Sweaters

Thanks Nana for the lovely sweaters you knit!

Clara running

Another fun picture of Clara in motion, this time running back from the park (in December).

Nona & Clara

Nona & Clara enjoying a moment on the purple bench, back in late December.

Clara in motion

and here's a picture of Clara on the littlest merry-go-round ever. She loved it.
(from our trip to Fairyland for the lights)

Fairyland Lights

Back in December we went to the Holiday Lights extravaganza at Fairyland with Molly's buddy Chaidan. The girls loved being there at night, and Molly really got into the Christmas stuff. She kept angling for celebrating it at our house: after a few questions about why we didn't have a Christmas tree (because we don't celebrate Christmas) she finally announced "I think next year we should celebrate Christmas." She also really liked the dressed up characters - especially the reindeer.

Backyard Fun (December 2009)

Some pictures from a morning in the backyard in December. (Molly in purple, Clara in blue)

Lego Reindeer

Molly has been making lego sculptures for ages, but in the past few months the sculptures have taken on more and more recognizable shapes. When I saw this sitting in the living room I thought Uncle Nouri had made it with her. Turns out she made it on her own and told him the whole story of what it is: a reindeer pulling a sleigh, with a man (Santa?) in it.

Happy Birthday Opa!

Dance Class

Last fall Molly moved up to an older age-group gymnastics class. That session she ended up being the only one in the class. The coach really pushed her and she did a lot of pretty cool stuff. And then she asked to go back to dance class. Not sure if it was related, but since there was a dance class with space we decided to try a few weeks.

Below are some pictures from their final "performance". Lots of costume changes and running around. It was really really cute. And yes, my daughter is the only girl in the class not wearing a tutu. When the session was over she asked to go back to gymnastics. Again, not sure if there's a connection there. But back to gymnastics she's gone, and her class has more kids, but the coach still pushes them all. she seems to enjoy it and is looking forward to this year's spring show!

Adventure Playground with Uncle Nouri

When Uncle Nouri was here we took him down to Adventure Playground for some fun with the girls - Clara enjoyed the painting, and Molly got more adventuresome with some of the climbing and balancing ropes. It was sweet to see her still playing with the trucks.

Mural Planning

Here's Uncle Nouri & Molly working in his sketchbook together on what would become the plans for the mural. I recently gave Molly a sketchbook that's all hers, and she takes sketchbook working very seriously. I think it was reinforced by seeing Uncle Nouri working in his sketchbook and talking to her about what he does in his.

At the Park with Friends (December)

Another trip to a park - this time with friends - back in December.

New Year's Eve

The traditional Zander new years celebration was held at our house this year. We were honored to host. It included the specially designed and hand-crafted candelabra by Opa, who once again had to fix a few broken arms. The girls got a little overwhelmed with the presents, candles, and all this talk of new years and old years. But overall, they held it together admirably.

Photos:
- Blowing out the old year (L-R around the circle: Nouri, Molly, Zach, Sofi, Clara)
- One of the many exciting wrapping jobs. This one by Nouri.
- Clara, Zach, & Molly pose with the candles and lights.

Uncle Nouri's Mural

During his last few days visiting here Uncle Nouri worked with Molly to design a mural for the wall by her top bunk. Molly even did some sketchbook work to express her ideas, and then Nouri painted it. The end result was to everyone's liking. Thanks Uncle Nouri!

No Parents Day

When the parents are out, the kids will play...

The stars aligned for a perfect getaway. While we had the house packed with relatives, Zach and I decided it was a great time to leave. On our own! In the last week of December, Zach and I left the girls in the very competent care of Nona, Opa, and Uncle Nouri for a day and a half. It worked wonderfully. First, everyone had a few days to get used to each other. The girls got used to the relatives. The relatives got used to the girls. Then we slipped away. It looks like they had a pretty good time without us. They had some silly play time at the park, and some serious fun at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Photos: Clara, Molly, & Nouri at the park; Clara & Molly; Uncle Nouri doing silly swing pushes with the girls; Uncle Nouri shows Clara the amazing view at the Hall of Science; Uncle Nouri shows Molly the amazing view at the Hall of Science; Uncle Nouri + a tree + the east bay + fog + SF/Peninsula; Uncle Nouri & the girls examine something at the Hall of Science - I assume it was something scientific.

Zach and Sofi day

And this is what we did without the kids: enjoyed a leisurely paddle in Tomales Bay; stayed at a lovely cottage in Point Reyes Station; enjoyed a hike on the beach near Point Reyes; took a long drive through the countryside after buying fresh oysters on the bay (not pictured).