Robin's first day at nursery school!

Robin missed the cut-off to start at Erin's preshchool this year by about 6 weeks.

 But she seems so engaged and interested, we thought she would enjoy getting into some peer activities.  So yesterday was her first day at nursery school.  She was there for 1.5 hours, the longest she's ever been away from family.  And she did great, only cried just before I picked her up.  And I think the only reason she was upset was that she was hungry.

Here is the art project she brought home:

A tree cutting story, part 1

We had two Monterrey pines in on our property listing to the side, threatening to topple our neighbor's house.  Apparently, in the 50's, people planted these trees in Orinda, at a cost of about $0.19 apiece, to make it more scenic.  What they didn't think about was the soil here was poor for these type of trees. So, 60 years later, and about 1,200x the cost, these trees must be taken down.

We hired a local crew who said it could be done in two days without cranes.

Indeed, the men on this crew were acrobats and could easily climb up, chainsaw dragging behind them, and use only ropes and a pulley to fell even the largest of branches.  Many of these "branches" could be classified as trees in their own rights. 

Here you see the observation crew.  Grandpa couldn't pass up a chance to see this kind of arborist engineering at play. 

The results of 1 days work.  Astonishing.

A playtime story - by Robin

 I was very busy playing with toys.  I was trying to get the elephant to pop up.  That one is tricky. 

But then I had to stop. I had to poop. 

It was funny.  So I made pooping sounds. 

Developmental milestone #687

Self administered haircut. 

2 of 2 Erin Stories

In her words:

"Mama, I made some technology.  I tried to make a project.  I taked the hose, take a turkey baster I turned on the water and I taked the hose and connected it to the turkey baster.  So, what I did next is I taked some tape from the garage and then I taped the turkey baster to the hose.  I turned on the water next, and I wanted to see if there was any water coming out, so I could give medicine to Cuckaduh.  But it didn't work."




Apparently, this experiment was based on something she saw on Curious George.  Not entirely sure what the outcome was supposed to be, but she never quite got there.  Oh, and Cuckaduh is her imaginary friend.

1 of 2 Erin Stories

(Robin has plucked tomato leaves from the plant and is turning them into confetti.)

A: Sweetheart, no touch!  Those leaves are poisonous! They'll hurt us.  Let's not pick those ones.

E: mama, are tomato leaves poison?

A: Yes, sweetheart, but not the fruit.

E: So the tomatoes are OK to eat?

A: Yes, that's right.

E: So.... what's the chemistry of that?

Fashion Friday - Wanna be a Cowgirl

This outfit is *all* Erin.  It began with the shirt, then skirt, then pigtails, then by finding the cowboy boots in the garage.  But what really ties it together is the skull bracelet.  That's my little Cowgirl!