Sunflowers

 

Nate and Julie planted these sunflower plants that were started by seed. Sad and droopy now, we anticipate great things in the next 2-3 months.

Painting Outside

 

Hiking in Huddart Park

 

 

 

 

We took a short hike through some redwoods before sitting down to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and Rose'. Yes, they actually do go well together. But what doesn't when you're eating/drinking outdoors? We even managed, using a sweater, to catch one of our lightning fast lizards.

Haircut

 

 

Julie had her first haircut today!

Napa trip

Our friends Kelly & Christian (and their twins Megan and Trystan) were down from Issaquah for Kelly's sister's wedding in Napa. We joined them on Mother's Day for a few days and filled our time with languid picnics, wine tastings and some chilly pool swims. Some of our highlights: swimming at the Silverado resort, playing with the twins who are Julie's age, taking the sky tram at Sterling Vineyards, feeding the fish at Robert Sinskey Winery, and having the Wine Train honk at Nate.

Uncle Mark

 

Nate and Julie always love seeing their fire fighting uncle, Uncle Mark.

Wine Competition

 
On a lark, I entered my first year wine in the largest international wine maker's competition last month. Surprise of all surprises, I received a note that the 2004 Dawson Cabernet won a bronze medal. Pretty cool.

Warmer Weather

 

 

 

Unprecedented 90 degree weather + new water sprinkler toy + extremely cold water = screaming kids

SF Zoo Day

 

 

 

 

Backyard Carnival

 

 

The Mt. Carmel neighborhood carnival this year wasn't well suited for 2 & 3 yr olds. So while Gina took the kids for a ride, I set the backyard up for our own Nate and Julie Carnival action with 5 games, snacks, and small prizes.

Potty Training Continues

We're still in the midst of potty training, but today was a big day. Julie had her first accident-free day! She has been happy to wear underwear, but we've given her the nickname of "Miss Disassociation" given her willingness to happily pee in her pants. Until lately, she's been better and better about telling us when she needs to go. Nate on the other hand has been resistant to wear underwear all together, so we've adjusted to plopping him down morning & night to get him un-afraid of the potty routine. It's working. He too is going more consistently although he's still in diapers. So much for everyone's suggestion of "just throw them in underpants for a weekend", which proved untenable. Our eventual solution: M&M jar in the kitchen. One granted for #1, two for #2. Combination rewards honored by the management. And lots of verbal praise. As a result, they couldn't be happier and we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

Baby and Helmet

 

 

Nate and Julie act almost if they were twins: whatever Nate has/does, Julie must have/do as well. Whatever Julie is doing, Nate notices as well. But there are differences too. Nate is riding his "big boy" bike now and wearing a helmet. Julie wears hair bands to tame her unruly hair and likes to put on jewelry.

My favorite times are when they ask questions. Nate asked: "What is dirt?" and I feebly attempted to mention something about clay and decomposed leaves and sand. He also asked "Why is glass clear?" and "Is clear a color?" for which I had no answer.

Easter 2007

 

 

Anniversary

 

On April 6 we hired an experienced babysitter (thanks Dave) while we celebrated our anniversay at our neighbor's restaurant, Marche'.

Dressing up

 

 

These must be our first and only pictures of Nate and Julie dressed up. They were both so proud, Julie talking about "my pretty dress" and Nate asking to wear the shirt again. There was only one thing to do. We served spaghetti with red marinara sauce for dinner.

Hillar Aviation Museum

 

 

 

 

Today was our Hiller Aviation Museum day in San Carlos, complete with a European model train exhibit in the lobby. Our favorites were the train (of course), the actual Boeing cockpit, and flight simulator large enough for the whole family (not pictured). It took me a whole hour to become not quesy from Nate's dive bombing flying.

"Here's another song"

New Bike

Nate's graduated to riding a bicycle, complete with training wheels and helmet. He couldn't be any prouder.

Horseshoe Lake and Lizards

We took our two little hikers around Horseshoe Lake, a favorite hike complete with spring flowers and numerous lizards. We tried in vain again to catch a scaly friend before finding our favorite bench under a large oak tree at the top of the trail.