twins@google

Mark begged me to let him take the twins to Google for months. Overprotective mom that I am, I didn't relent until the end of March. But in my defense, this wasn't just me being needlessly cautious - the doctors and nurses at Kaiser also said to wait at least 3 months. Plus, there were those pesky flus going around (seasonal and swine), and my babies were vulnerable preemies.

So we dressed them up in their hoodies, put on socks that look like shoes, and paraded them in (surprisingly we didn't choose the matching Google outfits.). They've rarely left the apartment so it was fun to dress them up to be seen. Mark actually reserved a conference room at Google for the occasion. I told him ahead of time that, since he mostly works with guys, he shouldn't be too offended if they didn't show up or weren't as in love with the twins as he is. To my surprise, many of his co-workers did show up and were really sweet and interested in the twins! Mark's co-worker Megan Q ("MQ") quickly spirited Julia away and took her on a tour of the Google Maps department. Meanwhile I held James, hoping to show off his high wattage smile to everyone, but he was a little too distracted by all the new people and places.

Hey! Remember that movie There Will Be Blood? Here's the movie poster for it. (Talk about a random digression...)

There Will Be Blood

Mark sent out an email "advertising" the twins' visit and made his own version of the movie poster.

There Will Be Twins

In the email, Mark also told his co-workers:

James will be focusing on tool-related issues (mostly spitting up on keyboards) and Julia will continue to concentrate her efforts on export (take that as you will).

I guess this makes sense if you're a computer nerd?

Some more pictures from the day.

Julia before disappearing with MQ


Joakim with Julia.

Our friend Brendan asked if MQ and Joakim were Bizarro Kathy and Mark. (Note: Bizarro Kathy and Mark should not be confused with Wathy and Wark, our um... Latvian cousins.)

Our 2002 holiday card starring Wark and Wathy

Mark shows off James to some Google nerds


Not the whale tub they're used to


The Google sign in the Google Maps department is papered in maps

Mark created the map behind us, found in the lobby of the Google Maps building.

Now take a closer look at the twins' blankets...


Here's Julia's...


And her Google badge!


And James' blanket...


And his Google badge!