Minnie Ears.

When Loree got back from Disneyland she brought these adorable Minnie Mouse ears for the girls with their names embroidered on the back.

West End Nursery.

There is a nursery in San Rafael that has been here since 1909.  Every Christmas, they fill an old Victorian house on the property with about 80 decorated Christmas trees.  All of the ornaments are for sale so I told Mila that if she behaved she could choose 1 ornament to take home.  We also bought a little live Christmas tree that she could decorate herself and keep in her playroom.

Mila trying to decide if anyone would notice a bite or two out of the Gingerbread house.

I can't say that some of these rooms didn't made me a little nervous with a giddy two year old skipping through them.

Lost in translation, Mila thought that these stuffed reindeer counted as a good behaviour ornament.

This is the one that she chose.

Back at home decorating the tree.

Tree trimming takes extreme concentration.

This knitted candy cane was the ornament she substituted for the stuffed reindeer.

Ballet Classes

Mila and I have been taking Mummy and Me Ballet classes, here are a few video's I took with my iphone.

Robin in the rain

Mila and her little friend Summer.  They are the two stars of the class.

Group dance!

Flying like a bird.

Thankyou, one and all.....

I did say it was Mummy and me.

June goes Banana's

Teta Riri's visit

Loree and John stopped by for a couple of days to meet June and hang with the family.  We showed them a little local flavour and spent some time at the Oakland Zoo too.

June getting some love.

Breakfast at one of our favourite joints.

Mummy and June.

The sign kind of tells you where we are.

Mila found a special door just for her.

The Flintsone slide.

Skipping across the lily pads with Daddy.

Mila and Daddy checking out the flamingoes.

Both Anton and Mila have a hard time smiling for the camera, but this is cute.

Mila pretending to be a tortoise.

Festival of the lights.

We headed downtown to the festival of lights the day after Thanksgiving.  I really felt the small town USA that night and I'm not sure whether to laugh or embrace it.  For the sake of my girls, I'll embrace it.  The big draw was the man made sledding hill that they had set on the main street.  Unfortunately it was such a draw that lining up for an hour with a two year old and and 6 month old so that Mila could sled down an icy slope for 30 seconds didn't appeal to me so we carried on and I got to immerse myself in the quaintness of our little home town.  We gorged ourselves silly on kettle corn, petted the ponies and ducks at the petting zoo and Mila got to ride on some of the other rides they had there. I resisted the urge to buy Fairy floss and regretted it soonafter.  Then we settled in for the parade........if that is what you want to call it.  A bunch of hippies came skipping down the street with candles (I guess that's the "lights" portion of the festival) followed by a Good Will truck with a man in a pickle suit jogging behind.  A few more non-descript vehicles with local councilmen etc., and then we had Santa in a shiny red vintage Fire Engine which was pretty cool.  Mila loved it all and we will of course do it again next year, but I was torn between making fun of the hokey small town and embracing the cute little quaint town that I live in, like I said, for the sake of my girls I'll embrace it.  Nuff said, here are the pics.

Mila was a little unsure of the Toy Soldier.

June all rugged up.

Kettle corn time.

Mila getting her ride on the "Big Swings"

Watching the parade on Daddy's shoulders.

June fell asleep and missed it all.

Taking in the lights.

A little entertainment at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day

It's been a while since I updated, so bear with me as I try and catch up.  Thanksgiving was as exactly what we wanted........overeating, football and sleeping.......lather, rinse and repeat.

June in her pretty fall frock.

Daddy injecting the turkey.

Mila had to stay on the chair while Daddy deep-fried, no-one said she had to sit on it.

The turkey coming out of the fryer.

June ate a lot of her dress that day.

Mila drinking "wine".

My little pumpkin pie.

Daddy and June having a chat.

Mila's table decoration.