Happy Birthday Emi December 2025

Thursday Dec 11

We’ve had a pretty peaceful uneventful day. It’s been snowing almost every day in Minnesota and it’s been pretty cold too so it wasn’t hard at all to tear ourselves away. My fingers have been so raw and cracked; I’m happy to leave just to give them a chance to heal. My only regret is leaving the dogs, mostly Harper. She’ll turn 16 while we’re in California (on the 14th) and I know our days with her are limited. She’s doing great for such an old dog but it can’t last forever.

We got to the airport plenty early. We parked in the ParknFly covered parking, so no worries about snow, and there was a bus right there waiting for us. Our flight was on time and everything went smoothly except when we got to San Francisco there was a plane at our gate. We waited about 15 minutes but then our pilot got impatient and asked the airport to find us a different gate, which they finally did. Then we had to wait awhile for our bags, so Dan had to circle for awhile. Finally, we were on our way to Los Altos.

As soon as we got there we said hi to everyone and then turned right around and left again. I needed some food and we needed wrapping paper, a card, and ribbon for Emi’s birthday tomorrow. We brought presents for Christmas too but we have a few days before we need to wrap them.

We got tacos at the Super Taco Truck. I read that the veggie ones were great and they really were. I gobbled them right up.

Back at the house we spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Emi and wrapping gifts. We had Chinese takeout for dinner and Emi ate a huge amount of rice and tofu. They had plain tofu for her, but she tried some of Dan’s mapatofu and decided she liked it so we put some sauce on her plain tofu and she ate a lot of that as well.

She is really a toddler now, talking up a storm, understanding even more, and of course does not like to be thwarted. She’ll get upset but can usually be redirected. She’s a lot of fun.

Friday Dec 12

Happy birthday Emi! I managed to sleep until almost 5. It was pretty chilly but once I had my breakfast and enough coffee I went ahead and ran, even thought it was still dark. I had thrown a headlamp in my suitcase at the last minute thinking this might be a good idea, so I would be finished running and could help with Emi right away. It was in the low 40’s and I could see my breath but it was still way better than zero and having to wear kahtoolas to make it through the snow.

When I got back everyone else was just getting up. It was only  7! I jumped in the shower and was ready to start the day.

We watched Emi most of the day, but gave each other breaks and helped with other stuff as well. Dan had made the cake for Emi’s birthday the night before, but he was making the family famous butter cream frosting and I’m good at it so I volunteered to make it. We had to run out and buy a hand mixer first, however! I just know that when mixing this frosting it's best to put the icing in a smaller bowl inside a bigger bowl containing ice cubes and you can’t do that with a stand mixer. The icing came out great, although I had to work to spread it on one of the layers. It wasn’t beautiful but it was delicious!

Lee  got us bahn mi sandwiches for lunch. He tried a new place and it was fine, but the bread left a lot to be desired. Around 1 we took Emi on a walk and she fell asleep right away. We stopped for coffee on the way back and she slept until after 2.

We spent the afternoon playing. Around 5 we headed to Palo Alto for dinner at Yayoi, the Japanese Katsu place. We met Craig and Jean there. They used to have online menus that I hated but they got rid of them and I was delighted! I was finally able to figure out what to order. I got a chicken Katsu dinner that was very good.

Emi ate and ate and ate. Agadashi tofu, dumplings, noodles. We finally had to drag her away because we still needed to go back to the house, eat the cake, sing happy birthday and open presents and it was getting late. She threw a fit when we finally made her stop eating!

In the car she started asking each of us to sing happy birthday. When she got to Kelsey, she hasn’t been feeling great and she was dozing so we told Emi that mama was sleeping, and Emi started yelling at the top of her lungs, “MAMA WAKE UP!!!!!” over and over! She wouldn’t stop and got quite upset. Toddlers! They want what they want, until you can finally distract them with something else.

Back at the house we sang happy birthday, blew out the two candles, and ate some cake and vanilla ice cream. It really did taste delicious. It’s one of my very favorite cakes.

Then Emi opened her presents. She got some great stuff, a little kid scooter from Craig and Jean. a brio train set from her mom and dad, a princess dress and magic wand from us, although I think she liked her card the best because it plays happy birthday when you open it!

California August 2025 - Los Altos and Los Angeles Part I

No Emi allowed on social media so you'll have to be content with some flowers from their yard instead!

Tuesday August 12

We are going to a wedding in LA this weekend so we’re spending a few days in Los Altos first. We flew to SF this morning. The traffic on 494 has been terrible so we had to make sure we left in plenty of time. We had to drop the dogs off at Rita’s first. We got all the way to Excelsior and then Rita called because we had forgotten to give her the kibble! Whew, thank goodness she noticed! The kibble, medicine, canned food and yogurt were all in the back seat! We did a quick U-turn and headed back to her house and started out again.

