Elle Walks Her Baby

Elle got a new baby stroller from her Uncle Bill and Aunt Erin for Christmas and it turns out her Baby Huggums (a previous gift from Aunt Sandy and Uncle JC) fits perfectly!

iCade

I've been somewhat interested in the iCade since it was released last year. It's an arcade cabinet with a real joystick and real buttons that works via Bluetooth with the iPad. But at $100.00, it was just too expensive to justify. That's until I got a chance to buy it for nearly 70% off. I jumped at the chance!



It's no wonder they went on sale, the boxes are huge. A real storage hassle for retail stores.



The iCade comes unassembled out of the box. The cabinet panels and joystick feel solid and well-made.



It took about 30 minutes to assemble.



It was easy to pair with the iPad via Bluetooth. The first game I tried was Missle Command on the Atari's Greatest Hits app. It worked well. There are 100 other Atari games available.



There is a growing list of games that work with the iCade. The thing feels solid and it really does feel like playing at an old school arcade.



My favorite game for iCade so far is Super Mega Worm. It's like you're controlling the worm from the movie Tremors!

I highly recommend iCade if you like the feel of classic arcade games, and if you can find it for under $50.00.

Christmas 2011: A Retrospective

We had a memorable holiday season this year filled with activities with friends and our extended family sprinkled with just enough "us" time to keep us sane.  Capturing it all in a blog post would be impossible so here are a few collages along with some of the greatest hits...

 Cookies, reading, sisters, a beautiful baby girl, the Polar Express in 3D...

Santa (Elle didn't mind Santa at all but being more than 3 feet from Mom was tough!), tree trimming, friends, our first bath together, elf jammies and an Angry Bird hat...





Another highlight of the season was Rick DeBruyn's first pedicure!

Santa obviously had a little extra time in our house - probably due to all the food Jack put out for the reindeer this year (Rudolph even got some extra)

Zoo Lights!

We went to the Folsom zoo last night and Jack ran into both Santa Paws...

and Santa Claus!

Domino's Artisan Pizza

Domino's Pizza has a new kind of pie out called the Artisan. It's a wood fired type pie that is more oval than round. There are several flavors. I tried the one with several kinds of peppers and sausage and picked most of the sausage off.




I made the above mostly as a joke since the Domino's manager failed to sign my box. In reality the pizza was very good and I would recommend it.

Merry Christmas from the Little Cowbell!

Elle's Birthday and More

Elle had a small birthday celebration as she turned one.  The poor thing has been battling a nasty ear infection strain and is on her third antibiotic with the hopes that this will be the one to knock it out.  She's a trooper.

We scaled down the size of her first birthday significantly compared with Jack.   Why?  Well - we are more seasoned as parents perhaps.  Her birthday is in Winter as opposed to Summer???   It certainly isn't because we love her any less though!












In other news, Jack has learned to wolf down pasta based meals.  He always starts out saying he doesn't like them... then, after a little Green Eggs and Ham talk he digs in!

Plaid Tidings from the Carnegie Mellon Pooch

Bowling League!

Jack and his friends went bowling for the first time today.   Here's a good group shot!

Happy Birthday to Elle!

Happy Birthday to the perfect addition to our family.

Look Elle! There's Santa!!!!!

Tonight was Polar Express night. Started and ended a bit rocky with Elle but there were some great moments too.

Jack loved his hot, hot, hot - hot chocolate!

Jack Invents a New Branch of Mathematics: Same Math

Jack, on the easel in his bedroom, has developed a new branch of mathematics he refers to as "same math".    Essentially Same Math consists of all equations which contain only 1 unique number.   A generic example would be as follows:

Though there are other more straight-forward examples:  5 + 5,   3^3, etc...

Week-end Fun

It was a busy week-end that began with both kids going to breakfast with Daddy in Old Folsom.  They were doing face painting so Jack got "Spiderman" He inquired about having a garabage truck painted on but the lady didn't know how to do it...

We then went to a birthday party where Jack had a ball!

And we did Santa pictures and gave Elle her first real bath!

More on those things later.

Walking Baby

Elle has begun to walk a bit more now!

Really? Almost time to Feed the Reindeer Again!

Here's Jack last year putting out the reindeer food to help make sure Santa stopped by our house. As I recall, it worked!