Lordy, lordy, Brian is 40!

Birthday time!!  Brian turned 40 today.  We started out with tons of friends and a BBQ at a nearby park yesterday.  Here is the rainbow unicorn cake (unicorn was not yet put in place) that was partially smashed by Robin reaching into the back seat to grab the unicorn:

We got the sports package from parks and rec.  All the kids - and many adults - had fun!

Our friend, Patrick, helped indoctrinate B to his 5th decade with some prune juice…. to keep things "running smooth."  Sage advice. 

Of course there was BBQ!

Then today celebrated with multiple soccer games and a dinner at B's parent's house. 

And one challenging game of "Sorry":

Nothing says "40" like a delicious homemade super chocolate cake:

And because his lungs are, well, 40 years old, he had help blowing out the candles. 

Happy 40th Brian*!!!!

* and David!

St. Paddy's Day: Two Views

Adults:


Kids:

Photos from Portland trip

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Auntie Tina Visits

A very good, wonderful, dear, and often missed friend visited today.  Christina "Auntie Tina" spent the afternoon and evening with us and brought, as always, lots of fun.

The girls wasted no time in wrangling her to read.



And convinced her to brave the difficult double-swing.



We had a great visit and really hope we'll get to see more of her next year!

Old Married Couple

We had some friends over for a pre-holiday easy-peasy dinner.  Erin is best buds with her classmate, A.  After dinner the kids were watching a video while the grown ups visited some more.  Caught Erin and A zoning out on the couch:

Reminds me of an old married couple crashed out after a long day. 

Halloween 2012

With an overcast day, and a few sprinkles here and there, Halloween 2012 could have been a wet one. But the rains held at bay until after the trick-or-treating. Both girls did a Halloween parade at their schools. We went to a Kindy friend's house for a dinner with a bunch of Erin's classmates, then roamed around the neighborhood with the other hordes of little ghosts, princesses, and pirates. Lots of fun, lots of candy, and a few pictures:

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WW: Friends

Quick Visit from Dalia and Zoey

Zoey and Dalia were in town with their Mom and Dad.  We went to the SF Zoo.

All the girls had a nice time, they were troopers in tromping around the entire zoo.  Only at the end did we convince them to pile into the wagon.

Surprise package!

We got a surprise package in the mail today!  It was from a dear grad school friend, Dr. Deanne. 

In it was 3 Science Magazines, 3 fresh Mad Libs, a lovely note, AND ..... a 7 pack of stick-on mustaches.

Do they make us look sophisticated or what? 

Then the girls decided to try the new facial decorations in other ways. 

Thank you, Deanne!  We're loving the 'stashes and we will have so much fun with the Mad Libs on our drive to Yosemite on Sunday!  You rock! 

Jellyfish!!!!!

Yesterday, Erin and Robin received a "Make Your Own Jellyfish" kit in the mail from their dear friend Henry.  This was awesome.  Super awesome.  

The kit: 1 balloon, 8-9 pieces of string, 10 or so pieces of tape (stuck on a laminate sheet, ingenious I tell you!) 

So simple, right.*  

Instructions: 

1. You blow up the balloon. 

2. You tape on the tentacles. 

3. You bloop bloop the jellyfish. 

Oh, was there bloop blooping!  Blooping all over the house.  Blooping at each other.  Blooping in the bath.  Such a great activity!  Thanks, Ms. Christie, and Henry.


*OK, simple yes.  But still, like most Julia Child recipes there's lots of room for interpretation.  One: I did not blow up the balloons nearly as much as Ms. Christie Illustrated.  2. I taped the tentacles on in the middle so they would be more numerous but not as long as intended.  I chalk it up to a lesson in "it was fun so it was OK." 

Triangle Breakfast

One perk of taking the gang up to PDX is we get treated very well.  This trip is no exception, with dates, visits with friends, and lots of shenanigans.

Today we were treated to brunch at the Condo.  Everything was triangle shaped and delicious.  And there was a fish.  And Erin and Hen were thick as thieves.  Nice to know some things don't change.







