Taken a few months ago in the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens. I love that place.

Hallelujah. No more barfing, and it looks like Saige and I may have actually escaped the bug altogether. One word, people: Airborne.

Toddlertown update: Our garbage disposal remains the most well-fed member of the family, though it seems like the girls are eating a little more than they used to. They’ve gained enough weight to finally turn their carseats around, anyway. Saige can understand and follow simple commands like feeding the bunnies, putting laundry in the hamper, and giving a toy to Darcy. It’s been a shocking realization for Bruce and I to discover that they actually understand our sentences. They can even say phrases like “yellow ball” now, which, okay–doesn’t sound like a big deal, unless you’ve spent the past two years listening to communications consisting entirely of screaming and grunts. We’re tickled pink at their progress. They’re also kindly informing me of when they’re going “poo-poo” sometimes, which at least saves me some unpleasant sniffing, and is supposed to be an excellent sign of potty-training readiness. I suppose that will be the next big project in the next year, along with transitioning them out of their cribs. I can see all of these things kind of go together and will get easier as language development improves. I’m in no hurry about moving them into big girl beds, though. They seem to like the security of their cribs, and I’m told trying to get uncaged twins to go to sleep is a nightmare that can take weeks or months to work. (Think 24/7 pajama party).

The girls are getting increasingly obessesed with books and sorting. Saige in particular seems to manifest mommy’s organizing and book hoarding genes. She likes to stack a dozen books all in her lap at once, ummm, kind of how mommy used to carry around stacks of books at the Strand. If we are leaving to go out, she has to get them all in order before she walks out with us–which is not unlike my habit of getting my desk in order before I go out. Bruce likes to joke Saige is my little clone. Darcy is certainly his little clone, so we have one of each.

And they are so kind to animals! They are cautious around dogs (which I am glad of) and gentle when petting all animals. Mama is relieved.

Mama’s also become a beach garbage collector. I am so tired of the clowns that leave beer bottles in the dunes–mostly smashed ones–that I’ve become the unoffical collector whenever we go for our weekly walk in the dunes. But I can only half blame them. They made this gorgeous boardwalk with no trash cans anywhere. That’s right: not a SINGLE trash can on the entire length of it. Do you know what the Wildwood boardwalk in Jersey would look like without trash cans? (Hah–kind of like Asbury Park, perhaps?). I mean really, what’s so hard about having a few trash cans around? What were they thinking? So I am contemplating a makeshift design I may install temporarily, both out of necessity and as a message to the city.

So if you’re wondering why the mom with the twins is also carrying an armful of emtpy beer bottles, no, they haven’t driven me to drink yet.

I bring all this up because usually I find only trailer trash remains–cheap, shitty beer and sticky fast food wrappers. Last time, though, somebody did a little better.

Mmmm, yummy!

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Links! Links!

Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer. As if you don’t already know.

Now THIS is a cool Christmas present.

Musicvine - kind of cool…shows relationships between bands visually.

Iraq in Photos - What you won’t see on Fox News