Seasons Greetings from Chico, California -- Part I

We hope that everyone out there enjoyed the holidays!  Max and Charlotte sure did!  It seemed to be the first Christmas that really meant something to them (i.e. they at least got the concept of a present).  And we made the most of it ... at least I like to think we did.

Charlotte and Max joined us for a little Christmas shopping on Lake Street here in lovely Pasadena, California.  Charlotte met (and posed with) a cute papier-mȃché fox while shopping at Anthropologie.

15 December 2012

After their Macy's shopping spree, Max and Charlotte sat with us at a new Italian restaurant for a nice post-shopping lunch.

15 December 2012

Having turned two, Max and Charlotte now require their own plane tickets.  Buying four plane tickets instead of two changed the economics around our holiday travel.  Whereas we have flown to Chico, California, in the past in order to avoid the difficulties of a long, 8-hour (at a minimum) drive, we elected this time to go by car to spend Christmas (and New Year's it would turn out) in Chico with Grandma Judy, Tio Johnny and his family.  And to make things a little easier on Charlotte and Max, we took two days to do it.  Below Max can be seen posing next to the enormous fountain -- water features are always a draw for our children -- at the Hotel Mission de Oro in Gustine, California, which marked the halfway point on our journey and is where we spent the night.

23 December 2012

There was a lot of sleeping on the car ride to Chico ...

23 December 2012

... but there was probably more time spent watching Curious George!

Charlotte really digs opening presents!

25 December 2012

Max and Cousin Natalie check out one of Max and Charlotte's more intriguing Christmas presents: a Shop and Learn Cash Register.  It turned out to be quite popular.

25 December 2012

I'm not sure whether I find the picture of pensive Charlotte (left) or happy Charlotte (right) to be cuter.  Fortunately, I don't have to choose!

25 December 2012

25 December 2012

I'm still pretty amazed that I not only got Charlotte to sit and pose for me, but that some of the pictures actually turned out decently.  (Dress by Grandma Cheryl.)

Max didn't want to wear his nice Christmas clothes, but he looked cute standing with his Mommy nonetheless.  (I wouldn't have expected any different.)

25 December 2012

We were all very excited that Grandma Cheryl and Auntie Lauren joined us up in cheery Chico!

25 December 2012

25 December 2012

As I said, the Shop and Learn Cash Register was pretty popular!

25 December 2012

We had a great Christmas!  Charlotte had a lot of fun opening presents.  And Max had so much fun playing with each toy he got that he could barely be bothered to open the next gift.  Indeed, Charlotte had to finish the job for him.  (I got some pretty cool gifts, too.)  And, of course, the very best part was spending time with family, from both Jenn's and my side!

But, wait (for the next post) ... there's more!!!

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Two Turn Two

Max and Charlotte celebrated their second birthday about a week and a half ago.  It was not the grand affair that their first birthday party was, but it was exciting nonetheless!  Just as we did a year ago, we had a party with plenty of friends, presents and birthday cake!  This year we held a smaller party at the neighborhood park in the late morning/early afternoon (thus avoiding difficult bedtime conflicts and extensive post-party clean-up).

Charlotte posed with Brenda for a few pictures ...

10 November 2012

... as well as Brenda's daughter, Gabby.

10 November 2012

Many thanks to Brenda and Gabby for bringing the Elmo birthday cake!  I'm sure it needn't be said that it was a big hit.

10 November 2012

I hear it was delicious, but I never did get to enjoy a piece (not that I'm complaining or anything ...).

Chalotte and Max consider what they're going to do with all that cake, while Dean (left) and Reed (right) look on.

10 November 2012

Charlotte gets together with the big girls: Livi (left) and Annie (right).

10 November 2012

In the meantime, Max was having fun on the playground.

10 November 2012

Not pictured but also in attendance were Grandma Judy, Geraldine and Chris, Kim, Cindy Jo and Ronan, Henry and Czarina and their son Peter, as well as Max and Charlotte's playground friend Quinn and Quinn's nanny and parents.


Charlotte and Max inspect some of the cool new presents they got.

11 November 2012

It is quite clear that Charlotte now grasps the concept of "the present", as she kept asking for more, even long after that particular well had run dry.  I don't know if Max really got it; he was too busy playing with his new toy garbage truck.


