Nate's #6 Birthday

 

 

 

Gina did a stellar job getting all Nate's kindergarten class to our backyard for a "Mad Science" demonstration and a pizza 'n cake dinner. ("Why is the scientist mad?" we were asked by a few.) I had to inject myself loudly when a couple of the more unruly kids tested the limits, and we had one juice pouring incident outside our office, but overall the event went well. Kids were sent home with glow in the dark slime/foam, their handmade robot picture frames, a nice goodie bag, and hopefully some appreciate for science. Nate ended up with too many presents, some of which we plan to donate.

Carmel Trip: Carmel Mission

 

 

 

 

Carmel Trip: Aquarium

 

 

 

 

Just a quick two night stay down in Monterey to kick off our summer. The Monterey Bay Aquarium had a great sea horse exhibit including the strange looking leaf dragon, above, but Nate and Julie's favorite was the shark and tuna feeding show. Apparently sharks are afraid of feeding tuna (too fast and too big), and dolphin fish (called mahi mahi when on the menu) turn brilliant blue and yellow when excited.

Angel Island Biking

 

 

 

 

Before California closes down almost all state parks as currently proposed, we grabbed our bikes one gorgous day last weekend and took the ferry from Tiburon over to Angel Island. I wasn't sure we'd make the full hilly 5 miles, and the thought crossed my mind what we'd do come 5:20 when the last ferry leaves. But despite a few whiny bouts and a couple of skinned up knees, grit and determination won the day. We celebrated our survival by devouring an early dinner at the Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur.

Big Weekend

 

 

 

We ended the school year with a bang. Last weekend on Friday we helped celebrate a friend's 40th birthday in San Francisco in their gorgeous home (complete with private chef and every Belgian beer imaginable...amazing), and their/our kids stayed up past midnight. On Saturday we were too spent to attend the Walnut Creek Wine & Art festival, so we ended up seeing "Up" in a nearby theater. Big mistake. Nate ended up terrorized by the intensity and had to be brought out of the theater crying before it ended. Sunday we salvaged the remainder of the weekend by hiking in Joaquin Miller Park -- a huge but widely unknown park in the hills just south of Moraga. The big surprise was the hillside-long fountain that sprang from the amphitheater and worked its way down to the fountains and crumbling walls below.

Swim Lessons

 

 

 

 

Last week Nate and Julie finished swim lessons at Harriet Plummer and will be going back later in the summer. They're at about the same stage and will swim facedown and dive underwater. Lots more to go, but there's more progress this time vs. the group lessons in Redwood City. I think it's the instructors, but the kids would probably say it's the fruit-scented swim goggles.