Seaside

Short weekend getaway to go see the Monterey Aquarium (and a very nice exhibition about seahorses and sea dragons), and enjoy slightly warmer temperatures (let's say that the water is a tad warmer there). To drive the two and a half hours, we rented a minivan to haul everybody down the coast. It felt like a school trip.

I'll start with a few pictures of the beach, the first day. You can see the beautiful jacket Odile knitted for Anastasia (the kids were all in home fashion, Anastasia with her caterpillar pants, and Kyan with his stingray shirt and seahorses pants).

I think we all enjoy that little expedition. Back at home Kyan transformed part of the living room into an aquarium. Beware where you set foot.

Imelda

I'm afraid, Anastasia is developing a thing for shoes. Every time she gets a new pair, she's overly excited, she could sleep with them. Yesterday, I bought her these cute canvas shoes to go to daycare. She didn't want take them off all evening, and it's the first thing she looked for when she woke up this morning.

Sadly, she's not as welcoming to clothes, she refuses anything new unless there's a bunny on it. But, luckily, she's now enjoying wearing her vibrant green pants with caterpillars.

Asian dolls

I just received the tests from my latest prints, little girls from various regions of Asia, with matching coordinates. It's always a surprise when I get these packages from my printer, sometime it's so-so, and sometime, it's even better than expected. I'm very proud of these last ones. The little dolls are in fact borders to be applied on sweaters, at the bottom of pants, or as base on double-layer skirts. Pictures of the sewn creations should arrive soon.

Super trailer

I ordered a trailer to hook up to the bicycle, so Bernard could enjoy it with Kyan and Anastasia (until I can use it once I'm done with that big production at work). And, it's even better than I thought. Not only does it work great with the bike (no pictures yet), light and easily manoeuvrable, but it's also very handy as a stroller-carriage, or to haul home groceries, shrubs (here a blueberry bush) and tomato plants. Indeed, the beast has a trunk. The kids love it, they even managed to nap in it (it comes with a removable sunroof), and since it's quite low, it's easy for them to jump on/off.

And I'm adding a picture of our brave heroes at the top of a "mountain", culminating at at least 45 feet above sea level.

Anastasia 2.0

Friday was Anastasia's second birthday. Already, time just flies. She got a big cake with tons of fruit on top, a bag in the shape of a frog and many handmade clothes for her dolls from Grand-Maman, and a dollhouse with some furniture from us. Luckily, she's ready to share her gifts with Kyan as he's always very interested.

They are here...

Bernard and Odile arrived last Thursday. Kyan and Anastasia weren't shy when they saw them and had tons of things to share right away. We're no longer the only ones enjoying Kyan's elaborated explanations, he just never stops talking. Anastasia is very cuddly with her grandfather, and they both really enjoy the extra attention. As for us, it's a welcome break.

For the pictures, we went to Tilden Park Sunday morning. There's a cute little farm, painted red with a miniature silo, and real animals. Nothing totally new for us since when we're in Switzerland, it's farm heaven and it's the real thing, but it's nice to have all these animals a bit closer.

More fish

Still wadding in the marine theme. Kyan is coming home with tons of water animal stories, it's even impressive when he tells me about the gills and fins of some of the fish. It goes a bit off track when he's explaining that whales climb on the sidewalk to go get food, or when the seahorses come out of the sea in the evening to go sleep on the beach.

And since Kyan's stories are always a wonderful source of inspiration, I made him a sweater with a stingray. And a tunic with little horses for Anastasia

Trivia Night Costumes

Each February a group at work organizes a Trivia Night to raise funds for a foundation helping people suffering from breast cancer or AIDS-related diseases. Last year, I was asked to make three costumes for the presenter for a last-minute "Project Runway" show. This year, I was in charge of all the costumes with a couple of friends to help out. The theme was "2010: Space Odyssey". And I had to keep in mind that the presenter has quite an explosive personality, she loves to jump, dance, run, so the costumes and hats have to hold well enough to resist the action (and they did). Meanwhile, she's ready to wear the craziest, goofiest outfit and is a fantastic model, she owns the costumes no matter how awkward they turn out. A real treat.

So, here are a few pictures taken in-between runs. Sadly not the best pictures, but my requests by the official photographers have been unanswered...

On strides...

For Christmas, Kyan and Anastasia each got a "bicycle" from their canadian grandparents. Don't look for the pedals, these models are "striders" where you push with your feet to learn how to balance on a bike. It's not quite there yet, but at least we're a step closer: they're now going ON the bikes. Up until yesterday, they were just taking their bikes for a stroll and walking next to them...

Bubbles and seahorses

The fabrics with the seahorse patterns have arrived. I already tried them on a short pair of pants for Kyan. No problem for the fitting with him, he didn't want take them off. I'll spare you the picture of the pants on Kyan, it took me a while to understand why they looked a bit off: Kyan was wearing crazy stripes just everywhere, sweater, underpants and socks included, it was just too much.