There are no housing secrets

 

We're going house hunting later today, this time in Marin county to view a few homes suggested by our north bay realtor. We're only seeing a couple of homes: one temporarily taken off the market before it's relisted at a lower price, and another which we're particularly excited about given the location and lot size. Imagine our surprise when we opened the paper and saw that exact house as the photograph on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle business section. (shown above) Ugh!

A summer of camps

With the conclusion of cooking camp at Beresford preschool last month, we kicked off a wild month of camps each day of the week. And yes, we have to keep a written calendar to keep times/dates straight. Last week was Camp Polliwog's "The Buzz on Bugs" at nearby Stulsaft Park, and this week Nate is doing Lego camp while Julie does Art camp. Next week its back to Camp Polliwog for "Reptiles and More". August is fairly free, thankfully, except for a vacation planned mid-month around Gina's birthday. And then it all starts again with school resuming first week of September.

Gilroy Gardens

 

 

 

 

Fourth of July Parade

 

 

For the third year in a row we walked to the Fourth of July Parade downtown, and for the first time actually found a spot to sit. Julie appreciated the princess & Miss California floats; Nate was enamored with the fire engine and trains. Later we grabbed lunch at Paradise, a new Turkish kabob restaurant that opened on Broadway.

Nate's Birthday in the mountains

I've been negligent in posting about the trip to the Sierras since it's been so difficult to describe. How do you convey that after four days of simply playing by water and eating -- constantly -- would turn into one of our best family trips ever? Dan, who shares Nate's birthday, joined us for the first night and encouraged us to drive to Lake Alpine and rent a boat so we could better survey the place where Dan & Gina spent a good part of their childhood vacations. It was magical. The huge smooth sloping rocks dotted the shore around crystal clear lake water and green pines. The only things not green or blue were the fire ants that held Nate & Julie's fascination. After Dan left we braved the smoke and reported fires in Big Trees State Park to spend the next two days down at the river. The first day we picnicked and played in relative seclusion in one of the most beautiful rivers I've seen anywhere. On the second day we returned to the park, but played in a more popular creek where volunteer bug catchers descended on the area and showed us the many insects they collected. We then spent the day talking with a young family from Texas before heading back for home.