Category Archives: Maggie

Bucks Lake, CA

We made it to our Bucks Lake campsite on Friday and stayed through Sunday. We rendezvoused with a group of friends from the Bay Area. It was so great to catch up with old friends, make new friends, eat gourmet camp meals, and sit around the fire. It was a fitting culmination of the camping portion of our trip. Looking forward to a bed by the Pacific when we head to Bodega Bay next!

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One of our new friends was Ella, Noemi and Jen’s dog.
Maggie lounging.
Maggie lounging. This shot, as well as the featured image at the top of this post, are by Katie McCall. See her flickr album for more of her beautiful shots from this camping trip.
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Cool evenings demanded a roaring fire.
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Noam and Ely about to emerge.

The trip has exceeded our expectations in every way, but lest it appear unrealistically idyllic, I provide this evidence of woe (due, I think, to a stubbed toe):

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“But I don’t like wearing my shoes!”

First Ice Cream Truck of 2014

A lovely, warm, Saturday evening, clouds looming with impending rain, the chimes of the ice cream truck arrived at the perfect moment.

(Griffin notes that this wasn’t really the first ice cream truck of 2014; it was the first one where we bought ice cream. )

Ice cream on the stoop
Ice cream on the stoop

Poor Turtles!

When Sarah told Griffin that she was eating a “Turtle Bar,” he frowned and asked,

“Is there really a turtle in there??”

(He’s convinced that we are bent on the destruction of turtles; see our recent post about Spicy Turtle Blood.)

Sarah with her turtle
Sarah with her turtle bar

Maggie’s 2nd Birthday

Maggie’s birthday, just a few days after Griffin’s rescheduled party, was a lower key affair, but fun for all of us. It began with some presents in the morning before Andrew went to school. Then a pancake breakfast with Caroline and Griffin. Then, by Maggie’s request, an expedition to Adventure Peak. After Andrew got home, we all headed over to the Highland Grill for dinner. Finally, a cake perfectly sized for a two-year-old.

Cream

At French Meadow this morning Sarah asked for some cream with her coffee. When the cream arrived, Maggie turned around and patted her rear, saying, “Butt!” We were confused. She pointed at the cream, and again patted her tush, “On my butt.”

She thought it was diaper cream!

Griffin’s 5th Birthday

It’s been a rather extended celebration this year. We began on Griffin’s actual birthday, April 8, with cinnamon rolls for breakfast and family presents at dinner. Then he was honored at both of his preschools.

Maggie with pinkeye
Maggie with pinkeye

Then Sarah baked a spectacular cake for his party on Saturday, but the kids both woke up with pink eye and we had to cancel the party! (Noooooo! But we ate the cake, which made it ok.) We rescheduled the party for the following weekend and this time everything worked out, including an even more magnificent cake. (Six layer rainbow cake with all natural ingredients? No problem.) And grandma and grandpa presented a new bike. Woohoo!

Click on the pics for larger versions.

What has Griffin learned? Birthdays last for three weeks and include numerous celebrations, multiple cakes, magic bunnies that hide eggs, lots of chocolate, and special trips to the ice cream shop (those last tidbits were for Easter and my birthday, but the distinctions may not mean much to him). We’re setting ourselves up for success here. 🙂

Flat Raven

Dear Raven,

Original letter from Raven
Original letter from Raven

A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from you. Inside the letter was Flat Raven! We took pictures of Flat Raven. It was so fun. We can’t wait to share them with you.

The first place we went with you was Hidden Falls Park on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It’s so fun because the roots of the trees are pulled up and we can climb in them and slide down them sometimes. We even hide in them while playing hide-and-seek. Did you know that the Mississippi River starts in Minnesota? It starts at a place called Lake Itasca, but it goes by not far from our house. We ride our bikes to the river sometimes.

Next we went to play with Richard, a friend of mine. We played at his preschool which is very close to my preschool, the Dodge Nature Center. Both schools have animals and lots of nature. We play outside a lot. We played a game called Grumpy Old Troll which is the same as Tag.

After we got home, we decided to walk to a Thai restaurant for dinner. This Thai restaurant is on a street called Grand Avenue not far from our house, just like the Thai restaurant we used to eat at with you in Oakland on Grand Avenue! On our way to the restaurant we found a cool purple chair beside someone’s house. My favorite Thai food is Pad Si Yew. It has big brown wide noodles. It’s so yummy!

On Thursday night we had a really big snow storm. Some places got more than a foot of snow, but we only got about six inches. Whenever it snows, we like to sled to my preschool. We took you along for a ride in Maggie’s sled. We know that it doesn’t snow very much where you live, so we thought you would enjoy this fun part of winter.

Love,

Griffin

 

Winter Wrap-up Gallery

Clearing out a backlog of winter photos. Click for larger versions.