Chopsticks

I can use chopsticks! Cool, huh? One of mommy's friends in Chicago sent me special child chopsticks to use. I love it!

Ready For Vancouver

We had an ice storm yesterday- not much fun, but it groomed my luge track to perfection.

Let me explain- ever since mommy and daddy moved from warm Southern California to the frosty fields of Iowa 8 years ago, they are constantly asked why they left the good weather in LA. And despite the long string of sub zero days we just finished, they always reply, " we love having the seasons." I totally get that- seasons are way cool. There is always something to look forward to. Decorating for the seasons, dressing for the season, and, daddy's favorite, eating for the seasons.

There is no question that winter is the toughest season to endure. Some days, we do wish we were back in California (I'm glad we got our New Year's vacation there!). But most of the winter is wonderful- clear nights, a white blanket of snow covering the ugly bare ground, and winter sports! Daddy often says that he wished it would snow more in Iowa. When it snows, we watch it fall onto the tress, make snowmen, and go skiing. The subject of liking snow is a relatively controversial one here- about of half of Iowans love the snow and winter sports, and half hate it for the poor driving and hard shoveling that comes with it.

But there is one aspect of winter that everyone agrees on: we hate ice. To a person, we would all eagerly take snow over ice any day. And yet, unfortunately, sees plenty of ice as Minnesota gets blessed with fluffy snow. It is dangerous to walk on, dangerous to drive on, can't be scooped up with a shovel, and won't go away until a thaw. The poor doggies have their outdoor kennel door frozen open.


Just look at this driveway- what an icy mess! (that's Chelsie, my wonderful baby sitter) .

But daddy and I discovered a good thing about ice.

It turns out that the driveway coated in a bulletproof shell, just happens to be the perfect pitch for sledding! I can start at the street, get a little push, and make it all the way to the garage. And it's totally safe! Nothing to run into, no ravine to fall into, and if I get going too fast I just skid to a stop when I get to the covered garage.

IT IS AWESOME! Check out these videos:



And this one:

What do you think? Am I ready for Vancouver? I know that daddy and Ada share a special appreciation for the Winter Olympics. I look forward to cuddling with daddy on the couch and watching the luge to get some pointers!

The Three Cousins

My cousins Harper and Laura and I were all in Pasadena last weekend for Uncle Steve and Aunt Beth's engagement party. Here's a great picture of us together!

There are many more pictures from this trip to post- we'll try to get to them by the end of the weekend.

My First Visit to Disneyland!

Today, on the first day of the new decade, I made my first visit to Disneyland!  Here I am at the entrance.  I was so excited- almost as excited as daddy!

Here I am with mom in front of the castle.

We rode a few of the rides, including Peter Pan, Pinnochio, Its a Smal World, the train, the Goofy Roller Coaster, the Tiki Room, and, my favorite by far, Dumbo the Flying Elephant!

Princess Tiana and the other characters from Princess and the Frog put on quite a show!

Mommy and I enjoyed the music

We had a very special lunch at the Blue Bayou, complete with fireflies!  But I was really tired and fell asleep before the main course.  Oh well.  All the fun I had today was worth it!

I got to take home part of Disneyland with me- a really big Minnie Mouse balloon!

Christmas 2009

These are photos from Christmas 2009, the first Christmas we celebrated in our new Lake Pointe house. It was a white Christmas, of course!





Here's Mommy and me and Skye cuddling in our big Morris chair and reading one of her many new books.

Mommy and daddy made an amazing Christmas dinner, with roast duck and cherry-port sauce, endive-pear-blue cheese salad, roasted fennel, and potatoes with figs!

Here's a video of Sophie discovering a new kitchen that Santa left for her!

I love my new kitchen! Thank you Santa!!!

A Wicked Cool Pillow Fort

Mommy and daddy's sofa in their bedroom is well situated for keeping an eye on the forest and watching for my deer and owl friends.  Here's me building a pillow fort and hiding in it. 

Chicago Shopping Trip

Mommy went shopping and Daddy and I hit the Chicago Children's Museum.  It was a wonderous place- I was captivated for 4 hours and didn't want to leave when the guard came at closing time to kick us out!

We had an awesome room at the Chicago Sheraton.  Very cool.  And we ate Giordanos' famous pizza!

This is the amazing view from our room of the Chicago river and Wrigley building

this was daddy's favorite exhibit at the museum:  A tall room where you could put together foam airplanes and helicopters and use a winch to haul them to the top of the room and drop them off!  Daddy and Sophie's helicopter design stayed afloat the longest, of course!  Hey, Uncle Kurt: try to beat our record of 32 seconds of flight time!!

I got to slide down the file pole!

I wanted to feed the T rex- he looked hungry

This was an exhibit where I got to dig for dinosaur bones.  It was very cool

I dressed the snowman- he looked cold!