Summer 2012 Trip

 

 

We're off! Complete with bikes in tow, we drove due north to first find a Father's Day hiking trail on Mt. Shasta, only to find unmarked roads. We continued to our first night in Ashland, did a quickie hike through the main downtown creek park, and then met a "gold Shakespeare" on our way to the Standing Stone Brewery. The performer showed his appreciation for Nate's donation by presenting the quote: 

"Best souls are molded out of faults and for the most become much more the better for having been a little bit bad."

Hazel Atlas Mine Tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nate requested a small gathering of three friends from school before, and he chose a hike and tour into the Hazel Atlas Mines in the Black Diamond park 35 minutes from Lafayette. It so happened to coincide with the hottest day of the year -- 105 at the park, but our hikers had to bring coats for the 65 degree cave tour. One friend got a little nervous going in and had to leave with his dad. So with hard hards and flashlights, the remaining explorers did the guided tour of the silica (used for glass making during 30's & 40's) tunnels and stopes and then headed home for ice cream cake & presents. 

Putting the hitch on the MDX

 

 

Spider

Unfortunately, he never ate the cricket.

First Farmer's Market

 

 

 

 

All of Gina's hard work organizing the new Farmer's Market paid off in spades! We weren't sure how many people would show, but the entire market was packed with people -- we estimate at least two thousand -- looking through the 65+ vendors. So many great "foodie" booths, and of course all the organic veggies and fruits. We're sad we'll miss the next two markets, but look forward to being back again in July.

Last day of school S'mores

Last Day / First Day Pictures

 

This year's version of our annual tradition of last day of school picture (top) vs. the first day of school (bottom). 

Transit of Venus

 

The puffy clouds cooperated and broke into blue sky around 4:30pm, perfect timing for the Lafayette Library's gathering of telescopes for the transit of Venus (middle right). One of the astronomers told us the sun spots (middle) are the same size as Earth. 

End of Year Activities

 

 

 

Second Grade and Third Grade are almost over! Julie's class performed a "Jack and the Beanstalk Opera"for the first grade and hookey-playing parents. (I tried uploading all 25 minutes of the video performance but YouTube has its limit, thankfully or unthankfully.) Nate's class continued their second week of Apple Valley Days as they learned their history of Lafayette. Gina & I attended the "walking" field trip to the Lafayette Cemetery and downtown with Nate's class that quickly turned into a driving tour as a rare June rainstorm briefly hit. 

Cherry Picking

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we drove out to Brentwood, about 45 minutes east on the other side of Mt. Diablo. The cherry picking was perfect: it took us less than 30 minutes to fill three buckets half-way. We checked out at over 10 pounds. We started picking other fruit at another nearby farm, but as the temperature approached 90, we decided to return home. Needless to say we've been eating lots of raw cherries and made our first cherry pie later that day.

Last Day of Baseball!

 

 

Nate ended his Farm League career last Saturday with another good game. Or as he likes to say, it took him 4 swings to hit three base runs for an average of .750 that day. And the promise I made to him early in the season -- that if he hits a ball in our backyard over the fence to the trail, I'd give him $5 -- he fulfilled later that afternoon.

IFO

We were watching the Giants play one evening and saw this slowly moving, bright orb slowly go past our tree tops. Since we were watching TV, it was an easy identification: the TV blimp circling the stadium was caught in the last rays of the sunset.