Third time's a charm

We eloped in Lake Tahoe this weekend. This time it's legal! After two previous ceremonies (the big "traditional" one in June 2000 and the "activist" one in San Francisco in February 2004), we thought we'd do something small and intimate, just for us.

The ceremony took place on Saturday at Skylandia Park just east of Tahoe City. It was a lovely private ceremony. Our friend Dannielle, who lives in King's Beach, joined us to witness the ceremony (and also jumped in to play photographer and baby sitter too). The weather was gorgeous!

We started off the ceremony standing on an over look of Lake Tahoe. It was beautiful. Zoe, surprisingly, agreed to sit in her stroller. All was going smoothly until half way through our vows, Zoe started calling, "Help, help, out, out!" She was wrestling with the stroller shade that had fallen down over her so that she could not see. All we could see was her little legs kicking and flailing. After several unsuccessful attempts continue the ceremony with Vera and I trying to hold Zoe while she squirmed to get down, we decided to move and finish the rest of the ceremony in an area that was fenced off so that she could run around freely. Ceremonious interruptus... Yup, basically it reflected our family life these days. C'est la vie...

After the ceremony, we took a walk down to the lake and Ann Poole, the officiant took some photos. Below are some photos that we took over the course of the weekend and Danninelle took during the ceremony. Thank you Dannielle for taking some great photos!

Birthday at Nana's

Vera's mom threw Zoe a wonderful Birthday party for Zoe's 2nd birthday. Family friends Teri and Ron were there, Vera's brother, Micha, plus Nana (Vera's mom, Lidia) and cousin Stephanie (we call her "Tia", aunt Stephanie) too. They all made the celebration very special. And little Miss Z got some great gifts, two baby dolls, a baby doll stroller, Mr. Potato Head, and a fun "water table".

Before we headed to Nana's we made a stop at Toy's R Us. Zoe had fun playing on the Jeeps while we were there.

I got more video than photos at the celebration. So, I'll upload photos for now and will have to back post with videos some other time. Here's a slide show of our day:

Naked Finger Painting

Enzo and Mackey and their moms came over yesterday for "Naked Finger Painting". Unfortunately Evan and his moms were all under the weather and were not able to join us. We had lots of fun (but it was not the same with out Evan). We ate and played. The kids painted on the paper, them selves and each other. They played with cars, balls, balloons and then all had some fun jumping on Zoe's bed and in our bed. We love spending time with these families!!!

Happy 4th of July

Friday was the 4th of July! Zoe enjoyed waving the Pride flag while playing on the American flag.

Zoe and I went over the Bob and Jackie's while Vera worked. We then met Vera in Emeryville her for dinner! We decided to skip the fireworks this year.

Whew June was crazy

Wow it's been a very busy month! Vera spend two weeks traveling from Hong Kong to Macau back to Hong Kong on to Kula Lampur and back to Hong Kong again and finally home. Here is a link to her trip photos on Flikr. While she was away, my folks flew in to help out with Zoe. It was a HUGE help to have them here. Zoe had a great time with Grammy and Papa! They did lots of fun things, including a trip to Habitot Children's Museum.

Vera turned thirty something a few days after she returned from her trip. We celebrated by spending the morning walking around College Street in Rockridge. In the evening we celebrated with some dear friends, Barb and Kathy, who we had not seen in several months. Here's a photo with the cake that had all thirty something candles. Vera could not blow them out - luckily Kathy is a clarinet player and had the lungs to get them out before the house caught fire.

Speaking of fire, the California wild fires have been horrible. The sun has been blocked by smoke and "particulate matter" making it a pukey orange-pink color. Today was the first day that the sun light looked somewhat normal, and we could actually see Mt Diablo in the distance.

We went to see Sesame Street Live with Zoe's friend Mackey. They both loved it. The cool thing was it kept their attention longer than any of us expected. Zoe talked about it all the way home in the car. She even talked about it for the next couple of days. "Big Bird dancing" or "Elmo singing". It's amazing, she really does appear to be remembering things and is able to talk about them later. (Her verbal skills have started to flower. Also on the drive home, Zoe said from the back seat, "Tummy hurts". She threw up shortly after we got home. That was the first time she was able to communicate with us that something was wrong. And both she and Vera then had a bout of the intestinal flu.) Here's a short slide show from the show:



This past weekend was San Francisco Pride. We did the Pride 5K run on Saturday. OK, well Vera did the run while Zoe and I did the walk. It was great fun! Zoe loved the balloons and the butterfly banners that are hanging on the posts through Golden Gate Park. "Futterfly, Mommy!"

On Sunday we marched in the Pride Parade. We joined the Our Family and COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) parade contingent. This was the first year that Zoe marched. Last year we didn't get there on time. Zoe had a great time! She sat on one of our shoulders most of the time and waved to the crowd. She even let strangers come up and put Marti Graw beads on her. After the parade, we happened to walk by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and took a quick photo.



