Redwoods

After a lot of rain over the last few weeks, I got a little stir crazy. And since it was my birthday, I got to choose where we went. We went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park yesterday. It was about an hour drive from home, winding through the mountains the whole way. Luckily Megan and I had our Dramamine before we left. We got there and found that a guided tour was about to start, so we joined in and learned a lot of interesting things about Redwood trees and the local history.

This was a giant tree that was damaged by fire. The trees don't catch fire easily due to the tannins in their bark, so they just char. The trees can still live hollowed out like this, as long as their nutrient layer isn't damaged.

Alisha liked walking along the fallen trees, since they were REALLY long!

This is the "Mother of the Forest," the tallest tree in Big Basin at 329 feet. It's not the tallest tree in California, that one is 40 feet higher! I think it's funny that the "Father of the Forest" isn't as tall, but it's thicker in the middle.

We found a whole swarm of ladybugs covering one of the wooden fence posts. I had never seen so many at once. It was pretty cool.

It was so beautiful and peaceful there. I think the girls' favorite part was when we stopped for ice cream at Frosty Freeze's on the way home. But it was a fun day.

Snuggle Puppy

I bought this book for Alisha for Christmas, and didn't remember about it until recently, since I had stashed it away in a "secret spot" in the garage. I found it when cleaning said garage, and gave it to her. The book made me think of her, since she is definitely my Snuggle Puppy. It came with a CD of Eric Stoltz singing the Snuggle Puppy song. Alisha has been playing it several times over the last few days, and it has gotten stuck in my head. It's a really cute song. Enjoy!

I can't quite figure out how to link this, so copy and paste this to hear the song (and see some really cute puppies, too!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUEMxwU7yy0&feature=related

Martha I'm not

Yeah, so I know it's been a while since I've blogged about anything. Mainly, I haven't felt like much was "blog worthy." So in an attempt to give you something to read and to leave an impression that I actually do stuff, here you are.
Apparently I'm not a reincarnation of Martha Stewart. I guess I can't be anyway, since she's not dead yet. Whatever I am, I will not be inviting her to my house. EVER. Not because I don't have the cleanest windows on the block, because I do, in fact. I have been cleaning them every couple of days for the last few weeks. The problem is the streaks. I apparently cannot clean a window without leaving major streaks. I am lacking some sort of gene that allows me to clean things sparklingly well. I think Martha took mine.
I have tried just about every trick there is out there. I have tried vinegar, using newspapers, microfiber towels, a squeegee, diluted ammonia, only cleaning them when it's cloudy outside, a Windex gizmo with "sheeting action" as to not leave streaks, automotive glass cleaner, you name it. They are fine when I first clean them, but the streaks come out later and taunt me. It's mainly the window that I see the second I walk in the front door that bothers me the most. It has the most sun coming from the back, so it highlights every little streak. So every time I walk in the door, or even walk past the room, I am greeted by my apparent faulty gene. So, short of curtains, or now coming in from the back door, what do I do? Any ideas????

Alisha's Locks of Love

For about a month, Alisha has been saying she wanted to cut her hair really short. I figured it was a passing phase, and let it go. She kept talking about it all month, so I finally caved and let her. Since she was going to cut so much off, we decided to donate it to Locks of Love. She had about 13 inches cut off, and it's pretty thick. She said she wants to give it to a baby that's bald. I don't think that's quite the idea behind it, but she knows it's going to go to good use.

Christmas 2008

Here are some pictures from Christmas. We took the girls to downtown San Jose, where they have a Christmas village every year. There are carnival rides, trees decorated and donated by local organizations, performers, ice skating, and of course, Santa.

For one of Megan's Christmas presents, I bought her a fancy dress and we went to the Nutcracker Ballet in San Francisco. We went with some friends and had a great time.

























Chris's firm had a holiday party for the kids, and they had a face painter there. Megan loved the Snowflake Fairy look. Alisha didn't dare try it.
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