MadLibs with a 6 year old

are awesome!

And yes, it is from the limited edition Napoleon Dynamite Book. 

The Loot

In the envelope was a few postcards from his bookstore, a CD of children's songs, a DVD of 3 of his stories in animated form, a flier on "The Dot Day" and a personalized and hand-watercolored thank you:

We are off to find other authors asking for snail mail!!!!!

He Wrote Back!!!!

A couple weeks ago, Erin wanted to show us some interactive art thingie she did in her class that was based on Peter H. Reynold's book "Ish".  We browsed his website and came across this in the Contact section:

Snail Mail

I actually love snail mail... so feel free to send me a note the old fashioned way at:

c/o The Blue Bunny
577 High St.
Dedham, MA 02026 USA

Robin set down and wrote out a "letter" to him consisting of a few pictures, and probably the word "Butterfly" which she is currently fond of writing.  We sealed it up, popped it in the mail.  I put a little note on the back envelope that it was from a fan, "Robin, age 3" and briefly described the drawings she did.

LOOK WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited!!  I'm so curious to know what's inside.  We will have to browse other authors' websites for similar invitations to communicate. 

WW: 1st Day of 1st Grade!

Adventure Playground

Remember when we were kids and we could go outside, play with whatever we found, get messy, do things maybe not so safe, and we had a great time doing it? There's a place that still holds this a sacred rite of passage for kids. Berkeley's Adventure Playground. 

Each child has to do a small chore - find nails or scrap, pick up trash, locate nail points sticking out of wood.  Then they get access to tools for the rest of the day.  Tools include: C-clamps, saws. hammers (3 nails at a time), paint, rasps, magnets, and probably some other things I didn't notice. 

What do they get to do?  Whatever they want.  Rules are: no painting on signs. Must wear shoes. Have fun. That's it. They make play structures every week, based on materials they have on-hand.

They then disassemble, with the assistance of kids, a structure every week and build another one.  How friggin' fun is that?!?  

My absolute favorite thing about this place is how much of a "Yes" place this is.

"Mom, can I saw this board?"

"Yes."

"Mom, can I paint this?"

"Yes"

"Mom, can I hammer this?"

"Darling, the universe will be happier if you do." 

Did I mention it's absolutely free?

Glad to have remembered this awesome place. It goes back to weekend-only hours after this week, but must remember it for those times when we all need to just pound some nails randomly into wood. 

Lands End

A hike! We went on a hike! In San Francisco!

 

It was short and sweet, B was cold, the girls ate tons, and we met native San Franciscians who were kind of sad we were from only about 20 miles away. They were hoping to see "real" tourists. 

Erin loved spying on the scuba class in the inlet.

Tons of fun trees to climb.

Robin used the monocular to find our new home.  We're moving in Sunday after next.  

Yosemite: Spring Break 2013

Yay, Spring Break!!!  And Yay for Brian having vacation to take a vacation.

We took the train/bus to Yosemite to stay in the Curry Village tent cabins. I assure you, they had 300% less contamination than last year.


Brian will have more to add. But here are the first round of pictures.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Ladybug Hike!

My girls like ladybugs.  Really like ladybugs.  Who doesn't, they're the cheeriest and friendliest beetles around. 

So when my friend E told me about a short hike, practically in our back yard, that would reward us with thousands of ladybugs, all piled together I immediately said, "when can we go?!"

Just 2 miles from our house, as the crow flies, is Redwood Regional Park.  It's many trails wind through the rolling hills, ridges, and canyons that separate Orinda from Oakland. With oaks, bay and eucalyptus making the top of the hills fragrant, the bottoms shaded by serene redwood, Redwood Park offers many wonderful hikes close by. 

And every winter, between November and Feb, thousands, maybe millions of ladybugs descend on the park during their migration.  They stop.  They wait. They huddle.  They rest. I have no idea what they are doing there but it is quite magical.

We started off on the 3 mile loop at the Skyline Staging area, heading down the Stream trail.  The shaded, peaceful hike took us half way through the loop, where the Stream trail met with the Prince trail.

This was the place. 

There were thousands of ladybugs.  A red carpet of ladybugs. So many ladybugs!  

Mostly they were massed together in clumps along the ground, covering leaves, stems, branches.  A few were scattered along the trail and it made me nervous to step anywhere lest I smoosh some of these beautiful little beetles. 

The littles couldn't resist saying a gentle "hi" to one or two of the wee red friends. 

The ladybugs showed us which way to go.  How considerate. 

All too soon it was time to go.  We still had 1.5 miles to walk back, and it was mid afternoon.  We had another small snack and headed back up the Prince Trail, then back to the car via the Ridge Trail. If the girls and boys were tired their energy and spirit soon returned, as the Ridge trail is a favorite off-leash area for walking dogs.  We petted every single dog on the way back. 

I was so impressed with the kids.  Erin did the whole hike and never needed to be carried.  Robin only went in the Ergo a few times, and only briefly.  The other two boys we were with were just as energetic.  The 3 miles took 2.5 hours, but that included LOTS of stopping, examining, exploring.  We were all happy, and exhausted. 

Super Date!!!! PHC!!!!

I'd imagine everyone has heard of Prairie Home Companion, but I guess I'd be mistaken.  A longtime NPR staple, PHC hits the airwaves live every Sat. evening, typically from Saint Paul, MN. But today it was in San Francisco. So we went with friends, wrangling all the teenage boys we could muster to look after 4 energetic girls, and enjoyed 2+ hours of interesting, topical, and funny entertainment.

