Happy 2bd Birthday, Sweet Little Sparrow!

Cheep, Cheep!

We have been raising 4 chicks in the garage. The girls love to visit them! Sequoia's sweet smile just melts my heart, but that little chick is contemplating a great escape!

Shaving Cream Artists

Nothing like some shaving cream play to spice up a morning at home in your jammies!

Gotta love the tactile pleasures of spreading it e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!!!

Still working on the shaving cream high 5, though! Maybe next time....

Hangin with the Sanchez clan

The Sanchini girls, their mother, and their Sanchez grandparents recently braved a road trip to LA. Due to a malfunctioning camera, pictures from most of the trip were lost :( We had fun visiting the Lippert side, but sadly have not pictures to prove it!

We did have a nice visit with Abuelita in her new room.

She got a kick out of her adorable bisnietas and kept remarking how they looked just like baby dolls! And how she is way too young to be a great grandmother!

What is going on? Abuelita's touching her eye, Sparrow's pulling her ear, and Sequoia- well, Sequoia is imitating "The Scream." Or are they sending out secret signals to all the men in the family who are missing from the picture?

Tia Roxanna, dubbed TiSan on this trip, enjoyed hanging with the Sanchini crew. Thanks for hosting the madness!

A trip to the park produced some sand ice cream and sand cinnamon pancakes. Tia was their best customer.

Unfortunately, Sequoia learned the hard lesson that sand ice cream isn't all it's cracked up to be. Luckily, Grandmama swooped in to assist in the sand removal.

Sequoia delighted Aunt Leslie with her flapping bird imitation, shortly before she learned what a fire alarm is.

She also learned the proper way to photograph fish- a lesson that even captured Uncle Joe's attention! It was a fun trip- we hope to plan another one soon!

Flashback to February

The Sanchini-Gorchini cousins had a clandestine playdate on Valentine's 2010 at a previously unknown park somewhere halfway between Santa Rosa and Richmond.


Uncle Chris, as he often is, was a source of stability for the young ones as they carried out their usual antics.

Sparrow was the daredevil of the crowd and conquered several twisty slides while the rest of us just gawked in astonishment (see Uncle Chris in the background gnashing his teeth with nerves? Maybe not such a stable force after all...)

Her Daddy, however, sucked it up and gave it a go on the tamer version of the inclined diversion. After nearly losing more than a few brain cells, he abandoned the mission to scope out a suitable locale for family portraits.

Crazy cousins nestled in the nooks of a tremendous tree. Sequoia is gleeful as the younger cousins are stupefied at the thought of having to pose for longer than 10 seconds. I mean, those of us in the under 2 crowd just don't ever stay put for that long!

Lucas looks adoringly at his older cousin while Sparrow plans her escape.



The dads get in on the action, desperately hoping they can squeeze out just one photo in which everyone is seated and smiling.

It was too much to hope for. Lucas went hog wild and tried to slide right out of Chris's firm fatherly grasp. Sparrow tried to pick up a few pointers, while Sequoia mildly melted away.

Freedom!!

Girls in a Box

Sequoia laments having such a spacious abode and no one to share it with.

Nothing like the joy of a box made for two!

Look at this versatility! It even works for a mid-afternoon snooze!

Joyriding and making fun of the poor saps who are still riding in the size 4 diaper boxes.

It's all fun and games until....

A wayward pirate jumps off her scooter and starts looking for a boxier ride! Beware!

Holiday Retrospective

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast




Valentine's Day 2010

Sequoia smiles ever so sweetly in her favorite heart shirt, all ready to go to the Valentine's party (of course, this was also her "gingerbread" shirt that she wore to several Christmas events!).

Sparrow is ready to go, too!

The girls got LOTS of special Valentines and spent a while sorting through their loot!

Nothing like a Tonka truck sippy cup to complete your image as a sweet pink little Valentine's girl! But that milk was key in helping to wash down the delicious valentines cupcakes!

Sequoia and mommy smile for the camera while Sparrow contemplates which treat to grab for next.

Christmas 2009

Another attempt at a holiday family photo (note the color coordination- kind of.)

Sequoia sees something the rest of us don't catch (an approaching UFO, perhaps?) as we innocently say our line: "Cheese!"

She busts out some of her crazy karate moves and a signature Sequoia scream while Sparrow gently pats her father reassuring him that her sister's got it handled.

A disastrous alien takeover is averted, and the sisters sit back to relax and enjoy the rest of the day. They truly are the sweetest sisters in the world!

On the Road Again

Try as I might, I just can't get this thing going! Is my problem that there's a set of knees gumming up the works? Thank goodness my dear cousin Lucas has come to the rescue! Turns out a nonchalant tweak to the hood ornament was all this baby needed!

I'm back in business!

Family Beach Day!

Daddy discusses the finer points of seashell hunting with little Sparrow.

But she'd rather be chasing the birds.

Then she does the "robot" for a while, though the pink mushroom hate shatters the image a bit.

Sequoia works steadily to build a sandcastle to rival all sandcastles.

Time for lunch!



Cracker sandwiches-mmmmMMMmmmm!

Nothing like some vitamin C to go with your vitamin D!

Easter!

All of the kids love Grandma Iris's new rocking chair! Sparrow rocked away, waiting for a reason to get up.

Sequoia was super excited about egg hunting, and she was quite skilled at it! Maybe it was those super xray egg-finding glasses she got from Aunt Jean!

Sparrow took a more forceful approach.

The cousins sat down to examine their loot.

Lucas got a little grabby with the baskets, while Sparrow worked on counting up all the coins she would carry around for the remainder of the day.

Yahhoooooooiee!!! I'm going to be rich, rich, rich!

Sequoia was quite content with the dessert offerings- look at that sweet smile!

Sparrow was pretty excited to get her basket back from cousin Lucas!

Sequoia is already asking when Easter will come again! The girls loved it!