Halloween - Kids dressed as sheep

The girls dressed up as their favorite cartoon characters (Shaun the Sheep claymation characters) and went trick or treating last weekend.

Click on the picture to see a slideshow, to play look for the icon upper left after you click through.

We miss you dad

It's been sixteen years since we've lost dad and we miss him. We know he would have loved the kids. This picture is one of the fondest memories I have of my childhood, from 1979 on the day I got my first dog, Brier. I'm on the right, wearing the yellow superman shirt that I demanded every day.

Skiing above the Fjords

Pumpkin Patch Trip

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch today. It's easy to forget how Sacramento was primarily the agricultural hub for the central valley; but when you get just a few miles away from the city hub -- you are in the middle of miles of rich farmland. This farm was less than ten miles from our house, and the downtown core. The kids had a blast, and came home exhausted. Click on the picture to see the slideshow (and then look for the slideshow icon on the upper left for the full screen effect).

Party at Bill's

The kids got to put on their party dresses and shoes, for a trip to Bill & Linda's. They played with their excitable Labradoodle and gnawed on some breadsticks. A good time all around and it was nice catching up with old friends. If you click the picture above you can see the slide show.

At the park...

Click on the picture to see a slide show...

Girls go out to French restaurant

The girls went out a few weeks ago with their aunt, to a French cafe.

Patio repaired - yay!

Our patio was finally reassembled and repaired.  Not as pretty as before, but certainly better than after the rains.

The Independant (a UK newspaper) Guide to Skiing

This is sort of like the NY Times on line ski guide, but European centric of course.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/skiing/

 

The NYT doesn't put theirs out til December and it seems to me that people start booking travel plans earlier.

 

 

Kids and dog

Dogs at the Library!

The kids spent the night at Nonnys, where they exhausted themselves playing with the dog and running all over her carpeted house.  After we picked them up they fell asleep so fast when we got home.  This morning we made waffles for Mom, and threw them all over the baby room.  Then we went to the library where they were having a service animal day.  People who had guide dogs brought them and let the kids meet them, and talked about how the dogs helped them in daily life.  After that we went to Costco, where the girls enjoyed the usual smorgasbord of samples.  Then they came home and had spaghetti for dinner, which had been bubbling away in the crock-pot all day.  And after that -- time for a bath to clean up all that tomato sauce!

Ski weather for next season

The predictions are for a La Nina weather pattern this year, which may mean that California, Utah, and Colorado get somewhat less snow than usual.  These years tend to be better for the Northern Rockies, as well as Northern New England.  

La Nina and El Nino are names for the patterns of ocean temperature near the equator.  That creates jet streams that carry storms into the mainland, and are somewhat predictable, when those conditions are known.  Most seasons though do not have Nina or Nino present though.