* Though  I brought our fancy SLR I took disappointingly few pictures.  Seriously.  There were a couple of pictures on the plane there, the first nap in the car, and these.  Quite lame. 

Babysitters!

Just to report: the girls have had their first official non-family, non-friend babysitter experience.  Twice.  In two nights.  Both nights went well, with the first night resulting in two sleeping children, and the second night a little sadness just before Mom and Dad returned.  Thank you to the Smithstanzas and the Brinkley's for setting it up!!  We had fun as adults two nights in a row.

Superbowl XLVI: live blogging edition

Erin: I'm voting for the PaintChips.

Ash: Great, that McDonald's commercial made me cry. (commercial just before kickoff)

K: I think the entire U.S. will be short of sequins for the next few months. (at halftime)

3rd Q Taste Test: Pigs in a blanket made with refrigerator croissant dough vs. biscuit dough.  Winner? Biscuit dough. Hands down.  Especially with catsup.

And how did it end up?  C says, "Suck it, Tom." word.

Little Slice of PDX comes to Orinda

We had our first official visitors last week!!!!  These guys braved the long, overnight drive to sleep on our fancy Ikea sofa bed for a few nights.



I didn't get all that many pictures, but since Christie is basically an unpaid professional photographer at this point, she took over that job.



We smooshed three car seats into the Prius and set off for adventures, checking out the Oakland Zoo, the California Academy of Sciences, and the local pool. We ate some good burgers, bacon, prosciutto,  pork. There was a lot of meat. And there was lots of talking, kid wrangling, catching up and fun. And one round of preschooler-toddler soccer:




Thanks for the great visit, Darren, Christie and Henry!   Now it's official: hotel McMiller Orinda is open for business!

McMillers Invade Sacramento, 2011 style

That's right. We took another short train trip up to Sacramento. We swam in the American river (somehow not pictured.) We ate fish n'chips. Twice. We met up with these guys. We saw the Railroad museum. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Old Town. Really, we did it all. And had a great time.

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Sisters, sisters....

Growing up sandwiched between to brothers, I always wanted coveted a Sister. Someone to share secrets, swap clothes, test out new hair styles, gossip about little bits of life. . . I am so glad I have two girls.  And while we're not trying to force a friendship between them, our job is to help them respect each other, a friendship seems to be emerging.

 Most mornings, I'm rushing trying to get everyone packed, dressed, fed, combed, brushed, pottied, dressed again because there's been a spill, you know, the regular routine.  I'll leave the girls to their own devices for a few minutes, and more and more often I'm rewarded with hysterical giggles and shrieks as they amuse themselves with a new made-up game.

The other day when Robin was napping, I was giving Erin the Marshmallow test with some jelly beans: eat one now, or wait for a period of time and eat three later. Well, she passed the test with flying colors.  And so the prize, four jellybeans.  She ate three, then asked for a baggie. I asked her if she was saving it for later, she replied, "well, I had three, so this one is for Robin."

As the saying goes, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship. 

Pen Pal

Erin has her first Pen Pal.

McMillers rock PDX

It was high time the McMillers visited the old homestead, so we packed it up and took a long weekend trip up.  We had a fantastic time with all the old gang, celebrated a big birthday of a dear friend, got to meet one handsome new little guy, introduced our newest little lady, were treated to amazing stick-to-yer-ribs food, visited old stomping grounds, enjoyed the rain, the food, and most of all the friends.

Sadly, we did not get enough pictures.  But you can see some here.  And here.  And there will be movies soon, I promise.

Here's the few good picts we did manage to get:

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Wordless Wednesday: Playdate

Magical Dr. Auntie Tina

My good friend Christina stopped by on her way to moving to NYC.  She earned the title "Baby Whisperer" (no connection to the book) by calming a crying Erin when babysitting for us when Erin was about 3 months old.  She proved it again by being one of the few adults that Erin totally horsed around with, cuddled with, and generally felt totally inhibited.  We were so glad Auntie Tina could come visit!