The night before their birthday Grandma Judy, Jenn and I took Max and Charlotte out for a tapas dinner at a new Spanish restaurant in Old Town.  (No, really!  They pounded down jamón and marinated olives.)

11 November 2012

After dinner Max blew out the candles on their birthday desert, as Charlotte was (fortunately, from a self-preservation standpoint) a little too scared of the burning candles.


And the fun didn't end there!  We had a small celebration on their birthday at home.

12 November 2012

Grandma Judy sang "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte and Max.  And lit the candles on their birthday tart (with berries!).

12 November 2012

Max had to blow out the candles again, as Charlotte hadn't yet gotten over her fear of lit candles.

Happy birthday, Max and Charlotte!  We (and so many others) love you more than words can express!


--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

All Hallow's Eve 2012

Last year, Jenn conceived of and created Max' and Charlotte's Halloween costumes.  This year Charlotte and Max conceived of their own costumes.  Jenn "just" created them.

31 October 2012

31 October 2012

Charlotte elected to be a pink bunny; Max wanted to be a piggy.


While trick-or-treating on Oakland Avenue, Max and Charlotte (and Jenn and I) ran into our friends Peter, Czarina and Henry.

31 October 2012

Max, Charlotte and Peter, dressed as Humpty Dumpty, investigated up close the inflatable jack-o'-lantern and ghosts which had been the objects of Charlotte's and Max' obsession over the previous two weeks and which, until this evening, they could only inspect from the safe distance of our car.

31 October 2012

31 October 2012

I just couldn't decide which of these two ridiculously cute pictures to post.

31 October 2012

So Jenn didn't just create one or two handmade costumes.  She put together three costumes, as we decided that Max didn't love the color of his first piggy costume (the first one was less pink).  Amazing!

We all had a great Halloween, even though Max and Charlotte didn't really get into the swing of trick-or-treating.  They were quite content to run around in their costumes.  But don't think for a second that candy wasn't part of the experience.  I didn't get a picture of Charlotte during the sugar-fueled high that kept her awake well after 10:00pm.  That's a good thing, I think, as we can focus on the above pictures by which to remember Halloween 2012!  I wonder what they'll decide to be next year ...

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

PS -  Thanks to Peter's mom, Czarina, for sending us these beautiful pictures of Charlotte and Max!!!

Oh, Hi!

That's how Charlotte and Max pronounce the the name of the town Ojai, California: oh-hi!  That is, of course, the appropriate pronunciation, but it sounds extra 'specially cute coming from them.  We spent last weekend in Ojai, staying with our friends Jefferey and Haigaz.  They purchased a great place in Ojai, which they've renovated and turned into something pretty special.  Max and Charlotte (and Jenn and I) had a wonderful time!

They posed for us sitting in a gorgeous old oak tree on Jefferey and Haigaz' property.

22 September 2012

22 September 2012

Charlotte points out the cameraman (yours truly) to Mommy.

22 September 2012

Charlotte and Max got to pick figs, apples, oranges and tomatoes (perhaps Max' favorite food after strawberries).  Jefferey peeled and cut one of the sweet, sweet oranges for Max.

22 September 2012

Max and Charlotte explored the property, being careful to look out for the black widows which are supposedly lurking about (well, we watched out for them).

22 September 2012

Charlotte and Haigaz recline in one of their relaxing hammocks.

23 September 2012

Jenn, Charlotte, Max and Jefferey enjoyed some of the local musical talent -- a bluegrass band -- playing at Ojai's farmer's market on Sunday morning.

23 September 2012

Don't let the fact that Max was eager to hop into our car and drive away persuade anyone into thinking that we didn't have a wonderful time!

23 September 2012

It was a short visit, but in that time we got to do lots.  (Lucy and Rufus spent the time at Camp Foothill Veterinary Hospital.)  I'd like to thank Jefferey and Haigaz again for their hospitality.  And I hope that whirling dervish of activity that is Max and Charlotte these days doesn't discourage from extending it again.

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Welcoming a New Resident to Southern California

What's that coming in low over the hills where I love to go cycling?

21 September 2012

Why, it's the space shuttle Endeavour making it's way to the California Science Center, which will serve as its retirement home!  (Notice the two fighter jets escorting Endeavour and the Boeing 747 on which Endeavour is piggybacked.)