We made it in plenty of time but it’s just another of those things that could have gone so badly. What if Rita hadn’t noticed? We’ve been very lucky lately.

Going through TSA the agent looked at my passport and then at me. “Wow! You sure don’t look 73! You must have good genes!” I laughed and didn’t mention all the exercise I get! My hair is still not very grey and that definitely helps make me look younger.

The flight was uneventful. I worked on my blanket a lot and made quite a bit of progress.

We stopped at a taco truck to pick up lunch. The weather here is beautiful. I’ve been marveling at the blue skies all day. It just makes us realize how bad the smoke has been this summer in Minnesota.

Even though it’s only been a few weeks since we’ve seen Emi she is just talking up a storm. She knows so many words and is using them appropriately too. She’s full of surprises. She has a strider bike and she can definitely walk it while sitting on the seat but she’s not crazy about it yet. She can throw the ball for Rossi. 

We went out for Ramen tonight and then got ice cream at Sugar and Salt. 

Wednesday August 13

This  morning I slept til 5:30 AM. That’s amazing for my first night in California! I went for a run and was noticeably faster than usual. A little cooler, less humid and no smoke. Nice!

Thursday August 14

Yesterday. In the morning we played in Emi's playroom, then we took her for a bike ride. Lee rode Dan’s bike with the trailer for Emi. I rode Kelsey’s bike, a step-through that was too small for me but nbd. We only went about 3.5 miles total. We rode to the donkey’s and stopped to look at them. Then we rode to the playground and watched Emi while she clambered around and swung on the tire swing. On the way back she fell asleep but she’s kind of top heavy with her helmet on so she kept waking back up.  We walked to Ditmar’s with Daniel for sandwiches for lunch. To get there we walked the other way on the bike trail that goes by their house. I've been curious where it went! Answer: nowhere really, just a shortcut behind some houses to another street where it ends. After lunch Lee and I took Emi for a short walk. She fell asleep very quickly and slept for 2 hours, a long nap for Emi. When she woke up Dan set up her sprinkler pool and she had a great time running in and out of the pool, sliding and drinking from the sprinkler. 

Lee made dinner, chicken with tomatoes and parmesan, broccoli rabe, bread, couscous. Very good! Emi wasn’t having any, she ate chicken and rice with a little broccoli mixed in.

I slept til 6 this morning. I’m sleeping well. I didn’t run this morning. I will tomorrow or Saturday. Emi ate a lot of tofu for breakfast. I ate yogurt, toast and the last piece of apple pie. I’m not hungry now!

We’re going to take Emi to story time at the library this morning and maybe swimming in the afternoon. Dan and Kelsey are going into the city overnight. That will be a new experience for all of us!

Friday August 15.

Thursday continued. We left for story time at the Menlo Park library around 9:30. We got there in plenty of time. It turned out that they had a woman singing in English and Spanish this time. It was great! Emi was totally mesmerized. We sang along, learned a little Spanish, danced and did different motions as directed. Emi mostly watch, fascinated, but toward the end she got up and danced too. When the woman asked if anyone wanted to strum her guitar at the end Emi marched right up!

Afterwards we went to see the ducks and turtles at the pond in the city park. Then we went home. By the time we got home Dan and Kelsey had left for their party. They’ll be gone all day and night and come home Friday morning. Emi seems unfazed. She asked about them periodically. I would give her a simple explanation that seemed to satisfy her and that was all it took. 

We put her to sleep with a short stroller walk again. She didn’t sleep quite as long as yesterday but she still did well, 1.5 hours. Then we got out the wading pool again. This time I put on my bathing suit too. We played ring around a rosy. At first I was the one going around and falling down but then I told her to do it and she did. She loved it! The bottom of the wading pool is covered in letters and numbers, in random order, so then we played a game finding all the letters. When we got to “E” I couldn’t find it. Turns out it was under her foot. She lifted up her foot, and unbidden, said “E”! I was shocked! It might have been just random luck, she’s only 20 months old! But it is the first letter of her name!

We had sushi for dinner but it wasn’t very good. Emi, however, ate all the agadashi tofu, some regular tofu, and some rice. She had an immense dinner!

We went for a long walk after dinner, along the trail and back through the schoolyard path. It was very nice out, cool and breezy. We all enjoyed it.

For once we seem to have done her bedtime routine right. Long enough in the bathtub (she loves her bath). Lots of lotion (she has eczema), a little warm milk, Goodnight Moon, a CD with Landslide on it. She went to bed without complaint and never made a peep all night.

