Christmas Tidings

Negative tides on Christmas Eve mean awesome tide pools! Fitzgerald Marine Reserve was very festive with frosty waves, snowy white balls of barnacles, and green anemones.

The Tilden Park Carousel is done up for Christmas in lights and bows, surrounded by decorated Christmas trees, and a Santa outside. Silas was interested in taking a peak but sitting on his lap was not even a remote possibility. But he got to ride a black galloping horse with Mimi!

Silas and I made this winter diorama on the living room shelf. Scraps of fluffy interfacing, a reconstructed cardboard box covered in paper with house details drawn by Silas, branches of evergreens and red berries found on hikes and bike rides in the neighborhood, tiny redwood tree pine cones covered in glue and glitter, and a Japanese made deer from the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse (with a Santa hat added by Silas). This sort of home-crafty-oddity makes me so happy.

The sign says: "Happy birthday Happy Christmas I hope you like your presents Santa's house" (A new holiday ritual this year: you must hold the sign while opening your presents)

A lovely photo taken by Silas of his favorite spot this December: under the tree playing with the presents of Christmas past (trains and crane) and the presents of Christmas present nearby.

Christmas morning. Real joy.

We misplaced Silas after several of the gifts were unwrapped but found him again when we discovered some unopened gifts behind the tree...

He enjoyed opening each and every one of his presents, but there was no way I could sneak a camera on him for each one. So if you sent him a gift or a happy Christmas wish then know this smile is for you...

We had a wonderful Christmas day dinner in San Francisco with Halstead cousins. Palmer (formerly known as baby Palmer) is almost as big as Silas now.