Star guitar!

Ashwin the star playing guitar - hey, he could be the next John Butler playing it lap style. Now he just needs to practice with the slider (watch some Ben Harper on YouTube) & he will be set. Also the guitar need to be a tad smaller, hehehe!

Ye ol' minisweater...

that ain't so mini as when I knitted this I was pregnant & then it was frogged & I started again only to finish & still it is too big!! Oh well it is this pattern here... hopefully 3rd time lucky! The skinny cat that is wearing it is made by my talented sister - check out some of her other critters & maybe buy one ;) we have two - an owl as well as a pussycat.

I'm a happy little pepper!

Look closely at the pepper - actually it is a capsicum! No that isn't it... when this pepper was chargrilled a smile was charred onto it's skin - pretty cool eh! Well anything for a bit of excitement in the kitchen these days as time spent in there is quick with my favourite vegetarian cookbook Quick Fix Vegetarian - excellent meals in 30 minutes! And believe me when you have two rascals to deal with at dinner time this is the biz!!

I am a robot... take me to your leader!

Maybe this Halloween Ashwin can get dressed up as a robot - all he needs is a paper bag! This is James' idea of dress ups, take a paper bag & cut a few holes for the face & arms & there you have it - instant robot or even spaceman??!! Ashwin wasn't too down with the look in the beginning & took him a while to get the bag over his head - lucky I managed to get this shot!!

It's a racetrack, how exciting!!

The other week we went to our friends birthday party - it was a fantastic chilled out time with plenty of food! The kids had an awesome time - pictured is a birthday present for Felix that Ashwin just loved! Anything to do with cars is what Ash loves... his car collection is everywhere in the house & as soon as he gets up in the morning it's cars, where are my cars?? His favourite car at the moment is a shiny, red cadillac, chosen by his Dad.

Oh look at her eyelashes...

...they are soooo long! This is a macro shot of ms eyelash herself, lucky girl she has inherited these from her father - no mascara needed for Missy Moo Poo! Or another name for her is Moochee (from Mochi, Japanese rice cake??!!)

Who is the hippy baby??

Nice tie-dye vest Holly! This is a present from Auntie who lives on the sunny Sunshine Coast in Oz. This is just perfect for the warm California weather & lifestyle ;) All she needs is some dreadlocks & flares & the look will be complete. She is looking quite excited by the whole affair, standing is one of her favourite things to do! This is smiley face which she is doing a lot more of these days, very cute indeed.

Excrement on my socks, eeeew!

I found this socks for Ashwin on sale the other day - just to help with the potty training. He says 'Here's my poo socks!' When I first saw them I thought my brother-in-law would love these but unfortunately they weren't in an adult size!

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Saturday September 6th marked our 2 year stay in the States... we are now staying another 2, so we will be home in 2010. Here's our baby yank 4.5 months old!

Da Bean Scene, done dat!

Look closely - this is a collection of expressed milk :) that had to be thrown away as it passed it used by date. Which brings me to this post of "nursing" your baby in the United States. Mmmm I do miss the cafe culture back in Australia where you would have no thought of taking a bubb to a cafe & feeding out in the open. Here in this crazy place you had better hide that b**b or deal with the consequences that is OMG I can't look at you your b**b is out in the open, aaargh. The other thing is that there is no atmosphere in any cafe around da Valley as they are full of nerds with their laptops working away & oh if your baby cries, the nerds get up in a huff & take off! Well our fave place to feed is the front seat of the car, so I make sure I park in some shade just in case Holly gets hungry. Well I have been meaning to write about this for a while as it does bug me a bit, still Holly is nearly 6 months old she needs to be undercover as there are so many distractions out there, hehehe!

I'm goin' down to Holly St...

'sing it to the tune of Prince - Alphabet Street!' Well back to the pic... As we were driving home the other day from the beach, Holly wasn't too keen on being in the car & she was a bit upset. Taking the closest exit was Holly Street, so here she is levitating on the road. Look near her head & there is the sign big & bold, just like the Americans like it - 'Holly St'. No Holly wasn't named after an exit on Highway 101 to San Francisco, it is all just a strange coincidence??!!!

