Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 6)

(from the We Really Dressed Up This Year department)

Hi everyone,

Well - we got our yearly Santa photo taken today.  Although Rose couldn't wait to see Santa - jumping up and down in anticipation on the steps outside Santa's cabin - once inside, she literally disappeared into Dana's leg.  We had to coax her out with a candy cane and a Mickey Mouse doll.  Santa let us have the chair too:

The picture came out great.  We do clean up nice, don't we?

We got dressed up when we went to the matinee of the Nutcracker that afternoon, and headed directly to Santa's afterwards.

We asked Rose what she was going to ask Santa for.  She told us that she'd written it down in a letter - so she didn't feel like she needed to ask him anything.  We suggested that she at least ask him for her number one item - and she agreed.  Although she had practiced, she got very shy, and wouldn't say a word.  Finally, before we left, she did muster up the courage to ask Santa for a Rock Star Jacket - like the Fresh Beat Band wears - and wished Santa a Merry Christmas.

So - in that spirit:  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Pietromonaco family!

Cheers,
Paul

Leonard Cohen and the Fresh Beat Band - Live In Concert!

(from the Improbable Double Bill department)

Hi everyone,

We went to see two concerts this weekend.  The first was Leonard Cohen at the Key Arena, on Friday, November 9th.  We had amazing seats - here's a few phone photos:

Leonard was in fine form - he joked early on that he was hoping to continue to tour for a few more years - and was really looking forward to turning 80 when he could start smoking again.  He then said - paraphrasing - that although he was hoping to tour for a number of years - the future is uncertain, so they were going to put on the best show they were capable of, just in case.  And he did: The show started at 8:00 PM prompt, and didn't get out until 11:45 PM, with one intermission.  That's pretty amazing for somebody who's 78 years old! 

The next day, Saturday, November 10th - we took Rose up to Everett to see the Fresh Beat Band live in concert:

At one point, two of the members of the band came into the audience to give high fives to the kids.  Dana picked up Rose and lifted her up - and she got to high five her hero Twist!  She was beaming after that.  They put on a great show too - not quite as serious as Leonard, mind you - but probably more enjoyable for the kids!

Cheers,
Paul

Halloween 2012 Photos

(from the Oooh - spooky pumpkins! department)

Hi everyone,

I've got a few fun photos to share with you from our recent Halloween activities.  First - we had a King Street outing at Dr. Maze's Farm on October 24th.  Rose and her class had a blast - looking around the farm, touching worms, playing king (or queen) of the hay bale and getting a pumpkin:

 

By the way - that right arm thing?  That's Rose doing the Egyptian.  She's been doing that off and on since we went to the King Tut Exhibit.  

 

Next, we had a Halloween party here at work.  Rose had a blast:

 

Then, on the 28th, we went up to the Fall City Farms to get a couple of bigger pumpkins for the family.  Also - we went to get hot apple cider and fresh homemade donuts.  Sadly, this is the last year they'll be doing this - they're citing the economic downturn among other reasons:

 

By the way - Rose has her fingers in her ears because they were firing off a loud "pumpkin cannon".  This device was sending small flaming pumpkins across the fields.  Very cool.

 

Finally - on Halloween - we trick or treated at the University Village mall.  All the local shopkeepers stand out front in costumes, and the kids go candy crazy:

 

 

 

All in all, we had a very Happy Halloween!

 

Cheers,

Paul

 

P.S.  Fall City Farms photos courtesy of Dana

Rose enjoys a pancake!

(from the It's best with chocolate chips department)

Hi everyone,

Nothing major in this blog post - just me and Rose having breakfast at IHOP.

First, the before pictures:

Rose isn't smiling because...

She's already been eating chocolate chips!

 

Now the after pictures:

 

Rose practices her paprazzi moves

 

Yes, Daddy - I've eaten half a gigantic choco-pancake!

Why do you look so worried?

And finally - from my phone's front cam:

We love pancakes! 

 

I got to try the Red Velvet pancake - it was really good.  I did find out something interesting - the waiter said that the IHOP special menus are no longer placed on the table by default.  This means that when you see the ads for the limited-time pancakes on TV, you have to ask your server for the special menu to order them.

 

Cheers,

Paul



Rose is a Zen master

(from the Is it Zen? department)

Hi everyone,

One of the stories we like to read to Rose for bedtime is Zen Ghosts by John J. Muth.  He has a series of these books, featuring a large panda bear named Stillwater, who is also a wise spiritual master.

Well - we decided to read her another of these books - Zen Shorts.  Afterwards, I mentioned the Zen koan I always keep handy:  The Rhinoceros Horn Fan.

Rose found that koan interesting - so she told us her own version.  In her version, she replaced the fan with cake and the rhino with ice cream.  Awesome.

I grabbed my smartphone, started recording and asked if she'd tell the koan again.  Here's the result:

Unfortunately, she didn't quite tell it the same as she did the first time.  Still - it's quite the koan, isn't it?

Cheers,
Paul

Rose's Bridge Crossing Ceremony at King Street Cooperative Preschool

(from the It's Summertime department)

Hi everyone,

Rose had her bridge crossing ceremony at King Street Cooperative Preschool today. 



It's kind of like a graduation/celebration of summer vacation.  I have some more footage I'll try to edit together to give you a better sense of what happens.  This is just Rose crossing the bridge.

Cheers,
Paul

Making friends with the new kitten

(from the Mew Mew! department)

Hi everyone,

We have a new kitten. Currently, her name is Hazel, but we're letting Rose pick her name - so that may change shortly. In the meantime, we've been trying to introduce our other cat, Jellie, to the kitten.

This has not gone well. There's been some hissing and some hackles - then they back away from each other.

Well - last night - Jellie curled up to sleep and the kitten stalked him. This was the result:



Then - they heard us taking pictures:



Here's the both of them, looking fluffy and sleepy:



And - one more - sleepytime friends:



Cheers,
Paul

Ferryboat docking - Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA - April 2nd, 2012

(from the It's Better In The Islands - In HD department)

Hi everyone,

Here's some more from the San Juan Island trip. This time, it's an HD video of a ferryboat docking at Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA. This video was shot on April 2nd, 2012 at about 7:19 PM. Rose provides the motorboat accompaniment.



Man - it's amazing what these phones can do.

Cheers,
Paul

Lime Kiln Park - San Juan Island, WA - April 1st, 2012

(from the It's Better In The Islands department)

Hi everyone,

Here's a few photos I took with my Windows Phone on our trip to San Juan Island last weekend. We were visiting Lime Kiln Park, on the west side of the island, facing Victoria, BC.










Pretty cool for a camera phone!

Cheers,
Paul