More chicken pictures

We're still waiting for eggs...

Toothless

 

Within a week, Nate lost his two front teeth and now talks with a cute little lisp. Poor guy, it was even worse before with one of the baby teeth sticking out, but now he eats corn and bread with gusto.

Soccer

 

Nate started a new soccer season, and this year he's on Team Spain.

No Training Wheels!

Julie's second day without training wheels, and she's already off-roading it! Here's another video of her on the same ride, and she's obviously proud of herself: Watch video.

San Francisco Sunday

We heard many people would be off at Burning Man on Labor Day weekend, and we apparently heard wrong. We fought the crowds at Golden Gate Park and eventually found a quiet playground for a picnic and play. Afterwards we got extra sandy at Ocean Beach and drove across the road for dinner at Park Chalet where Mom and Dad enjoyed some good wine & beer, and Nate and Julie enjoyed the climbing trees nearby. We took the long way home, visiting the Golden Gate Bridge and the stop and go traffic through North Beach.

Message

A note left outside their playroom door one morning.

Taking "Big Baby" for a walk

First Day of School

Today was Nate & Julie's first day of school. Julie said she was nervous, but in true Julie fashion, she simply gritted her teeth and jumped right in, even asking to get to class a little early. She seemed surprised to be sitting at her own desk with her own desk supplies. Nate was right back in his element wanting to play handball and thinking everything was just perfect. When Gina and I went to pick them up in the afternoon, the car read 114 degrees, so it wasn't long before we were in the pool.

Waning days of summer

The last few days of summer were spent either in the pool outside (to beat the 100 degree heat), or around the yard playing with the chickens. Someone is going to miss being with her favorite, Fluff-fluff, every day.

Sea Ranch: river walk

From the recommendation of the house rental agency, we took our Sea Ranch passes and found the "Hot Spot" park located just beyond the fog line in the hills above Sea Ranch. Although the river was only five to twelve inches deep, its shores were lined with many pollywogs and minute frogs that tried to evade capturing. We walked a good length of the river until Julie fell and soaked her dress...then we knew it was time to go home.

Gina's Sea Ranch Birthday

We spent three nights in the Cantamare house in Sea Ranch to help celebrate Gina's birthday. True to Sea Ranch tradition, we spent the days unplugging and relaxing away from computers and the hustle and bustle.  I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and Nate surprised Mom with the secretly-packed electronics set he built to play "Happy Birthday".  The days were spent walking the ocean trail, exploring the beaches, reading, swimming at the pools, hot tubbing, and eating food...lots of food. Happy Birthday Gina!

Nate and Speckles

After our innagural wing-clipping. No birds were injured in the process.

Lafayette Gardening Series

Here's the flier I created for the gardening series at the Lafayette Library. We had a great turnout both days and overwhelming positive response. One lady had a problem finding the room, and over email we discovered that she was writing from Lafayette, Indiana.

Chinatown

An easy way to spend a summer day: riding BART into San Francisco and walking into Chinatown. We gave Julie & Nate a couple of dollars of spending money. He bought a moonstone rock and she a small round jewelry box.

Richmond shipyards

We hadn't been to the Richmond waterfront before, and at first there wasn't much to see. But past the oil refineries and gritty neighborhoods we found the Rose the Riviter (WW II) park along with a bunch of mid-40's warehouses and shipyards. Nice place also to store your 125' catamaran once owned by Steve Fossett. The warehouse at the bottom just the tail end of one huge and airy warehouse complex that originally built Ford cars before the war, but now is a venue for concerts, some businesses, and the area's best hidden brewery.

Lake Chabot

 

 

 

 

I discovered the Lake Chabot marina during a bike ride before our vacation and promised to take the family out when we returned. The patio boats they rent are perfect -- easy enough for a five year old to steer (seven year olds need more practice) and big enough to have a picnic while drifting in the wind. We brought our fishing poles, but only caught some good sun rays.

The Lost Coast

 

 

 

 

The historic Victorian town of Ferndale was our starting point to the very twisty and long Lost Coast highway, much of it wrapped in fog. The beaches were too cold and windy, but it's always fun to go over a one lane wooden bridge between semis.

Unbelievably, we made it home that same day after 10 hours in the car. 2600 miles, 2400 pictures, and eight audio books later. It felt good to be home, but I'd do it all over again in a minute.

Random Trinidad pictures

 

 

 

 

Visiting with Mark Martin; the owner of the Vista home (showing off his prized Tele guitar); his wonderful lab also named "Tele"; and some guy walking his pet lizard in the surf in the town of Trinidad as we were getting lunch nearby. Only 600 people in Trinidad, and there's never a dull moment in this town!