Introducing Little Bird

  • March 3, 2013 3:38 PM

I never really made a formal announcement about expecting another member to our family on our blog, but here she is…

Little Bird, just a few hours old

Little Bird was born in the wee hours on February 27th. The birth was quick and easy, and Mama and baby are doing great. We’re all back home now – resting, relaxing, and getting to know each other better. Pumpkin is very excited to be a big sister.

Meeting her big sister and grandmother

Resting Mama and baby

There are more posts (and photos) to come, but we have been using our quiet time to take it easy.

In the meantime:

 

Aloha from Kauaʻi, Hawaii

  • January 31, 2013 8:49 PM

This is actually a blog post for a trip we took in October, our last flying trip before Pumpkin turned two years old and we had to buy her a seat. We just now finally posted our photos — part of the delay is because that stage of pregnancy is never flattering and I vetoed all photos showing my waist. The other part was that we really tried to ignore our camera obsession on the trip and just enjoy ourselves. We did ignore it, but unfortunately, it means we don’t have very many pictures that show how truly beautiful it was there.

We stayed on the island of  Kauaʻi, the Garden Isle, and spent our days swimming, reading, and napping. On the last day, just before we left, Pumpkin finally swam underwater by herself. She loved playing in the ocean (on a raft) and in the hotel lagoon where she could stand up by herself.

Our Hotel

We explored several beaches around the island, our favorite being Ke’e Beach on the very north end. The water was so calm and clear. We also explored a red canyon in the middle of the island, called Waimea Canyon. In the middle is a volcano called Mount Wai’ale’ale, which is said to have the highest amount of rainfall per year. It was quite a contrast from the red clay canyon surrounding it.

Beautiful scenery

One of the most interesting parts of our adventure was discovering the wild chickens and roosters all over the island. They were everywhere – at the beaches, in the parks – just like pigeons. This, of course, made Pumpkin very excited to be a rooster for Halloween (another unphotographed event).

Wild Chicken

Growing up on the East coast, Hawaii always sounded like such a far off exotic destination. But living in California now, flying to Hawaii seems like nothing. We hear of friends taking week-long get aways there yearly. We call this our scouting trip, in that we’ll definitely be back.

Happy Girls

The rest of our trip photos are on PicasaWeb:

Birding at Klamath Basin

  • January 29, 2013 11:17 PM

A couple weekends ago, we made a spontaneous trip to the northern edge of the state. I had read about bald eagles migrating through the Klamath Basin in the November issue of Family Fun magazine and we scooted on up there to see it for ourselves. We were a little early in the migration, but didn’t want to wait too long with only a month to go in my pregnancy. Despite our timing, we still saw plenty of bald eagles (about two dozen), and lots of other wildlife. Plus, we got to play in the snow and see some beautiful views!

Bald Eagle

Rough-legged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

We also got the chance to watch a ton of Canada Geese, a Kestrel, a Buffelhead, several coyotes, a large herd of deer, a couple of raccoons, and 2 barn owls.

You might wonder how our chatty two-year-old fared. She did great! We are slowly turning her into a birder. Our birding mostly took place on the auto tour routes around Lower Klamath and Tule Lakes, where we could drive slowly, park, and wait. When we spotted something, Thomas would use the scope or camera on the tripod and I would use the binoculars. The nice part about this was that I got to hide in the car longer – it was 10-30 degrees throughout the day!

Pumpkin played with her baby doll in the backseat, read books, and worked on “making her magazine” (a Star Wars coloring and sticker book), or napped. She liked talking about all of the animals, but honestly, I think she had a hard time seeing them unless they were right next to us. She liked playing in the snow though, and she really enjoyed the visitor center which had stuffed/taxidermied versions of many of the animals we saw. There, she was able to get right up close and study them.

Hiding in the warmth

The views were just gorgeous! I haven’t seen snow for quite a while, and especially not out in the middle of the countryside.

View from the nearby Lava Beds National Park

It was a wonderful family trip and a great way to start out the new year.

More photos from our trip are posted on PicasaWeb:

Recent Snapshots of our Life

  • January 24, 2013 5:46 PM

This is a typical sight on our neighborhood walks. We have a boxing gym in our neighborhood and every time we pass, Pumpkin stops to watch them warm up. Thankfully, the boxers have been very friendly and waved, despite her gawking.

This photo shows a common sight in our house that happens around 6:30 every evening, when Thomas comes home from work. Pumpkin ususally pulls out her drum or horn (a cardboard tube) and tells Papa that she’s going to play a song for him. The swimsuit was an added bonus this particular day, as she insisted on it, despite it being sweater-weather outside.

This last snapshot is actually a video (click the picture to play the video) of Pumpkin discussing Star Wars characters. Though she hasn’t seen more than just a couple brief clips, this is a big topic of discussion for her. She gets all of her facts from a favorite book, Star Wars ABC. The blue hair was from preschool. They’ve started painting and she seems to prefer painting herself more than paper or canvases.

Walking Sticks at Mori Point

  • January 6, 2013 9:37 PM

We went for a short hike at Mori Point today in Pacifica in search of California red-legged frogs. We didn’t see any, but we got to hear several singing a song together. We walked out to the beach and then quickly turned back due the cold wind. Pumpkin insisted on carrying a stick the whole way, using it as a walking stick, a vacuum, Bailey the dog, a witch’s broom, a cup to cheer with, and an instrument for doing “silly walks.”

A couple more photos from the hike are here: