Half Moon Bay

 

 

Unbelievable as this sounds, this is our 10th year straight of doing a pumpkin patch on the last weekend of September. As is tradition, we visited Pastorino's in Half Moon Bay (including the new haunted house -- scary!) and my new rule: you can get any pumpkin you can pick up and take in the wheelbarrow. Nate of course found the largest pumpkin our house has ever seen; Julie went for small but perfectly formed. For lunch, we found Daddy O's…a restaurant that serves gourmet comfort food out the back of a yellow rail car caboose. 

Bike Around SF

 

 

 

 

My friend Steve had a fun idea: ride our bikes from our home to BART, go into SF, and then bike around the city (literally around the WHOLE city) while stopping at our favorite breweries and bakeries. It all worked out according to plan -- all 25 miles -- until the ride down the hill to Ocean Beach where my bike's front fork broke and my tire dislodged, luckily after the fast downhill section. That was a close call. But I was able to fix the bike enough to keep on peddling and make our way back home around 4pm.

Cello

Someone is very excited about 4th grade Strings class and her brand new cello. She almost has the Jaws theme down.

The Mount Diablo Fire

That's the first time I've seen smoke from our backyard. 

Our Labor Day: Trip to UC Berkeley

 

 

 

 

With Gina's brother Dave, we headed out to Berkeley to let the kids slide across from the Berkeley Rose Garden, and then we hit Jupiter for pizza. Since we were one block from campus, we walked through the Life Sciences building to see our favorite Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Inaugural drive over the new Bay Bridge

With the old bridge visible to the left. The drive over the new bridge wasn't any faster, but that didn't matter -- it's beautiful! 

LEGO Kid Fest

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gina found this event in San Jose -- a Lego exposition tour that made a three-day stop in the San Jose Convention Center -- and she bought tickets before it sold out. That Saturday we met up with another family and did as much was physically possible in three hours. The highlights seemed to be the "Friends" station for Julie and Delphine; for Nate and Chloe it was either the area to build structures for a giant map of the US (his red tower), Chima racers, or racing Lego car creations. It didn't take long for us to figure out which areas gave away free Lego sets, and we walked out with our fair share of posters and Legos. What I would give to be able to buy shares in Lego! Unfortuantely it's privately held...

First Day of School

And with summer over, today was the first day of school. They came home happy with their teachers and with homework to complete before tomorrow. 

Last Day of Summer

 

 

 

On Monday, our last day of summer, we grabbed fishing poles and worms from the worm bin, and packed lunches in the cooler. Our goal was catch as many fish as possible off a boat in Lake Chabot, and as fishing luck would have it, Julie's fish here was the biggest we caught all day (and that was off the pier). Still, I could think of worst ways to spend the last day of summer break.

Sunday "Let's Get Out of the House" Day

 

 

 

 

With school looming on Tuesday, we decided to get out of the house and drive over the east span of the Bay Bridge for one last time as the new bridge is opening next weekend! Our destination was originally Dave Egger's Pirate Shop in the Mission, but since it closes on Sundays, we did lunch and playground time at Yerba Buena. On our way out, we found the line for Humphy Slocombe on 25th St. to grab ice cream (lemoncello vanilla & smoked salt mexican chocolate. The stout beer ice cream was too weird.)

Five Days in Sea Ranch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last hurrah, and the fastest five days we've spent all summer. We returned to the "Endless View" house in Sea Ranch that we rented once before -- not fancy, but great cliffside views, hot tub, ping-pong table in the garage, and the best deck we've encountered yet. We feel like regulars, knowing exactly which pools & tennis courts to hit, and planning our trips to Two Fish Bakery and Bones Roadhouse ("the best restaurant on the planet" says Nate. I agree.) This time we took our bikes along the coastal trail and mid-week drove the windy drive up to Mendocino where we found what must be the most expensive gas in the US. The fog came in on occasion, but it didn't stop us from buying kites. On our way home Friday, the kids flew kites on the beach for the first time ever. Wunderbar!