Yay Dates!!!!

A crummy, blurry picture:

Really, there's a whole band, Garrison Keillor himself (Mary B, he looks just like he sounds), the other radio actors, the sound broadcast people, and an entire mens chorus.

How To Make A Scientist

OK, we bought this kit from a friend's recommendation.  It came with everything you need on a wet bench: a beaker, flask, funnel, goggles, test tubes, test tube racks (very important), tweezers, beaker, magnifying glass.  And 10 experiments outlined on laminated cards. Granted, we'd already done every experiment on the cards, but because we now have the official tools of the trade, the experiments took on more luster. 

I walked them through 4 or so experiments on the cards, a bit concerned this would be a play land flop - an expensive toy that has about 5 minutes play time before ending up in the recycling bin.   

Then, a few hours later, the girls took the lab equipment into the bathroom and started running their own experiments. 

This is what I'd hoped for. Forget the laminated cards, we're gonna need more vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring!!!!

Gooooooo Navy!!

We went to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl game today.  It was Navy vs. Arizona State.  Boy did Navy get a whooping.  Oh well.  The game was a ton of fun, we got to go with my cousins and their families.  Also, since my cousin Sean is the main recruiter for the Navy team, we got passes to a fancy tailgate, as well as great seats.


Some highlights:


Sarah (standing), Hannah (kneeling), Stella (drooling)



Great seats!



Cotton Candy!!!



MORE cotton candy!!!!!

 

Kim, Matt, and Nate. (Maya not pictured).

Lots of fun. Amazingly we stayed the entire game.

WW: Get Your Marshmallows Ready!!!!!

Pirates!!!!

The girls had a pre-bedtime pirate adventure. They sailed their "leaf" ship and found treasure sprinkled throughout the room.

Note Erin's hook hand and Robin's spyglass.

Lil' Daisy

Erin had her first Daisy Girl Scout Troop meeting tonight. If I could have bottled all the adorable and cute happening in the room, I'd be a pinterest/ravelry/etsy maven.

She made a poster of the Daisy patches she'll be working on the next two years, she shared at circle why she wants to be a Daisy, she learned the Girl Scout sign, and took her first Girl Scout Pledge (mention of God as suits the child's belief.  Nice.) There's about 20 of the girls from her Kindy group participating.  It feels like a big crowd, but no doubt it'll taper over the years.

Erin was thrilled to participate tonight, and Mama was super excited about all the activities offered this year.

More 5th Birthday

Yesterday we had lots of little celebrations for the 5 year mark.  We brought cupcakes* to Erin's classroom.  

*muffins with 1/2 tsp frosting, sprinkled (poorly) with a heart design on top. 

Here is B and the girls passing out the cupcakes on the way to recess:

We got to witness what 5/6 year old girls do on the playground at recess. Mainly, talk. 

Then one of Erin's best friends, M, and mom took us out for frozen yogurt.  Why have we never done this before?  It was awesome!!!  So many flavors! So many toppings!  The mom, J, came prepared with a "5" candle, we sang "Happy Birthday" and Erin got a very fun game from M.  

No picts from my camera from this, but Erin chose dinner - Burger King.  It was a full, fun birthday! 

Erin and Robin's Press Coverage

This summer, Erin was featured in two news articles, Robin in one!

The first was the local Orinda news, for the 4th of July.
http://www.orindaassociation.org/news/__August%20_2012_Orinda_News.pdf
Scroll down to the left side of Pg. 3 - you'll see the girls in the dirndls they decided were festive.

Then a few weeks later she was interviewed by SF Chronicle at the Berkeley Kite Festival:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Flying-high-at-Berkeley-Kite-Festival-3743454.php

So exciting!

Spread the love to Cambodia

Some had asked about the well my Mom bought in honor of Erin and Robin and their cousins.

This is the organization.

Helping other people, in whatever way it happens, is a beautiful thing.

Kuna Hike

We took a long, off-trail hike in Yosemite today to a small, 11,000 ft high lake called Kuna. This is a place of beauty. This is a quiet, secret space. This is a space sacred to Mr. B, whose car bears the license plate "KUNA" and whose wishes are for his ashes to be scattered around the lake. I've heard a lot about this place, and today was the day to go there.


Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa who watched the girls the entire day and gave Brian and I our longest date since.... since... well, since Erin came into our lives.

 As pictures are worth at least 1000 words each, we'll tell the story that way. Let me just say what is not pictured. We had a lunch of mashed potatoes, SPAM and beer. Mr. B caught half a dozen fish in twice as many casts.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Sweet find, thanks Aunt Lynn and Uncle Lou!

My mom was going through the documents in her safe deposit box and stumbled across this:

Know what it is?  A bond.  Cool, no?  My Aunt and Uncle gave it to me just before my 1st birthday.  It matured 12 months later to the tune of $25.  Of course, it kept accumulating interest, stopping at the 30 year mark. I took it into the bank last week and cashed it.  Can anyone guess the compound interest on a $25 bond over 30 years?  I walked away with $134.75.  

What a great present!!!  Thanks Alaska!

Belated Mother's Day Present

To honor Mother's day this year, my parents bought a well in a Cambodian village in our girls' and my nephew's name. So that other mamas could have clean water to drink and raise their babies healthy.  When my mom told me I cried, it was beautiful.

And here is a picture of the well:

I think I'm changing my Christmas gift list a bit.