Wooden Nickels

Archive for August, 2008

Howdy Folks!

Here’s a look at the second batch of images from August: August 2008, Take Two.

This set starts with some shots of the Philly Z’s trip to San Francisco. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many shots of their trip! The girls are such a handful when we’re out and about these days, it’s hard to get my camera to my eye before one of them is nipping off into the surf, or the road, or a subway train, or a… But either way, we had a great hang with the kids from Back East, with a real nice day out at Limantour, where all the kids big and small made sand castles and snacked and snoozed and got sand in every nook and cranny. I can tell you the kiddie pool back at the house was a savior, and that it had never had so much sand in it before. We did get in a trip to Angel Island, but the scheduling wasn’t great, nor was my attempt to lead us to a picnic area – my bad: we shoulda just ate right there and hung out at the visitor zone – but all of the images I have from that are on my phone and not great (doh.). The last day we all hooked up at the Discovery Museum, and that’s always a winner. It was fantastic to have my family in town. Henry and Ben and Jackson were fantastic together, and the girls loved everyone and everything we did. Pete, John, and Jen: thanks!

That Friday, the 15th, was the girls’ first birthday. We didn’t really do anything. The next day though? We threw a proper one-year-old birthday party at Samuel P. Taylor Park in Lagunitas! Lots of friends and family came out to the woods by the creek and we all ate chili and splashed around in the creek. It was a great day weather-wise, and Olivia and Isabella had a fantastic time being the centers of attention. They really are the bees knees, and all the kids who showed up were so genuinely happy just playing and eating watermelon and cupcakes by the creek. There’s a buncha photos… they’re really great. Thanks everybody for coming and all the gifties and great vibes!

On Sunday, at was time to party Dianda-style! Nearly all of Emily’s family showed up at her parents’ house with food and gifts (we missed you Uncle Jimmy!), and set about cavorting and swimming and snacking like kings and queens. As always, the food was delish. There were tons of kids there (except, notably, Jackson, who had to go back to Mom’s) and the pool certainly paid for itself that day. The day was beautiful, and Em’s family is so full of fantastic characters and fun folks, it was a great time. Opening up the pile of gifts at the end of the day, I thought the girls were going to literally melt before my eyes they were so tired… Thanks to everyone for all of the well wishing, support, and wonderful gifts for the girls. And big props go out to Don and Judy for hosting! Thanks guys!

So, there we have it: Round Two of August ’08. Stay tuned: Jackson’s birthday is next week. There’s sure to be insanity!

Cheers,
PAZ

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originally uploaded by skitoman.

Here’s the latest set: click Here. Let’s get to this set’s action:

We’ve had great fun in August, with lots of good times. Here’s a shot of Emily seeing Paul off to work sporting the latest fashions. The poor kids: they’d better get used to this.

We’ve been sticking close to home and gardening with Jack and the girls. The plums came in nicely and the girls enjoyed them in the yard; with the kiddie pool there, they can get up to their elbows in plums and wash right off with the hose… yum! Emily’s squash are kicking butt, and the corn’s coming in slow – we’ll only get a few ears, but it’s been fun to grow. The tomatoes will all ripen at the end of the summer: doh! The girls have been enjoying the sun and sand in the new sandbox and are so mobile it’s hard to keep up. The best you can hope for is that they remain interested in the same things, because it gets nuts when they head in opposite directions.

Here’s a little tune I like to call “Ea-tin Plums”:

We got the kids to the beach for a day in there somewhere – we all went out to Limatour. The weather was glorious, as was the surf, though I must say the wind was veritably horking. Jackson found a spot where the sand cut in, and set up a castle on the leeward side of it, occasionally sheltering his sisters against the wind. The girls were in and out of the waves a bit, and Jack got his suit wet, but it wasn’t hot enough out or warm enough in the water to actually get in. Maybe without the wind. We did see a lot of wildlife that day (though I neglected to get any of it on film – doh!), with all the regulars of seals and pelicans and birds of every color – and a specials pod of guests in the form of porpoises. Having been to that beach for almost 20 years and never having seen them there(I did see whales migrating thorough there once years ago), I was a myself kid again in wonder. They were super cool!

We did finally get the “Old” Cal Closets Marketing Crew together for a day in the park in San Anselmo. Picnic-ing with the homeys was a treat, as it took us a couple of months to get off our rumps and hook it up, and we’s all so very scattered – it was good to touch base with the peeps.

Well the next thing you know, we are invaded from the east! Good times were had by all when the East Coast Contingent allies with the West Coast Contingent of the Sons and Daughters of Henry Zabierek to conquer San Francisco by storm! That’s right, Uncles Johnnie and Peter, Auntie Jennifer, and cousins Henry and Ben hit the streets for madcap hilarity in the City By the Bay. In this set, we’ve caught us at Ghirardelli Square, and a trip with Uncle Johnnie to the Conservatory of Flowers, which was amazing. Jackson got his first camera, and I am going to set him up with Flickr account and upload his photos – look for the post in the blog soon!

That raps this set up: next batch includes highlights from the Zabierek’s visit from the East, and the Twins’ birthday parties! Woo hoo!

Until then, don’t go changin’.

xoxo,
PAZ