Starting 7th and 4th Grade!

It is mid August and the kids are already back in school! On August 10, Elsa started 7th grade at Greene Middle School.  She bikes herself to school and has cool classes like Art and Home Ec and some friends in most of her classes.  What was most exciting for me was attending an in person back to school night.  I got to experience her bike to school, running between classes that were at opposite ends of the school and life as a 7th grader.

On August 11, Liam started 4th grade at Addison Elementary.  He has already bonded with his teacher, Ms. Ando.  He loves sitting with her to work on his reading, working with his math buddy Ian, and learning all sorts of new things.

I am excited for a great new year of school. 

Summer Fun 2022

We had a great Summer 2022.  Beyond the big trips to Fort Bragg, Elsa's Birthday in Santa Barbara, and the Lair, the kids went to great summer camps, we had weekend adventures and just a lot of fun in the sun. One adventure was going out to Pescadero to pick olallieberries, something I had done as a child, but we had not done as a family since Elsa was little.  We picked over 20 pounds of berries, and then went home to make Jam and Pie!

For Fourth of July weekend, we headed into San Francisco to enjoy time in the Fisherman's Wharf area and the local sites.  It was great to walk over to the Marina, visit the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, and just explore a bit of the city. 

We also spent a weekend in Asilomar. It was nice to enjoy the beach, visit a local museum and spend some time together.

Then for 2 Saturday nights in August, we went overnight camping at Foothills Park.  It was camping light - no cooking - we bought food to go, but we were able to go on hikes, play card games and enjoy the Super moon.  

Then, the Monday before school started, I took a day off work to take Liam to Great America, along with Elsa and 4 of her friends.  It was a wonderful day to kick off school starting week.

For Liam, summer camps included Bike Camp (Wheel Kids), Run for Fun Camp, Green Stuff at the Botanical Gardens, Bay Camp on the Baylands, and Jurassic Camp at the Junior Museum and Zoo, Galileo, and a SF Giants Camp.  He had fun creating things, learning things, and just moving his body around.  For the Giant's camp we even got to go to a game.  Plus there were fun Mommy/Son days, like going to Chuck E Cheese, the Tech Museum, biking, and going to movies (we saw them all - Minions, the Bad Guys, SuperPets, Paws of Fury, and Lightyear).

Elsa had an amazing summer of sleeping away from home.  The first week was doing a beach volleyball camp in Santa Barbara and hanging out with her friend Josie, then it was Camp Kennolyn with her friend Maya, then UCSC dorm living for a volleyball camp, before heading down to Santa Barbara again for UCSB dorm life and Softball Camp.  She did a Junior Lifeguard camp with friends and then a week of volleyball camp.  Along the way she competed is some summer swim meets and got her hair cut!

What an awesome summer!

Lair Time!

 

It was great to return again to the Lair of the Golden Bear, Camp Blue.  The week started off with some focused pottery time.  We brought 25 pounds of clay and Liam was delighted to get to use the wheel to create some awesome pots. 

Elsa is also quite the potter!

Liam ended up making over 12 pots! 

It was really hot this year, so we all spent a lot of time at the pool.  Mom and I had fun at water aerobics most mornings.  And we all enjoyed the Wacky Pool Show and Inner Tube Water Polo Game!

 

Sports continued to be a big part of the week, including the awesome Camper Staff Softball game, and then lots of time watching and playing Volleyball.

Liam had a lot of fun exploring camp and hanging out with his family. 

He also had a treat one morning of going fishing with his dad and a friend. 

Besides pottery, and the many lanyards created, it was another great year of tie-dye. 

We also has some great time resting in the hammock and going to movies under the stars at Pinecrest Theatre. 

It was sad to say goodbye at the end of the week, but we know we will be back.