Lucy: “Here’s the book: 1001 things to find in Fairyland.”
Mom: “Daddy might want to read 1001 things in Town instead.”
Lucy: “Because fairies are girlish?”
— A conversation between the kid and her mom

Here’s another quick video. This one’s of a tower of blocks the kid and I made together.

Music Used:

• “Farewell Blues” from The Steel Guitar Transcriptions of Speedy West by Speedy West

(This is part two of our weekend reunion with old friends…see part one here.)

The next day we got together again for a barbecue. Madame was excited to visit again after getting to stay up late to play the night before…she said she dreamed about the marble run.

The guys lounged in the backyard while the kids played and our hosts cooked…sushi and barbecue.

The weather was perfect, sunny but not too warm. After dinner we strolled over to a nearby park.

Did I mention their almost grownup kitten, Smores? She’s so cute!

Last weekend we saw some old friends we hadn’t seen in a long, long time. We had a great get together that stretched over the whole weekend.

On Saturday we were invited to check out a golf club, and ended up being treated to dinner by our friend who is a member there. Note the plaque – Chris is very proud of his win.

It was a tranquil, beautiful place, with wild deer roaming about. The weather was nice so we explored the grounds while waiting for our meal.

Look at the food!

As the sun went down, we headed back to meet up with the rest of the gang.

The kids stayed up late playing with a marble run while the grownups played Mille Bornes. We had so much fun, everyone decided to get together again the next day!

Stay tuned for part two of the story…

Grandma and Grandpa came down for a visit to attend Filoli’s Christmas extravaganza with us. We had a wonderful time!

The house and grounds had lovely displays…

in the cafe with Grandma…

Lucy loved the toy room…

and so did Grandpa!

There were magical things to see around every corner…

and we topped it all off with a rollicking game of jump in the leaves with grandma!

was that a reindeer?!

“I’m a new dolly!”
— Lucy, after washing her feet

Every so often it gets a little quiet and I start to wonder what madame is up to. One day my mommy-radar was tingling and this is what I found…

which reminded me of this…

(That’s Edith climbing to get Mr. Bear’s new clock from Edith and Mr. Bear. )

When I popped onto the scene Lucy assured me of her great climbing ability, and I did let her finish getting the toys and climb down by herself.

She has used the chair to get things like cookies from high places…last week I found her quietly reaching for cookies on top of the micro by using the chair…but adding the stool to it is a new trick.

I think I will keep those cats at a more accessible level from now on…and keep listening for when it is too quiet.

Pet Store, Toy Store, Etc. from Mike C on Vimeo.

We had a nice relaxing Saturday with no set plans or obligations. We ended up hitting the pet supply shop to grab some Wubie essentials. We also fit in a visit to a toy store, book store, picked up some groceries, and made some time for lunch. I managed to get some video of the pet shop, toy store, and lunch.

Note: if the video stutters, click on the “HD is On” button so that it changes to “HD is Off.”

Music used:

• “Painting And Dance” from I Advance Masked by Andy Summers and Robert Fripp

Here’s one located on an island, reached by a bridge. (Note the mice floating on cake islands.)

The other day we built a house for the mouse family which reminded me of the Guggenheim museum, hence the title of this post:

The mouse family inside their new house, they also got some furniture this build:

An overview shot, and a clue to how long it lasted:

One of Lucy’s fave books at the moment is The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr (who also wrote the beloved Mog books).

Recently we snagged a tea set with the aforementioned tiger on it. Here are some pics of Lucy sharing tea with auntie; clearly she hasn’t mastered the finer points of dunking yet.

Oh, and in my quest for the teaset I discovered that there is actually a play based on this book.

Don’t know how they can stretch it out to an hour’s worth, unless there is a toddler on the side of the stage saying ‘again!’ everytime they get to the end…