We had such a nice Valentine’s Day. We’re not really into chocolate and roses in this family. We don’t even go for jewelry or electronics but we do have one tradition that I love love love. And that is that the girls get to pick out their own flowers from the flower stand that I used to work at so long ago. I love that little flower stand.

Bug knew exactly what she wanted. She bee-lined it for the sunflowers and completely ignored any of my suggestions. She didn’t want pink roses or any fancy lilies that smell good. She wanted a yellow sunflower, a pink gerber daisy and some green button mums. Nothing else would do. (The picture on the right is of her holding a bouquet for her Grandma Pat who we visited the next day.)

Maybe she had been planning out that bouquet for months as we stroller by this particular flower stand quite frequently. I’m always telling her that we can’t buy flowers today but we will on Valentine’s Day so she has been looking forward to this for a very long time.

Valentine’s Day did not disappoint. It is so fun to pick out your own flowers! I’d trade a thousand boring grocery store pre-made bouquets for my own simple handpicked bundle of hydrangeas, peach roses, ranunculus and lavender sprigs. But I think what really made our day was the silly red sequined plastic heart that Toby bought Bug for a $1.75. That silly heart made her so happy.

I thought that was the end of our Valentine festivities but Toby suggested a little family outing after we finished up with the flowers. Flowers and an adventure? Bring it on! We quickly put our flowers in a watering can on our patio and then piled into the van for a little trip to the beach. Not just any beach though. We were off to the beach of BIG WAVES!

Maybe you’ve heard of The Wedge. It’s a pretty famous surf spot where the waves come in and then bounce off the jetty over top the waves that are still coming in. That probably doesn’t make sense but just imagine two waves crossing each other and the mayhem of water and power that that can create. It can get pretty exciting, especially after a storm. People die there all the time surfing in the dangerous conditions.

It turned out that the waves weren’t very big on Valentine’s Day but it was still a fun place to spend some family time. Bug could have cared less about the waves. She just wanted to climb all over the jetty rocks and play in the sand. We could have dropped her off in a sandbox in Anaheim and she probably would have been just as happy. But that’s okay. Family time together is always good no matter where it is and hey, I got to watch the body boarders and skim-boarders. That was fun for me.

Anytime with Toby is special time.

We even squeezed in a sunset. Not a bad Valentine’s Day at all.

I guess they had fun at the party. I had a nice time staying home and blowing my nose.

I sent Toby off with my camera and his little pink-bomb princess. It nearly broke my heart to watch them walk off down the alley hand in hand without me. But I really needed to stay home and not spread my germs. I’m sure Bug is a germ-carrier but at least I didn’t have to be dripping with snot and obvious about it. Not that kid parties in the wintertime aren’t great big germ wonderlands anyway…

From what I hear, Bug was smitten with the birthday girl’s dad. Silly kid. I hope the dad didn’t mind all her hugs and kisses. She also told me all about the Princess Bounce House and declared that we should get a bounce house for her birthday party that is coming up in January.

“Where should we put it?” I asked, wondering to myself where indeed we would put a bounce house since we have no yard. In the alley?

“In the street.” she replied nonchalantly.

I guess I could look into that. Do you think the city would let me blockade the alley next to our house for a kid’s birthday party? I wonder what kind of permit that would require. Wait a minute, I thought this was supposed to be the small party year?!! As in low key. I don’t think a block party would fit that description.

Thanksgiving flew by and I didn’t take any photos of the kids! Shame on me. We had thanksgiving at Bethany’s this year. It was small and sweet. The funny thing is I actually found myself being mildly annoyed that I had to help out in the kitchen and stuff instead of just spending the day playing on my laptop and drinking coffee while Bethany baked something. I’m so spoiled when I go to Bethany’s. But it was really nice to share all the fun of staying at Bethany’s with my mom and dad and Toby.

Toby made a guest-star appearance in the kitchen to make his own version of gravy this year. I’ve written before how gravy is a thorn in my side when it comes to cooking and how Toby thinks it’s food of the gods and therefore I should learn the art so that I can be the best wife ever. I say phoey on that. Gravy Schmavy.

We decided to let Mr. Gravy Expert try his own hand in the kitchen instead of just spouting off about it for a change. Let me just say it was very entertaining. I have no idea what he did but it involved onions and a lot of whipping and then the gravy kept growing and growing so that eventually he had to move the whole mess into a much bigger pot. In the end, we had enough gravy to freeze and eat all year long. That may have been his motive all along since I’ve failed him so miserably.

It wasn’t exactly the best gravy I ever tasted but it wasn’t bad. It looked pretty anyway. It will however make a great defense argument for the next time he launches into his great speech on how of grease molecules glom onto flour molecules (Or was it the other way around? Can you tell I’ve heard this rant about a million times and that I make a habit of tuning it out?).

Toby felt bad about his great gravy experiment in the end but I thought the whole debacle was fantastic. There is nothing better than a little kitchen entertainment that involves the whole family. I prefer that to drunken drama any day.