Willkommen Friends!

 

This week we had the extreme pleasure of seeing Krista, Dan, and Sophie. They spent several days with us and each day was filled with laughter, fun, and good food. Krista and Dan moved to Hamburg, Germany a couple of years ago and Sophie was born there. She is two years old and has been traveling back and forth to the US since she was born and she speaks both English and German, so not only was their visit fun, it was educational. This is their second December visit. Last year we ushered in the new year with them, and I was extremely nauseous because I was in the midst of my evening/morning sickness while pregnant with Fi.

Their first evening here we made dinner and played together, and then Dan and Sophie fell asleep while Krista stayed up and chatted with me. The next day we took walks around the block and looked at all the Christmas displays still up. Krista made magic using leftover rice and vegetables, and a delicious goulash for dinner. The third day we went to the beach and walked around. We ate lunch at Beach House Tacos and then Sophie played in the playground while Fiona fell asleep in the Ergo carrier. Later that day both Dan and Sophie got their hair cut and we ate salmon and yams for dinner. Today I woke up to a wonderful frittata a la Krista (again!). Our friends are now off to Stanford for a month or so. It is always so wonderful to see them and spend time with them. We never get tired of them. My only regret is that I haven’t made it to Hamburg to visit them. It sounds like a very interesting place.

Here they are, walking in the rain.

 

People already discarding their Christmas trees. Isn’t it supposed to be a tradition to keep them so long that they turn brown and die?

Sophie playing with large candy canes:

Thursday was a gorgeous day! Clear and sunny, although quite windy. 

Fiona is in the ERGO. I thought the photo on the right was a good example of the stroller parking lot at the beach playground.

All along, we listened to Christmas songs like “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “Dahoo Dore”, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, and other holiday songs. We read books and played with puzzles and looked at pictures. Sophie is only two years old but extremely articulate. Watching her made me wonder what Fiona will be like at that age, and also a little sad that she won’t always be my cuddly little baby bundle.