Where Seuss shops

As usual, shopping at Target. We came across storytime, so Ellen grabbed a beanbag and took a literature break.

View from my front door

This winter morning, everyone on Facebook was posting pictures of the blizzard that had blanketed the Midwest and East Coast. I took this picture of sunshine and lemons for contrast. Imagine how little gratitude I received for posting it!

Burgers al fresco

  

One advantage to living in LA is the practically year-round outdoor dining. At a local gourmet burger shop, we have a warm and sunny lunch in mid-January.

Downpour -- trust me on this

OK, so it's hard to tell from the image, but it was pouring and pouring at the time. December is the rainy season for SoCal, what passes for winter here. After months of dryness, we got barrels of rain, almost every day. I was glad to not own a floodable basement, for once.

The show must go on

Rachel's a capella group performs at a nursing home (a big part of their fan base). Many of the members of the group may be checking out the homes for their own relocation.

Pageantry

Ellen's first school show. We had to wait a long, long time for the kindergarten class to perform. Ellen stood in the front row in her construction paper tree costume and forgot to sing her songs. We were very proud, of course.

Winter wonderland

Snow? What's that? Something up in the mountains?

The local mall dumps a few tons of snow on its plaza for a lark. Look, you can wear mittens and throw snowballs and pretend you're freezing to death -- just like up north!

Tickle Me Ellen

Year-round al fresco dining is one of the pleasures of SoCal. Here we enjoy a morning brunch at Mike & Anne's.

Oops, I did it again

Somehow, seven months slipped by without a post. I've got some pictures, so I'll be uploading the missing months over the next few days.

Here's a nice sunset shot, taken from my parking lot at work. You can see Mt. Baldy and a bit of the rest of the long San Gabriel mountain range. The peaks are snow-covered for winter, and sunset often paints them salmon and purple.

The Dampest Place on Earth

It never rains in Southern California...

Except this week. When it rained and rained and stormed and stormed. For days. It all started on Sunday, when the grandparents took Ellen (and us) to Disneyland. Fortunately, Disneyland will happily sell you Disney ponchos.

Street party

New Year's eve in Pasadena. The parade route is packed with overnight campers. They've brought everything they need -- air mattresses, picnic tables, firepits. It's quite the party.

Lush

Can you believe this is the view from my driveway in late December? In the morning, I'm struck by how beautiful this place can be.

Four seasons all in a day

This is what passes for fall/winter in California. In December, some leaves finally fall down. Meanwhile, other trees are blossoming and the citrus is ripening. I'm very confused.

April showers

... of snow. Last one of the season? Dare I hope?

Whinehouse

I wanted to say winter was over

But then it snowed, snowed, snowed

Hope or false hope?

Can this thaw be real? Last year at this time, we were in the midst of a snowy and cold March. Winter didn't let up its grip until April. Are we getting a reprieve this year?

Not fair

I escape Minnesota for the snowstorm and subzero weather of ... Washington?

Cruisin'

Back at the same indoor playground we visited almost a year ago. I was going to link to the blog post, then I realized that I never actually put that picture up. This local mall's playground is something we're really grateful for as winter stretches into its third month.

Flu

Even though we got our flu shots, we all came down with the lingering evil spirits for almost two weeks. We went out for brunch one morning when we were all feeling relatively well. Poor Ellen slumps against daddy's leg as we wait for a table.

Yikes

And here's that lovely -25 degree day now. The exhaust fumes from cars freezes instantly on roads, so they turn into ice rinks. Here's one of several nasty accidents I passed on the way to day care. The highways were even worse.