end of 2009

This was our first time driving up the coast and we definitely recommend Santa Barbara. The Harbor is full of local artists' exhibitions. You can walk down a couple different piers and take water taxis between them. The city's main street leads right out to the water and is lined with all kinds of good restaurants: fish tacos, sushi, burgers, etc. Go there.

Walt Disney's star on Hollywood Blvd. So far Sloane likes Minnie Mouse and Pooh Bear. Disney gave us some good things, even if he was an anti-semite.

Sloane can't let go of her water bottle.
One of the few times Sloane has been happy during a bath. She usually looks like this:

Her favorite Anpanman (アンパンマン) jacket. When she gets this on it is really hard to get it off her back.
You! You were the one!
Happy times after a bath.

Neket.

Hold me!
Another cold day in LA.

She is becoming attached to Betsy Bear, which is okay because Betsy is small and easy to take care of.
Waiting for the bus.
Santa Monica Pier.
Free clown balloons on the pier.

Hold me!
Don't look at me!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving weekend visiting family in Phoenix, AZ. Sloane got to see her cousin Taylor and this is one of the few shots in which they're both looking at the camera.

One of the reasons why we went to Phoenix was to give Sloane the chance to meet her great grandmother Gebby. Sloane wasn't very happy but she did her best to be a good girl, even if she didn't have a nap that day. It was also important for her to were her new purple onesie--thanks to Grandeur.

She spent a lot of time out in Gebby's front lawn (rock garden) with Grandeur.

We gave Sloane pigtails for the first time this weekend. Her hair has finally grown enough so that we can do more interesting things with it.

At the zoo they had a little petting area with a bunch of goats. Sloane's cousin Jacob showed her how to pet the goats.

Then she was brave enough to do it on her own.

Sloane and Taylor on the lookout tower over the Giraffe enclosure.

She started to smile at the end of the day. But for the most part the pictures all looked like this:

The Phoenix Zoo is not as good as other zoos, but they had this cool monkey area where we could get really close to the monkeys.

Beckham and Sloane

Sloane's first soccer game is LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA.

The main reason we went was to check out #23 David Beckham.

We had pretty good seats so we had a nice vantage point to check out the goods.

It was a wild game. Both of these teams are based in LA and this was the last regular season game.
Beckham and the Galaxy won!!

Later he came up into the stands to take a few pictures with Sloane.

She was looking pretty cute that day, too.

It gets surprisingly cold in LA.

Sloane examining the pictures that our friend We took. Every shot has to be just right or Sloane won't stand for it. She demands to see each shot after it's taken to inspect the results.
I think this one turned out pretty good.

Halloween

Sloane's Halloween costume: angel. We went treat-or-tricking this year with our friends in our apartment complex. We went up to meet our friends, the Floods, to get ready for the event.

Sloane was eyeing some of the other dressed up kids; this was a pretty good batman.

Jaimie's son Gage made a good-looking UPS delivery man.

Thanks to mommy for a beautiful angel costume.

At first, she didn't understand what to do with the candy, so daddy taught her that she was to put it in the trick-or-treat bag. She picked it up pretty quickly, though.

Sloane and Bentley.

Sloane waiting in line behind Claire for her candy.

Sloane in glowing radiance with Braydon.

An angel and a devil.

Shea, Sloane, Claire, and Braydon. Auntie Kathy and Zi Zhen came and joined us.