Summer Camps

 

 

 

We're more than halfway done with our summer camps, and one of the best decisions we made was putting Nate into Camp Galileo in a nearby private school. He's been inventing "green" projects like water filtration systems and learning physics by building paper pinball machines. It's a happy, supportive place. Julie's finishing up her Michael Lane preschool summer session today, and after we return from Washington she'll be joining Nate for their last sessions. Meanwhile Nate is taking a motorized lego class this week at our community center. My favorite part: we bike there each day.

A recent visitor

 

We found a dead tarantula in our pool, now this in our laundry room. It appears to be a large wolf spider. This must be the first time I've ever had to reduce the red-eye effect on a spider picture.

Fourth of July Parade

 

Fourth of July parade in Orinda where Nate and Julie were given squishy pears from the neighborhood bank, and tons of candy from the passing "floats".

Observatory

 

 

Now that the rental house is finished, we have more time for our own pursuits. I've been exploring the area's mountain biking and recently found the trails above St. Mary's College, including their remote observatory. The best part is scaling one ridge only to try to find the route to the next highest, more remote ridge.

It's rented!

 

 

Our old house in Redwood City is finally, finally rented after months of scraping, painting and kitchen remodeling. I'm so proud of Julie and Nate for what seemed at the end to be countless hot days of gardening, organizing and cleaning. We couldn't have done it without them (or at least without their cooperation).