Back in January we hosted a birthday party for madame.

This year’s theme was Beatrix Potter. Everyone wore masks of different Potter characters, and we had tea, sandwiches, scones and cakes for the party.

We played with some of her new presents…

and had a rousing game of impromptu ‘balloon ball’ too!

Some January kidspeak:

“Whatever food you’re making I’ll be in time for.”
— the kid’s response to “Breakfast is ready!”

Dad: “Look! We’re going through the castle. That’s the portcullis.
Do you know what that is?”
Kid: “Yes.”
— a conversation as we enter Disneyland

“Why does your hair look like a little crown, Dad?”
“Why does your hair look like fireworks?”
“What did you say about your hair looking like the water show?”
— the kid riffs on her dad’s hair

January was pretty fun. In addition to the kid celebrating her fifth birthday, we also had a fun trip to a little place called Disneyland.

January Happenings:

• We celebrated the new year with a trip to the beach
• We wrote about a letter from Santa
• The kid and her mom saw the SF Nutcracker
• We posted a Disneyland video

January Book Readin’:

A Storm of Swords

The Killer of Little Shepherds

Movie Watchin’:

Midnight In Paris

50/50

Crazy, Stupid Love

Fish Story

TV Gazin’:

Downton Abbey, Season 1

Downton Abbey, Season 2

Here is it, and above it, her actual silhouette.
The lady who cut the silhouette did it freehand with a pair of surgical scissors. Pretty amazing!

Next time we’re at Disneyland we will be sure to get another.

“That was exciting!”
— the kid, as we leave Disneyland’s “Soarin’ Over California”

“Nice one, Dad!”
— the kid comments on her dad’s use of a hair dryer on his shoes after a rainy day at Disneyland

Here’s another video with pics from our Disneyland trip.

Music Used:

• “It’s A Small World“, “The Aristocats“, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious“, and “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers“, from the Sherman Brothers Songbook performed by various artists and written by the Sherman Brothers

“It’s a hotel after all.”
— the kid, when asked to name her favorite Disneyland ride

We just spent four days at Disneyland and I’m actually quite surprised to say that we happily would’ve spent even more time there.

I’m sure we’ll be posting lots of words and pictures. For now, here’s a video of our time there.

“Ow! Oww! Those are real owws!”
— the kid provides commentary while her mom combs the tangles out of her hair

The kid’s been interested in building forts since she was a wobbly toddler.

She’s constantly strewing blankets precariously over assorted fixtures around the house, creating little canopied bunkers from which she can hide (and sometimes) plot and plan capers against her unsuspecting parents.

She can be very single-minded while in “fort creation mode”, with zero qualms about sneaking up to a happily napping parent and sprinting off with said parent’s warm and toasty blanket.

I have to admit, her fort-building prowess has increased exponentially over the years.

Though she’s still a sneaky little blanky thief.

This year’s Christmas spectacular at Filoli was themed around owls and woodland creatures. Our favorites! Here are some pics from the magical event.

We went to the San Francisco Nutcracker this year, and had a wonderful time!

This was our little one’s first time at the SF Ballet, she saw the San Jose version of the Nutcracker last year, after her first ballet last summer.

Here are some pics from our adventure.

After the performance, madame felt like dancing…as did other kids we saw twirling out of the Opera House.

We weren’t allowed to take pics during the performance of course, but you can watch it online or on dvd.

“If you keep waving quickly your hand feels soft, least it does for me.”
— the kid explains her waving technique

Here are a few more pics from a recent trip to the beach. I played a bit with ‘em, striving for more of a vintage look.

The two girls, carefully navigating their way down a few wobbly steps on their way to the sand.

Jill at low tide under a big grey sky.

I like this subdued color look a lot. Many of my earliest childhood memories have this look. Blame Kodak film, I guess.

The kid sketches in the sand.

More fun with driftwood.

New kid, old look.

Saying goodbye to the beach.

Back in October madame wrote a letter to Father Christmas.  She drew her wishes in her letter, and asked me to add subtitles just to make it crystal clear.

She very carefully wrote the name on the envelope, but got a bit tired after writing so small and running out of space, so I helped a bit and added the north pole.

Here is the response she got…

Lovely drawing of Father Christmas and the reindeer…

Here is the postmark from Santa’s post office, and the stamp…

The letter was sealed with sealing wax…we have been thinking about getting our own sealing wax ever since we saw it.

She paid careful attention to his recommendation about an early bedtime on Xmas eve, she was in bed and asleep by 6:30 p.m.!

Did she get what she wanted? She did get a toy cat in her stocking, and was very pleased. Thank you Father Christmas!