mmm, salt lick and other fun stuff

first and foremost... a very happy birthday wish to fran (my fabulous mother-in-law). we have all been sending good birthday thoughts to her today, and greta's done more than one rendition of "happy birthday" to mimi.

when we come to austin, we cannot go with out a visit to salt lick. this is a popular event for those that live here as well, so most times it involves a good number of people. this year is no exception. saturday afternoon we went to salt lick with 18 people around one of their large picnic tables.

for those who haven't had the opportunity to visit the austin area and go to salt lick (the original - not the one in westlake or the airport), it is a bbq place in the middle of nowhere - driftwood, texas to be exact - that has some of the best around. they smoke the meat there and get it ready to serve on a big round stone fire pit just as you enter the restaurant. it is not fancy by any stretch of the imagination - old building with long picnic tables and good bbq with the usual accompaniments. it is also located in a dry county (no booze sold), so everyone brings in their own alcoholic beverages in coolers to enjoy with the food. a truly wonderful atmosphere.

the timing worked so that our good friends from DC, duane & devere, were up in austin for the day and joined us for lunch. it was great to see them and they both look great and are doing well (and are planning to go to inauguration as they got tickets). oh, and lunch was fantastic.

we've been having great fun here. greta gets along well with her cousins austin and chase and they all had great fun playing outside on the big wheel and "yard work" with the toy shovel, rake and wheel barrow. it reinforces the fact that our girl has no fear. even when she takes a tumble, she gets over it pretty quickly and gets right back up and tries it again (tonight's example was falling off the swing on the swing set).

merry christmas!

we traveled to austin on christmas eve to spend the holiday with my family, and extended family. we decided that we would do a park and fly at a hotel near san jose the night before since we had a 6:35am flight. we all slept well, except for the fact that we had to wake up at 4:30am in the morning.

greta was great on both planes and made the trip very smooth. grandma met us at the airport and we went back to the house. this christmas was extra special because there was more family in austin than in typical years. we are lucky in that when we visit my family in austin it includes my parents, my brother ross, sister-in-law april, their kids ausin and chase, my aunt gina & uncle paul and my cousins abbey and julie. this year, we not only got to see all of the above, there were many other visitors in austin this year for the holidays, including my aunt janice and uncle steve with cousins rachel and aaron and cousin-in-law (i suppose that's how you put it) jenny and aunt chris and uncle dan, and for christmas dinner, a plethora of uncle steve's family as well.

with all those people to catch up with, it was a busy first couple days here, but everything was really well organized and went smooth thanks to some great advanced planning and prep.

this year, christmas was more about tearing paper and playing with bows for greta. she realized what was in the box, that it was hers and she wanted to check everything out immediately. it was quite fun.

it was great to see and catch up with so much family in one visit.

happy hanukkah!

for the first night of hanukkah, we were very lucky that our friends barry and cristy hosted a latke party to celebrate with friends and family. we were a few hours late to the party, as we came straight from tahoe and ran into a delay with (unnecessary) chain controls for about a mile along the road that delayed us about an hour.

they had made 3 or 4 types of latkes and we sampled and enjoyed. greta quickly made friends with all the kids there and evan and i were free to catch up with everyone there. it was a great way to start hanukkah.

monday night we lit candles with greta and she got to open the "big" present from mimi and poppy aronowitz... a radio flyer tricycle! her legs have to grow a bit before she can peddle, but she knew exactly what to do. it has a bell and everything. greta was really excited to get her first bike. this summer should be loads of fun with greta doing laps around the house on the deck.

first tracks

last weekend, we had our first skiing visit to tahoe. although mother nature waited an extra couple weeks to make her entrance to winter, she did it with bang.

we drove up thursday after work, with chain control in effect for a good share of i-80 up in the mountains, but thankfully without too much traffic. we worked from feige (our house for the season) friday and each took a turn during the day going up to the mountain to get our "ski legs" back for the season. it was snowing all day, the mountain was in a cloud and the wind was whipping. i took the morning shift and i quickly added to the list of equipment updates i needed. new goggles and a helmet lining to block the wind from getting to my forehead were tops on the list after the daggers of wind-driven snow beat on it for a few hours.

