After we enjoyed the early April birthday festivities & dance recitals, it was back to the usual cuteness around here...the kids love looking through Daddy's Marvel encyclopedia...
Hanging with Grampa & Granma who came up for Vianne's birthday
(Oliver gets a kick out of adults sitting on the floor :-) )
Kisses for big sister!
'Cause Mama likes a clean-cut boy, Oliver got his first hair trim this month! Just a little off the bottom. He did really well standing there for several minutes!
Presents from the Hsiehs! :-)
On "tax day" we went over to our favorite castle park in South Natomas and hit it right when the roses were at their best. This is my new favorite Natomas locale! The wafting smell of roses was intoxicating!
We had a fun & much needed day out as family, heading eastward to the cute touristy town of Nevada City. We found this great French/American cafe where the lovely waitress doted on our kids, keeping them in good spirits for the lunch (we don't eat out a lot any more 'cause they don't always do so well). Still thinking about that brie crepe I ordered!
Window-shopped our way down to the ice cream shop...
Afterwards, we went on a refreshing short hike a few miles away
Back at home, all smiles for Daddy
I made some 'foam dough' to keep the kids occupied while I cleaned the kitchen...
...then I had the other side of the kitchen to clean!
Because the dirty kitchen floor is as good a place as any to read your Richard Scarry book...
My sweet silly boy showing off some moves...
Vianne said, "Mama, we're sitting in the chair together! Come take a picture!"
We had a low key but very nice anniversary this year on the day of, a Sunday starting out with a croissant bread pudding recipe I'd been wanting to try...which was every bit as delicious as you would think, I promise you. Will definitely be making that one again.
It was a gorgeous day for January so after church & lunch we took an afternoon stroll with the kids and stopped by one of the many neighborhood parks...
Once the kids were nestled in their beds, we indulged in delivery from Pete's, one of our favorite local places that we no longer go to because the kids both screamed through dinner last time we tried - did I post that out loud? - and it was scrumptious!
Fast forward a few weeks: Patrick's parents were visiting Valentine's weekend so they watched the kids the Monday after (also President's Day) while we headed down to explore a bit of Sacramento and enjoy some time sans kids. It was another gorgeous day!
We first toured Sutter's Fort to learn a bit of our new homeland's history
(I always love it when the shadow from the sun on your nose makes it look like your front teeth are missing...)
After the fort, we took a meandering walk towards our lunch destination and discovered all sorts of fun things in Sacramento...first, turtles!
Beautiful flowers and amazing old buildings & houses everywhere. Very fun to explore a place we know nothing about, with no agenda.
So our goal was to get to this French cafe that Patrick had found online. As we're approaching the street, we see this fabric-walled "building" with this super-chintzy red tree on top, and I say, "If it's the one with the red tree, I'm going to be disappointed." Well, it was. But worse than the red tree, it was dark & lifeless inside and the front door was locked, and although it was supposed to be open, there were no signs explaining the closure. Ironically, the name of the cafe was Plan B. So..."Plan B" it was! Off to another restaurant!
We wound our way through several interesting neighborhoods to the highly reviewed Red Rabbit.
If you like your solitude - and we do - the Monday after a Sunday Valentine's Day (or was it because it was President's Day and downtown offices were closed?) is ideal...we were two of about six customers, thus very well attended to. The downside about going on a holiday after a holiday is that they're out of a lot of stuff and the deliveries are on hold 'til non-holiday schedules resume. Nonetheless, after a few tries at ordering, we ended up with a delicious meal - I had an excellent Reuben that rivals McMenamin's and Patrick had a chicken sandwich that makes my mouth water to think about again.
Another meandering walk in search of a cupcake shop that was no longer there introduced us to many more unusual sights of Sacramento...
...and in the end we concluded that exercise & fresh air was better than dessert any way. A lovely time all around!
We had a fun & much needed day out as family, heading eastward to the cute touristy town of Nevada City. We found this great French/American cafe where the lovely waitress doted on our kids, keeping them in good spirits for the lunch (we don't eat out a lot any more 'cause they don't always do so well). Still thinking about that brie crepe I ordered!
