What's in the field of green?

Huh? Don't bother me, I am picking strawberries. There were fields and fields of them at Underwood Farms. Different species too. We had to walk down the long rows and find only the biggest and reddest of them (they were the sweetest, most perfect ones). I know I tried them myself. Over and over again. Strawberries are my favorite.

The best thing about fresh picked strawberries is their texture. Even the very sweet ones are still somewhat crisp. So yummy and so plentiful. After the hay ride and strawberry picking we were allowed to see all of the resident farm animals: donkeys, horses, goats, geese, peacocks and peahens, cows, pigs were all represented. I liked them all, even though some were stinky.

I am not absolutely sure, but I think this picture is of the biggest berry I found. It didn't make it back home because it was eaten promptly in the field.

Finding Jane Seymour

We tried. We really did. But ultimately, we failed. We spent a sunny Saturday at the Paramount Ranch in the hopes of seeing Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. You see, this is the site in Agoura Hills where the bulk of the 6-year long TV production was filmed. It was used for many other important Western films since the 1920's, but we were mainly interested in seeing Dr. Quinn. Daddy has always had a thing for her. I think she's a pretty lady too.



Ok, I'll confess. The real reason we were there was to meet other kids my age. It was one of the Amgen Transitions events. There were other kids there, but most of them were older and playing too rough for me. However, we did go on a short hike and we saw some cute rabbits (aha, that's why the named it the Conejo Valley). We had a nice picnic and then went looking for Jane.

There's a downtown area complete with saloon, and an old train station but no Dr. Quinn. Apparently it was quite a bit more built up during filming but several buildings were razed after filming ceased.

Jane Seymour, er Dr. Michaela Quinn, Medicine Woman - Where are you?

I wanna be a fireman

A totally random event occurred on the way home from school today. We stopped off at the store to pick up some food for dinner, but I spied a little red truck. Daddy proclaimed it was a fire truck. I decidedly said, "it is not." There were no ladders nor hoses. Daddy said that indeed it was a fire truck again and there were firemen standing nearby in the parking lot. Why don't you go ask the nice firemen if it was a fire truck or not.

Glad I did; they were so pleased I was wearing my firetruck T-shirt and willing to ask them about their truck that they let me drive it. Well, maybe I overstated my case, they let me sit in the driver's seat. Nice guys, they said to come by their fire station over the weekend if I wanted to see the really big fire engines and ladder trucks. Good stuff.

Life is good

I had an extra special day last week. First my daycare had an impromptu face painting day. Every day should be like this, especially when I can become a bee, bzzzz bzzzz. Then the Transitions group (Amgen-sponsored community integration team) hosted a weeknight out at the Chuck-E-Cheese in Thousand Oaks. I have never been before, but I'm sure I'll be back. We had pizza and a sickly-sweet Hi-C drink for dinner. Then we spent most of the evening being maniacs with the different activities. Skee-ball, whack-a-mole, water pistol game... You name it, we played it.

What did we get for our troubles? A stack of paper tickets which were counted in a special machine in exchange for a printed receipt. I took my receipt to the counter and was able to afford a curly straw and a very small tootsie-roll pop. I was happy. Daddy thought it was a total scam.

Anyway I had a good day. See you next time.

Happy Easter everyone

It seems some very large lagomorph with long ears came by the temporary housing while we were sleeping. He left a basket filled with jelly beans, chocolate and other dental destroyers. Mommy has fond memories of her early Easter career and decided to let me eat all I wanted on Sunday, ad libitum, ad infinitum, but not quite ad naseum. That's right, handful after handful after handful. Daddy usually follows suit on childhood behavior and parental disciplinary tactics. He did so today, but he's not plussed about it. Who knew Peeps' alarmingly fluorescent-dyed exteriors were so crunchy sugary too? How's that about white chocolate? Mommy likes it, Daddy thinks it is dark chocolate with the soul sucked out.

We spent the afternoon at Grandma Martha's house with Pop-pop, Pat, John, and Patti. Cousin Jacob was there too; he was my competition for the Easter egg hunt. Plenty of more candy. A big ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans comprised the only real food I ate today. Zoom-zoom. Jacob and I found an unattended parents' basket after dinner, we got grandma's couch all covered with contraband chocolate. Sorry grandma. We couldn't control ourselves, we were out of our minds.

Yay soccer

I had my second day of sports camp this week. Last week was T-ball, this week was soccer. I think I liked T-ball better, apparently I am not allowed to touch the ball with my hands in soccer. I didn't know these rules, and besides it's much easier than trying to use your feet for everything.

Mommy and Daddy both played soccer before I was around, so I think they have high hopes for me. I am not so sure about the sport. It wasn't nearly as fun as T-ball last week where one was expected to use their hands. Sure I can run around and kick the ball, but there are lots of other kids running around and trying to kick the same ball. So confusing.

