our pickle starter set, courtesy of Uncle R. Yum!