that said... the snow was as good as i've ever skied in tahoe. it was utah/colorado like light powder and absolutely a joy to ski in. it may have been ideal for it to be the second day of the season, as it took a run or two to get my ski legs back in the mid-calf deep powder. oh, how i am looking forward to the ski season. (and mother nature keeps on working!)

evan took the afternoon shift on friday and enjoyed the snow as well. the last time i skied, it was with a broken arm in whistler, making my way down the hill, a bit uncomfortable, and this is the first skiing for evan since his heel incident. given that, we did well for ourselves. getting his boot on and off was not the highlight of the day for evan, but everything else went pretty well considering.

we had a great weekend up in tahoe. the jolly's were up in tahoe as well, so the kids had a great time playing together. greta had great fun trying on all of our ski equipment.

lights?!?!

we are certainly getting into the holiday spirit this year. greta is really excited about all the holiday lights that are up, both in our house and around the neighborhood and city. every morning when she gets up and every evening when we come home, greta asks the same question... "lights?!?" we turn our lights on and she is a happy camper.

in los gatos, every year there is a trail of lights in vasona park that you can drive through. we see it from highway 17 every night on the way home. we did a little research and last thursday night, we picked up greta, had dinner in town and then went to oak meadow park (right next door to vasona) and got tickets for the 6:30 train ride that goes through part of the trail of lights. it was quite festive as they had holiday music playing, trees along the way were wrapped in lights and you got to see some of the displays in the "fantasy of lights" trail in vasona park.

the carousel was open and working too and you got unlimited rides accompanied by holiday music. they also had a little workshop with santa in it, although we didn't stop there since we were making a beeline for the carousel. we had to take two rides before we could head to the car and head home for the evening.

yesterday, we continued our exploration of lights by heading up to san francisco. we first stopped off to see greta's friend harriet (and catch up with ann). harriet is about 5 months younger than greta and it was great fun to see the two feel each other out and play. another 6 months and i think they will be very excited to play with each other. it was also good to see ann, who is due with their second in 5 weeks. she looked great.

from harriet's, we headed toward union square. we picked up heather along the way and headed down to the chaos. as we entered union square, we were struck by the number of santas running around. we later found out that in true san francisco style of having occasions to dress up and drink, they started a tradition a few years back that the second saturday of december everyone dresses up a santa, goes out on the town and eventually converges on union square (we weren't there that late, so didn't see the final stage).

we walked around the big tree in the square, checked out the ice rink, which was being smoothed out by the zamboni, but was ready to be inundated by a ton of people waiting in the wings. we saw a good version of santa who said hello to greta to her delight, and then left the chaos to grab dinner. after a wonderful dinner at chow with heather, we packed up and came home. i'm sure there will be more holiday fun waiting for us next week.

thanksgiving and tahoe... oh my!

soooo, we're playing catch up. again.

what a wonderful thanksgiving we had this year.

we were very disappointed that we were unable to make our annual trip out east due to ridiculously priced airline tickets. we missed the trip into ny city, our hanukah celebration with greta's cousins and the rest of the crew, and generally catching up with family. that said, we did not miss the chaos that is traveling cross country, changing planes, etc with a busy and curious toddler on the busiest travel days of the year.

this year, we went to thanksgiving dinner in walnut creek at barbie and alan's (evan's aunt & uncle) in walnut creek. it was a wonderful, delicious dinner and we had a great time catching up with all the family and friends there. greta and her cousin aidan had a great time playing with the toys and following each other around. it was great fun.

after dinner, we threw greta in her pjs and headed up to tahoe. this year we went in with our friends the jollys on a ski lease in alpine meadows. we got up there just after midnight thursday night and were joined by the jolly clan the next morning.

the place is a classic ski house straight out of the 70's. red shag carpet upstairs, cut off a-frame design, red formica countertops in the kitchen, and the crown jewel... the circular fireplace right smack in the middle of the living room - very kid friendly when you have 2 2 year olds running around. with that setting, it is actually the perfect rental house for us. there's enough room for everyone and when the snow comes, it is right on the alpine shuttle route (and less than 5 minute drive from the mountain).