I sold my Jeep today. I was sad yesterday after the guy (a fella named Chris from Sausalito) came by and we made the deal. He came back today and picked it up, paid in cash. I've had that Jeep for 10 years. So many memories. But I'm happy that it's going to be used for what it's meant for, hanging out in Tahoe, instead of sitting in my garage.



As for Zoe... She's putting sentences together.... "I no like it". She said this when we gave her rice milk instead of regular milk. She understands the concept of two... I was playing with her the other day and she saw our two cordless phones sitting on the desk next to each other. With out counting she pointed to them and said, "Two Phones". This evening as Vera was getting ready to read her a bed time story. I leaned over the give her a kiss goodnight and she said "Two Mommies". Then she took my face and gently pushed it over to Vera's face and said "Mommy, kiss mama." Enough said on that one.

Blogging for LGBT Families Day

Today is "Blogging for LGBT Families Day". It's a day where people from all over use their blog to celebrate their Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered family. So, I attempt to join in the fray with this little contribution...

For folks who are stumbling across this blog for the first time, welcome to the House of Chreblett! We are a house of 3 gals: A lesbian couple, Lori (that's me) and Vera, and our daughter, Zoe. We live in the San Francisco area. I use this blog as a way to to keep friends and family in touch with what we're up to. I try to post things once a month or more. So, please read through and enjoy -- post a comment if you like!

Zoe is a little over a month away from her 2nd birthday. As so many people have said, time flies, they grow up very fast. And other times, it goes by sooooo slowly. (Like last week while Zoe and Vera were both sick with a nasty cold... I was up with Zoe all night while she coughed, running the shower every 90 minutes to help her cough loosen so that she could sleep.)

She's definitely growing and I just can't seem to keep this blog up to date with all the things she does. In the last week she has finally started saying her name. She'll cover her face and say "Zoe?" - this is her way of getting you to play "Where's Zoe?" like peek-a-boo. The word explosion continues - including putting multiple words together. "Mommy, 'mere" (that's Mommy come here) or "Toys, open please?" (Asking to open the tinker toys can).

The photo above is a recent shopping trip. Zoe got some new sandals and had to wear them immediately. This photo was so much like a "paparazzi" shot that I had to post it.

Because it's LGBT Family Blogging day, I feel that I need to write something to acknowledge this day. I knew that having a child would challenge me in ways I never expected. I have been out of the closet in just about all aspects of my life; at work, my doctors, dentist, etc... I didn't realize, however that I would have to come out in an even bigger way once I became a parent... At baby n' me classes (of any sort), the grocery store, the play ground, day care and anywhere where there are other parents and their kids. "I'm one of Zoe's mom's" always get's me a blank stare from the other parent, then their eyes focus with understanding, followed by a brief pause, then different reactions.... awkwardly finish the conversation and move on, or ask a ton of questions that they may not ask any other parent, or continue talking because it's a non-issue. But I ALWAYS anticipate a very negative reaction. I struggle with that every time I go into a situation where there are parents and their children that I don't know. Internally I ask myself, "How do I deal with this?" and "Why do I feel so awkward? " I think about Zoe and what my behavior models for her. In the end I try to work out what is comfortable for me in that moment and at the same time helps teach Zoe to be proud of her family. Sheesh, this parenting thing is hard!

Tiju/Malcom

Greetings from Michigan. Zoe and I made the trek here last Saturday, May 3. (The plane ride you ask? Well let's just say, I'm considering starting a Care2 petition to require that all airplane bathrooms have a changing table). On Sunday we drove across the state to Reed City to visit my friends Teresita and Tammy - and meet their 2 month old son, Hunter. It was wonderful to see them! On Tuesday, Zoe and I drove back across the state. While driving, I took about 30 minutes of video to log what it's like to drive across the state of Michigan. I hope that someday I'll be able to edit that footage into something I can post on You Tube. My current video editing software sucks.

The rest of the week we hung out with my folks, my brother and his family and some very close and long standing family friends. We even made a trip to the Zoo and saw Polar Bears. And it's amazing that she has learned signs that we've never practiced with her. At the zoo today, we saw a seal and she did the sign for seal with out prompting. I'll add a photo slide show with more from this week to this post once I have them up loaded.

So, what in the heck is Tiju/Malcom? It's the way Zoe says Thank you and Your Welcome. She has had an absolute verbal explosion in the past 2-3 weeks. She knows the entire alphabet. It's amazing! Even on this trip the new words just keep coming, music is the newest word. She is starting to put sentences together, "Water, please Mommy" (yes she does say please, thank you and your welcome). She has started to sing as well, and will sing along when we sing to her. I have some of this on video... I do hope I find some easy video editing software soon. So watch for updates to this post.