So Long, Second Grade!

Maclaren LOVED second grade at her new school.  Her teacher, Mrs Melody, MADE the year for Maclaren.

Other highlights from second grade included...the Father-Daughter dance

...Being honored at year-end as "Most Creative" and having artwork displayed at Imaginon

...And hosting a class Valentines Day party (for the girls)

Bloggers note:  Notice the cute picture of the girls in the self-decorated frames?  The photo (below) is a fair representation of the 15 minutes leading up to the final shot.  Herding cats, I tell you.

Spring Break in San Francisco

This year we took advantage of lucky timing between my business travel on the west coast and Maclaren's spring break and headed to San Francisco.  Allan, Maclaren and I spent Maclaren's first year there and we were excited to revisit with kids in tow.  For the highlights click here. 

After reassuring ourselves that the school didn't really desire a bunch of "rubes that have never left the county" [sic Allan], we sprung Maclaren loose from school the week before spring break and spent over 2 weeks in the city riding cable cars, buses and boats.  And we walked miles and miles and miles through Chinatown, Japan town, our old stomping grounds in Pacific Heights and the Presidio.  The weather was chilly and conditions were even more variable than I remembered.  It was typically foggy, misty, rainy and cold in Union Square but bright, sunny warmer and windy less than 4 miles away on Crissy Field!  Each day the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped with it so we all purchased hats, long sleeve shirts and jackets while we were there.  (Um...did I mention that Allan packed the kids because I headed for the west coast earlier in the week?  There's only so far that a couple of pairs of undies, jeans and a t-shirt will get you.)

We did ALL of the touristy things including Fisherman's wharf, North Beach, shopping in Union Square and not-so-touristy things like Golden Gate Park, Crissy Field, Baker's Beach and North Beach.  Allan LOVED retracing the walks he used to take with Maclaren and visited our old neighborhood and all of his favorite places including the playgrounds and overlooks along the way.  

 I did convince Allan that maybe the hot spots today may not be the same ones we remembered 7 year ago and we quickly converted to using Yelp! and were never disappointed...Nick's Crispy Tacos in Russian Hill, Lou's Sandwiches in Outer Richmond.  R&G Lounge for Chinese (sorry House of Nanking..but we have a new favorite now).  We made a sojourn to Muir Woods and hiked up to the Mountain Home Inn which was one of our favorite weekend activities when we lived there.  The kids did great and thank god we weren't schlepping them in a kid carrier!

The kids were incredible travelers!  We shared one room with a king sized bed and pull out sofa the entire time and no complaints...not one!  Once we established a "system" for who got to push the elevator buttons and who got to open the door with the key card...BLISS!  And even though we rarely dine out with the kids at home, they were amazing little diners in the restaurants..tried every kind of Asian cuisine including dim sum (no likey), and by the end of the visit had their "favorites".  Angus picked the Mexican joint next to the Marriott (HA!) and Maclaren developed a soft-spot for the Cable Car Cafe (across the street from the Marriott) for their specialty crepes (actually I can substantiate her rating)!

Viva San Francisco!

Bloggers notes: 
1-  We made the trip with our point-and-shoot which Allan manned for most of the trip (this isn't a disclaimer or anything...just want to establish some context)
2- I was only able to upload the "highlights" slide show to smugmug with a medium quality setting (what the????) which tends to emphasize point 1 above.
3- Only upon returning home and downloading the pics did I realize that we ended up with a disproportionate number of "posed" shots in front of cool landscapes (which are aplenty in SFO).  I had fun with the editing the landscape shots (playing around with b&w, etc) and I think I would have preferred more candids to "tell the story".  Allan and the kids were 5 days on their own and went EVERYWHERE via bus routes and cable cars but we missed photographing the sites/places (like Japan Town, Chinatown, Washington Square...) which I think the kids would have recognized/remembered and enjoyed.  I guess that means we'll have to plan for another trip back to...San Francisco!

Classic

We just downloaded the card from the little point-and-shoot camera that Allan typically uses to document the big and small moments of our lives.*  The contents of the card go way back to last summer.  And of course there are some great photos and tons of movies.  But this is a CLASSIC (SOO said C). 

It is the type of photo that you find years and years later and a favorite.  Not because it was taken with the 1.4 fixed lens and has the fancy bokeh or captured the light beautifully (because it doesn't).  Not because the photographer used the rule of thirds (trust me...he wasn't).  But because the scene captures an every day moment in time...the season, the fashion, the neighborhood, the walk home from school. 

I could certainly do some editing...brighten it up and crop it...and maybe I will.  But I might just let it be and enjoy it for what it is.  LOVE the authenticity.  LOVE the CLASSICS!

*mostly small and technical - as in documenting our exterior plumbing and other home repairs and do-it-yourself engineering feats.

Dogs' Best Friend

My sister-in-law, Candy, is a dog's best friend.  According to my husband she has always loved creatures great and small.  She adores her JRTs:  Chips, Scout and Mandy.  Founded a not-for-profit JRT Rescue) and continues to dedicate oodles and oodles of time, housing, money, love and attention to dogs that need help.  And is always willing to take a couple more (in the form of our wiener dogs) when we vacation.  Candy and her home provide the perfect place for respite.

We had the opportunity to hang with Candy and the dogs recently and caught some cute snaps (see the highlights here).

Cheers to Candy...Dogs' best friend!

Congratulations

To our nephew/cousin, Christian, for graduating from the Citadel!  Click here for highlights.

Valentines Day Preview

Just submitted our annual family Valentine for production and, while the pics were handy, I thought I would join in the I Heart Faces fun this week.  A first!






I started our annual Valentines Day greetings (in lieu of Christmas cards) when Allan and I were first married. I borrowed the idea from a very hip chick in Charlotte and we've been sending out love notes ever since.

As our family grew and as  I benefited from one less responsibility during an increasingly hectic holiday season, the tradition took on an air of ingenuity.  Over the years, though, I have continued to push the envelope (pardon the pun) by waiting until the last possible moment to decide on a theme, figure out photos and move the project into production.  And this year is no exception!  Here I am at the 11th hour and the photos went straight from the camera to the production house.

Someday I'll figure out all the cool editing software that my husband treated me to.  Add a little twinkle to the eye...brighten the background...enhance the skin tone... 

Until then- who loves you, baby??!!

My Readers

I LOVED reading when I was growing up (and still do). I would stay up late with a flashlight under my covers secretly reading after "lights out."


My grandparents had a whole wall of built-in book shelves that were packed full of books..."War and Peace", encyclopedias, my mom's yearbooks, Time-Life "How To" books and hundreds and hundreds of others. But across the room was a smaller built-in shelf tucked behind the door.

The bottom shelf was filled with children's books. One of the first things I did each time I visited was to settle myself behind the door and read every single book.


Here's a peek at our book nook.

I love when it is messy, crammed full of books stacked the wrong way and with books spilling out onto the floor. That means someone's been reading!