Anyway, I don't really feel that motivated to post all the little details of what we did each day, and I doubt it would be that interesting to you. But everyone likes photos, so here are a few that highlight our holiday experience:
Eden in her Christmas dress. (This was taken right before we went to the staff holiday party at my library, at which Eden badly scratched my eye with her fingernail causing it to sting and water for the rest of the day. I think we had to leave after we'd only been there about 15 minutes.)
Sadly, I have almost no photos of Christmas day. Instead I have a 20 minute video of Eden "unwrapping" her presents. This was a big mistake as trying to upload said video to my computer almost killed it. Also, to put the video on YouTube so that I could add a link here for those interested (aka, Gramma) would probably take an entire day if it didn't first finish killing off my computer in the process. Lesson learned: take a series of short videos in the future instead of one ridiculously long one. Even better: just take pictures so that the obnoxious sound of my own voice is not recorded for posterity. (On a side note, I recently discovered that I only have 2 GBs of unused memory left on my computer. The rest is largely taken up with photos of Eden. Around 3500+. Yikes.)
The only photo from Christmas day showing both Eden and our Christmas tree:
One of my favorite things about living in Pasadena is all the hoopla around New Year's. I love the crowds of people sleeping on the sidewalk the night before the Rose Parade, the parade itself, the beautiful floats, the Rose Bowl Game, and all the excitement that these activities bring to the city. We always try to walk down to Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Eve to see the revelers camped out all along the street. I brought my camera with me this year, but it was too dark to get any good shots (and I felt weird about turning my flash on and thus making it abundantly obvious that I was taking pictures of people).
The two dark figures in the front are Peter (pushing Eden's stroller) and our friend, Megan:
Again, it's tough to make out, but the sidewalks are packed with people on both sides of the street. (And keep in mind that the parade route is about 5 miles long.)
On the walk back to our apartment, I took this picture of City Hall:
On the morning of New Year's Day, we had a relaxed breakfast then walked back down to Colorado Boulevard with Eden to see part of the parade. Here's a photo of the crowd as well as a float (a trolley car made of flowers) making its way down the street:
This is a view of the opposite direction, back toward our apartment. The building you see at the end of the street, right before the mountains, is my library:
We probably spent 30 to 45 minutes watching the parade, and without a doubt, I can tell you Eden's favorite part.
It wasn't the zebras or giraffes...
...or the dragon...
...or the beautiful balloons.
Nope. None of those.
What did Eden point out to us over, and over, and over again?
This.
That's right. The Goodyear Blimp.
We take Eden to see one of the most visually stunning parades in the United States, and she becomes obsessed with the Goodyear Blimp.
Would you like to guess what Eden's second favorite part of the parade was?
Actually, I think it was a dog some guy had in a carrier behind us, but the jet flyover was a hit as well.
On our walk home, we passed the police command center set up in front of the library. On New Year's Eve, the area was swarming with people in uniform, but by this time on the First it was pretty empty - I suppose they had all dispersed to their various posts.
And that's about it!
Actually, last night was another big event here in Pasadena - the BCS National Championship Game. We took several walks yesterday in Old Town, through the crowds of Texas and Alabama fans, but I didn't have my camera with me to take any pictures. I guess that was the last of the holiday-related excitement until next year.
Here are two people I am very, very happy to be going into the year 2010 with:
Happy New Year everyone! May both this new year and this new decade be full of peace and joy for all of you! And may you have every good thing that your heart desires, with perhaps a few unexpected good things thrown in as well.
"Sounds great. Where's my blimp?"
3 comments:
Loved the pictures of the floats - I can't believe how close you could get to the action. Very cool.
Somebody needs to tell Eden is lighten up a bit; man that kid takes the world pretty seriously already! Either that or having her picture taken greatly displeases her. =)
I've noticed she always gets serious like that when we're out in crowds. It was the same with Halloween. I think she's kind of shy and just busy taking it all in - doesn't know what to make of it. And she definitely is pretty serious anyway - I like to think that she's just really thinking about things. :-)
You have the most beautiful daughter. I love the serious looks. I know she is thinking and absorbing everything and of course, what would be more interesting than the blimp. She must have a lot of "Green" in her. Give her hugs from Gramma.
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