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Recently we went on a mini vaca to Palm Springs.  It was a nice escape from our San Francisco Summer.  The sun felt SO good! When we left I believe it was 106 degrees.  Ahhh…

[Maddox in a hanging basket chair at The Parker]

We were there for only 3 nights, but I felt refreshed and relaxed upon our return. The warm nights are the best part of hot weather if you ask me.  It feels so good to be in a tank top at 9pm and still feel the heat on my skin.

Here is a shot of Maddox and Josh taking a moment to enjoy the hammock.

Maddox and Riley pick up a game of Bocce…

(The metal balls are VERY heavy for a 1 1/2 year old!)

Next up, Maddox and Damon play a game of Giant Chess!

We got back from Hawaii a few weeks ago. Things have been a little bumpy since we’ve been home in terms of sleep, and health. We have all been dragging a bit. Its hard to tell if it is sickness trying to take us down, allergies, or just general exhaustion. All of a sudden Maddox no longer wants to sleep in his own bed, and on top of that he wakes up crying . He is not hungry when he wakes up, so the pediatrician is guessing it is teething pain waking him. Awesome.

Here are some cute photos from Maui:

Maddox and I recently took a trip down to LA to visit our dear friend Keiko who will be leaving us for Japan, forever. We will miss her terribly! I wanted to make sure we had some quality time together and with the babies before she left.

It was the first time Maddox flew on an airplane, and being the brave person I am, I did it alone. It actually went pretty well. There was a bit of crying in both directions, but it didn’t last long, and I kept my cool. He was a perfect little baby through the airports, check-in, security etc. He was even a little angel during our 3 hour delay on the way home! I just know I’m going to get payback when he becomes a toddler. No kid can be this good!

Since somehow this turned into how great my kid is, I may has well tell you all how well he has been sleeping recently. Only one night in the last 4 nights has he not slept at least 8 hours in the first stretch. He was a pretty awesome sleeper before LA too, but I don’t remember the details. Somehow details fade quickly. But all in all his sleep patterns have been starting to regulate and actually have a pattern. The biggest trouble spot is his afternoon nap. The timing is pretty unpredictable, and once he is asleep he can’t be moved without waking. So if he falls asleep nursing, he is on my lap for his nap. If he falls asleep in the carrier, I’m stuck walking around with a heavy sleeping baby. If he falls asleep in the car, he is good until we pull into the garage and turn off the car. 

An afternoon at Downtown Disney…

Dallas’ company had their holiday party at Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney, a place I never knew existed before. I had a good time seeing all my friends, but left the whole Disney compound left me feeling generally unimpressed and overspent. I am pretty sure I would have felt differently had I actually gone to California Adventure or Disneyland itself. But we just rolled in Friday and back out on Sunday. 

Maddox and I at the lunch table:

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel Christmas Tree:

 

 

This past weekend Dallas and I were in Philadelphia for my good friend Alisa’s wedding.  It was gorgeous and a lot of fun.  I’m glad were were able to make it out there.  It was neat reuniting with old friends from college.

Here is the ONLY blog entry I ended up writing while we were in Thailand. Sorry I’m posting it so late and sorry its the only one. If you are dying to read more about the trip check out Riley’s Blog and idallas.com. They are both packed with info and photos.

Feb 15
Fly to Phuket – Mom Tri’s Boathouse – 1 night
We arrived late in the day to The Boathouse. It was already about 4:30 pm and the better part of the sunny day was over. This is our first beach destination and we wanted to make the most of it. We had about 1 1/2 hours before our dinner reservation and used it to play in the ocean, then a quick dip in the heart-shaped pool. The water is a little murky off Kata Beach, which presses right up against the hotel patio. We used the snorkel gear for a short bit, but there was no wildlife to speak of – except for something that kept stinging us all. Just little annoying pinchy sensations on our skin. It was possibly some sort of mini jellyfish. The scenery was beautiful and it was nice to be in a place where relaxation was the key activity.

The restaurant here at Mom Tri’s Boathouse apparently won some sort of Wine Spectator wine list award. We originally chose this hotel because it is said to house the 3 best restaurants on Phuket. Dinner was fine. Not really good, but fine. They seemed to think they were a fancy french restaurant by the way the menu read. I read about 5 dishes that had some sort of velouté sauce. It had the chance of being wonderfully delicious, or a failed mess. —– Lets just say, we are terribly lucky to live in the food mecca that we do. We are able to enjoy fresh seasonal produce from farmers who pour their passion into their product. We have cheeses, meats, wine, breads, pastries, all from artisanal producers… Basically the San Francisco Bay area has some of the best food in the world and I am reminded of this pretty much every time we leave California.

Photos of BMan ’07 are posted. They have actually been posted for a while, but you would only know that if you had clicked the “My Photo Gallery” link on the right column of this page and browsed for yourself.

This photo is of the Double Rainbow that appeared one day. Pretty cool.

Its official. I’m able to go to Burning Man this year. I took one year off while Dallas went, then last year we both took the year off for our honeymoon – so I’ve missed the last 2 years! Crazy. I had written off being able to go anytime soon (this decade), but turns out I’m going in 2 1/2 months! Yay!

I’m super excited. Since the primary mode of transportation on the Playa is a bicycle, we have decided to upgrade to a tricycle. It will be sort of like a chair on wheels. Plus we can also easily haul things like ice and beverages around. The theme this year is The Green Man, so of course the bike will be green and decked out in green EL wire.

See you on the Playa!

We went camping this weekend. Charlotte the dog came along for the ride. Camping with a dog is not as easy and natural as it sounds. First of all we had to rent a bigger car to accommodate her and her stuff. When we went to pick up our rental “Standard SUV” they surprised us with a FREE upgrade! How fun! usually… The new upgraded utility vehicle was an H3! A hummer! and it was bumble bee yellow! Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to drive and had leather interior, seat warmers, Satellite radio etc. But in SF driving around in such an impractical car leads to disappointing looks. I couldn’t wait to leave the city and get out to the country. Once out in the country, we stuck out even more in our city slicker yellow hummer. To top it off we also had the biggest tent known to man-kind! it has 3 bedrooms!

So for Charlottes stuff we a bag with toys, her bucket with food, all of her dishes and water and treats, a few leashes, her beds, a crate, a metal play area, and a long rope for tying her off. sheesh! not exactly roughing it! and especially for a dog. but it made our life easier having options. she is quite a handful sometimes. All of the new scents and critters had her going on overdrive.

On Saturday we went for a walk which turned out to be a little more adventurous than originally intended. The destination was “The Gorge” (A river-y area). We eventually made it, but we really pooped out the poor puppy! When we got back to camp she dug herself a nice hole in the dirt, crawled in, and slept for a long time.