we had a great rest of the weekend with the jolly's. we stopped at the resort at squaw creek, which had activities each evening, including roasting marshmellows for smores, ice skating, caroling, a gingerbread village and stories by mrs. claus (which we missed because greta was on the edge of a meltdown). the kids all got along and greta decided very quickly that it would be cool to do everything that 4 year old ally does.





all in all, a great long weekend to welcome in the holiday season.

another relaxing weekend

for the second weekend in a row, we are sticking close to home, relaxing and getting a few good things done here. it is still beautiful weather here in northern california. it is gettng a bit cooler as we lose a more daylight each day. we are actually looking forward to some storms to get the mountains ready for ski season.

so while today and this weekend is a bit more mellow, we are looking forward to this short week of work, time with family in the area over thanksgiving dinner and heading up to the house we leased with another family for the ski season up at alpine meadows. i am really looking forward to a couple more days this week to catch up with friends and family and usher in the holiday season.

just for kicks, another couple of pictures of greta from halloween...

fun with grandma!

we were lucky enough to have my mom come and visit as our final planned grandparent visit of the year last week. she was here for a week and greta absolutely loved having a visitor.

the last couple of times that the grandparents have visited greta has been thrilled with the company (and attention), which is a nice departure from points during her first year, when she was a bit less excited about people she didn't see on a daily basis.

now, it's a whole different story. my mom left thursday morning and greta asked about her several times this weekend. they had a great time drawing, reading and just running around the house. it was fun for everyone.

it was great timing, as evan went to vegas with his friend barry for approximately 36 hours during the middle of the week. why, you ask? barry and his wife cristy went to one of those things where you get a free trip to vegas out of it. after jumping through 20 hoops to get it set up, he was nice enough to bring evan as his parter in crime. while my mom was here, evan and i even got a date night and went to dinner and a movie. we saw role models, which was great for a not-serious funny movie for a saturday night.

happy veteran's day!

today, i had the pleasant surprise of having the annual veteran's day parade in san jose go right outside my office building. i haven't worked out of san jose long enough to know that it happens every year. i took a break from the daily grind to go out and see the parade, both the participants and the crowd.

although i only stayed to watch for about 10 minutes or so, there were so many good things that struck me while i participated in the festivities to honor our veterans. as someone on the news said, every day is veteran's day, but it's always nice to have a parade to gather and show appreciation as a group. after such an engaging election and so much focus on civic duty in getting out the vote, etc, it is a nice bit of perspective to remember all the wars and struggles (and peace keeping times) that the country has been through. so i express my gratitude to all the veterans and remember those in my family who served in wars and peacetime and the part they played in our history and present.

happy halloween!

i hope everyone had a happy, safe and fun halloween! last year, greta was a bit young to get what was going on. evan was traveling last year, so i dressed her up in a duck outfit (courtesy of her cousins austin & chase) and got a couple pictures with our garden pumpkin.

this year, a light bulb went off when we put her hat on as we were walking up to our neighbor's house last saturday to celebrate with all the neighborhood kids. she got it, grabbed her hat and put it on with a big smile. this is the year of greta the cowgirl.

today was a tour of festivities. we were delayed getting down the mountain (our usual 20 minute drive took 1.5 hours thanks to some well timed road work). we got to camp (aka daycare) just in time for the "parade" they have down the street. it took a minute for greta to recognize her friends in costume, but then she jumped right in. all the kids were really excited and very cute.

in the afternoon, i brought her to work, where they have trick-or-treating, a party with snack and crafts, pictures and other fun activities. she was a hit with everyone there and said thank you to everyone she got treats from along the way. we made a quick swing back by camp to visit the tail end of the party there and then headed home.

greta is a fan of halloween. fortunately, not into/aware of the candy aspect yet (we'll wait another year for that). she got a pumpkin balloon from kathy, who sits next to me at work, and that, so far, has been the king amongst goodies.

escape to catalina

the weekend before last, we had our fall getaway. much needed after the summer of crutches and physical therapy. perhaps a little odd to some, but we decided that we needed to get at least one weekend of camping in this summer/fall season.

we had originally planned to go camping in colorado in the summer with our friends jamie and crissy, who live in the denver area. when we had to postpone and change the venue to be a bit less rugged for hiking, evan came up with the idea of catalina island, off the coast of southern california. we had heard great things about it from friends of ours, but hadn't been there ourselves.

