Hiking at Edgewood

It was such a glorious weekend that we called up our trusty hiking buddies, the Canadas, and gathered at Edgewood for a Saturday morning stroll in the foothills.


Ryan and Alonzo carried Spencer and Theo in frame packs up to the top of the hill. The boys then had a great time running around, sharing snacks, playing hide and go seek, and checking out the wild flowers.


Hiking is a little different now, with each of us carrying a kid - but it's still a ton of fun and we have vowed to do more of it as the weather keeps getting better. (Pictured left to right: Ryan with Spencer, Grace with baby TBD, Eunice with Tyler, and Alonzo with Theo).

Click here for more photos from our hike at Edgewood.

Living La Vida San Carlos

At last, Adam and Rachel have moved into their new home in San Carlos, just 15 minutes from us!


Ryan, along with some other family and friends helped them move boxes and furniture into their new digs. Later that night, we got a babysitter for the boys and checked out the late night scene on Laurel Avenue, enjoying a tasty dinner and some fantastic live music at Piacere. The next afternoon, we were back at Piacere for an outdoor lunch on their sidewalk patio with Michael and Thesere. Welcome to the hood, Adam and Rachel!

Reflections on Tyler

When Eunice was pregnant with Tyler, she was worried she wouldn't be able to love him as much as Spencer. After all, it's hard to compete with an entire year and a half of one-on-one time with your first-born. Well, Tyler is his own person, distinct from Spencer in so many ways. Strong...and strong-willed, he's constantly on the move and already wanting to do things his own way. He has an intense gaze, which can shift in an instant into the most delightful smile.


Needless to say, Tyler has managed to capture our hearts completely and has taught us that it's not about loving our kids the same; it's about loving them uniquely.

SNBC Film Festival

Spencer and Tyler attended their first film festival, the 5th Annual Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center Film Festival. Spencer loved eating popcorn and watching movies made by youth and community members on the big screen - his favorite was "Magic and the Moon." Tyler spent the evening happily cruising along the theater seats and flirting with SNBC staff.



Five years ago, Eunice's film "New Beginnings," focused on four generations of women in her family, was shown at the 1st Annual SNBC Film Festival, so it was a little wild to be back here at the same festival with our own kids. Here is Eunice's film, posted online at last!

Home with the Boys

Since returning to work part-time in January, Eunice doesn't get to spend quite as much quality time with the boys as she did before. Still, she manages to pack in plenty of fun, singing, and good old fashioned horseplay into each day. Here are some videos from a typical day at home with Spencer and Tyler...

No day is complete without a few "boys will be boys" skirmishes around the house. [For the greater good of capturing the reality of a "typical" day in the Nichols household, the person behind the camera felt she should not intervene in the scene unless absolutely necessary.]

It's all fun and games until...

Contrary to what the fight scenes above might indicate, Tyler is clearly Spencer's biggest fan and most loyal groupie.

Spencer tries to keep up with "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" on his little boom box.

Kristin's Visit

Kristin (or as Spencer calls her, "Doctor") flew out from Indiana to visit us for a weekend. Eunice, Kristin, and another college friend, Faith, managed to get out for a late night in the Mission, eating a great meal and catching up on each others lives. The next night, we hosted the rest of Faith's family for dinner at our place.


Kristin and Eunice get ready for ladies night out. [In the lower left photo, Spencer, pinches Eunice's cheeks and says, "Stay out of trouble, Mommy!"]


Fiona and Tyler do laps around our coffee table.


The whole crew: Erick, Fiona, Faith, Eunice, Spencer, Kristin, Tyler, and Ryan


Click here for more photos from Kristin's visit.

Dinner with Lee and KB

We had Lee and KB over for a fun evening with the boys. Lee and Ryan were put to work in the kitchen, whipping up a delicious salmon dish with spinach and red peppers, while KB entertained Spencer with book after book after book.

We could tell Spencer had a good time - ten days later, he was still talking about our guests and demanding that KB come back to read him more books!

Spencer's Skuut at Crystal Springs

Spencer has really improved on his Skuut bicycle recently, so we decided to take advantage of the spring weather and go for a ride together on the Sawyer Camp Trail around Crystal Springs.



Spencer did great-- he rode for a full mile, picked up some (alarming) speed on some of the gentle downhill slopes, and actually picked up his legs for a couple of nice glides. The major challenges were staying on the right hand side of the bike path (much to the chagrin of oncoming pedestrian traffic) and skipping the frequent opportunities to take milk breaks on the benches alongside the path.

Of course, in the confines of our driveway, we weren't so lucky. Spencer slipped off the bike and bit his lip, giving him a mouthful of blood and a very fat lip for the next couple of days. He's a pretty tough customer-- his lip is mostly better and he loves telling the story.

Here's a short video of Spencer in action:

Napa with Therese

We met Adam and Rachel up in Napa for lunch with Mike and Therese. Therese has a really cute place right on the edge of the vineyards-- this time of year the mustard is in full bloom and there's a sea of yellow in her back yard... truly breathtaking. See below for details, or click here for the full slideshow!



We enjoyed a delicious mediterranean lunch, played in the backyard, went for a walk through the vineyards, and did some wine tasting at Monticello Vineyards next door. Therese is going to be sorry that she extended an invite for us to use her place when she's out of town... it's perfect!

The consensus is still that Tyler looks more like Eunice than Ryan, but this shot of Tyler and Grandpa Nic definitely shows some of the Nichols genes shining through ;)



Our ride home was rough-- both boys were howling in the backseat before we'd even reached Oakland. We decided to pull off at Jack London Square to stretch our legs, watch the boats, and grab some BBQ at the world-famous Everett and Jones. Watching Spencer dig into the ribs was quite a site-- the video below is not for the faint of heart! (or vegetarians)

And if you liked that, take a look at this video from a year ago - Spencer's appetite for BBQ pork hasn't changed much!

Click here for the full Napa slideshow...

Spencer Interested in Chinese?

Here's something new... Spencer actually taking an interest in Eunice's Mandarin!  Instead of shaking his head and saying "NO" whenever hearing Chinese, Spencer will go into a phase where he'll ask Eunice for translation after translation.

Cora's Visit: We put her to work!

Cora came out for a visit from DC, and mostly we put her to work for the weekend! She helped us throw 2 twelve person dinner parties and took wonderful care of the boys... including reading them lots and lots of books.

There was also some fun, of course-- some great meals out (Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, Mamas Vietnamese), girl's massage date, and some time for Cora to explore Stanford with Big Spencer.  But Cora left with a cold, which makes us think we got the balance a little off.  Thanks for all the help, Cora. Of course, her next visit is scheduled for Juy 4th, when there's likely to be even more "work" to be done!