Look out sharks!

If you look closely at this sign you will see NO SWIMMING yep on this gorgeous California day at Stinson Beach there was no swimming due to shark sightings. Scary huge great white sharks haunt the waters. Still I wouldn't want to swim here unless I had a wetsuit on as the water is chilly willy! The water is fine just for your ankles & you definitely have to get used to it just for the thrill of watching the waves lap the shore.

Whoa all out of sync!

Oooops in my recent blog posts I realised I forgot to include this pic of the boys at Villa Montalvo - entering the path to the conservatory. Another hot day & we wanted to have lunch under some trees so we landed here - we visited Montalvo when we went hiking up to Castle Rock. Even the pic is a bit out of perspective with giants walking the path, well my new philosophy is, if a pic needs some life - just add it!

The fam hit the beach - G!

Here we are hitting the West Coast stylie! This beach is one of the better California beaches that we have seen & it was really good to finally enjoy a beach in the sunshine & warm weather. Previously we had seen plenty of fog on a beach at Half Moon Bay & when we went to Pacifica it was just too chilly willy. Still, dipping your toes in the water feels like an ice cold glass of water - so no swimming here.

Is it a bird or is it a plane...

...no it is Superboy! Check out the silhouette of this guy I caught him in the glimpse of my eyes & had to look twice, second time trying not to laugh! It's just the little guys flotation device under his wettie :)

Beach baby!

Beach baby out in the sun - in a beautiful hat. Perfect Angel well maybe in my dreams but still she is a good girl most of the time - will have to stop eating beans & hopefully her 'gas' will disappear!

Baking in the sun - that's nuts!

I have a great book on whole wheat baking that inspired me to make these delicious Morning Glory muffins.

Yoga baby!

This is something I hadn't seen before till the weekend - Plank pose, so good for your abs! Holly even has the yoga pants on for future yoga poses. Or she could be getting ready to go to a dance party with her colourful outfit of pink & multi-stripes.

We're on the road to somewhere...

We are on a trip to Stinson Beach winding our way along Highway 1. Warning - this can make you a bit car sick!

Another gorgeous hat

This one was knitted for my friends new 10 pound bub it has ear warmers - not that you would need it in this warm weather?! Still the yarn knits up beautifully & Holly is modelling it in a cute dress from the Grandparents. She's just fitting into a bunch of stuff she got from back home - so I have to make the most of it while it's hot & she can wear dresses, dresses are quite impractical but still very cute.

Not a Holly berry but a Juniper Berry

This is a Hollywood Juniper tree at Montalvo Conservatory - it made me think of juniper berry that is found in one of my favourite beverages - Gin! It is quite apt then that Holly (who makes me drink a lot of gin) is in this pic with a HOLLYwood juniper tree... crazy, yep but that is how I feel after a couple of G&T's! Wouldn't mind one right now - a perfect afternoon, still hot & sunny in California but responsibility beckons!!!

Acorn buddies

Acorns are cool! A freshly dropped green acorn & one ready for a squirrel to eat together on an oak leaf... Couldn't resist the temptation to capture the two stages.

Boo how are you!

In the background of this pic is Castle Rock - it was quite large, this shot didn't capture it at all! Nearby were other rock formations that looked really fun to climb - Ashwin enjoyed it but no can do for me as I was carrying Holly in the carrier - it's the only way to hike! Ashwin was Photoshopped in this shot too as it was a bit dull without an interesting subject. The light on Ashwin doesn't match at all with the background ;)

The rockclimber

Hey Ashwin - my you have grown! Some of the huge rocks we saw on our hike - yep he is 'shopped in there, dodgy job!

A hiking we will go!

We went on our first hike in ages to Castle Rock - just under a mile long, so really it's just a walk through the hills. This place is great for kids & there are some huge rocks & tunnels through rocks to play in & out.