we drove down to l.a. on thursday night, listening to the red sox come back game on the radio in bits and pieces as the stations would fade in and out (that was a great game and we won't mention how the series ended). we stayed in the potentially questionable, but actually decent, la quinta by the airport, met jamie & crissy there in the morning and left for the ferry.

after almost missing the ferry and literally running to catch it with greta in the back pack, a rolling cooler in one hand and a rolling duffel bag in the other, we settled in and enjoyed the ride over. we dropped off all the well to do in avalon and headed for two harbors, the slightly smaller town on the island. we did see some dolphins as we left the mainland via marina del rey, and the captain did a couple circles between avalon and two harbors to chase a whale (or, as he put it to "spot" the whale). greta and i saw it blow out its blow hole (not sure of the technical term here) from the distance, but we were glad when we got back on course.

two harbors is made up of 5 public buildings (the one and only restaurant and bar, the bathrooms, the general store, the dive shop and the visitors information office). as it was friday and "off season", it was not at all crowded. we had to wait to go into the campsite until later, so we settled in the main square area and took in the scene. the beach is nice, the water is beautiful and the people are more than laid back.

we opted for tent cabins for our camping adventure so we wouldn't have to haul as much on the ferry. it worked out very nicely, as long as the mattresses on the cots were well covered by the sheets we brought. the cabins sat up on the hill and had a great view of the harbor off the front decks.

we enjoyed the short hike from the campground to "town" several times each day. friends of ours told us we had to try the famous "buffalo milk" drink from the bar, inspired by the buffalo that live on the island. we did not see the buffalo, but saluted them many times with these tasty cocktails.

jamie's friend lawrence joined us on saturday, and it was great to see him again. we took the easy hike to the other side of the island (all of 200 yards of land separate the harbors at this section of the island). greta got a little dirty playing in the sand and helping us throw around the football. we even caught the ut football game and the red sox game on saturday night.


we got back late sunday night/monday morning to start the long week at work, but it was well worth the get-away. while not really roughing it, it was also good to get out camping this year.

for more of a photo montage of the weekend, we depend on jamie & crissy's shots: http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p275/jamisonrdavis/Catalina%20Camping/?albumview=slideshow

more catching up... bridge school

this past weekend we squeezed one more fun thing into our october calendar. we went to the bridge school benefit concert with our good friends avis and andy, who live outside of sacramento.

neil young puts on this weekend festival concert every year to benefit the kids with special needs that go to the bridge school. we were lucky in that our neighbors were home in the afternoon and we were able to drop greta off there and go sans kiddo. the great news there is that after 5 or so minutes being upset that we left her, she settled down and by the time it was bedtime (they were kind enough to also put her to bed), i don't know if she remembered that we had left. she had a great time with her friends nikhil & vivaan (and smita and brian too).

avis & andy had also left their kids with the neighbors, so for the first time in probably a couple of years, we had no kids in tow. evan and i got there in the middle of the third act. we missed cat power and wilco (again), but as we have seen wilco more than once, it wasn't heartbreaking. death cab for cutie was playing as we walked in and it was a great way to start.

we also heard josh grobin, norah jones, smashing pumpkins and jack johnson, and although we didn't make it to the finale with neil young's set, he did come out and play one of his songs with each of the other groups. it was a perfect day for an outdoor benefit concert and great to catch up with avis and andy. there were a ton of people there and that was good to see too, as it is a great event for a great cause.

when mom goes away...

so, i have a bit of catching up to do. a couple weeks ago, i had the chance to go to arizona for a few days for work. it was a change of pace for the entire household. although i missed everyone here, it was a great few days for work, as i got to connect with many colleagues that i don't see on a regular basis and we heard from many high level executives in the technology, media and telecommunications industry. interesting timing as it was just as the market really started tanking in early october.

evan, carson and greta did well "on their own". as evan told me after, greta is much more amiable when i'm not around. they even came up with a new game/form of entertainment. we've finally found a use for all those return address labels that come in the mail that aren't what you would choose yourself. hello cheapo stickers for kiddo.

