1/31 - Jack is grounded

Pilot Jack's chomper plane is in the time-out bag*, so he came to work with me.  He's a busy guy -- he already climbed to the top of these blocks at my desk. I wonder what else he'll do today?

Rosemary and I walked by the water at lunchtime and enjoyed the sunshine.  Jack saw a danger sign and put his helmet on right away. He's all about safety, you know.

Then we found a funny little garden on a piece of broken pier.

* Mommy/Mama got tired of cleaning up and threatened any toys left on the ground with a time-out.  We collected a bag full!

1/28 - Littlest Rabbit is rolling in it

It was very cold and foggy this morning.  I forgot my gloves and Littlest Rabbit wanted a scarf.  Brrrrr!

We found a little green patch for her to romp in.  Romp, Rabbit, romp!

1/27 - Flapasaurus says "Ta da!"

Ladies, and Gentlemen!  Now presenting.... breakfast!
He's balancing on one foot on my granola bar.  Silly Flappy!

And then we were gobbled up by a hundred meetings.  The end.

1/26 - Erika must need Glasses -- there's a rocket behind her!

Glasses finds a friend. I see you! No, I see YOU!

3... 2... 1... BLAST OFF!!  (We would rather go to the moon than more meetings!)

1/25 - Helen peeks out

(Note for blog fans:  "Helen" is really Walden.  Lil' Guy and I pretend he is Helen from the show "Martha Speaks.")

Since we thought Helen looked so silly peeking out of my bag, I thought I'd take her picture like that.  Nobody on the train seemed to notice her, but I showed her to Rodney (security guard) and he laughed.  Now she's sitting at my desk, watching me drink my coffee.

Lil' Guy and Lil' Gal (aka the Chipmunks) really wanted to come to work with me today, but they didn't fit in my bag. Lil' Guy had the brilliant idea to take their Xmas photo from the fridge, "I know how we can fit!" I told him I have this photo at my desk and look at it all the time.  Helen wanted to hug it, so I let her.

1/24 - Telescope spies something yummy

Telescope keeps an eye on the traffic.  She also sees a little moon up in the sky!  I wonder what else she'll see today?

Now she spies pirate cupcakes from Sue!  YARyummmm.

1/22 - Robot/Space Party!

To celebrate the twins' 5th birthday, we had some of their friends --and ours-- come over for a Robot/Space Party.  Aside from putting the wrong address on the evite (whoopsie!), it went well.

Menu:
Broken Glass Jello

Spinach Dip
Veggie Queso
Mint Chocolate UFO's from Trader Joe's
The usual kid snacks:  goldfish crackers, alphabet cookies, craisins, juice boxes
Rocket Cake and Ice Cream

Games:
Space sticker project
Jet Pack Race

Pin the Astronaut on the Moon

Rocket, Rocket, Rocket, Blast Off!!

Prizes:
Wind-Up Robots

Robot Lollipops

We were lucky to have great weather (60's and sunny), so kids could run between the house and the back yard.  They even played an impromptu game of tag/hide and seek, which was very cute. The backyard has all of 2 (obvious) hiding spots, so everyone either piled in under the trampoline, or hid behind the stunted orange tree.

1/21 - Baby Giraffe haz a pet

Silly Baby Giraffe thinks this pirate is his pet!  Everyone knows pirates don't make good pets!

While I'm in an all-afternoon meeting (Hour 3! Holla!), Baby Giraffe hoof-gazes.

1/20 - Piglet finds security

Piglet swam to the top of the UAT Plan whirlpool.  (Wish I could say the same for me.)  What a Very Brave Piglet!

Remember how I told you my building has security guards?  This is Rodney.  He and Cliff are my favorite security guards.  :)

1/19 - Birthday Train does loop de loops

Lil' Guy and Lil' Gal are 5 years old!!

Choo choo!! Birthday Train says "Happy birthday to you!"  He says you guys are on track to have a great 5th year.  :)

Birthday Train wanted to be a birthday rollercoaster and tried to ride upside down on the electrical bus wires.  Whee!

1/18 - What is Baby Hippo whispering to Ashley?

Circles remind Baby Hippo of cupcakes.  David sent us a picture of a cool chalk drawing he saw today.  What shapes do you see?

What is Baby Hippo whispering to Ashley?  She sure looks surprised.  It must have been quite a secret!

1/17 - Shared dreams

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

Credit goes to, of course, Martin Luther King, Jr.  May his dreams continue to get sweeter and sweeter as we figure it out here on earth.

1/14 - Littlest Seahorse and The Salad That Never Came

Littlest Seahorse is tied up. Please hold.  We've had 4 solid hours of meetings, are off to grab lunch, and then head into 3.5 hours of more meetings.  If we can get a photo out later, we will.  People tell us it's a Friday, but we can't tell.

We had 10 minutes to grab lunch, and we were lucky to grab Linda to keep us company!  Except the lunch place took 20+ minutes to make Linda's salad.  Grrrr!  (Although it did allow us a 30 minute break from meetings!  Yay!)

1/13 - Hippo takes a bite out of crime

Your Honor, the defense has fled the courtroom...   Please tell them that Baby Hippo was just yawning -- she wasn't going to bite.

Baby Hippo and I had lunch with the lovely Katelyn and Linda.  Can you see her hiding in that plant?  Silly Hippo!

Hippos love to swim, you know.

1/12 - Courthouse Cow says MOOve along

Cow wonders why that goblin is upside down.  I wonder that as well.  The poster doesn't really seem to say.

We're out of jury duty for the day, but have to go back tomorrow (at 8:30am)! Hopefully my candid answers on the prospective juror questionnaire will get me an early dismissal there too.

1/11 - Littlest Monkey says "DonburEE EE EE!"

Littlest Monkey hangs out and wonders why there aren't more bananas at meetings.  It's a good question.

We had Japanese food for lunch, then jumped right back into meetings. (OK, Monkey jumped.  I trudged.)

1/10 - Ahoy, matey! You've got an alien on yer head!

... or is that some new kind of pirate fashion you're rocking?  Yar!  Blorp!

Alienist says "Brrrrrr!"  It's cold out there!!

1/07 - Muckie's first earthquake

Muckie found a nice yellow parking meter and wanted to sit by it for a minute, but then we got too cold and had to hurry in to work.  Brrrrr!

This is a fountain at the food court.  Muckie almost jumped right in!

Did you guys feel the little earthquake this afternoon? We did -- all the way up at my desk on the 13th floor!

1/06 - Rhino is a super star

He has refrained from charging into meetings and goring people with his horn been a really good sport about all the meetings we had today.   Good Rhino!

1/05 - Butterfly does not like lime pickle

Look who we found at the train station!  Friends of Butterfly (FOB).

We had the cafeteria's version of Indian food today for lunch.  The sag paneer was wretched, but the dal paneer (?) was OK. We liked the GREEN cilantro chutney, but the RED lime pickle was crazy!  It was so salty and sour at the same time, and poor Butterfly almost flew away from the surprise of it all!  Yikes!

1/04 - Little Z appreciates a free breakfast

They were handing out yogurt samples at the BART station.  Yum!

1/03 - Doggie With Frisbee chases the bread truck

Doggie thought those English muffins looked good.  Woof!

David and I wanted hot soup. Frisbee Doggie wanted to play fetch with the veggie rolls, but they were too big.