Rossi slept with us but she was very unsettled. She barked and growled off and on for hours, I would fall asleep and then she would wake me up. I finally threw her off the bed in frustration and she cried and woke up Lee. Ugh. But after that she stopped.

In the morning Emi slept until 7:15. Our instructions said we could let her sleep until 7:45 but she was ready to boogie. She didn’t eat much breakfast. I got her to eat some Cheerios by feeding some to baby (her doll) and then saying “Emi’s turn!”.  But she comes from a long line of no breakfast eaters so it wasn’t surprising.

Later in the morning we took a long walk to the playground. As usual her idea of fun was climbing up and down the stairs on the playground equipment, saying “hi” to grampa from various windows in the playhouse, walking back and forth on the “bumpy” bridge. 

She had crackers and a fruit and veggie packet on our way back from the playground. We got InandOut for lunch. I used to like it but this time was pretty bad. Emi liked the ketchup, and the french fries as ketchup transporters. She ate a little of her hamburger. Apparently nowadays she likes it “big”. Things are changing awfully fast!

Dan and Kelsey came home a little after noon. Emi promptly started melting down. I guess she was saving it up, but mostly it was the timing, she was tired and it was almost nap time. I took her for a quick walk to put her to sleep. I didn’t even get as far as the end of their subdivision before she was gone.

Dan drove us to the San Jose airport for our flight to LA. It’s not very far from their house and it’s a small airport so we got here in plenty of time.

To be continued!

California Winter 2025 - Part V - The Last Part of our Trip

Tuesday March 11

The weather today has been beautiful. Sunny and 60’s, the nicest day yet. But tomorrow another atmospheric river is headed this way. it’s quite possible that it will rain the rest of our trip. For that reason I did my marathon pace run this morning. I will run if it’s raining lightly but not if its pouring so we’ll just wait and see.

Last night we went out for pho. It kind of hit the spot. Lee finally bought some Robittusin so he is actually feeling better since he can sleep. Emi has been fun today. We went to the playground this morning and for a walk this afternoon so she got a good nap this morning and she’s still asleep now. We also played with her new water table in the back yard. She got wet and had a great time. We threw her clothes in the dryer so nbd. In just the time that we were gone she’s learned to shake her head “yes” (she already knew “no” of course!). She likes to play “bye-bye” where she grabs this pink basket and goes walking seriously around the playroom, then looks up and waves and smiles. “Hi Emi! hi!” Tomorrow she’ll go to daycare during the day and we’ll watch her at night, hopefully without a meltdown like last time!

Wednesday March 12

This morning I went for a run, knowing that an atmospheric river was coming and chances are it will be too wet to run on Thursday, and maybe on Friday too. The weather was good, windy but warmer (55F) and mostly dry. It stayed pretty nice all morning, but a little after noon the rain blew in. And blow it did! It was very gusty, so much so that the power went out for a while!

I went out to run some errands around 1:30. Right down the street a tree had fallen. That explained the power failure! It had hit a car too. Fortunately for me it blocked a street right in front of a school so I was able to bypass it by going through the school parking lot. Another large branch fell right in front of my car a little farther on. 

I stopped at a nail salon that Kelsey likes to buy her a gift card for her birthday. Their power was on but their online system was down. They said I could buy the gc online, but I may try again tomorrow. The rest of my errands were successful.

Dan went to get Emi from daycare around 4 pm. He gave her a bottle and then he and Kelsey left for their date. We played for a while and then Emi was ready for a nap, but it was too rainy and windy to go for a walk, so I walked her inside instead. It took a while but she finally fell asleep.

We’re getting carry out burgers for dinner and we will NOT rush the bath this time! Wish us luck!

Thursday March 13

Everything went smoothly last night except the burgers weren’t that great. We ordered them to be ready at 5:45 pm, but we placed the order at 5 and we think they made it then. Everything was cold. But we had a very successful time giving Emi her bath and putting her to sleep. We let her play a while in the bath before washing her and made getting out a game (peekaboo, where’s gramma? where’s Emi? There she is!). Lee made her bottle while I was doing the bath. Then I greased her up with her special eczema lotion (which made for a slippery baby!) put on her pjs and handed her off to Lee for her bottle. We read Goodnight Moon, sang Landslide (as best we could) and said goodnight. She was laying quietly in her crib but Dan and Kelsey came home right then so they had to do Goodnight Moon and Landslide again, lol.

In the morning we played for a while and then we took her to story time at the library. Her reaction was very different from when we went last fall. She was much more engaged, although she was still more interested in the other children and adults than in the actual story. She did like the songs and the actions that went with them. She really liked the babies in the audience! At one point she looked at me, pointed at a baby and said “baybee” with a big smile. That might have been the highlight of the visit for me!

She fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept for a good hour and a half.

