Our first skiing adventure

This Saturday we joined the Hungarian Scouts for the annual hókirándulás (trip to the snow). We went to Soda Springs, which is on the way to Lake Tahoe and is designed especially for children.

Ready for the snow

We went to the area called Planet Kids. Both Charlotte and Alexander tried skiing for the first time. They were given the equipment they needed, but the instruction was all up to me. Adults do not ski in this area, so I had to explain what to do without showing it. It was probably most helpful for them to watch the kids who did not fall down. Eventually they both went down without grabbing onto me and pulling me down.

Alexander skiing

Charlotte skiing

After lunch we explored the other activities. There was an innertube carousel. It was quite slow and enjoyed more by the younger children, so they rode it only once.

They had much more fun innertubing down the hill. For photos and video of that experience, check out Charlotte's blog and Alexander's blog.

No trip to the snow would be complete without playing King of the Mountain!

Best friends for a time

I've been feeling slightly nostalgic for the days when my two children were absolutely crazy about each other, and it showed. Maybe they still are, but you can't often tell. So here's a reminder for us all to enjoy.

Photos taken in the summer of 2004

Our Chinese dancer

Last year Charlotte performed for the first time with the Lily Cai dancers at her school. She was very excited to join the group again this year. Charlotte is already one of the senior members of the group as so many of them had graduated at the end of last year.

The previous dance was a ribbon dance. This year they learned to dance with fans instead. We may not have picked up on all the symbolism of the dance, but Charlotte says it is about a bird.

This performance was in the school cafeteria with all the students and staff and some parents in the audience.

Piano Recital

Alexander had his first piano recital a week ago. It took place at the San Mateo library, and was the first time he played on such a grand piano.

His duet with his teacher Isabelle Jotterand was "Melody by Chopin from Fantasie Impromptu," arranged by Timothy Brown.

His solo piece was "Under Water" by Kevin Olson.

A very happy Christmas

We celebrated Christmas in San Francisco this year.

Pillow Pets were requested and happily received

(penguins, lion, dolphin, monkey, and panda).

But it wasn't all about the Pillow Pets...

Introducing Alexander's blog

It has been "monkey see, monkey do" in this family this weekend. After seeing Charlotte set up her own blog, Alexander decided that he needed his own website. Of course, he wanted to take it a step further and post games on his website, something that neither Julian nor I know how to do. So we set up a blog for now. In the meantime, Daddy has taken on the challenge, and we may have another site going soon as well. Until then, please check out Alexander's blog at http://mylifebyalexander.blogspot.com/.

Both children are back to school tomorrow. We'll see if they are able to make the time to post regularly.

Baking cookies!

Just like last year, we made gingerbread cookies again this Christmas. It is now a tradition as we found a recipe that everyone in our household can eat (until I went gluten-free anyway). I bought a few more cookie cutters in preparation, so we did actually have gingerbread men this time.

Both children enjoyed rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes.

They most enjoyed decorating them. I hadn't planned ahead for that step and only had one kind of sprinkles on hand. So we raided the cupboards and found peanuts and raisins and sunflower seeds and jelly beans.