SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

This was our first week of summer vacation and for the first three days we stuck pretty close to home. Just needed some downtime. Thursday and Friday were another story. We took in the San Mateo County Fair on Thursday, with Sadie's BH friends Becca, Jaxon, Eric and Zachary. Sadie went on her first grown up ride...big mistake on my part...she's usually pretty brave, but by the end of the ride she was bawling her head off and yelling "MOMMY!!!" Good times.

Friday, we took Eric to the Oakland Zoo. Check out some pictures of the good buddies. We will miss our Bunker Hill friends next year, though we are also looking forward to all the new friends we will meet.

The Little Garden that Could...

My dear friend Amy is quite the gardener as you might already know. I on the other hand, am not. Most days I'm lucky if I remember that I have a garden and peek out the window to see if any of our plants have the "water me" look. Add to that constant wind, cool temperatures and some unexpected torrential downpours...my garden is a little sad. We'll keep trying though...I think we can...

These are old photos...will update this week. Interesting experiment though to see what grows (beans) and what doesn't (chard). Was really hoping for some homegrown chard. Maybe later in the season???

Sadie's Graduation - Bunker Hill Style...

This might have been the most unconventional graduation ever...all the kids arrived in costume, performed a "plot-less" play, and had to walk across a balance beam to accept their diplomas. Then again, we wouldn't have expected anything less from Bunker Hill. We are so proud of our beautiful girl and cannot believe that she will be in Kindergarten next year. We have had a wonderful two years at Bunker Hill and will be back to visit the banana slugs often.

My Perfect Day...

Okay, so it was also Mother's Day, but when I think about my perfect day - this just about sums it up...mark, sadie, food, travel...even if it's only to the Napa Valley. We got an early start, stopped for wine tasting at Peju, had a delicious brunch at Tra Vigne and then window shopped and played in the park in St. Helena. Relaxing and fun, just what Mother's Day should be...here are a few pictures from our day.

What a Spring!

I just realized that the last time I posted was, in fact, the very day before we found out that the Belmont School District was going to try to redraw the boundaries of our school district. Unfortunately, our neighborhood was the only one affected by this change. We found out, not from the district, but by word of mouth, that we would now be attending the lowest performing school in the district as opposed to one of the highest performing. Additionally, Sadie and I would not be able to walk to school, which was a major disappointment for our family.

Well, the reason I've not been posting was that our neighborhood quickly organized and fought tooth and nail to keep from being redistricted. I truly cannot talk about this issue a moment longer, so I will just tell you that not only did they not redraw boundaries...they decided to scrap them altogether. I will say that Mark is now a local hero, thanks to his analytical skills...

This Belmont issue, along with finishing out my stint as Bunker Hill Board President took just about everything out of me this spring. But the good news is that both of these emotionally draining episodes in our lives are OVER!!! So, in the next few posts I will try to update you on all of the other things we were doing in the meantime...progress in our garden, trips around the bay area, Sadie's Pre-K graduation, etc.

Sadie is now officially enrolled at Central Elementary School and is getting very excited about Kindergarten. She starts summer camp and swimming lessons next week and then we are off to Disneyland to celebrate her upcoming 5th birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Garrow.

A Room of One's Own...

Sadie is well on her way to becoming a reader and can now sit and "read" for hours at a time...she's also VERY into building forts and hide-aways of all sorts. She is getting a new bunk bed for her birthday and is really looking forward to having a new perch...but in the meantime, we have to find other ways to hide out. Shiva refuses to be left out, so we built her a fort too.

 

 

 

 

The Soggiest Spring Break of ALL Time!

California is not so sunny these days. There has been A LOT of precipitation in the last few weeks. After a 9-hour drive, we had quite the exciting weekend in Tahoe. We took along our friends Laura, Jackson and Pierce. With three kids along, 9 hours seemed like a lifetime, even though they were great travelers. When we got there, we spent an hour digging our way into the condo (okay, Mark did all the digging, but it was his idea to go:) Then, when he finally got to the door he realized he had the wrong set of keys. OMG...seriously. So after several calls to the condo association and maintenance, we got into the condo and out of the cold. Despite our best intentions to get outside and have fun, there were 15 foot snow walls and drifts which made it difficult to do anything but stay inside by the fire. Sadie and Jackson took lessons on Sunday and were officially icicles by the end of the day. Mark got in a few runs with his new board - so it was all good. We're super proud of the progress that Sadie made this season and that she stuck with it through good weather and bad...she's skiing like a champ. Here are some pictures of snow...

I-80 was closed off and on all weekend, so we jumped at the chance to leave on Sunday evening. We wanted to be back in time to meet my family on Monday evening. My mom and dad brought Sadie's cousins, Brennan and Braden, down to visit for their spring break. Needless to say, it's been a soggy spring break! They came down to see us, but also to enjoy some sunny weather and go to Great America. Not so much. It has been pouring the last few days. We've made the best of it though and we've gone ice-skating, spent a day at the California Academy of Sciences, watched some movies and just played at home. The boys have been good sports and love playing with their little cousin, which is pretty cute. Brennan is about twice as tall as Sadie now and still he has the interest in hanging out with her when he's not on his Nintendo DS. Braden has had his fill of pizza and cheesecake and fashion shows (he's the only audience Sadie can get, poor guy). Unfortunately, they head home tomorrow. Time flies when you are on vacation! Here are some pics from our week together...