october is in the air

tonight i am reminded of what makes the fall, and in particular, october, so great. while the giants had a bye week this past weekend, there was still plenty of good football action in the college ranks (i love upsets as long as texas isn't on the losing side), and tonight, the red sox start their post season. to top it off, we typically have beautiful weather out here during much of october, although the first - and much needed - rain is forecast to come on friday.

as we look forward to the month, we hope to be cheering for the red sox for awhile. we hope to win at least one week in the football pool that our friend aaron is running for the third year. we are excited about a weekend camping trip we have planned for mid-month with our friends jamie and crissy on catalina island. we hope that we'll be able to swing camping on an island we can't take a car to with a toddler and not throwing out our backs carrying all the things we'll surely have in tow. we are also excited about halloween, harvesting our small, but cute pumpkin growing in the garden and taking way too many pictures of greta in costume (which i hope i have it together enough to have by then).

a book review... of sorts

first, let me say that i am very proud of myself for finishing reading a book. granted it was only 200 pages long and not too intense a read, but these days, you never know when you'll get time to sit down, get some quiet time and have enough mental horsepower left at the end of the day to read. i just finished reading jon krakauer's into the wild. woo-hoo (no wamu reference intended).

i went about this one backwards. first, i fell in love with the sound track to the movie. eddie vedder did the entire soundtrack and it, in my humble opinion, is brilliant. this is one i know that i will enjoy listening to in 5 years and beyond.

next, we watched the movie. it was a good movie (loved the music!). the story and characters and scenery were all well put together to tell this intriguing story. after those two, i decided to read the book.

the story follows the life of chris mccandless, aka alexander supertramp, through the years after graduating college. he donated his savings, took off in his car, eventually left it in the dessert and wandered out west, until he headed up to alaska and followed his dreams of walking into the wild. the outcome of his adventures is not the hook in the story as it is well known from the beginning of the book what happens. the hook is rather this interesting character and the two ways of looking at him and the way he lived his life in those years - some will say stupid & naive, some will say gutsy and full of integrity.

i myself did not see black or white in terms of his actions, but rather this story served to remind me of the strength of ideals and emotion in that stage of life. i was also reminded of many of the friends that i had in that time of my life, many of them quite brilliant in their own unique way, and the different ways in which they dealt with their intelligence, ideals, society, and how, in a world of choices, to go about being happy. while none of them went to live off the land in the wild, the concept is not all that unthinkable to me. it is always good for me to be reminded (as i am by my friends) of the richness of knowing people out of your day to day mainstream - they keep the concept of dreams current, provide a check to you to make sure your thinking about what the right things to do are, and constantly expand the perception by which you take in the world around you.

overall, i enjoyed reading the book. and it certainly keeps alaska on my "to be visited" list of places.

hurray for grandparents!

we just had a wonderful weekend with evan's parents. it was a beautiful weekend in northern california. there was a hint of fall in the air, with cool mornings, but the sun was out during the day, warming it up nicely.

we had an action packed weekend of playing and visiting. on friday we met up with evan's aunt & uncle burt and sue, who were visiting the bay area for the weekend, and cousin todd, who lives up in the city. we walked along the water in santa cruz and watched the surfers catching waves, big & small. we had a delicious meal (as always) at la bruschetta nestled in the redwoods in felton.

on saturday, we went down to los gatos for breakfast at the diner in town and hit oak meadow park and the billy jones wildcat railroad. we took a ride on the train through the park and then went on the carosel twice (once was not enough for greta). greta was a big fan of both and i thought for a moment that we would spend the entire day going between the train and carosel.

sunday, we went up to walnut creek to visit barbie & allan, heather, brian and greta's second cousin once removed, aidan (who had his first birthday party last weekend).

greta had a great time entertaining and playing with mimi & poppy. it was nice for evan and i to have a couple extra hands on deck watching her too. she is a bundle of energy.

birthday madness

first and foremost, a huge happy birthday to my mom (and nancy who shares the exact same birthday date and year - 1960 something, i think - with my mom)!!! my mom deserves extra r&r and pampering this year after helping evan & i out so much this spring/summer with our various injuries and then, when she thought she would get a break from people with broken bones, is now helping out my dad as he nurses his broken ankle (right ankle, which we know well means extra chauffering duties). although she may have to delay that birthday pampering for a bit after things get back into a normal routine, she deserves an extra dose this year. for her birthday, i decided to include a photo of my mom, her mom, me and greta from the holidays last year. yea mom!

