Korean fortune telling

As is traditional we had a one year birthday party and gave Thomas and Camille the opportunity to predict their future... they each chose an object from a table that is meant to indicate their interests in life.... Thomas chose a pencil and Camille a bell. Scholarship and music in their future seems like a good thing.

Trying out video

We've been taking little movies with our flip camera and are finally getting around to figuring out how to post them...

Books and too much sunscreen

Thomas and Camille have become much more interested in books - especially the ones with textures to touch. Also a funny shot of Camille after Alexis got overzealous with the sunscreen.

July in Quebec

In mid-July I had a conference in Quebec city - so we all came up north to enjoy some time with friends and family as well. I finally got to visit the famous chalet Proulx.

Butano state park trip

A few pictures from our brief camping trip to Butano state park - lovely redwoods and great spots. We got one last minute and really enjoyed it.

PhinisheD

Mi-Suk got her degree on Saturday - with both babies.

Pictures with the cousins

Alexis' Sister Isa and her family have been visiting from Germany - so on their last day here we tried to get all the kids in one picture. Many many attempts later we have a few.

First Camping trip

We had our first family camping trip on our way down to southern california with Alexis sister, her husband and their two kids. We stopped two nights at pinnacles. It went super well for a first try, though we are looking forward to trying another trip with a bigger tent. The two man backpacking tent was a bit snug for 4....

Holding hands

Thomas and Camille have started holding hands when they are put down next to each other... I find it super cute. Thanks to Kimbo who took a couple of pictures of us on Sunday and sent them along. Also, dissertation mock defense was monday -- almost done!

Visiting

Lots going on here. We've had the visits of both of Alexis' parents, we took the babies to chez panisse - where Alice Waters herself told us the babies were cute, we went to our friend Tell's wedding in salt lake city - the babies first night in a hotel, and we got the OK to ride in the BOB stroller! We're also starting solid food, but no pictures of that yet. Mi-Suk is hard at work on her dissertation... 4 of 8 chapters drafted and 3 sent out for review. Alexis is still able to work part time to help watch the babes while Mi-Suk writes.

Dolores

Our first weekend back in the bay area David came to visit and we had a gorgeous summery day and hung around in Dolores park enjoying the sun. After cold and rainy Paris, it was fabulous to get some sunshine.

Geneva

We passed through Geneva towards the end of our trip and got to see lots of friends. Here we are overlooking the city and mountains, babies strapped to our chests - this is how the twins experienced the trip most of the time... carried around in front packs.

Oh the places I've nursed...

One of the challenging things about the trip was that the babies were hungry every hour and a half to two hours during the day. So I spent a lot of time thinking about where we were going to be able to nurse if we were out.

In the course of the trip I nursed in airports, airplanes, trains, train stations, sitting on the ground in a farmer's market, perched on a bench in the tuilleries gardens, and in the main gallery of the musee d'orsay among other places.

The other challenge was places to change the diapers. Thomas had the dubious pleasure of having his diaper changed on the table in a bar in Paris. The waiter totally gave us the stink eye for that one...

Mamie

The main reason we went to Europe for the holidays was to be at a family reunion. We're very glad we went, especially because Alexis' grandmother passed away the last day of the reunion. We're glad we got to spend time with her and introduce Thomas and Camille to their great grandmother before she died. She touched many lives in her 98 years and we will miss her. We can only hope to live as long and as well as she did.