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

Kid: “Daddy, what character do you want to see when we go to Disneyland?”
Daddy: “Godzilla.”
Kid: “That’s not a Disney character.”
Daddy: “Hmmm…Bugs Bunny.”
Kid: “Who’s that?”
Daddy: “The one with the carrot who says ‘What’s up, Doc?’”
Kid: “That’s not a Disney character.”
— the kid knows her Disney properties

The main sport I watch regularly is MMA/UFC. However, I’d never been to a live UFC event until a couple of weeks ago when I went to UFC 139 at the HP Pavilion.

Some Pics I Shot:

I wasn’t disappointed. The show was a blast, twelve fights in all, with the headlining bout having the whole crowd on its feet multiple times throughout the bout. It was great seeing fighters I’d watched for years (Dan Henderson, Maurício Rua, Wanderlei Silva) in action.

I was so geeked for the event that I even went to the weigh-in that happened the day before.

Some Weigh-In Video I Shot:

BTW, I thought I’d post this “behind the scenes” video from a past UFC event. It’s a good example of the sacrifice these athletes go through:

“Mommy, where’s my goggles?” – Lucy preparing to cook

The youngest member and I were invited to a party at Filoli, an after hours stroll for members.

Madame handled her first garden party with aplomb. She enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres, particularly the crackers.

She waited patiently to go in the house,  listening to the barbershop quartet.

She was excited to go upstairs (usually not allowed, but open on this special occasion) and see the rooms up there.

In the ballroom she entertained the guests with some impromptu ballet to accompany the piano player.

She enjoyed herself so much, she didn’t want to leave…even when her tuckered mom was ready to go.

“I’m introducing Daddy to manners.”
— Lucy, successful in convincing her daddy to share his chocolate chocolate chip ice cream

We went to the Dickens Fair one last time before they closed until next year. Jill even managed to get her sister, Auntie Laura, to go.

I think Jill got some closure this time around. She finally got her chance to experience a traditional tea party with scones and cucumber sandwiches. (Lucy and I were glad they had hot cocoa.) Lucy got to revisit the carousel and do a little dancing.

Above are pics from our last day at the Dickens Fair for 2010.

Want more of the Dickens Fair? Check out the pics and video we posted last month.

We went to the Dickens Fair today, first time for Mike and Lucy, and we all had fun. Mike liked the ‘time travel’ aspect, and that the participants were so into it; Lucy liked the variety of activities for kids (especially the carousel), and any time there was music and dancing. I always love the bookstore, the costumes, the humorous stage shows, and the tea. My dad mentioned at Thanksgiving that he had once gone in costume. So it is a longstanding and now revitalized family tradition.

(here she is up on stage with Mother Goose.)

Before we popped in I browsed a victorian dictionary to familiarize us with standards and language of the day (the fair is set in Victorian London, at the time of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.) It was interesting to learn that many of our common expressions started out as Victorian slang. Everything old is new again!

It is always fun to visit London even as remotely and tangentially as this. The victoriana website’s graphics reminded me of our old favorite London Walks, if ever you are in London or near abouts these historical walks are not to be missed!

carolers at the tea shoppe

I had been going with my mom every year since they started it up again, til recently when madame came along. We (Mommy & I) would always hit up Cuthbert’s tea shoppe first, then come back around again for the special 4 o’clock tea.

This time we missed out on the tea, which is one of the best teas in the bay area.  If you want to go, make a mad dash to Cuthbert’s the moment you walk in, and make reservations for their special 4 o’clock tea. New this year, you can also make tea reservations online up to the day before. You may also pay in advance, which is helpful as they only take cash at the Fair.

crafts for kids

One more tip if you are going with kids…the carousel line is much shorter later in the day. The ride has only 5 animals and lasts pretty long, so your wait will be longer than an ordinary carousel. It has a safari theme and the ride presenter acts out their safari, which is certainly unique! The kids were enraptured, hanging on his every word. Lucy rode it twice!

Practicing trick or treating….and our pumpkins

the downtown area was well decorated…

there were loads of trick or treaters…and luckily the forecasted rain never showed!

Auntie met us there for the trick-o-treating, and a spot of lunch.

Afterwards Minnie Mouse tried her hands at the crafts. She made a bear magnet and a pipe-cleaner spider (which was her favorite).

Two streets had been blocked off to allow for stress-free kid roaming. There was even a parade!

Someone still isn’t that interested in candy…her favorite items were a cat finger puppet and the cat stickers auntie gave her. Happy Halloween!

This year the big event of the day was Lucy winning a prize at one of the game booths…a kitty cat! She has had luck on the ‘wheel of fortune’ two years in a row. Yay Lucy! I think you’ve found your game!

It was a lovely day so we all decided to have a picnic in the park, then come back home for cupcakes. It was so relaxing in the park, I forgot to take any pictures, so we’ll have to start with the cupcakes Lucy and I made…

the gang’s all here…

about to sing the birthday song…

partygoers and birthday celebrants. Happy Birthday Grandpa and Auntie!

“Wubie crushed my wand — no magic show for him!”
— Lucy’s response after she waved her ‘magic wand’ (stick with a ribbon) in front of Wubie one too many times (he destroyed it).

We went to the SJ Obon with friends recently and had loads of fun, especially Lucy…she got to dance in her first Bon Odori.

Lucy went to her first Obon fest way back in 2008, when she was still a baby. Grandmommy had suggested we go, she had cut out a clipping from the newspaper for us, and urged us to go that very day (it was a Sunday and we had been visiting her in the hospital). We went and had a lovely time. Shortly thereafter Grandmommy got out of the hospital, so we all went together to the Palo Alto Obon fest. That was about a month before she passed away in September, and it was our last big outing together.

The Obon festival is held to remember ancestors and loved ones who are gone…so it seems appropriate that we keep going in memory of Grandmommy. (Posts from last year’s visits here and here.) If she were still here, she would surely be dancing with us!

Our little girl went to her first ballet this weekend. I loved ballet when I was a kid, so this was a special moment for me. I was a bit teary-eyed when it started. It just hit me…I am with my baby…at her first ballet!

Lucy has recently started liking ballet, dancing around wearing her tutu, pretending she is Angelina Ballerina. So when the chance came to see a kid-centered ballet we took it.

The ballet we saw was the Ugly Duckling, featuring as many students as possible from the local ballet school, costumed as ducks, swans, flowers, cats, dogs, and chickens. The baby swan stole the show.

Madame behaved very well, applauding in all the right places, staying in her seat the whole time, and watching enraptured for much of it. Not bad for a 3 year old.

When I was a little girl I was obsessed with ballet, and remember asking my mom for ballet lessons…and her saying, ‘not ’til you’re 5′ (or was it 7? either way it seemed a long ways away.) And boy I held her to it!

I remember changing into my ballet clothes in the station wagon as my mom drove me to ballet from school. I remember watching the older girls in the advanced class taking pointe lessons, and dreaming of the day that would be me. I remember the wonder of seeing some of those same girls performing in the LA Ballet’s Nutcracker.

I don’t want or hope for madame to become a professional ballerina, that would be a hard life (low pay, constant aches and bruises and little time for anything else).

But I am happy that she likes ballet, and will be happy to see her studying it, and to take her to many more performances. And I can’t wait for the day when she will be the student up on stage for the first time taking her bows.