Fudge Fantastic

Jan shows Parker her fudge recipe and he seems to be dutifully taking notes. Until the very end when he becomes suspicious.

What's the matter Parker? Not enough chocolate for your liking?

Oh, he just realized he has to share with Daddy.

Tag, You're It

Tag, You're It,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

Glad to see I'm not the only one Piper like to poke while drinking her bottle.

Also glad to see that I'm not the only one who let's her put her finger in their mouth and probe around. :o)

Santa Anita

Santa Anita,
originally uploaded by Car2nGrl.

What would St. Patrick's Day be without the races?

BC, Aimee, Geof, Larry, Pete, Ravi and Chris' mom joined us this year.

The big winner? Larry who hit the trifecta in the last (or was it next to last) race.

The big loser? Hey, when friends get together there is no loser. :o) At least that's what I tell myself to make me feel better.

Thanksgiving 2008

This Thanksgiving we spent the holiday with Chris' family up in Tehachapi. Another opportunity for great company, delicious food, and, yes, Parker to go absolutely crazy. Actually, he behaved himself pretty well. I don't think he annoyed his cousins too much. The evening ended with some live music courtesy of the kids table.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Viva Las Vegas!

The Trillos are on the road again, heading for Vegas. Cher's in concert and we're taking Chris' mom to see her. While were in town, we're also going to meet up with Thommy and Geoffrey...who are in town to see Cher, of course.

We're staying at the Flamingo and it looks like the place has had a bit of a face lift since our last visit. Talk about Barbie's Dreamhouse. Lots of pink, brown, and orange. It actually reminds me of a diner I visited with my dad in the 70's...I think it was House of Pies. Mmmmm. Delicious!

Tahoe 2007

So he we are, back in Tahoe for the holidays. When we arrived, there wasn't much new snow -- which made for a great drive there (no white out conditions on a crowded, slick roadway) and lame snowman making conditions. The snow was just too drive and had the consistency of sugar. So instead of making snowpeople, we ended up making snocanos. The condo did have a sled in the garage so the girls took that out for a test drive. Nice! Parker, however, was too busy eating snow to bother sledding. Excuse me. What we call "eating snow" is what Parker called "eating snowman". Hmmmm. That just doesn't sound too civilized.

The grandparents were with us (my mom and Chris' parents) and the graciously offered to watch the kids, which gave the parents a chance to hit the slopes. Now I've had more miserable days on the slopes but this trying it's best to get there. It was cold, windy, and icy. As I mention earlier, no new snow so each fall potentially could end your day...and that was just on the bunny slope. However, after the men folk took off for larger, steeper slides, my sis and I proved that we're tuff enuf and went up (and down) a few more times. Joanie even took the hill solo! Like any good snowbunny, though, we ended the day in the bar soothing our bumps and warming our toes with hot toddies.

What a difference a day makes! Sunny. Bright. We all headed up the mountain, this time so the kids could get some sledding in. The snow...much better than the stuff outside the condo...taste wise (because, of course Parker had to again "eat snowman") and building wise, allowing the kids to work on a better snowman.

Of course, we did spend all day making snowmen. The kids had real business to tend to...SLEDDING! Parker, however, was having none of it. Oh well. The girls, however, did awesome. Forward and backward, they kicked butt! And what did Parker do while the girls were tripping the ice fantastic? Nap on Daddy's stomach. Cozy huh?

Christmas 2007

Let the Christmas festivities begin!


On the Saturday before, we headed over to Thommy & Geoffrey's place for a delicious holiday brunch, brought to us by the other Chef-Boy-Ardee in my life...Geof. Parker also got to check out Thommy's Christmas Express that circled their tree. And we opened gifts, of course. Chris got the ''The Dangerous Book for Boys'' and Geof and Thommy got the equally ''dangerous'' ''Space Academy, The Complete Series'' and ''Beverly Hills 90210, Season 2'', respectively.


The next day, the party moved to Tehachapi. Unfortunately, not all of the Trillos has arrived yet but, since we were heading up north the next day, the kids got to open some of their presents...TWO DAYS EARLY! WEEE! Parker opened a Hot Wheels race track set and didn't open the box as he discovered that running your car over the picture of the track was just as fun. (No worries, he would find out the truth when we finally assembled the track a couple of days later in Tahoe.)


On Christmas Eve, we made our way to the Bay Area, first stopping as my sister Susie's place so even more cousins could collide. The newest one, Susie's little baby, Brian, brought the number to a round six. Of course, getting all six in one picture proved to be tricky. In the end, the best I could get was one which featured half of Parker's face, right up front on the left. You can't even see Jason's face...but, they're all in the picture so that's got to count for something.

By the way, regarding the huge Hot Wheels bandage on Parker's head, have no fear, he didn't injure himself. He was just feeling a bit grumpy on the way up (it's a lot of traveling even for big kids like me and Chris) so I slapped an obnoxious bandage on his forehead. He loved it. But that meant I couldn't remove it for the rest of the night.



Christmas morning...FINALLY! Luxi was up first to check out all that Santa has left for them. Begrudgingly, Niko and Parker woke up (with encouragement from Joanie). But once all the kids woke up, it became a madhouse. Thank goodness we were at Joanie's. There was chocolate to be had, tea parties, doll play, gun play, and of course a bunch of absolutely loud drumming. Holy crap! Parker loved it. And again, thank goodness we were at Joanie's. What a way to rock out the old year.

That said, WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PLEASE NOTE: Chris will kill anyone who buys Parker drums for his birthday.