Kindergarten

Today was the first official day of Finn's formal education. He rocked it!! We're so proud!

9 years of amazing amour

This one's from Scott! Last night for our nine year wedding anniversary we stumbled upon this amazing new restaurant, THE CHAT, an incredible house of haute cuisine!

THE CHAT, I later learned, wasn't named after Boo the cat, but rather was short for "the Chit Chat". Either way, it's off the beaten path and a unique find in the hills of the East Bay where "foodie" culture has overrun the restaurant scene.


I soon found the menu to be prix fixe, quaintly hand remarked with original art by the waiter himself. THIS is a rarity, even amongst the fine dining establishments we've run across in our travels. I found the menu to be quite agreeable for this evening of romance. With it being our anniversary of nine years, the waiter went above and beyond to make sure things were "just right". He spoke with an English accent, though, which kind of threw me. ON top of that, it was seemingly a French restaurant serving Italian fare. Mysterious...then, it hit me. Ah! Fusion dining, played to perfection.

However, we were seated near this incredibly unruly young man, dining alone. It was one of those restaurants with one big table, where there's that "community seating" thing going on, so there was no ditching this guy. Something about his beverage, then a problem with the menu...seriously, there's no pleasing some people.


The chef was the real surprise! My date for the evening was doing double duty, training the restaurant staff and slaving in the kitchen to make sure our orders turned out OK. We hate sending things back, so this was perfect.


The other oddity was the addition of the waiter at our table. He apparently was hungry as well, and it was his break or something. So he ate with us. It all turned out fine in the end, as he could continue to serve our drinks and bread, and was instantly available to bus the table and bring dessert.

Then, the REAL surprise! FLOORSHOW! And our unruly dinner guest was the star, performing a hilarious dance routine with the waiter of all people! It didn't seemed as choreographed as it could have been, but somehow it was the perfect capper to the meal. The performance was over before it began, so catching photos of the routine proved impossible. Still, the performers agreed to pose for a couple of quick shots.



I highly recommend THE CHAT if you ever find yourself in the East Bay. It was the perfect way to celebrate 9 years of wedded bliss to the most wonderful woman in the entire world. I only hope that some day I can open an establishment as enjoyable as THE CHAT and treat my lovely wife to a night as memorable.

The Morse Family Hits the Road!

And crashes in Dinky Creek. Unable to get campsite reservations in our beloved Yosemite Valley, we went with what proved to be an awesome alternative. Dinky Creek is a quiet little campground outside Fresno about 20 minutes from Shaver Lake. We shared a few relaxing, dirty days with happy campers Katie, Logan, Laney, Leo, Kristina, Ayva and Sophia. :)

Eli drove the last leg of the trip


Dirty, dirty boys


Keeping up with the big kids really wears a boy out


Chubby Bunny


As Finn gets fishing lessons from Uncle Leo, Eli throws rocks in the lake....so helpful


The whole kid crew


And the whole Morse Crew

Finn Turns 5!

Time flies when you're having fun with Finn. Our not-so-little monkey celebrated his big day at school (complete with teacher-made glittery crown) and with a bug-theme party at our house with all his buddies.





Digging for the secret, winning bug

The caterpillar crawl

Spring is Here!

We were busy bees this weekend trying to spring-ify our front yard. While Scott and I pulled the weeds and planted the new additions, the boys found, captured, documented and released all kinds of fun creatures.

The "Before" picture above.
The "After" picture will be posted at a later date when we showcase all the fruits of our labors....probably never or maybe in a couple weeks...we'll see how long we can keep the momentum up. :)

Finn & Eli - Buddies

While Finn has always been a very attentive and loving brother, he's finally started to realize that Eli is a super fun playmate.




(Note the "thumbs-up" sign Eli gets for pushing His Majesty.)

Yosemite Snow Trip!

Forever the most peaceful place in the world for me - Yosemite! And even more calming and wonderful in the winter. Last weekend we piled into a Dwyer-filled cabin to enjoy the snow, the sun and each other's company.

Here's Scott catching Eli at the bottom of the "Eli Bum Run"


Finn ready with the first snow ball


Eli and I at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls


The whole Dwyer/Nunes/Morse crew (minus camera-shy Finn)


The cousins getting one last little tromp in before loading up and heading out.

Thanksgiving

This last Thanksgiving we were thankful for...

...family hikes in the woods

...open-mouth kisses for dogs

...wrestle time with Scott

...four generations of strong, healthy babies. :)