Haaaaa, broccoli ....

Who do I look like ?

Tummy times

Tummy times are either really funny, or really tiring ...

A bunch of first times for Theo

Besides his first month birthday, lots of first times for Theo this past week:

First trip to the wine country and his first fan club (mostly girls of course ;-).


First trip to Tahoe and first hike in the snow


First picnic in the park


First bottle with his daddy


First Google visit

Theo Dupont

Our little Theo was born a few minutes after midnight on February 20th. He came into this world in the Astroboy position, probably because we kept calling him Astro in utero.

He is already very social and had lots of visitors: Marie-Catherine, Goeric and his buddy Timothee, Auriane, Sebastien and Tristan, Benjy, Misha, Mizuki, Beth, Trystan and Mirabelle, Marisa and Steve, Nathalie, Olav and Audric, Vijay and Ursula, Loyda, Scott and Luca, Catherine, Quentin and Antoine (visiting from Belgium), Ines, Olivier, Victor and Antoine, Alex, and of course his Grandma. All that in 2.5 weeks.
He is excited to discover the world and to meet more of you.
Maureen

Urban farming - do it!

This is a typical weekly "harvest" from the 3 dwarf citrus trees we have in our backyard. We only get the oranges and tangerines during the winter months, the Meyer lemons grow year round. When you think about how much energy goes into getting a lemon from an orchard into your kitchen via the supermarket it really feels good (and tastes better) to grow your own. Do it! It's easy, its cheap and it's healthy. You don't even need a backyard, they grow fine in a container. Happy farming!

Roadtrip

Given the airlines' no-fly policy for (very) pregnant women we took a road trip over New Year's. First stop was Santa Barbara visiting Nathalie and her newly minted offspring Audric. The town was eerily empty on Christmas eve, but we found an Indian restaurant to have brunch with Alok and Rachel and catch up on things.
We then headed south to San Diego, for a second Christmas celebration with the Spriggs family. Good times: we got to know the kids a little better, had a day at the Zoo, sailed on the bay... a SoCal blessing.

We were running out of California going south, so we headed back north on 395. Stopping at Lone Pine, a funny little town at the foot of Mt Whitney stuck in its old western Hollywood glory days. Next stop was Mammoth and a bit of skiing with friends. This is a *big* mountain with a summit at 11,053 ft (3,369m). It is also an active volcano and you can come across some pretty pungent gases while skiing, some of these are quite toxic and have killed skiers before.

Mammoth is a ~7hrs drive from San Francisco, so we decided to spend the night in Lake Tahoe on our way back home. Luckily our local mountain man Ray was in town, so we got to hang out with him instead of spending the night in front of the TV at the Motel 6. On the way to tahoe we stopped at Mono Lake for a quick stroll. The winter landscape there is absolutely mindblowingly beautiful, so we stayed as long as the bitter cold allowed us to and took a bunch of pictures (unfortunately I only had my point&shoot camera with me). Fun trip, happy New Year!

Babymoon II - north shore

We spent the second part of our trip in the north of the island. The north is famous for its beaches, and there are quite a few gems indeed. The area around Princeville is far more developped than the quaint township of Poi'pu. Mega-resorts, a few large private estates and a multitude of beachfront properties make for a less remote feeling than in the south. Access to the beaches is often tricky given the steep terrain, but once you get there the views are grand. Most of them are secluded (did I mention the difficult access?) and the snorkeling is outstanding. There are also plenty of hikes, but they require diligent application of DEET and we figured that can't be good for pregnant women. A few pictures.

Hotel critic: for this part we stayed at the Westin. The thing to note about this hotel is that rooms come with a washer/dryer and a full kitchen, which is probably really nice with kids. The hotel is on a cliff so access to the beach is cumbersome to say the least (you need to walk down a super steep, muddy, mosquito infested jungle path). There is a shuttle to the St. Regis (formerly Princeville Hotel) which has better access to the ocean and a stunning view of Hanalei Bay, so that's nice if you don't mind hanging out with the rich and famous. I have a suspicion that the Westin is full of consultants spending their Starwoods points, which may impact their "tight" management (why else is parking - $9/day - not included in a $250/night room rate?) For a more relaxed feel stay at the Hyatt.

Babymoon I - south shore

We spent the first half of our babymoon on the south shore of Kaua'i. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Poi'pu (I mention it because this is a fantastic hotel, it outshines any beach hotel I've ever stayed at). The developed part of Poi'pu is tiny (if you are in shape you can jog from one end to the other in 25 min) and the sights include a few beaches, an area riddled with blowholes, and lithified cliffs. The reason you need a rental car is to visit Waimea canyon further to the west, a grandiose valley with a ton of hiking opportunities. It rained everyday, albeit not continuously. Somehow rain does not really matter in Kaua'i, it feels like a welcome refreshment rather than an inconvenience. The island is beautiful, we had some great snorkeling despite the somewhat agitated seas (come in the summer months for calm water). The underwater highlight was a head-on crash into a giant turtle on Poi'pu beach, and spotting one of these alien looking flaunders in the sand.
Best of: Tidepools (favorite restaurant); Lawa'i Beach (favorite snorkeling spot when the surf is up); Pihea trail (favorite hike).
More pictures, and one clip.

Mendocino anniversary

We spend our anniversary in Mendocino, at the Stanford Inn. It was a pretty mellow weekend, and although the innkeepers failed to convert us to veganism, we were intrigued by the absolutist culture of non-meateaters.
We barely managed to beat the fog to the airport, but once there the pace slowed down to Mendocino rhythm. Culinary highlight: la Petite Rive is a french restaurant in Little River, with half a dozen tables overlooking the ocean. Very anniversary-y.
Pictures.