Spencer and Theo Weekend

A great weekend of Spencer / Theo hang-out time... certainly the best time they've spent together since Mexico. Highlights included a boys-only dinner with LOTS of sharing, a boys-only bath with LOTS of splashing, and some serious coffee-making in the gazebo outside Alana's in Redwood city.



The meal featured a pretty hilarious back and forth between Spencer and Theo... check out this clip:

Day in the city with Nara, Tracy, Lee and KB

Now that Nara and Tracy have gotten settled in San Francisco from New York, we were way overdue for a family day in the city.



We started the day checking out Nara and Tracy's new place South of Market. Then we were off to Mayflower in the Richmond for some yummy dim sum, where we were joined by Lee and KB (despite Eunice's pledge to never eat dim sum again with someone who eats neither pork nor seafood).

Finally, we set off for a walk in Golden Gate Park and the Conservatory of Flowers. The special exhibit (pictured here) was a model train set in a model of San Francisco. A real draw for Spencer, although EVERYONE is thrilled to spend time at a train exhibit, right guys?

Nine Months and Crawling!

In Mexico, Tyler would manage to get up on his knees for a few seconds, and we'd all exclaim, "Look! He's crawling!" Now that we're home, there's no denying that Tyler is really crawling around, exploring our house like a pro. Spencer never crawled, so it's a little strange having a mobile 9 month old around the house! Pretty cool...

Valentine's Day

We had a somewhat untraditional but fun Valentine's Day this year. We spent the morning playing with the boys. Then we dropped them off with Juanita (she runs the day care they go to during the week) from noon until 5pm for a "date day."


Ryan got all dressed up in his black Euro turtle neck and drove Eunice to Milagros in downtown Redwood City (guess we didn't get our fill of guacamole, tacos, and margaritas on our recent trip to San Pancho!). We made a quick stop at Beard Papas for a chocolate cream-filled cream puff and then caught a matinee showing of "Slumdog Millionaire" - a visually stunning movie with a storyline perfect for Valentine's Day. We took a nice walk around town before picking up the boys. Back home, we read bedtime stories, put the boys to sleep, and then cooked up some yummy red snapper for dinner. Mmmm!

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

Spencer made a "pie" (with no milk) for Jesse's birthday. Click on the video below to see Spencer's special message to Jesse!

San Pancho, Mexico

In 2004, 3 couples traveled 3500 miles down Baja for New Year's in Cabo, swapping high fives at sunset throughout. 4 years and 4 kids later, we wanted to reassemble the crew in Mexico again. A lot was different this time around, but the critical things stayed the same: sand, surf, fresh grilled tacos, and cold Mexican beer, all enjoyed in the company of good friends.

See below for highlights, or click here for the full slideshow...


The expanded set of BFF: Ryan, Eunice, Spencer & Tyler; Alonzo, Grace, Theo & Baby TBD; and Jesse, Eileen & Henry.


Casa Linda was our home base for the week... a fantastic beach house an hour outside Puerta Vallerta on the outskirts of a sleepy Mexican fishing village called San Pancho, just north of Sayulita. We spent a lot of time enjoying the house: playing in the sand and surf right in front or just listening to the waves from our bedroom during afternoon naps. Dinora was the house's caretaker, and she'd make us a different meal every night, always featuring handmade guacamole and, oddly, lots of steamed vegetables. We supplemented with our own specialties-- freshly squeezed juice from Jesse, hearty eggs and grilled steaks from Alonzo, and, of course, Nichols family margaritas for our poker nights.


There was plenty of time for bonding with the kids. Our favorite memories include Theo and Spencer shoveling sand for hours in the shade of the palm trees in front of our house, Tyler and Henry interacting during joint tummy time on our beach towels, giggling on the hammock in front of the house with the boys, and telling Spencer elaborate stories to keep him entertained on the long piggy-back ride to town.


We did get out and about beyond the confines of Casa Linda. The Costa Azul adventure resort, just up the beach, was a great spot for wading in the pool and feasting on banana pancakes. Downtown San Pancho had some great taco stands and souvenir shopping, and even a cute children's library. Sayulita had a kid-friendly beach and the chance to take Spencer and Theo for their first horseback ride. We even made a day-trip to Puerta Vallarta on our last day.


But the best time each day? Sunset, of course. We'd move everyone out to the water to build one more sand castle and cheer the dads as they tried to catch waves. We had a nearly full moon while we were down there, perfect for nighttime walks on the beach and a bonfire (built right at the edge of the range of our baby monitors).

As raucous as New Year's Eve in Cabo four years ago? Not exactly. But we did swap babysitting to give each other a night out, which is cause for much celebration these days. And we left wondering when we'd be able to book our next trip down to idyllic San Pancho.

Click here for the full slideshow....