Ice princes and princess

One of the best things we did during Christmas break was to take the children ice skating on Union Square. Since it was their first time, and we had their friend Ethan with us, my friend Leona came along too.


After about ten minutes on the ice, I was worried that it had been a big mistake. Charlotte and Alexander were having trouble staying on their feet and were too afraid to take any risks. It was very difficult to help both of them at once. I though it would be a very long 90 minutes!


Once we realized that Ethan was quite comfortable (and fearless) skating on his own, we had one adult available per child who needed help. With a few rounds of one-on-one attention, they each became more confident and comfortable. Soon even Ethan was helping Charlotte make it around the ice.














It wasn't easy getting them to stop for a photo. They ended up having a great time! Alexander was practically the last one off the ice - certainly the last one in our group.


We hadn't even left the ice rink that day, and they were already asking when we could go skating again. They haven't stopped asking. Fortunately there is a year-round indoor rink in San Francisco, so we won't have to wait until next Christmas.

We finished our outing with a cup of hot chocolate. Yum. Thanks to Ethan and Leona for spending such a great day with us! And thanks to Leona for sharing her photos.

Being the Change

The kids tend to repeat much of what they hear. They have in recent months been known to chant "We Want Change" or "Yes We Can". I don't think they have any concept of what they want changed or what it is that they can, so I thought we would put those words into action and join the MLK Day of Service yesterday.

There weren't many events that were appropriate for children, and I hadn't signed up for any in advance, so we joined the drop-in site at Ocean Beach. Our job was to clean up the beach. We were given gloves, trash bags, and granola bars, and sent on our way.


There were possibly hundreds of volunteers, so there was not that much garbage for each person to collect. That was fine, because it allowed us to enjoy the beautiful day, dig in the sand just for fun, and appreciate the ladybugs we found in the dried seaweed.



We still managed to collect plenty of paper, glass, plastic, styrofoam, cigarette butts, and even a dirty old sock. I did not think that our contribution would change the world. Then we saw all the bags in one pile at the end of the morning, and it did seem like we made a difference together. That may have been the best lesson after all.


Thank you to Mahatma Gandhi for inspiring today's posting's title:

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.

A visit with friends

Last week we went to Alta Plaza Park to see our friend Andrea and her children Bernadette (Detta) and Maryn. They were visiting from Southern California. Detta was feeling a bit shy, but Charlotte couldn't stop telling me how cute she was.


Maryn spent much of the visit sleeping in the sling, but shared a few smiles with us before getting back into the car.


We hope to see you again soon!

New year, new Charlotte

I love the new hat and scarf that Grandma and Grandad sent me for Christmas. I have been wearing them whenever I can, even in the house when I have been too cold.


I feel like a supermodel when I wear them. I have been told that I have the attitude as well. What could that possibly mean?

The bathrobe saga

I was very upset with Mummy for several weeks. I kept asking her to buy me a bathrobe and she kept not buying me one. I was so worried that all the nice pink ones would be sold out, and she was seemingly unfazed by my heartfelt pleas. This was one of the reasons I had recently called her "so mean".

Apparently she knew something that I did not. The angels brought us soft fleece bathrobes on Christmas Eve. We were both very pleased. I was ecstatic. The bathrobe is not the one I had been asking for, but it is even better.













I love my bathrobe. Sometimes I put it back on over my clothes after I get dressed. And, yes, I have forgiven Mummy.

Christmas Memories

I always enjoy seeing my nephew and godson Máté wearing some of Sándor's hand-me-down clothes. Last week I saw Máté wearing the penguin pajamas that Sándor wore two years ago at Christmas. That made me think about how much the children have changed in the last two years, and so I dug up this photo of Sándor in those pajamas:


Looking at photos of Christmas 2006 made me think about our other Christmases as well. Last week quite a few people commented on our annual Christmas photo, so I decided to look for each of them. Once I found them, I couldn't resist putting them all together to share.

(The first one was taken professionally. The rest were photographed by our in-house photographer, known to some as Daddy, to the rest of us as Julian.)

2002


2003


2004


2005


2006


2007


2008

May the joys of Christmas last throughout the coming year, and may we all enjoy many more happy Christmases together!

Playtime with Daddy

We really enjoyed having Daddy home every day last week. Once Christmas Day arrived with my slot car race track, we had so much fun playing it with him!

He worked hard to set it up for us every day...


And to get it working properly...

We think he had as much fun as we did, at least until we started fighting over the Ferrari. Maybe he had even more fun...as we heard him playing with it while we were in the bath.