Leticia's Birthday

In between Ethan's birthday and Alaina's Birthday, also celebrated Leticia's Birthday!   She turned 27 this year.

We had a nice family dinner and chocolate cake.

Phew, now its the end of the birthday season......Over 3 months 4 birthdays in our household.

Bring on Valentine's day!

Happy 11th Birthday Ethan!

Yesterday, Ethan turned 11.   We marked the day with a sleepover party.   This one was not quite as calm as last year--he had five guests, so it definitely took a bit longer for them to settle down and go to sleep.

The kids enjoyed pizza and create-your own ice cream sundaes.  I bought a home"escape room" game--though they cheated their way through it, I think the still had fun.   They then had some hot tub time and then watched 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

They were all awake at 6 am after settling down to sleep around 11:30.   So after a pancake and bacon breakfast, I was not sad to shoo them all out of the house.

That's approximately when Jason told me that he didn't feel well and was going to bed.   A few hours later, he emerged, saying he had a fever and so we cancelled our planned Super Bowl gathering.  

We did still manage to have a family birthday celebration tonight.   We gave Ethan a chromebook--now he has a lot of online homework, and I am a bit tired of him using my computer all the time.

His birthday dinner was crab and ice cream cake--which is what Jason usually has but couldn't this year since the crab season kicked off late.

Anyhow, I think he enjoyed himself and his party!  And it was nice to have Grandpa here to celebrate with us!

Fortune Teller

A few weeks ago, Alaina started making paper fortune tellers.   I remember making these a kid, and it is nice to see that it is still a 'cool' thing to do in this digital age.   She doesn't quite understand the fortune concept yet, as some of here fortunes were "have fun" and "thank you".   But it is cute nonetheless.

Dad's Winter Visit

Dad has been out here for about a week--and will be here for 3, return to Chicago for a bit, and then return at the end of February.  We are happy to host him and keep him away from the 17 degree weather that is currently hitting Chicago!  So even our cool winter seems warm to him.

He has been pretty active here joining several hiking groups, and trying to hit 20,000 steps per day.   We are very fortunate here to have a lot of beautiful hikes just short drives away.   It has been fun to have some extended Grandpa time too!   We are slowly working on getting him move out......

Happy 7th Birthday Alaina!

Alaina turned 7 on January 11!

We celebrated by having a big birthday bash for her on her actual birthday.   She asked to have a "sleep under" which is a like a sleepover party but instead of staying the night, the girls left at 8pm.


Alaina chose a Peter Pan theme.   We kicked off the party by decorating treasure boxes:

Then did a "Pin the Wand on Tinkerbell" game.

We enjoyed pizza and an Oreo cake for dinner, with a side of Pirate Booty and Juice.

Then we had a treasure hunt, that ended at a piñata.

Finally, the girls changed into jammies and settled down to watch Peter Pan.

Somehow, the movie finished EXACTY at 8:00.   Perfect timing.

Alaina seemed to have a blast.


On Sunday night, we did "family birthday".   Alaina picked salisbury steak and mashed potatoes for her birthday dinner!  And for dessert, ice cream sundaes.   

So, a great weekend of celebrating Alaina.

New Year's in Tahoe

We were able to finagle almost another full week off after Christmas, so we decided to head to Tahoe and go skiing.   

Before we left, we squeezed in one more celebration: Hanukkah.   Gary and Eileen cooked a delicious dinner with fresh potato latkes and a smoked brisket.   Jewish food is growing on me!!

The next day, we headed up to South Lake Tahoe.   I was particularly excited to try my new skis, and since the boys have season passes already, it was a good time to hit the slopes!

Ethan has improved a lot and can far outski me.   Alaina and I are at the same level, but I am sure before long she will be leaving me in the dust.  My skis worked great, and although I am still working on learning my parallel turns, I am hoping having some more consistent equipment will make me more comfortable….but still I stick to the green runs!

We celebrated New Year's Eve at Himmel House, a German Restaurant in South Lake Tahoe.   We almost stayed awake for East Coast New Years (9pm)!

Three days of skiing completely wore everyone out, but it was a really nice family trip.  Here’s to a great 2020!

Christmas in Chicago

The kids and I headed to Chicago on December 19 for Christmas.  They missed a half day of school each, but flying Friday or Saturday was prohibitively expensive.   In Chicago, we were busy, and the weather was unseasonably warm.   In fact, on Christmas day, it was warmer In Chicago than Marin County!!!   Very weird. Needless to say, no snow play was possible.   

We did go ice skating again—Ethan is getting quite good.   We also went downtown.    

  

Saturday night, we went to a really cool holiday light display at the Botanic Gardens.  The lights were all synchronized to music, and it was a beautiful sight.   

 

I was able to catch up with my college friends Meredith, Karen and Valerie.  We were also visited by my dad’s cousins and had a nice lunch together. 

Jason arrived late Monday night, and we had a family gathering for Christmas Eve.   Ethan and Alaina got to meet Gregory for the first time—they were so excited!

On Christmas day, we drove up to Milwaukee and brought a big lunch which we had with my Grandma and Aunt Judith.   It was great to see them both!

Finally, on the 26, we met up with old friends—Jason with his college friend Mark in the morning, and I with my high school friend Janet in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, Alaina did not join, as she was sick.   We enjoyed pizza from Pianos for dinner, which she threw up all over my dad’s bunk beds around 9pm.   Ugh.

We flew back early on the 27^th, and with good weather we didn’t have any flight delays.  Once home, Santa’s gifts were opened.  Highlights this year included a “trick scooter” for Ethan and an iPad for Alaina.   I got some skis (trying to learn downhill better) and Jason got a bunch of hiking gear.

  

Overall a nice Christmas, with some good family time!!