These Days

Nics and Mark were visiting from Manila earlier this month and we offered to take them to Stone Mountain. Mark was not able to make it at the last minute but we still went ahead. We spent most our our time up the mountain. It was sunny and cool, perfect weather.

On December 12, I went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden with some friends to see the 5th annual Garden Lights, Holiday Nights . The garden is all decked out in festive light displays for the holidays. Tickets were priced at $26 and it was good Sally got our tickets online because they were sold out on site. Parking was also full when we got there at 5PM. Rich just dropped me off then I hitched a ride with Sally and Agui going home. My first visit to this garden was in 2010 with Rich and Neil on our first trip to Atlanta. The place felt smaller this time because we were faster going through the different displays and there were more people, too. It was enjoyable but daytime visit is better if you are more interested in the plants than the lights.

Christmas Packages is one of our church's annual traditions to usher in the Christmas season.  It was our first time to attend last Sunday and there was a lot of fun activities like carriage/train rides, photobooth, dance activities for kids, games, free coffee/cookies, cake walk, Christmas concert, etc. It started at 4PM but we got there close to 6PM because we love weekend afternoon naps.=) So there were just a few things we got to join in but it was still fun. Now that we know what's in store, we will plan better for next year. Nutcracker book reading Nutcracker dance Waiting for our turn for the photobooth. I'm using the pictures for our Christmas card this year so I will post those later.=) Horse-drawn carriages. We were not able to take a ride because they were all done at this point. Christmas concert Family picture by the tree

We went to see the Da Vinci Machines exhibit at Perimeter Pointe last Saturday. I've been interested to see this since I first saw the ticket deal on Groupon. Bonus that it's less than 10 minutes away from the apartment. We know that Leondardo Da Vinci imagined and invented so many things in his lifetime and to see some of his ideas built in real life was awesome. We were just in time to catch the last guided tour of the day. Our guide walked us through the exhibit, including scale models of Leonardo's inventions that we still use today like the parachute, life preserver and elements of the modern engine. Leonardo also did the first autopsy and create detailed drawings of human anatomy, including the very famous Vitruvian Man. A side feature of this exhibit are prints of paintings by Michaelangelo, including the Mona Lisa. We even got to meet Michaelangelo himself.=) These large paintings below are copies of Renaissance paintings done in color pencil(...

At 7 months old, Ela can crawl/scoot at will. She's still a little wobbly but she can move her body to wherever she wants to go. She can hold on to things, pull herself up and stand with support. We have lowered the base of her playpen to make sure she doesn't fall out. She drools... A LOT. I think her first tooth will break out soon. She is very aware of her surroundings, sensitive to sound and directs her attention to whoever is talking. She has become wary of strangers. She used to be happy with anyone carrying her but nowadays, she cries. I believe this is part of her being more aware of us so it's not necessarily a bad thing. We are trying more types of solids and she has taken to them really well. She is generally a happy and easygoing baby. =)

There are times when you just feel the need to be in nature. I felt that way after Thanksgiving so we scheduled a hike on Saturday. We chose the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area because it's new to us and only a few minutes drive from the apartment. We had breakfast at Village Burger first, hiked the trail along the river, and had lunch to celebrate Anne's birthday at Mamak in Buford Highway. Most of the leaves have fallen or about to fall so everything looks brown. This view must be very different a few weeks ago. It was gloomy and chilly when we started but the sun eventually showed up. The Chattahoochee River is very wide. Some people were fishing along the banks and there were kayakers, too. We met other groups during the hike but most of the time we were by ourselves. It was peaceful and calming. Ela enjoyed the hike, too. She felt comfortable enough to sleep in Richard's arms. Good job, Daddy! This was fun! ...