i had to wonder a bit about september birthday's this weekend as we attended 3 birthday parties. it seems like all of a sudden they come up and surprise you with their number every year.

we first celebrated vivaan's first birthday (our "next door" neighbor's youngest son) on friday night. the neighborhood clan of babies, toddlers and their parents gathered for swimming, the hot tub and some good eats. saturday was evan's cousin heather & brian's son's first birthday. aidan is greta's first cousin once removed?? the kids also enjoyed the play pool and greta had a great time exploring and testing out aidan's presents (they had good fun being pulled around in aidan's sweet new ride - the radio flyer). some fun pics of greta and aidan at the party...

sunday was a party for vivaan's dad brian (whose other son nikhil had a birthday this weekend as well). it was good to round out the weekend with an adult birthday party although, there was still plenty of kid chasing involved in that one too. all in all, a great weekend celebrating milestones with family & friends.

ode to the dome home

as most people who know us are aware, we live in a geodesic dome. many of you have been here and know that it's not like those out of place houses you see in some suburbs that are going for futuristic but come off more as sore thumbs, our house nestles quite nicely into the surroundings. it helps that we have the good fortune to be surrounded by redwood and madrone trees and we can't see any of neighbor's houses (which are not domes).

we love our humble abode. it has it's quirks, yes, but it works well for us and you can make a lot of rhymes with dome. last weekend, we happened to pick up a local magazine that had an entire article about dome homes. ok, it was a two page article, but it did wax poetic about the virtues of geodesic domes. and there was another article cited as a feature story in the ny times. we are evidently on the leading edge of the new green housing trend. while we knew going in that the design of the dome was very efficient in terms of resources needed to build and heat/cool, we never thought our home purchase would make us so hip with the green trend. the article also noted that the design is a good solid choice for living in earthquake country (although we would rather not test that one out).

so here is my ode to the home sweet dome (or as my nephew, who was 18 months old at the time, called it the "bubble"). we hope the buzz keeps up - good for the property value!

let the games begin!

yes, it's hard to believe, but it is once again football season... and what a way to start - with a giants victory! we won't claim it's the best game ever, but we'll take the win. greta was also excited. she knows touchdown, eli, and giants.

evan is very excited that we get to watch highlights from the superbowl. never fear, we have them on demand via the dvd's with all the giants post season games last year. potentially the best ever father's day gift.

we've already struck a deal that if the giants go back to the superbowl, evan is allowed to go again (right now vegas has them at 25 to 1 odds for the superbowl repeat, so we'll see). the nice thing about the beginning of the season is there is always room to dream.

game on... let the season begin!

five years...

on sunday, evan and i celebrated our 5 year anniversary. we celebrated by getting a babysitter for greta and going out to dinner. it was nice to have a leisurely dinner without the need to rush, entertain, share food with a curious toddler and play "chase" as greta gets antsy.

we tried a new restaurant in santa cruz that was small. it had the philosophy of locally sourced farmers market food that's organic when possible - very green of us. the bonus of having an anniversary at the end of august is that when we go out, we get the best of the summer veggie season. this was no exception. i can still taste the corn soup (it was vegan, which typically raises skepticism in my mind). so good!


it's crazy to think both how it seems like yesterday that we were spending the long labor day weekend celebrating with family & friends in the sierra foothills, and look back at how much has changed - house, dog, kid, same companies, but new jobs. we both agreed that we can't wait to see what the next five years brings us.

as a throwback, i've pulled some of our wedding shots into a slide show (so i can indulge a bit in reliving the moment)...

mostly greta

greta went in for her 18 month checkup this week (a couple weeks late due to mom's lack of scheduling in a timely manner). overall it was a quick and basic checkup as everything was normal and, as the doctor said, "she is progressing beautifully". that also meant that she was squirming most of the time, making it a bit more interesting getting her temp, checking her lungs and ears, etc.

she is getting closer to average in height and weight (she was solidly in the 25% range for most of the first year). she is 31.5 inches long (50%) and 23 lbs 4 oz (40%). she had two shots. the first one didn't phase her at all (she watched both), but the second one had a bit of a sting that she was unhappy for ~30 seconds. overall, she was a champ, as usual.

