Last weekend I enjoyed a fabulous trip to San Fran. My friend Sarah has been out there with her husband for a couple of years and I was finally able to get out there. Two friends from the Twin Cities also flew out and we had a great girls' weekend!

After meeting Rachel (left) and Tina (middle) at the airport on Friday, we met Sarah(right) in the Mission district and had a picnic in a park.  We couldn't figure out what all of the other people in the park do to allow them to be able to spend a Friday afternoon in the park.

This is the view from Sarah and Zack's apartment window.  It's a little fogy, but in the distance is the bay and beyond that, Marin county.

On Saturday, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin county and went hiking on some great hilly trails...

as well as in John Muir Woods, which is a beautiful redwood forest.

On Sunday, Sarah got up early in order to procure tickets to a new exhibition at the de Young Museum.  Outside the museum, the Crucible (Department of Fire Works) their "fire truck" parked in order to provide fire for the glass and metal workers working there.
The Dale Chihuly exhibition showed off some of the amazing pieces that he and his studio have created over the years.  These are a couple of bowls.

Unfortunately, I didn't get sense of scale in this picture.  The green globe on the floor to the right is between 3 and 4 feet in diameter.

Once again, no scale.  The tall pieces are 8 to 10 feet tall.
It was great to see the city with someone who really knows it.  We walked a lot around Sarah's part of the city and she also drove us around some of the neat neighborhoods that are super hilly. We ate a ton of great food and got to experience a very unique (read scary) cab driver.  I can't wait to go back!

Summer Time

Although I always dream of having a garden someday, right now, living in a studio apartment limits me somewhat in what I am able to grow. In the past, I've stuck to just herbs, but this year I've branched out a little. One of the great things about container gardening is no weeding!

The first strawberry of the season

Ahh, the ubiquitous basil.  I've got two varieties in the pot, but I can't tell them apart by sight anymore, only taste.

The first tom of the season

The Daily Grind

So I know a lot of you have seen Woods Hollow, but you can't get a real feel of what I do all day every day without being there when kids are present. I thought I'd show some pics to give you a better feel of what a typical day is like for me. Even though the following pics are primarily of a few kids, we really do have 8 in the group.  Some just do more interesting things!  Enjoy.



We've had lots of fun with the little kitchen set in the room, not least of all, closing our friends in the refrigerator!

Some days it is REALLY hard to make it to nap time.  Usually, only Joey falls asleep at the table, but this day, it was both of the boys.

Now that all of the kids are walking, we love to go for walks near Woods Hollow.  This is one of the easier walks as the kids are somewhat contained by the woods.  Walks on the sidewalk and near the road are a bit more nerve-wracking.

Getting messy in some way is a part of almost everyday.  This day, we decided to go all out and do floor painting.  Sophia really like walking on the painting, but it was so slippery that she ended up sliding all over the place.  With a little help, it turned into more of a skating activity than a falling-on-her-face activity.

Once again, sleeping.  Our days are super busy and the kids get worn out.  Nap time brings some much needed rejuvenation time for both kids and teachers.

Sophia was very proud of the interesting way she figured out to stack the books on the bookshelf.