what's missing?

Someone just lost their first tooth!!

doubles

We celebrated Tami's and Manuel's birthdays at my mom's house. After a tasty lunch, they opened their presents together. Then, it was time for cake!

Blowing out the candles!

Crowing happily about it afterward. :)

So nice to spend time with the family. PJ and Nana - it was wonderful to see you again. Thanks everyone for the awesome gifts!!

leonardo

So excited to hear the news of a lost Leonardo rediscovered! Beautiful!

thanks, mom!

My mom sent me this picture of us at San Jose Taiko's Rhythm Spirit concert at the Campbell Heritage Theater. That's Tami and Paul with us. The concert was really beautiful; lots of new innovations on the stage this year and new interpretations. It was fun having everyone together!

Also, I owe my mom and Larry a big Thank You for letting the boys spend the night last weekend! Manuel and I went out with friends, Marie & Stuart, in Palo Alto and never had to worry about the time. Plus, the boys had a great time making ceramics in her studio and didn't even want to leave when we picked them up the next day. Thank you!!

I have such a good mom. ♥♥♥

bluegrass, anyone?

Cooper told me today about the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival coming up in San Francisco next month. First he told me Billy Bragg would be there, which was interesting, and then he mentioned Neko Case, which clinched it for me. I would definitely want to see them both in one afternoon!

I asked Manuel if this was up his alley, and though he is not a big Billy fan, he was interested in seeing Marianne Faithfull. I might guess that he'd even enjoy Aimee Mann. Me, I would even probably like to hear a bit of the actual bluegrass.

The only thing is that it's a free concert, so I imagine it's going to be extremely crowded. Thinking of going, though - on Sunday. Anyone else? Give me a call...!

troppo carino

OK - we started taking school pictures yesterday and I had to share this one. It was setting up to be a portrait of Daniel when Matteo jumped in, al improviso. Cooper's lightning reflexes caught the candid moment. Result: troppo carino!

Plus, in the original, the backdrop looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e. The colors are way brighter before the file is emailed, downloaded and posted here. Can't wait to buy prints - I'll probably get this one and a couple others that I will *not* share yet because they are going to be gifts to some of you family members that read this blog. I will say they are very cute, though. ... No, don't try to persuade me. My word is final.

coastal clean-up day

Nita and I helped Daniel and a group of his classmates organize our school's participation in Coastal Clean-up Day. They did very well in promoting this event and setting it up - we had about 36 volunteers come to Stevens Creek Reservoir to pick up trash and help the environment.

Most everyone met at the school at 8:30 am, then rode up to the reservoir together on the Delphi school bus. A few other kids and families met us there. The ranger briefed us, providing gloves, sacks, sunscreen, hand-sanitizer and even snacks and water. Then we set off around the trails and banks of the reservoir to gather trash.

It was a beautiful day.

A large bag of trash.

A good number of alumni showed up to help! Daniel and Run had a good time hanging out with Chris, who is in his first year at Cupertino HS this year. The three of them made a good team, just like the old days.

Run, Daniel & Chris say, "Keep our coasts clean!"

Matteo and I scored the ickiest trash find, I think. Lucky we had gloves from Coastal Clean-up and a nifty pick-up stick from an earlier San Jose neighborhood beautification meeting we had attended. It was not something we would have wanted to grab with bare hands.

Hm, what's this plastic sticking out down here?
*tug...tug...*

Whoa, here it comes! What is it?

Gross! A used diaper!! :p

Cleaning up with lots of friends is surprisingly fun. We saw a number of other people come out to help, too. It was very satisfying at the end to pile up a mound of collected trash that we'd removed from the water's edge. One of the parents took my picture next to this lovely hillock.

Marcy, Kimi & Riya are happy coastal cleaners.

Thank you to everyone that organized this event and to all who came out to help!