Terracotta Warriors!

We've been fascinated by these since we first read about them and K did a Country Day presentation about them. To see even a few of them in person was really amazing and worth the trip. The magnitude of the discovery is still hard to comprehend - perhaps we need a trip to China to see the whole archeological site? Sounds good to me, even if only in our dreams. For now.

Creating

Some down time becomes making time - G is determined to sew a dress out of this beautiful fabric my mom brought back from India. Fortunately, she is not discouraged by my complete lack of interest in or knowledge about sewing.

Then, I came home to find a completed rollercoaster, showing cool engineering and physics lessons... not to mention fun with Dad. Love those smiles and that enthusiasm!

 

Country Day: The Netherlands

A low key and lovely day. We heard about the history and engineering of the dikes, acted out a Dutch fairy tale, listened to K talk about the legend of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and G talk about the history of Dutch pottery.

Wild Day

Playing and wandering on a beautiful day. I was watching the kids, trying to quantify what they get out of this day. They imagine unique and elaborate games and then self-organize within the games, resolving conflicts. They work within a variety of ages - five to nine. They have long quiet conversations, long periods of silence, lots of inquiry and discovery... all in all marvelous living and learning experiences.

First Gymnastics Show

Muscle girl!

Running to the vault

Bridges galore (she's the one looking toward the camera!)

Ta da!

Proud of her medal (and happy Abuela and Grandpa came)

Big sister admitted, "It was a pretty cool show."

SF History: Annual 1906 Commemorative Events

The girls got up at 3:30AM. Yep. Nuts. Actually, I had gotten up and begun to triage my email when I was joined by G. The way she described it to her sister, "I was going to put mommy back to bed when she told me it was time to get up!" ("Put mommy back to bed? Who's the mommy, here, I protested!" She smiled....)

We hurried to Lotta's Fountain at Kearney and Markets, but soon learned that police barricades had been set up because of a "suspicious package" across the street from the planned ceremony. They later learned that it was just a suitcase full of clothes, but in the meantime the crowd had gathered instead at Union Square. We joined them just in time for a few speeches and a minute of silence at exactly 5:12AM. It was followed for a full minute by police motorcycle sirens. Still in the dark, we walked through the crowd, many of whom had on period costumes, and checked out the antique fire vehicles.

We then drove across town to 20th and Church, where after the 1906 earthquake, the only remaining water hydrant saved much of the area from the fires that followed. The sun rose over us as we heard more speeches and saw more dignitaries, but this ceremony had a strong emphasis on honoring native San Franciscans. Cool. The girls both helped to paint the hydrant with gold paint, an annual tradition. By 8AM, we were done and playing in a nearby park, waking several people who had slept there overnight. Ooops. We then had breakfast in the Mission district and Jessica Alba came in. All in all, quite a morning. More play in a park before we got home, then a quick rest before heading off to see a Shakespeare performance. Quite a memorable morning!

Ike was confused as we waited
for our ride.  Where we were
going and why?

SF Police Chief Suhr, Mayor Ed Lee, and Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White



The kids played kazoos to the tune of
"San Francisco, open your Golden Gate!



Impressive Period Costumes

Hangin' on the back of an antique fire engine



Taking turns to spray the hydrant gold as the Fire Chief looks on



With "Emperor Norton."  He even gave her
some of his own currency!

With Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, who told the girls,
"I used to work with your mom."  She's an impressive
speaker and it was inspiring to see her work the crowd
with confidence and authenticity.

Family Birthday Party

Silly fun at a favorite farm, then a picnic and birthday cake with favorite cousins and Aunt E. Celebrating such a really wonderful, awesome kid.

 

Then and Now. Love

 

Book Club: A Cricket in Times Square

I read vociferously as a kid, but sometimes I wonder WHAT I read, as I never before read this one. It is a sweet story about a cricket's unintentional journey to Times Square and we made cricket cages for fun. One of our book club friends brought an actual cricket, so we had a test inhabitant. Lovely day. G had woken up early this week, rolled over and said, "I know who the antagonist is in the story!" So we discussed that, and how it reveals what the story is really about. Love the enthusiastic participation of even our younger members.

As You Like It

"All the world's a stage!" An awesome production of Shakespeare's "As You Like It," where K played both Duke Frederick and Duke Senior, adding a mustache and increasing her grumpiness as she switched from role to role. My mom asked, "is she mad about something" at the beginning, seeing her frown, but I was able to reassure her, "no, she's acting!" Indeed, they seemed to have enormous fun with the roles; such a great group of kids.

Wild Day, Warm One In A New Location

Lovely day!  Lots of fun, incredible views, up close and distance, too.