Thanksgiving and Low Tide

Hi all,
We had a great relatively relaxing long weekend, celebrating Thanksgiving with family and going on some small adventures as well! First, the clubhouse - I took Wednesday off and was able to get the walls and roof finished, so now the "only" tasks remaining are finishing the ladder to the trap door, fitting shutters and doors, installing the tire swing, and building the rope bridge.

Then Wednesday night we prepared for Thanksgiving, Annett brining Mr Turkey and I preparing some appetizers like fava bean spread, crostini, and some ahi tuna.

On Thanksgiving everyone arrived around midday, and we ate a delicious main meal of turkey, riesling and zinfandel, and various accoutrements.

Annett checking and basting the turkey

Starting out with a glass of dry mission grape rose

The "kid" table! Maggie, Carson, Kylah, and friend Sasha

The dinner table: Mary Beth, Joe, and Angela

Carson organized a tournament of Uno Attack...

...which he suspiciously won for the second year in a row...

Melissa and Chris

After the pie dance, the pies were served! Mmm!

The throngs in the sunset

On Friday evening, with about all the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area, we drove out to Half Moon Bay to witness a rare low tide - minus eight feet, which is apparently the lowest it's been in 8 years. We went to Pillar Point on a beautiful warm evening, and it was spectacular! Worth the wait in traffic, and half our neighborhood joined us!

Starfish and anemone lay stranded in the sea grass

You can see the shelf in the background.

The sun dipped below the horizon and the crescent moon and Venus became visible (upper left).

Carson's buddies Malik and Lizzy (and Maggie, of course)

 We stayed in Half Moon Bay for a nice sushi dinner, then headed back over the mountain to the Bay Area - the return trip taking half the time! But overall a great weekend!

Hope all is well out there with you! Christmas is right around the corner!

Pumpkins and Play Structures

The Super-Spy and Rapunzel

Hi all,

Happy Halloween! It was a beautiful evening here in Mountain View, with streams of kids parading around the block and the bright moon and Jupiter shining down. The kids got lots of candy and saw lots of friends in the neighborhood.

Carving

We spent Sunday afternoon carving pumpkins in the warm sunshine, then lit 'em up tonight!

Maggie and Mom's

We were joined by some of our friends from England, Martin and Angela and their kids Joe and Sasha, and we went out together.

Sorting Hat and the Cat

 One other minor project I've been working on in the back yard is the new play structure - it will be a spiral slide connected to a raised clubhouse by a rope-bridge, and a tire swing beneath. I am maybe halfway through, but the weather is still warm so I am holding out hope of finishing it before Thanksgiving! We'll see! Here are some construction pics:

Posts set in the ground, connecting the cross-beams

Adding climbing wall

Assembling the slide

Framing the clubhouse

Slide tower nearly complete!

OK, hope all is well!

Soccer Kickoff

Dribbling...

Hi all,

It was soccer kickoff this past weekend! Maggie's first year in U8 on the team called the "Blue Angels" and Carson is the big kid on the U10 Cobras, which I was persuaded into coaching.

He shoots...

...he scores! GOALLLL!

Halftime positions

 We had a good time, cheering on the girls - Carson was running down the sidelines near Maggie cheering them on, totally supportive. Our team did well, but lots to work on to improve.

Maggie practicing as keeper...

Drop kick!

Maggie breaks away down field!

 After the games I began construction of the new Trail Play Structure, which I hope will be done by the end of the month. It is an elevated clubhouse and spiral slide, tire swing, and suspension bridge. We warned the neighbor, as it will rise 14 feet into the air! Then on Monday we welcomed a friend from work into the neighborhood - he just bought a house down the street, so hopefully we'll start the carpool next week!OK take care all and hope you're enjoying the last of summer! Just a reminder you should be able to click on the images for a full-resolution picture.

Bridge City, Birthdays, and Broken Bones

Rockaway Beach

Hi all,

We had an interesting long weekend up in Portland, Oregon, visiting Annett's sister Meredith, her husband Tom, Annett's parents, and Tom's family. It all started out as a birthday celebration for Meredith (she turned 29 ;-) but due to some unforeseen circumstances the party schedule was a bit disrupted...Meredith broke both her wrists in a fall so the celebration ended up being somewhat muted but definitely still full of lots of love!

Gilbert House

We flew up on Wednesday night, spend the day Thursday in Salem, Friday and Saturday in a house on the coast near Rockaway Beach, and Sunday at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum. We originally all planned to be at the beach house, but Annett, Tom and Meredith stayed behind in Portland to take care of the injuries.

Gilbert House

Anyway we had a great time in Salem, a cute town along the Willamette River which includes the Gilbert Discovery Village. We met with the museum director and got half price admission for being a great grandchild of A.C. Gilbert, who was born and lived in Salem for his younger years before going to Yale back east.

Bubble Room

The facility consists of a large playground, a hands-on science building, and an exhibit building containing memorabilia from the A.C. Gilbert Company, including the Chemistry Set, Atomic Energy Set, and the Vibrator! The kids enjoyed the bubbles and playground the best.

Gilbert Inventions

In the Museum

Atomic Energy Lab, complete with Radium!

Ecola State Beach

On Friday we headed out to the coast and spent a couple of hours at Ecola State Park, running around and looking at tide pools.

Carson, Maggie, and Ella

Then we drove down to the rental house in Rockaway Beach, where we ate great food and had fun playing frisbee on the beach and roasting marshmallows over a bonfire.

Tom Sr. Cooking Breakfast

A true Southern Breakfast!

The Meredith 40 Castle

Saturday we headed over to a nice beach at Hug Point, which included some cool sandstone caves, a nice flat beach for more frisbee, and sand for a castle that Meredith requested as a birthday gift. We all helped build the ramparts and castle, so it was truly a family effort! Maggie and Ella even planted a flower garden out front!

Kneeling before the Royal Castle

Carson at Hug Point

Running on the beach

Hug Point

Maggie at Hug Point

Maggie and Ella

Cameron cooking lasagna

Roasting Marshmallows over the bonfire

 

Then on Sunday we headed back to Portland via McMinnville, home of the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, and of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose", the world's largest airplane! The museum ended up being more than we expected, with lots of different planes, WWII history, and of course the magnificent Spruce Goose, so named because it was made almost entirely of wood (birch, actually) during the mid-1940's. Here's a video of the plane's one and only flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5XSESxKfKE.

The docent flew 30 B-17 missions over Schweinfurt!

Moved from Long Beach, CA to Oregon, amazing!

Notice any similarities?

Carson

Howard

Bob

 Finally, we all made it back to Meredith and Tom's in Portland for some cake, birthday stories, and an attempt to give Meredith some good cheer after days of no sleep and dealing with casts on each arm! It was great seeing everyone and hopefully next time we can all celebrate together with less painkillers! Happy Birthday Meredith!

Meredith and Cake!