Gifts from Nara and Tracy

The last time Nara and Tracy came over for dinner, they brought gifts for the boys. Here's a video of Spencer's reaction to his very, very cool gift.



In fact, we were getting ready to head out to a festival at our neighborhood park (which Spencer had been talking about all morning long) when he spied the unopened gift. Spencer's excitment after opening the present delayed our departure for another hour. Nara and Tracy, thanks for getting Spencer his first real train set, complete with tracks! He LOVES it! We got some photos of Spencer playing with his trains for the first time, as well as Tyler enjoying his fun gift: a set of soft blocks, which he loves chewing on and throwing around. :)

Hiller Aviation Museum

On Friday, Grace and Eunice took the boys to Hiller Aviation Museum, just a few miles from home.

It was the perfect place to spend the morning: tons of antique airplanes on display and full-size aircraft for the kids to board and explore. To top it off, there was a special model train exhibit as well... truly a boy's dream outing.

Spencer particularly enjoyed the flight simulators where he could practice crashing helicopters into the ground.


There was a great children's play area, too, where Tyler had fun climbing on a cool airplane rocker, while Theo zipped around on an airplane scooter.

The Perfect Sunday

Today was a perfect Sunday for us; a perfect "day of rest." We woke up and it was gorgeous outside. So we walked downtown with the boys to eat pancakes and omelets at Bay Watch Restaurant and then strolled over to Central Park for a morning romping in the playground. Then we walked from the park to our church (located at Aragon High School), listened to some particularly inspired music, reflected on a particularly relevant sermon, caught up with some friends, and connected with some new people. This was followed by afternoon naps, reading in the sun, and then some hang-out time with Tyler in the backyard while Spencer was still sleeping.



Spencer woke up at 4:30pm, and just when the day seemed like it could be winding down, we weren't quite ready to give up a beautiful day in the sun... so we packed up the car and within 15 minutes were on a gorgeous beach in Half Moon Bay with the boys.


Tyler explored the sand with much interest. Spencer ran around like a mad man, building sand castles, jumping in holes he dug out for himself in the sand, splashing in the ocean, and scavenging driftwood from the beach. We poured ourselves some white wine and snacked on cheese, grapes, and fresh-made bread. The day ended with sunset at Princeton-by-the Sea where we chowed down on our favorite clam chowder at Barbara's Fish Trap before heading home. It's days like this that remind us why we love the Bay Area!

Click here for more photos from our perfect Sunday.

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!

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....