4th of July in Berkeley, CA

This 4th of July we decided to get out of the heat and go have some fun. We looked online for things to do, and found a festival at the Berkeley Marina. Brian fishes out of this marina and we love to walk on the pier there, so we made reservations at the Double Tree Inn for a couple of nights. Our room overlooked a bike path, the Marina and the boats. We had a balcony where we spent a lot of time people watching, boat dreaming and waving at the dragon boat (the local dragon boat club was offering free rides at the festival and we were on the route)! The festival was fun. The kids did several blow-up jump house activities, we walked alot, and ate fun food! We had Tibetan Momo (which is like dim sum), actual dim sum, knishes, and El Salvadorian stuffed corn cakes. It was all delicious!!

During the afternoon, we also went to the Adventure Playground at the Marina. It is a creative "sandlot" type of place. We decided that it was the most scary, dangerous, exciting and fun place we have ever let the kids play. The playground is ever-changing as kids use hammers, nails and paint to transform it daily.

Camille had fun climbing on the rope web!Elise and Isaac are on one of the many ships at the playground!Daddy and Camille are on a look-out tower!What a crazy slide!!I was very proud to see Elise do the trolley, she is so brave sometimes! Aidan didn't want to do it with her, so she did it alone. SHE HAD A BLAST!!

(and did it about a dozen times!!)Isaac had fun hammering real nails with a real hammer! This is something we just don't get out to play with at home. On Saturday we went to the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. We have never been there before, and it was a great museum!
Camille and daddy!
Isaac and Camille flying in a space capsule!!

We all took turns looking through a telescope!
Isaac doing a space puzzle!
Learning about the effects of wind on a comet's tail(or something like that!) I think they just had fun blowing on small pieces of dry ice!!
Camille and I went into the Discovery Lab while everyone else went to planetarium. It was a hands on activity center for younger kids.

She looked at rocks, bones and shells with a magnifying glass.
She also pretended to be an astronaut and flew in a space ship!
On Sunday before we went home, we HAD to go to the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. It is the kids' favorite museum of all time!! We had a great time as always! And, the view is always so amazing!

Isaac and Camille in a mirrored triangle! We almost lost Isaac in the blocks!
Aidan and Isaac raced boats propelled by rubber bands!Elise working on math skills during the summer (her teachers would be so proud)!
Aidan and Brian had so much fun using dams to divert the water flow at the pond.

You never get too old to play in the water!!Elise and Isaac experiencing first hand the shifting of tectonic plates!On the whale in front of the museum.We had so much fun on our trip! We look forward to doing it again next year!

Harsha's Visit!!

The Harsha family came for a visit in June. The kids all had a blast playing together, and Traci helped out after Grandma T.'s surgery. It was so great to see them!!Traci and Ben!Grandma and Papa T. with all the kids!!

This was such a great day, we took a picnic to the park and Grandma felt well enough to come along!!

What a great looking bunch!!!

We also went to Fairy Tale Town! This was especially fun for the little kids, but we all had a good time!
Aidan, Ben and Isaac!!
Hannah, Elise and Camille!!
Cheesy!!! But very cute!!
We will miss the cousins, and can't wait to get together again!

Our Growing Garden!!

Here is our garden now (well, two weeks ago)!!

As you can see it is really growing.

This is our tomato and cucumber bed. We have a yellow pear tomato, a Mr. Stripey, and two cherry tomatoes. Isaac and I started the cucumber and cherry tomatoes from seed, and gave away the extras to some friends. It was really fun and now we are both anxiously waiting our first tomato! When we pick a cucumber it disapears as soon as we cut get it washed and sliced. Even the kids know homegrown is better!

This bed has our Peter Pan squash, flowers, onions, leeks, and bush(oops, pole) beans. It has become clear that we have had another plant label mix up from the nursery. We bought 16 bush beans and 6 pole beans, then we planted and trellised accordingly. When our bush beans sent out shoots and our pole beans just grew into squat little plants, we knew there was a problem.

Brian improvised by putting a trellis on both sides of the clump of (now pole)beans, and they are doing well!

This is our zucchini and pepper bed. We have six different peppers and two zucchini. I have been cutting the leaves off the zucchini to keep them from shading the peppers. This has made the zucchini plants look lopsided, but they are still producing more than we can eat!

OKRA!!

This is my favorite! Well, I suppose tomatoes are a really close second. We pick them when they are about 3-4 inches long, skewer them, and grill them with olive oil, salt & pepper. YUM!

Peter Pan Squash, this is Brian's favorite! It is new to us, but is delicious. We roast it whole on the BBQ then slice it, and eat it with olive oil, salt & pepper!

From Grass to Garden!!

Here are the pictures of our latest adventure:
a kitchen garden.

I thought I should give this blog a great title, like from one of my favorite books. So, I considered

which really does describe what we have done. We have removed our lawn in the backyard and replaced it with a garden. This book by H.C. Flores is really great reading and I definitely love the passion Flores has for growing food. But another book came to mind, and seemed just as appropriate.

William Alexander writes about his adventure into gardening, and the economic impact it can have. We haven't broken down the costs of our garden, simply because we really don't want to know!! We love our new garden and that is all that really matters!!

So, here it is, from grass to garden!

First, we assembled the work crew, and dug up the sod.

(Yes, it is the same sod we laid in fall when we were trying to sell the house!)

After the sod was gone we spray painted the bed layout.

Brian is always looking for an opportunity to rent a piece of big machinery! The rototiller made quick work of the backyard. We have clay soil, so we added amendments to the soil.

Then Brian made the raised beds!!

We have two 4x5, one 4x10, and one 1.5x9 garden beds. They are each 12 inches deep. Brian made a screen to sift dirt clods, and the kids had fun helping!
(Any reason to play in the dirt makes them happy!)

Opal enjoyed lounging in the shade of the wheelbarrow while we worked!

Brian and Camille added irrigation to each bed. Here in northern California we won't see rain again until the fall, so watering becomes an important part of the garden plan.

OK, I am helping too! I just seem to be the one who always takes the pictures!

Here it is!

Our garden beds, somewhat planted. After all this work, the adventure has really just begun. Stay tuned...

Our Soccer Star!!

This spring, since he is just three, we signed Isaac up for soccer through the local parks and recreation district. He goes once a week to play, learn skills and have fun. He just loves it!!

He didn't want to stop to have his picture taken!!

Isaac is a natural! He seems to be in his element while playing soccer. He listens to his coach, follows directions and has been making new friends. It is so much fun to see him doing something he loves!
Isaac also has his very own cheerleader: Camille!