21 September 2012

As part of it's grand entry into Los Angeles, California, it performed a flyby over the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

21 September 2012

Not being JPL employees, Charlotte and Max didn't get this fantastic view of the shuttle.  But they saw the "biiig plane" as it flew past our neighborhood.  And Jenn saw the shuttle from Los Angeles, too.

21 September 2012

And there it goes ... flying off to its United Airlines hangar (thanks, Angie!) at the Los Angeles International Airport.  The next time we see it -- and we'll have to go at some point, it'll be down in Los Angeles (conveniently located right off I-110).

21 September 2012

Speaking of flying, I neglected to post these pictures of Max from our trip to Seattle, Washington (well, our return trip, specifically).

4 September 2012

As we boarded, Max was invited to sit in the cockpit.

4 September 2012

With all of those buttons all around him, I can only imagine that Max must have thought he'd died and gone to heaven!

4 September 2012

Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't extended the same courtesy; plane corridors are narrow, and we had to take our seats.  But we'll have to make sure that she gets to be the co-pilot, if only for a few minutes, on our next plane flight.

--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)

Max and Charlotte in the Emerald City

Over Labor Day weekend Charlotte and Max made their longest journey yet: all the way to the Emerald City!  (No, not that Emerald City, though I was a big fan of L. Frank Baum's books as a child.)  Max, Jenn, Charlotte and I met up with Grandma Judy in San Francisco, California, and flew up to Seattle, Washington.  Jenn's brother Dan and his family recently moved to Seattle from Indiana.  So we took advantage of Jenn's hiatus week to visit them in their new home.  And we got to see plenty of my friends who live in Seattle.  (Seattle is one of those hip towns that have found favor with my friends.  What's wrong with Pasadena, California, y'all?)


Jenn takes a "self-photo" of herself, her mother and Charlotte on the flight between San Francisco and Seattle.

30 August 2012

We stopped by Pike Place Market, of course.  Charlotte poses in front of a fishmonger.

31 August 2012

Charlotte and Max got reacquainted with their cousins Alicia (left), Clara (right) and Roberto (not pictured).

31 August 2012

We stayed at a hotel in Seattle's Lower Queen Anne neighborhood.  Charlotte practiced ordering room service.

1 September 2012

And we visited the Seattle Aquarium, which was pretty cool.  Jenn and Charlotte are checking out the fish ladder display, in which you find yourself standing below a window looking up towards a school of young salmon.

1 September 2012

The aquarium also has a really neat submerged dome, in which you can sit and find yourself surrounded by a bunch of marine life.  (If it had had a place to sleep and a bar in the center, I might never have left.)  Max tried touching the underside of a starfish through the glass.  Charlotte tried licking the underside of a starfish through the glass.

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

I thought the halibut swimming around (look just above the starfish Max appears to be touching) was very cool.  There were dogfish, sturgeon and several large enormous salmon swimming around, among other fish.  Other highlights included the octopus, the jellyfish, the tide pool display in which you could touch starfish and anemone (Max + water = happy boy), the otters and the seals.

Alicia, Clara and Charlotte had some quality time near the otters.

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

1 September 2012

And Max showed Clara a neat statue of a seal that he came across.

Alicia reads Eric Carle's Mister Seahorse to Max in the aquarium gift store.

1 September 2012

Eric Carle is one of Charlotte and Max' very favorite authors.


While we were in Seattle my friend Ammi and her husband, Adam, held a Labor Day Weekend barbecue.  Roberto and Max shared a meal on Ammi and Adam's back steps.

2 September 2012

They were terrific hosts, including their daughter Leah, pictured with Max and Charlotte below.

2 September 2012

It was a great party, and was a terrific chance to catch up with a lot of my friends.  And Charlotte had a lot of fun playing on Leah's swing set, which Leah graciously allowed my daughter to monopolize for the better part of an hour!


And what were Lucy and Rufus doing while we were partying away in the Pacific Northwest?

6 September 2012

Haircuts!!!!  And I think they look awesome.


So welcome to the West Coast, Dan, Anna, Alicia, Clara and Roberto!!!  We're all happy that we're at least in the same time zone now.  We look forward to seeing more of y'all.  And I anticipate seeing a lot more of my friends who live in lovely Seattle (as well as those who live in nearby Vancouver, British Columbia).


--- Shawn (for Jenn and Charlotte and Max and Lucy and Rufus)