Less than Twelve Parsecs

This morning Fae had some special quiet one-on-one time with Mommy and Daddy. Why? It just happened naturally, she looked awfully cute and sweet after morning nursing, so we just cooed at each other for a long time until Daddy walked in on us. He said: Honey, we need to pack . and naturally lied down in my place to coo with Fae instead, while I got up and started packing. Several minutes later Mara and Gaius excitedly walked into the bedroom of the chalet because they wanted to see Fae. She scrunched her face into a little frown, and started to prepare to almost cry. I say that so awkwardly, because it was how it happened, she never really got to do the actually crying, just that preparation to fuss and get upset. Greg changed her position and she relented. Or maybe she saw Mara's bright smile and was ok. After packing everything up and finally starting to drive to catch her early nap for the ride back, or friends texted us to say Happy Monthiversary to Fae! we had sillily forgotte...

We spent the last day of 2019 sledding down Snowmans Hill Summit   at Mt. Shasta. Fae was a sweet heart and came along and napped the entire time, trying to grow into her giant outfit: Happy New Year everyone!!! Here's some more glimpses of our day: Mara and her tiny but well proportioned snow man: Gorgeously tall trees all around, compared to Greg and the kids: Boys going down the hill: Mara on her own: And the beautiful human-size nutcracker at our resort - photo taken by Mara:

Mara is about to turn 6. Just a few more weeks until the happy date, but she's already there mentally and physically. This summer she went: Kayaking at camp - first in her age group to kayak on her own without an adult during this whole summer, according to her camp instructors Biking on mountain trails - yes, she started biking with no training wheels after several months of sparse strider bike rides, and is so smooth at it now! Stand-up paddleboarding ( SUPing at Shoreline Lake ) which I've personally never even attempted. Greg got his opportunity to try it for the first time just this week, same location, with his coworkers. Horseback riding on Wizard who is a 30yo mare at Garrod Ranch . She can read piano music and play several songs with two hands on it - whenever she's patient and rested enough :-). She figured out the notes of "Doe, a Deer" and wrote them on sheet music one afternoon. Can swim end-to-end in the pool at swim class in a bunch of dif...

Last night, Greg and Gaius went in Gaius's room for bedtime. After the lights were out and they were lying down, in the neighboring bedroom Mara had some sort of emotional breakdown when an item she wanted was two feet away (thus absolutely out of reach for ever and ever). Loud crying ensued, with crocodile-worthy tears. Here's the boys' assessment of the situation, from Gaius's bedroom: Gaius: Mara. Waah-waah. Baby. Gaius: Mara. Ice. Mee-Mee. Greg: Does Mara need ice and Amy*? Gaius: Yeah. * Amy is one of Gaius's teachers at school.

We've had a little fish tank for the past three years, and two of its long-living inhabitants are Zebra Danio fish. Last weekend, we noticed that the female had a veeery large belly. So Mara and I watched some YouTube videos on how they breed . It turns out they make fish eggs, not giving birth to live fish. This is called "spawning". According to the information we found, the parents are likely to eat the fish eggs if they see them. So, to avoid infanticide, we needed to place a net right below the parents that would allow the eggs to drop down quickly to safety. Here's our setup: We placed the lady and gentlefish in the tank with about two inches of water over the net. They started their little dance: Then we waited. About three days later, when we were about to declare that the fish parents were dancing just for fun, and that we would have to try again, our friends came over and spotted little dots in the water. At first, they were very sti...

Gaius and Mara went through the same class at their school, just two years apart. It so happened that one of the teachers was part of the classroom staff for both kids during their second year of life! We feel blessed for all the learning and bonding opportunities this created.  This week, the teacher went back down on memory lane when Gaius was posing on top of a big climbing structure, just like Mara used to do. Here's the comparison:

This is Grandma Tammy; Mara's exact words were "Daddy, this is your Mommy".

Mara: I want to make Icecream! Greg: I don't know how to make icecream, Mara. Mara: Ask the Internet how to make icecream! Greg: What's the Internet? Mara: The Internet is somebody that teaches people how to make icecream.

Sea otters in Monterrey Bay are so very special. The species was almost extinct after being hunted for the outstanding coat, but thanks to recent conservation efforts the population is finally in the rise. We went to visit their home in Elkhorn Slough , and got to see their slough-mates as well. Here are some snapshots and fun facts we learned from our naturalist guide. Meet our little "Otter Spotter". When Mara saw an otter in the water, she held her Otter Card way up high to let everyone know, and pointed to the animal so we can see it. We needed to be very quiet because otters are sensitive to sound. Irina, Otter Spotter Mara and the Otter Card Sea Lions: - Very social, like to pile up on each other - One of them was giving an important speech to the other as we were taking photos - Unlike seals, they have little ear flaps! - They have large front flippers so they can climb on rocks and piers - All the ones here are males; all the females are on ...

First time at Gilroy Gardens : gorgeous setting, sunny day, happy kids, and guns that shoot bubbles. A gun that makes bubbles. What could go wrong? Relax, you're in good hands. I dare you. Shoot me! Shot. Gaius: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Mara: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Gaius kept coming back here to see the waterfall, each time more enthusiastic.  Assassin stance. This was totally spontaneous, and to our knowledge she has not had exposure to these sort of toys before. Scary good.  Mara's very first ride on her own without a parent.  This ferris wheel turned out to be very high up - gorgeous view of the mountains. However, at the end of the ride they stopped us at the top for several minutes which was unnerving with this wiggly one trying to climb out. Very fun ride in rotating cups on the river. We were not sure if Gaius would sit strapped in on his own, but he did wonderfully!