Monday, December 29, 2008

Point Reyes Station California

Last Sunday, we visited Point Reyes Station in California. Point Reyes Station is a small unincorporated town located in western Marin County, California. It is also very close to the San Andreas Fault responsible for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Isn't the 'San Andreas Fault' sound very familiar? Some of you must have studied it during the geography class in school.

We went on a faultline walking tour from the Point Reyes National Seashore's Visitor Center.

Due to limited daylight hours nowadays, we did not want to spend too much time on the earthquake trail. In order to save time, daddy had to put our little girl on his shoulder even though our little Sheri loves scampering around on her own.In that aspect, I must give credit to our little girl for her independence. Ever since from the day she knows how to walk, she has never expressed any desire for us to carry her.

During our trail, we witnessed a coyote devouring a carcass. I would say that was the closest contact that we ever had to the wildlife in an unrestrained environment.


The blue markers in the picture denote the faultline.

During the 1906 earthquake, one side of the fence in the picture jumped 16 feet in less than a minute.

So, this means that if you and your friend were here on April 18 1906, shaking hands on either side of the rift zone, both of you would have been pulled apart by about 16 feet.

We reached the end of the trail. It turned out to be a very educational trail for mommy and Sheri (hopefully). Thanks to daddy who never fails to impress mommy with his knowledge of geography.

We went back to our car and continued our journey. Looks like our little Sheri also wants to play an active role in navigating us to our next destination.




There are a couple of undeveloped ocean beaches at Point Reyes that runs through open grassland along the coast. Being nature-lovers, we decided to explore one of them.



Don't you think that both father and daughter have similar hairstyle? Hee! Hee! Hee!

Our little girl was stunned with astonishment when she first saw the beach. Looking at the horizon on the beach always makes us feel so small and insignificant. I wondered if that was the reason she stood rooted to the ground for quite awhile before venturing further.


We were pretty impressed by the cleanliness of the beach.




The beaches overlook the Pacific Ocean. When we were on the east coast, we visited the beach at Atlantic City, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. So, daddy feels that we should definitely visit one of the beaches which overlooks the Pacific Ocean since we are on the west coast now. According to daddy, this will enable us to appreciate the fact that United States is a large continent by itself. So, this trip also fulfills daddy's wish to visit one of the beaches on the west coast that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

One last shot before we left.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Beautiful memories from North America

In celebration of our little girl's birthday, we are proud to present to you a video clip that captures the wonderful moments of her life in North America in the second year of her life journey. This is also a gift from us to our little darling. Hopefully, she will cherish it and carry it with her for the rest of her life.
Enjoy!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

I'm TWO!

Time flies. Our little girl is going to be two tomorrow. Unlike last year, we decided to keep our celebration simple this year. We had a small party just for ourselves today. Mommy specially baked a banana cake for our little girl. The reason for the choice of banana cake was because mommy was inspired partly by the recent batch of banana muffins that she baked. It turned to be so delicious that even mommy who is not a big fan of muffins ended up falling in love with the banana muffins. I would be keen to share the recipe with any of you who are interested.

While our little girl was taking her afternoon nap, Daddy and mommy spent some time decorating the banana cake that was freshly baked from the oven.Finally, it was ready to give our little girl a surprise when she wakes up from her nap.

Surprise!

Happy Birthday to our little precious!




Our little greedy girl was caught red-handed on the camera for laying her hands on the raspberries on the cake. Yummy!

One last shot before we cut the cake.

It's time for the cake cutting ceremony!

Presenting to our little girl her birthday present from daddy and mommy!




Daddy and mommy hope that our little girl likes the birthday celebration that we had specially put up for her. Happy Birthday to Sheri!

Birthday greetings from Auntie Suze who is in charge of the kindergym at YMCA.

Monday, December 15, 2008

A birthday treat -Tilden Little Farm

Last Saturday, we went to Tilden Nature Park.

Of course, the only attraction that is of interest to her is the little farm in the park.

Daddy and mommy know our little girl very well. She gets very excited when she sees animals, so this is our birthday treat for our little girl whose birthday is coming in one week's time.

Sheri: Moo! Moo!

Sheri: Baa! Baa!

Sheri: Hello! Goat!

Our little girl gets very excited when she sees animals. Throughout the visit, she was scampering around the farm trying to take a closer look at the animals. We had to keep a close eye on her as we were afraid that she might get too close to the animals



We saw the goats head butting each other just like daddy and Sheri who like to head butt each other too.
Our little girl has always been reading books about animals, so she could recognize the names of animals that are printed on the information board.

Rabbit is our little girl's favourite animal.

Frankly, this was the first time that mommy and daddy saw a live turkey.

Our little girl wanted to pet a hen that was wandering around in the farm, but it was not easy. She followed the hen for quite awhile before she could finally lay her hands on it.


Finally, her perseverance was paid off.



We also visited the Environmental Education Centre beside the Little Farm. It provides information about the wide variety of plants and animals in Tilden Nature Park. We were impressed by the layout and the condition in which the exhibits were kept in the Education Centre.


A picture of our little girl stepping on the scale which tells us the mass of water in her body.

Our little girl has always been an avid reader. However much she has read about farm animals, nothing beats the real experience. This trip provides an excellent opportunity for our little girl to come close to the farm animals that she has read about in the books.

Christmas is coming!

Last Saturday, we went to 99 Ranch Market for grocery shopping. It is one of the largest Asian supermarkets in Berkeley. You can find all kinds of Asian delights there and you cannot help but feel as if you are no longer in the States.

There is a large Christmas tree outside the supermarket, which helps liven up the atmosphere for the coming festive season. Mommy quickly asked Daddy to take a picture of us with the Christmas tree.

In the evening, we attended a Christmas party at daddy's advisor home. We had a sumptuous dinner and a fun-filled evening.

Merry Christmas to all!