4 years 11 months

Only a month until Josie turns 5. She talks about her birthday often. Turning 5 feels like a big birthday since she'll soon be headed to kindergarten. She's so inquisitive and often asking what something means. If I say a word or she hears a word in a song she doesn't understand she wants to know what it means. She's very creative and artistic. After being with Katie she wants to attend Design School just like Katie hopes to do. She cracks us up with her funny ideas.

She found some masks in the store and wanted me to take some pictures. 

A favorite spot for Eric and Josie.

 We've had a lot of rain the past month. One day after school we walked from school to the park at around 4:30. I knew we had about 30 min before it would start getting dark. It drizzled a little on and off. She found some tennis balls and made up games for us. We then headed to the playground. We were having so much fun playing around in the rain so I called Eric to meet us at the bottom of the trail at 5:30. It was really dark by then so he met us on the trail with a flashlight and drove us home.

 

Another visit to the dentist and received an A+ check-up. 

 Josie loved to wake up and work on her online Advent Calendar. She was making a snowflake.

Mila and Josie at gymnastics. In December they were the only ones. She's still really enjoying it.

Video of gymnastics

Shuli and Satoshi have a dwarf hamster. Josie loves it and now wants one for a pet.

 Josie spent a few hours with Gaya and Lorraine while Eric and I attended a holiday party right near their home in Saratoga.

 I went to school with Josie to share with her class about Santa Lucia Day.

 We visited Uncle Hank and brought him a poinsettia and soup. He played some C'mas carols and Josie and I sang along. He gave me a C'mas Cactus that's a cutting started from my grandparent's original plant that is still alive and thriving.

Video of singing C'mas Carols with Uncle Hank playing piano.

Izzy came over to play on the day we were bunny-sitting for a few hours. Marshall is so soft and the girls had fun holding him. As soon as we took him out of his cage and Josie was holding him he jumped off her lap and ran to the back of the C'mas tree. We tried to lure him out with apple slices but it didn't really work so finally Josie crawled under and Izzy and I were at opposite ends and the bunny got scared and came out so I could grab him.

They constantly took turns holding Marshall.

Happy New Year!

Justin and Brigit hosted a New Years Eve dinner for us and another family. The girls all played soccer together. We celebrated a New York new year and had a great evening. 

 We went outside to pop some poppers and spray some silly string.

My Birthday

On Dec 30th Eric and Josie brought me breakfast in bed. Eric made Swedish pancakes from scratch, with a side of lingonberries, egg and cheese scramble with bacon, and a side of fruit. Yummy!

 Josie and I drove to SF to the Jewish Contemporary Museum.

 There were some great exhibits going on. Our favorites were Hardly Strictly and J. Otto Seibold.

 They have a lot of hands on experiences for kids.

 Warren Hellman put on the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in SF for decades. He passed away in 2011. That's the year we attended to hear the Anderson Family Bluegrass Band. The exhibit had a big screen playing music from the concerts. You can see in the background lawn chairs set up and blankets to sit and listen for awhile. They also had head phones to listen to your choice of bands. We listened to the Anderson's.

 One of the reasons I wanted to go was I saw they've opened this Jewish deli since the last time I was there. We shared matzo ball soup for lunch and a bialy with cream cheese with pickles on the side. Yum!

 Seibold is a children's author. They exhibit was very hands on with a passport to stamp after visiting the different areas. In the family art room they were making canoes representing Mr Lunch and his canoe.

 It was a sunny, beautiful day, and warm in the sun.

  Josie had fun chasing the pigeons. In one of the books Mr Lunch won an award for being the best chaser of pigeons.

 St Patricks Cathedral is right next door so we walked through the sanctuary.

 Across the street is Yerba Buena Gardens. We walked through the fountain area and saw the quotes from MLK Jr.

 We had dinner at Stephen, Janet, and Evan's to watch Stanford play in the Bowl. Fun that they won!

 One of the highlights was listening to Evan play the piano. Janet played also and then Stephen played and I requested a song her wrote probably 35 years ago. I remember listening to him play in our living room and even tape recorded him playing and singing. Janet remembered the song and sang along with him.

More family visits

Karen, Luke, & Katie arrived on the 26th in time for dinner.  They had lunch with Gram and Papa in Paso Robles as they drove in opposite directions.

 Katie is a fantastic cousin and played for hours and hours with Josie for two full days.

 On the 27th Karen, Luke, and I picked up Uncle Hank and ate his birthday dinner in Jack London Square in Oakland. Looking pretty good for 91.

 His favorite waiter, Kendall, and others sang Happy Birthday.

Video of Waiters singing to Hank

Gram & Papa visit

Gram & Papa came to visit 12/22-12/26. On Tuesday we drove to Union Square and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day.

Playing funny card games with Gram & Papa

 A visit to Eucalyptus

 Our tree tucked away in the corner of the kitchen.

 Getting ready for church.

 Christmas Eve service

 A surprise visit from Santa

 Josie singing a song for Santa

 Josie woke up to find Santa asleep on couch with a note from Mrs Claus. He was too exhausted to make it home. She also found a note from Santa saying thanks for the cookies.

 Even though "Santa got mixed up" and didn't get Josie everything she wanted she was still excited about her cozy Panda and a few other things.

We had Swedish coffee cake and an egg dish for breakfast and had a relaxing morning at home. In the afternoon Josie and I went to the park and Josie rode her scooter. She doesn't get to ride it much. I noticed a big difference from the last time. She can actually glide now. Super sunny day and warm in the sun.

 We all went to John and Jody's for a early evening dinner. John's parents were there along with his sister; my parents; Gahuas and Grandpa Rich; Uncle Bob; Uncle Bill and of course Allison, Kirsten and Matt. Fun to have the girls home from school. It was a great evening.