Getting Back to Nature (and blogging)

And so ends the longest posting drought in 2 Point Conversion history. One of Brett and Maggie's favorite new activities is the nature walk. Usually, this means an hour-long stroll through a few wooded areas and neighborhood gardens in Potrero Hill. But this Saturday - with Mommy attending a shower for their future baby cousin Lucas - Daddy and the twins discovered Nature Walk Nirvana. The SF Arboretum is our new favorite place. Nestled in Golden Gate Park, it's like Mother Nature's special VIP room. Endless grassy areas to run wild in, an amazing selection of trees and plants and some great animal watching: geese, squirrels, ducks... you name it. We loved it so much that we took Mommy when she came back on Sunday. Here are a few photos: And click here for my video submission for the 2012 Father of The Year Award:

From Nature Walk - Mr. Nutty

Bretty handled the encounter with Mr. Nutty just fine and lived to tell the tale. Here's a few more pictures to prove it:

Nature Walk

Portraits at Dinner

Sweet Potato Spokesmodel

We think Brett might have a future as a spokesman on behalf of the Sweet Potato Growers of America. Consider this his audition tape. (Maggie's not as interested in selling out).

Fun Activities with Jennie

Brett and Maggie are so lucky to have their special nanny Jennie. And Dan and I are lucky because she sends us great pictures of their adventures.  Here is a sampling of the fun things they've done with her in the last month:

Played in Jennie's backyard and "helped" her do gardening

Went to a weekly tumbling class (here they are getting trophies on their last day of "old tumbling" and enjoying the ball pit on their first day of "new" tumbling)

Built a fort in the dining room on a rainy day

Went to the dentist for the first time (with Mommy, too, and then we all went out to lunch)

Went to the new playground at Dolores Park

Good Day Sunshine

78 degrees and sunny. I've always felt that San Francisco only gets a few of these days a year because if we got any more - the jig would be up. Everyone would want to live here. The twins made the most of it. A couple of 2-year-olds spending the morning getting sandy in the shadow of the soon-to-be-75-year-old Golden Gate Bridge...

I think these are some of my favorite photos ever taken of Brett and Maggie. The full album is here:

Beach Day - April 2012

Easter 2012

Brett and Maggie had a great Easter this year.  First, they got a special Charlie Brown book (that makes noise!) from Jason and Jenn earlier in the week.  They now both say, "Good grief!"
On Easter morning, we knew the Easter Bunny came because he ate most of the carrot we left for him.  So we went downstairs and discovered that the Easter Bunny not only brought baskets and hid lots of plastic eggs, he(/she?) also brought gifts from family members. The Easter Bunny brought buckets with zoo eggs and shovels and stickers and chalk and bunny ears and squirters (squirt guns, I just can't call them guns) from Dum Dum and Amanda, as well as cards with a dollar in them from Grandma and Papa, and cards with bandanas from Auntie Marilyn and Uncle Ed. I thought I did a good job limiting the candy and filling most of the eggs with crap (hand stamps, stickers, bunny crayons, rubber bracelets, rubber bunnies), but they ingested a LOT of candy Sunday morning (dark chocolate, organic gummy bunnies, organic jelly beans (yep, seriously, they make those). At least Daddy was smart enough to make us all eat breakfast before we did Easter in the basement.  Brett ate everything the second he found it. Maggie at least saved some for later (20 minutes later...).  The last picture below is Maggie's tummy covered with about 25 yellow, orange and pink Easter-themed stamps -- in their tumbling and music classes, the teachers give them a hand stamp and a tummy stamp at the end of class. She went to town with her new stamps, and still today, Wednesday, her tummy is not yet clean, despite numerous baths.

 Thank you, eveyone, for the great stuff!!

BYOBW 2012: Two Budding Entrepreneurs

An Easter tradition returned to The Hill this weekend.... the annual Bring Your Own Big Wheel race down San Francisco's real most-crooked street. While Brett and Mags are probably still a year away from competing in the BYOBW Kid's race, it's never too early to start practicing. But in order to start practicing they need their own big wheels. So today - with a little ingenuity and charm - they went out and GOT their own big wheels. Observe...

Hanging out with Elmo before the race...


...Vermont Street was jammed with riders..



...around the corner back home, a plan is hatched. Maggie's sign says "I will take your big wheel off your hands." Brett's says "Please can I have your big wheel when you are finished?"...


... a few "marks" pass by...


...Fish On!...


...saddle-up big man...


... this gentleman was more than happy to hand his old big wheel over to this sweet little girl...


... let's ride...


...and THAT'S how you score your own big wheel!

We Have a Cousin!

Announcing Porter Vance Klinefelter!

4/2/12
12:30 pm
8 pounds, 7 ounces; 21.75 inches

The whole family is doing great, and Porter is very, very cute. I'm an aunt! Brett and Maggie are anxious to meet their cousin over Memorial Day Weekend!