Merry Christmas

Anatomy of a Christmas Card

1) Twice a year the grounds of the White House are opened for the First Lady's Garden Tour. We were luck to be in DC on one of those weekends - this was in October. (Earlier post here)

2) Erin samples the wine at one of the vineyards on our inadventent "Sideways" tour of wineries in California back in May.

3) We helped Disneyland celebrate their 50th anniversary during our trip to Southern California. Erin's mom was there on the first day it opened in 1955, cementing the Disney connection that runs deep.

4) Mr. French takes a break while biking through DC to pose in front of the anti-communist China rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

5) Cyber shows off her Christmas haircut.

6) Having lunch on the Pacific on Catalina island off the California coast back in May.

7) Our visit to Anacapa - an island refuge off the California coast.

Erin communicates with the penguins at the Georgia Aquarium and tries to blend in by dressing like them..."Mommy?"...

The penguin portal is a good idea, but be prepared to crawl on hands and knees to get out there...

You'll not see a larger tank anywhere else than at the Georgia Aquarium - here's just a portion.

This is a live dude that looks like seaweed.

Jellies...

Penguins are cute even when just standing around.

You have to see the Beluga Whales to appreciate their majesty - there are four of them at the Georgia Aquarium.

We had dinner (thanks Wolfgang Puck) in one of the ballrooms. One window of the ballroom was the Beluga Whale tank, another window was the large tank with the huge whale sharks Norton and Ralph. The lighting inside the ballroom changed color and provided a very peaceful spot to watch the whales and fishes as you were dining.

We had the opportunity to visit the new Georgia Aquarium when Erin's office held their Christmas Party there. Here, Erin gets lost among the tropical fishes.

"O Christmas Tree..."

The final product...

Erin lit the Christmas Tree today...