The Easter Bunny Hops Down the Lane

Welcome to Easter at Charlotte and Max' house, where we had Grandma JuJu in attendance, if only for that morning.  It got off to a bang, as you can see below.  Even before breakfast, Charlotte had already gone through her Easter basket (note the bunny ears in her hair).

31 March 2013

After eating breakfast and getting dressed, Max and Charlotte were ready for their first Easter egg hunt of the day!

31 March 2013

Max took his time opening the eggs he found; it reminded me of Christmas morning, when he took forever to open his presents because he spent so much time investigating each new gift.

31 March 2013

This, of course, gave Charlotte plenty of time to hunt for eggs on her own.

31 March 2013

And whereas Max strongly prefers casual dress (hmm ... I wonder where he gets that?),  Charlotte is all too ready to dress up for a special occasion.  Above she sports a dress given her by Grandma Cheryl.


Hunting for the eggs left by the Easter Bunny in our front yard ...

31 March 2013

31 March 2013

Max proudly shows off his Easter basket, not even noticing that just behind him Charlotte has found the golden Easter egg!

31 March 2013

After dropping Grandma JuJu at the airport so that she could return to Chico, California, we went to a delightful party hosted by our friends Matt and Debbie!  Max and Charlotte dyed Easter eggs -- not to mention their hands -- for the first time ...

31 March 2013

31 March 2013

 '
... played (in the dirt) in the yard ...

31 March 2013

... and enjoyed one more Easter egg hunt!  (Note the Easter egg dye-stained hands.)

31 March 2013

I have to say that it was a pretty great day.  And we're looking forward to a lovely spring, as, I hope, are you!


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

Catching Up with Max and Charlotte

Since it's been over 5 weeks since I've last updated you on Max' and Charlotte's doings, I thought I would briefly touch on a few highlights.


While I was Back East attending a meeting of the Cassini CIRS team in Greenbelt, Maryland, Max and Charlotte got haircuts.  It was Max' second haircut and Charlotte's first.

8 February 2013

8 February 2013

Here's a picture of Max before his haircut (left) and with his new hairdo (right).

27 January 2013

17 February 2013

And here is Charlotte before (left) and after (right).

20 January 2013

17 February 2013

If you had to stare a little harder at Charlotte's before and after pictures to glean the difference, that's probably because the only reason Charlotte got her hair cut was that Max got his cut, and so she just got a little trim.


We took a visit to the Los Angeles Zoo in February.  The petting zoo is as popular with Charlotte and Max as it ever was.

17 February 2013

17 February 2013

And on this trip, we were lucky enough to be joined by our friend Ronan (and his mother Cindy, whose hand can be seen in the upper left of the picture below).

17 February 2013

Ronan wore his pajamas to the zoo.  Would that I could be equally comfortable wearing my pajamas in public!  It sure would save a lot of time in the mornings getting ready for work.


Jenn had another wonderful idea: build a sandbox for Charlotte and Max in our front yard!  I must admit that I couldn't fully appreciate her vision at the outset.  As you can see, Max and Charlotte were happy to help in the construction.

23 February 2013

February is pretty warm in Pasadena, California; so it made for pretty hot, dirty and thirsty work.

23 February 2013

Playing in the sandbox is pretty hard work, too, though it is fun!

1 March 2013

Being a Jennifer Raftery production, this is no run-of-the-mill sandbox.  It comes complete with a kitty-proof cover, which folds out into convenient seating for parents!


Max and Charlotte are getting bigger ...

7 March 2013

... but are still not yet so big that they can't both squeeze into tight places together.


And Charlotte and Max recently got to spend an evening with their cousins Patrick and Natalie, who traveled all the way down from Chico, California.

9 March 2013

9 March 2013

If Max' raised arms doesn't tell you, much fun was had!  And we're looking forward to visiting with Natalie and Patrick again.


In the meantime, I invite y'all to come visit Charlotte and Max at our home and enjoy a nice glass of wine whilst seated in their new sandbox!  It's a surprisingly relaxing way to spend a late afternoon.

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

Tiny Mini Golf

If you've ever had to keep two-year-olds entertained, you probably know how difficult a task it can be.  They tend to get bored.  So, even though I was admittedly skeptical when Jenn suggested that we take Max and Charlotte mini-golfing down in the Arroyo Seco last Saturday, I went along with it, figuring that we had nothing to lose, really.   But, as you can see, it was a terrific plan!

16 February 2013

16 February 2013

They might not have really understood the concept of the game, but it should be pretty clear that we all had a great time!  And I appreciated their unique perspective on mini golf.

I just wish that I had known that we wouldn't be able to retrieve our golf balls after sinking the final hole of the course.  Charlotte was very confused -- as was I -- and rather upset about that ... until she noticed the squirrels playing in the trees nearby and the sparrows waiting to eat the scraps of our lunch.

Sometimes, entertaining a two-year-old isn't as hard as it seems after all.

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

Seasons Greetings from Chico, California -- Part II

So where did I leave off ... uh, three weeks ago?  Ah, yes ...

We were supposed to stay in Chico for just a few more days, but we wound up spending another week there.  Clearly, Charlotte and Max, enjoying a puddle following lunch, were having too much fun to leave!

26 December 2012

We got to spend extra time with Tio Johnny and Tia Wren and Max and Charlotte's cousins, Natalie and Patrick.  And that, naturally, was a lot of fun.  Max and Charlotte really enjoy playing with them; I'm pretty sure it's mutual.  Patrick showed off his vehicles one evening.

29 December 2012

Patrick shows Charlotte his swank electric jeep (above), as Max Luke Dukes it over the hood.  We didn't leave the garage, so there wasn't any driving around.  However, there was just enough room for Patrick to give Charlotte a ride on his little motorcycle.

29 December 2012

Charlotte, playing in Grandma Judy's backyard, does a pretty good "Dumb" Donald impression, which is impressive because, not only is she not at all dumb, I'm pretty sure she's never even seen a single episode of Fat Albert!

30 December 2012

Girl cousins!  Natalie and Charlotte enjoyed playing together, too.

30 December 2012

Natalie, Patrick, Charlotte and Max and their parents and Grandma Judy visited a playground in downtown Chico before enjoying lunch on New Year's Eve.  Charlotte and Max displayed their skillz on the slide.

New Year's Eve 2012

New Year's Eve 2012

Charlotte poses with Abby at Patrick and Natalie's house on New Year's Eve eve.

New Year's Eve 2012

But we did eventually have to head home.  On the way back we stayed at Harris Ranch.   The feedlot smell notwithstanding, we had a nice evening.  Charlotte and Max woke up in good spirits.

2 January 2013

2 January 2013

In fact, it was so nice that we're probably going to stay there on our next family road trip up to Chico!


Lucy and Rufus didn't come with us.  There wouldn't have been room in the car for them, even if we'd tried to make some for them!  So they stayed in Riverside County, where they romped and played and were made (more) beautiful before they came home to us.

6 January 2013

I have to say that, despite myself, I though that the road trip was a lot of fun.  I'm really looking forward to doing it again!  And, if I know my children, I'm sure that they're looking forward to our next road trip, too ... if only for the hours and uninterrupted hours of Curious George!

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

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)