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.