After lunch we played some more and then around 3 we went for a walk and she fell asleep again. It's almost 4 and she’s still asleep.

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The next day
we went home. And here we are, once again. Spring is very slowly coming to Minnesota. I have someone to help me with yard work this year; if that isn't a sign of old age I don't know what is! In a couple of weeks we'll be traveling once again, meeting Dan, Kelsey and Emi in New York and Boston and helping out with Emi while we're there.  Stay tuned!

California Winter 2025 - Part III Where we Babysit for Emi

Tuesday March 4

We hung out and relaxed in Los Altos yesterday. Lee made dinner - chicken and rice with lemons (from their back yard). I ran 5 miles this morning and now we’re watching Emi. We took her to a nearby playground around 10:30, played for a while, and then she took a nap on the way back and continued to sleep at the house as well, about 45 minutes to an hour. Now she’s eating lunch. She had 3 dumplings and now she’s having one of those pureed vegetable and fruit pouches. She can hold them herself now and just sucks them up!

Wednesday March 5

In the afternoon we watched her some more. Around 2:30 we walked to the Sweet Shop and then down the trail until she fell asleep.

We went out for hot pot last night. It’s fun, but it’s good to have someone with you (like Dan and Kelsey!) that know what they’re doing! We got half spicy and half regular broth.The spicy was very spicy! We got meat, tofu, mushrooms and lots of veggies. When I was getting my dipping sauces a woman asked me what to do! I was like “I don’t know what I'm doing, just pick some things you like”. They had cream puffs too so I had some of those for dessert. It was yummy.

This morning I had a run with 6x800 intervals at HMP. It went well I’m just so much slower than I used to be. I used 1:30/30 run/walk intervals. I’ll just keep training and hope for the best.

Donkeys on my Run

I’m doing laundry today and tonight we’ll watch Emi while Dan and Kelsey go out.

Thursday March 6

So last night was interesting, as the Minnesotans say. Emi was very tired after daycare. She didn’t take a very long afternoon nap and was feeling out of sorts. Lee made a frozen lasagna and a salad. Emi didn’t like it much so we made her some dumplings, gave her a fruit and veggie pouch and some freeze dried fruit. Then we played until around 7:30 and then got ready to take a bath.

First problem, she pooped right before her bath and we didn’t realize it until we started to take her diaper off, so then we had to carry her into the bedroom to clean her up and that upset her. She loves her bath and playing with all the toys, and she doesn’t mind getting washed or anything like that. But when it was time to get out she lost it. She started crying and it just got worse and worse and worse. I had let Rossi outside so I went downstairs to let her back in, but she didn’t come so I had to go out in the back yard to get her back inside. When I came back in Lee was yelling for me to come quick! Emi had thrown up, all over Lee.

I took her gingerly and put her in the tub, sleep sack and all.  I removed the sleep sack and her pjs while Lee got himself cleaned up. I wiped her off with a  washcloth. Strangely enough she wasn’t too bad, most of it got on Lee! But she was still crying and still upset. Once she had on clean pjs we sat down in the chair in her room. I had Lee turn off the light, and we just rocked for a while, until she finally stopped crying. I gingerly offered her a bottle, betting that the vomiting was due to being upset and not the onset of some virus. She took most of the bottle and then Dan and Kelsey came home and took over.

Poor Emi, and poor Lee! He got himself cleaned up but it was pretty disgusting. It reminded me of a time when Sarah was in second grade and we had just moved into our new house on Highpoint in Columbia. She came into our bedroom to tell me she was going to throw up and promptly threw up right in my face! I grabbed her and went running into the bathroom, yelling “not on the new rugs!!!” Lol, poor Sarah. 

In the morning Emi was pretty much back to normal, although she didn’t eat much breakfast. I went for my 6 mile run. When I came back I took my shower, Lee took his and then we took Emi on a walk to the playground. We had fun, but then it started to rain. There was a shelter so we huddled under that while Emi played on a firetruck until it stopped raining. It stopped raining, she yawned, we plopped her in the stroller and she fell asleep almost instantly! She slept all the way back and she’s still asleep, although probably not for long.

Friday March 7th

Yesterday after lunch and more playing, we went to get coffee around 2. We walked around a mile total after that, she fell asleep, and we walked back. She got another good nap. More playing until Dan and Kelsey got off work. I was tired, and after observing her bath again I went to bed.

I actually slept really well last night. It was almost 6 when I got up. I was out running by 7:30. I did my 8 mile run for the week because it didn’t look like there were a lot of good places to run in Stinson Beach. I took a different bike path that went around behind the high school, and I took a different road through Stanford, but still ran about to the clock tower on campus and back. It was time for a quick shower, packing and then off to Stinson Beach.