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So, we are a “little” behind in our posting. January/February were crazy busy work-wise and I did not have much time to do anything else. I have to prepare three new classes by June (1 down and 2 to go) and in January I also attended a class. I have a few days break, for now, so I am trying to catch up. (and yes I will lie on my date, for archival purposes).

January was a good month: attending classes instead of teaching was a change of pace, but it was fun and inspiring, and useful. While it did not leave too much free time, we did squeeze in some fun. We celebrated my birthday on the 17. I had my usual (at least for another year) day off alone the day before for Martin Luther King day — an early birthday present— which was very productive. I went to school on my birthday and celebrated in class. Matt, unfortunately, had a last minute meeting, so we had to cancel our birthday lunch…but he more than made up for it with a wonderful dinner and beautiful white orchids (which lasted ore than a month).

Keegan wrote me a nice card (with some help from dad) and we blew the candles and ate a delicious cheesecake that Keegan helped decorate.

Happy birthday mom. I love you

We concluded the celebrations with an official birthday date: we watched the Artist (the best movie this year at the Oscars) and had a wonderful dinner at my favorite steakhouse. It was fun.

Another fun January event: Keegan and I went to LA to visit the Zimmer Children Museum with Jennifer, Hannah, and “baby” Natalie. Jennifer drove in her new, spacious car (three rows of seats!) and we had a great time. I was a little nervous because it required quite a long time in a car, but Keegan did great. I guess sitting in a car seat is something he does not mind at all. The TAG books I brought for the ride back helped too.

We first stopped by Jennifer’s parents for lunch, which broke the trip and had lunch there. The museum was really nice, and Keegan and Hannah found a lot of things to do and play with.

making some music

meeting the museum’s mascot

Natalie, Keegan was here!

Keegan’s favorite thing, though, was the pirate ship/ball pit. He patiently waited to take multiple turns

We did have a great time, even if we had to miss Kenzie’s and Kelson’s birthday party. Surprisingly enough, Keegan was not too upset about it, even if they are basically his best friends. We had a special celebration for Kenzie before the weekend.

Happy Birthday Kenzie

The weather reserved us some very nice days, so we took advantage of it staying outside as much as possible. We took some nice hikes in the canyon nearby, and Keegan proved to be quite the hiker. He took on Matt’s challenge to climb up a very steep hill, and he did it, no problem, 2 times. By the second time, I was coughing up my lungs out, but he loved it. This is great, so we can plan some longer hikes soon. I can’t wait to try out our new tent.

The only sour note was a whole weekend spent nursing my two guys, who caught a nasty stomach virus. As a positive note, though, it only lasted a weekend, and Keegan got quite good at making it to the trash can or the bathroom so the cleaning up was minimal. (-: Look at them, both lying there…looking so afflicted. Good thing I did not get it too.

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Wow, another year. 2012 sounds like an important year: no, I am not talking about the Mayan calendar stuff. This leap year marks my 20th year in the US as well as my 10th year wedding anniversary.

I really hope to celebrate this year to the fullest, and to really take advantage of the extra day for something fun. So far the year started quietly, which hopefully it is a good sign.

We ushered in the new year, and kicked out the old one, with a couple of New year’s parties. We started at Jennifer’s and Dave’s house on December 30. Lina and Chuck were there too, and we had a fun afternoon chatting, and watching the children play somewhat peacefully. The dinner was great and the awesome cocktails brought me back a little to my “cocktail Tasting parties” days. Thank you Chuck and Dave. Loved the chocolate martini.

waiting to open the presents

playing with beads in their very own cardboard castle

For the kids, brownies aside, the highlight was probably when Dave brought out his old Star Wars toys…Amazing! I am not even a big Star Wars fan and I was floored. These were incredible and were completed with the figurine set, store in the Darth Vader shaped box. One of them even had a price tag still on: $54 in the early 80s which would make it probably close to $200 now. No surprise that the Lego Death Star goes for $400 now.

It took courage to let the kids play with these treasures, but they did goo. Keegan was Darth Vader of course.It was not easy to pry them apart when it was time to go.

The next morning, Keegan and I headed to a play date with Alyce (from the gym class). Both kids were a little on the whiny side, but it was fun for me and Sara to chat. This also gave Matt some time to prep for the night.

Keegan had a nice nap, and I cleaned up the house, and helped Matt getting things ready. Sometime in the afternoon, Krista, Eric and Torin arrived to celebrate, as always, the new year. Keegan was a little out of control, continuing the trend of misbehavior started in December, and even got a couple of time outs. They two, however, had a good time together.

Eating was as always a challenge, but we finally made it through.

Our original plan included driving down the bay to see Seaworld Fireworks. However, the fog that night was so thick, you could not even see the lights of the houses across the canyon, so we decided to stay put.We try to look outside the window, but we could only hear the noise.

goodbye 2011

They left around 9pm, and we quickly cleaned up a little and settle in watching Donnie Darko, one of the best movies ever; maybe it is not the uplifting movie you want to watch on new year’s Eve, but still we love it. It has a pretty amazing site too. It is an old Flash site but still incredible. If you have watched the movie, spend some time on the site: you will not be disappointed.It actually adds a lot of info to it.

We stopped the movie few minutes before midnight, so we could cheer together, and went back to the movie. We were up till past one…and we did not turned into pumpkins!

The next morning started the same way as any morning: Keegan woke us up around 6.15, and climb into bed with us for his daily milk and cuddles. I am really treasuring these moments as I know he will soon be too old to want to spend time cuddling with us, and he already starting to go play on his own a little bit on some mornings.

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, and I started with a glorious 3 hours nap. I called my parents and we all ate brunch, while I made mimosas with the leftover champagne. Once Keegan went down for his nap, I jumped in the pool. The water was a balmy 80 degrees, so it was wonderful. We spent the last vacation day (at least for Keegan and I) quietly. We tried to convince Keegan to ride his bike, the one he so desired, with little success. He humored for a total of 5 minutes. Not even his new Batman helmet, which he chose, was motivation enough.

So we just played and enjoyed our time together.

I was sad the holiday were over, but also glad that Keegan was getting back to school. He really needs the structure and his friends, and getting back into his routine, did help. He is slowly returning to his normal self.

We are looking forward to what we hope will be a great year and wishing everyone lots of happiness.

Buon Anno!

 

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We have updated our Christmas post with a few new photos from our visit to Balboa Park’s Museums on Christmas Eve. Just FYI.

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