A couple of Maile’s classmates were having a birthday party up in Point Reyes on Saturday. Its about an hour and half drive from the city, so I found a little cottage on Airbnb and we decided to make a weekend out of it. We drove up on Friday and came back Sunday AM. In between we had a fun visit to a part of the Bay Area that I’d never been to before.
The girls have been on a big Totoro kick lately so they were thrilled when we arrived at the cottage and it resembled the house in the story set way back in the woods as it was...
On Saturday morning we set off to find this abandoned boat that a friend had told us about. Clearly Maile thinks she has found it...
... and she was right! Doesn't this look like she is standing in front of a painting?
Family Picture (Maile nearly 6 and Lauren 2.5)
... and, of course, we had plenty of watermelon all weekend!
We have a pretty set bedtime routine with the girls. That doesn’t mean it’s a smooth affair. Recently, Lauren has started to deploy delay tactics with Christine (the first line of defense for bedtimes).
With me, Lauren just basically asked for “Mommy” over and over again. I tell her I’ll go get Mommy if she lies down and closes her eyes. She typically does and I leave.
Unfortunately for Christine, she IS Mommy and for whatever reason, Lauren doesn’t ask for “Daddy” when Mommy is putting her down. Instead we get the following…
(Click here for the video.)
Today Christine completed the San Diego Rock N’ Roll Marathon – it was the culmination of countless hours of training and a goal (“run a marathon”) she has had for as long as I can remember. I brought the girls down to San Diego to watch. Now a marathon isn’t a super easy thing to watch, we caught her around the 10K mark and then again at the finish. Maile made a great sign all be herself and they both had fun yelling and cheering and watching Mommy run. They definitely didn’t totally understand how far Mommy ran (I tried a few different ways to convey it to Maile, but not sure it stuck).
For the girls, this is one of those accomplishments that will gain meaning over time. I couldn’t be happier that Christine is the role model they see day in and day out of what a mom, wife, friend and, most importantly, woman is all about. It doesn’t need to be a marathon. But the fact that Christine took the time to train for this, to raise money for Leukemia via a phenomenal Team In Training experience and that she pushed herself on the day of to go further than she ever had before — and that she did all of this while still doing all of the very many things she does for our family. Well, that’s the part I’m excited to tell the girls about. And that’s why I’m so very proud of Christine!
We first caught Mommy right around the 10K mark. Well, she techncially caught us. Things were a little slower than anticipated getting the girls in gear, so she ended up ahead of us, but she doubled back to say hello.
Maile and the sign she made for Christine all be herself...
Shockingly, we enjoyed cheering on the runners...
After the earlier 10K timing debacle, I might have gotten us to the finish line a little too early - so the girls had some time to kill...
And then all of a sudden, there Mommy was!
So happy to see Mommy at the finish!
Mommy and her girls - somehow they gave her 2 medals - lucky for us 🙂
All of us celebrating Mommy's first marathon!
(Click here for the video.)
Mommy capped the weekend of adventures by taking the girls out to the Oakland Zoo on Monday morning. They had a fun girls day exploring the zoo and playing on the rides!
The animals are cool. But the map is awesome!
And if Maile has a map, Lauren has a map too.
Cheeks in full effect!
Maile likes going on the merry go round solo now...
... Lauren prefers to be right next to Mommy.
Mommy, Lauren and Maile on their girls day adventure to the zoo
We stayed local this Memorial Day weekend, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have some fun adventures. Things started off on Saturday morning when Mommy planned a trip out to Point Bonita Lighthouse. It was just a short drive over the Golden Gate Bridge near Sausalito. We had fun hiking down to the Lighthouse with the girls – unfortunately, we didn’t time it right, so, as you’ll see, we didn’t make it to the lighthouse proper – but we still had fun!
Mommy, Maile and Lauren at the start of our mini hike...
Not sure what started the head tilting...
Hey, what are you doing?
Nailed it! If Maile is doing it, it must be cool.
Still rocking the head tilt.
Sister love with the Golden Gate in the background...
And here ends our visit to the lighthouse. This door doesn't open until 12:30 PM and it was about 10 AM when we got there. Ah well, a reason to come back 🙂
For Mother’s Day Maile made a book for Christine. Reprinted here without further comment (because as you’ll see it speaks for itself 🙂
This morning for mother’s day we headed out with the girls to explore SF a bit. This time we headed over to these beautiful new stairs that recently were finished at Lincoln Park and then cut over for a bit of a stroll at Lands End on the very edge of San Francisco. It was a little cold, but Christine got to do one of her favorite hobbies – taking pictures of the girls! – and we had fun exploring a bit.
The steps at Lincoln Park are beautiful - and fun to climb!
Perfect setting for a picture of our girls (Maile just a couple months shy of 6 and Lauren just about 2.5)
Yeah, we're in trouble with that look!
A mother and her daughters with the Golden Gate in the background
Love.
Maile Girl
Lil' Lauren
Watch out world, Lauren now has wheels!
For Christmas we bought Lauren a scooter – she tried it a few times, but it didn’t really take. Its been hanging around the house unused for months. Apparently, our nanny, Kelly, took Lauren to Japantown on Monday and she became fascinated with a little boy riding his scooter. She came home and figured out how to ride it. She’s already pretty good – and as is her style, fearless…
In other news, Maile Girl is slowly, but surely making progress with the roller blades. She is now incentivized to keep up with her little sister 🙂
Also, this is classic city living with us doing roller blades and scooters in the main lobby of our building. We did go out to hit the streets, but it was pretty windy … and probably best is Lauren masters this thing away from traffic!
(Click here for the video.)
This weekend was the annual Cherry Blossom Festival down in Japantown. On Sunday morning the girls got dressed up in their kimonos. Well, Maile was very excited to don hers, Lauren less excited about the kimono – she just wanted to rock as much Hello Kitty gear as possible, so she wore a Hello Kitty t-shirt and her Hello Kitty-style kimono as more of an open jacket.
We had a great time checking things out, catching up with one of Mommy’s friends from work, eating some Japanese street food, playing games and, yes, lots and lots of Hello Kitty.
Maile Girl striking a pose she seems to think is appropriate when wearing a kimono...
My cherry blossom girls!
Lauren was VERY excited to see the Hello Kitty mobile...
... no really, best. day. ever.
Christine earned her holiday Mommy stripes this weekend. First, she cooked up a storm – matzah ball soup on Friday, briscuit and kugle on Saturday and delicious steaks and homemade french fries on Sunday. Oh, and this crazy delicious marshmallow graham cracker brownie and banana muffins to boot.
Whew, exhausted just thinking about it – no really look – I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
While Mommy was being super Mommy, Daddy was napping on the couch...
And to top it off – it wasn’t just delicious food, Mommy also found time to (a) go for a run for her marathon training and (b) make easter eggs with the girls!
Mommy teaching the girls how to plan their egg dying...
Shockingly, Maile was very particular about the dye design of her eggs.
Lauren took things very seriously...
... this one, not so much.
Lauren watched every move Mommy made like a hawk...
Maile, Mommy and Lauren having fun making easter eggs!