I think I'm tired and I think I am going to sit out this one. Maybe I'll go home and practice a bit. Mommy and Daddy will understand, right?

In Toddler We Trust

So I did a little research on the web the other day. They say the average age of a US coin is about thirty years. Sometimes, if I am good, Mommy or Daddy will give me some coins to put in my cat-bank. Why be normal? A piggy bank would have been a bit too pedestrian. The penny you see in the picture has an entirely different story.

I found it in my bedroom in the corporate housing where we are staying. I like it when I find neat shiny things like coins. If you look closely at the picture, the minting year is 2002. That suggests the penny should be in existence until about 2032. This will not be the case because I accelerated the aging process. You see, I ate it. Even after Daddy just asked me to not put it in my mouth. It just went down and it was gone. Daddy called Uncle Misha (the Emergency Room Physician) to see what we should do. He assured us that most times it would simply pass and we would just have to monitor the, erm, output.

Well - Daddy found it tonight. The penny was in the bottom of the potty after a careful poo-poo dissection with the blue silicone spatula (also supplied by corporate housing). I am not even sure it was in tonight's delivery. We've been dissecting poo all week so it may have come out earlier and we missed it. All I know is it looks worse for wear, all nicked up and considerably shinier than when it started. Who knows, maybe its lifetime will be extended. I overheard Mommy thinking of making a necklace out of it for me to wear. I can hear it now, "ask me about my penny."

Resuming some semblance of normalcy

We've been in Southern California for a little bit of time now. We are still living in the corporate housing provided by Amgen, but Mommy and Daddy are very happy to announce they have opened escrow on a house up in Newbury Park. We have also not traveled for the past two weeks so life is turning into some semblance of normalcy. Mommy signed me up for a combination T-ball and soccer camp at the local park. Lucky for me Aiden, from my preschool is also enrolled. It is always good fun to have a familiar face in the crowd and someone with which to share a "funny."

I have never played T-ball before, but I do know how to throw a ball. Check out the aggressive posture and comfortable grip I have on the ball. It is going to be a good summer and I am glad that life is ticking along. Life still feels a bit unsettled at the moment, but is getting better all the time. We even found some very good Indian food in Woodland Hills with Daddy's friend Joe and his wife Rosa Marie over the weekend. It's a bit of a drive, but not horribly so; well worth the effort. Restaurant recommendations are always welcome for the Amagasus.

Southern California Amagasus

Sorry I haven't written in a while. We've been very busy. So busy you will not believe it. Daddy had been living down in Westlake Village (near Los Angeles) for a month before Mommy and I got there. That said, he was home three of the four weekends he was away. He also managed to fit in a business trip to Boston during that time too. Crazy Daddy.

Mommy, Daddy, Zadie and I all drove down together in two Priuses last weekend and are now living in the corporate housing too. I have a feeling we won't be there long because we are also looking for a new house to buy. I have a new daycare - it's called Little Dreamers in Thousand Oaks. This is me in front of their sign on my first day. It is not a small home-based one like I have been attending in the bay area, but more of a pre-K, institutional type with classrooms and multiple teachers. I do miss Hua and Yang Duo and my other buddies, but am meeting new friends. It is both exciting and exhausting - I am sleeping very hard every night.

Daddy has a new job. That's the reason we moved to Southern California. He's now working for Amgen, the World's largest biotechnology company. He's still a drug discovery scientist and seems to be enjoying his new position there. This is a picture of him in front of his new company's sign on his first day.

Mommy got lucky and gets to keep her same job despite being relocated down in Southern California. The big change here is Mommy grew up in the Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village area so it is sort of like a salmon returning home from the ocean, or not. Grandma Martha and Pop pop Bob live here too, so I hope we'll be seeing lots more of them.

Lots of changes for sure. Wish us well, we will miss the SF bay area and the friends we've made over the years.

Just another January day in California

Yes, it is 70 degrees outside again. It has been this way for about a week and is expected to extend a few more days. Sorry to the readers in the less temperate areas of the country (and Canada too). We've been taking advantage of the high pressure weather system and spending lots of time outside (Yay for the long weekend too). We went down to Shoreline park alongside the bay to burn some calories on the bike and see some of the wetland birdies. I saw a great blue heron, snowy egrets, white pelicans, Canadian geese, sandpipers, yellow-eyed ducks, avocets and the usual mallards and seagulls. We are fortunate to live so close by to this wetland resource.

I'm still riding my balance bike, but getting so fast Daddy has to wear in-line skates to keep up. He also had to raise my seat another inch so I wouldn't drag my toes on the pavement and wear out my shoes.

I had my jacket on in the picture because it was still cool in the morning, by the time we were finishing the ride I was only in a t-shirt. Anyway, it sure beats shoveling snow or defrosting car windows (like I would know).

Congratulations to Barack Obama! The president-elect will take office this Tuesday. He will be the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American man to do so. Congrats to the young senator from Illinois, we just know "change has come to America".