in other news, our friend duane was out in the area recruiting/interviewing law students at stanford and stopped by on monday night for dinner. it was, of course, the one night greta was not cooperative and didn't go to sleep right away. we still had a great time catching up and eating one of the biggest tomatoes ever from the garden in a caprese salad. mmm.

also, we learned last night that our lack of luck this year with injuries seems to be linked to my parents as well. yesterday my dad had a golf (yes, golf) accident involving a rouge sprinkler head that left him with a broken ankle and in surgery last night. so far, everything has gone well and he will be out of the hospital today. next they have to figure out when to go home since this happened in maryland (which is a long way from texas). my parents are in good hands as they are visiting my aunt & uncle janice and steve. more crutches and carpooling in the family still. we may just bubble wrap everyone for the rest of the year.

we have secured a babysitter for sunday and are going out for our anniversary! other than that, no official plans for the long weekend. we hope that you all enjoy the holiday and an extra day to enjoy summer!

outside lands

we took our second trip in two weeks up to sf sunday to go to the outside lands music festival in golden gate park. it was going to be an interesting experiment, as it was greta's first concert, and instead of just one, we saw/heard 6 throughout the day.

we had heard that friday evening events (the festival was friday through sunday) were less than stellar and there were some technical issues, which made us a little nervous, but sunday was just great.

we headed out in the morning. our grand plan was to go see our friend ann and greta's friend harriet (who is 5 months younger than greta) and eat lunch and visit while greta took a nap at their place. greta had a different plan, however, and couldn't stand thinking there was something going on while she was sleeping and refused to nap there. plan b - we played for a bit, had some pizza from georgios (one of our sf standbys when we lived there, which happens to be 3 doors down from ann & will's place), and bailed before our sleepy girl's mood turned south. greta napped in the car, so we hung out a bit while she slept and listened to jackie green play on the main stage.

once we got in, we made our game plan. in total we saw:

the mother hips

bon iver (perhaps my surprise favorite)

sharon jones & the dap-kings

wide spread panic

jack johnson

we all had a great time. evan and i came prepared with a big blanket, plenty of food & drink for kiddo, crayons, balls, and various other play things for greta (which made our blanket very popular with the other kids there - great for us as greta made friends and they all entertained each other and were contained).

if they decide to hold it again (despite protests from the neighbors in richmond district who likely couldn't find parking during the entire weekend), we will definitely be in!

quick sf visit

yes, we can still be spontaneous! perhaps not quite to the extent we used to be, but it can happen.

on sunday, we decided that we should venture up to sf for the day. this happens less frequently than it should, but it is a bit over an hour to get there, so it takes commitment. anyway, we set off during greta's nap (she cooperated by sleeping in the car), and headed up north.


our stops started with shopping at union square to try and find a couple things for evan. it was great being in a new environment as greta was fascinated by all the buildings, people and general activity of the city. we were unsuccessful at purchasing anything, but we had fun.

next stop was crissy fields, an area the city redid a few years back, that sits right near the golden gate bridge. they restored a lot of the land to be natural habitat for birds and others and included a long walking/biking path, a few beaches and a big open area for kite flying, dog running etc. a really great place to go in the city and enjoy nature.

greta was thrilled with all the dogs that were out (ours sadly had to stay home due to the other stops). she was a bit hesitant in the sand to start, but then discovered how fun it was in between her toes and trickling through her fingers.


we dipped our toes in the (cold) bay and even found a makeshift see-saw out of wood pieces to entertain ourselves.


we picked up heather for a dinner on the town and went to one of our old stand-bys, the citrus club, located on the ever interesting haight street by golden gate park. we enjoyed dinner and greta behaved and entertained like a champ. she even said good bye and waved to each person we passed waiting in line on our way out.

our last stop was to say a quick hello to ann and drop off a couple things. greta's friend harriet was already asleep, but that didn't stop greta from checking out all the toys.

and the most shocking part... we are going up to the city again next weekend to go to the outside lands music festival on sunday. two weeks in a row - unheard of! we'll keep our fingers crossed that we make it through at least part of jack johnson (maybe he'll play some of his curious george soundtrack songs for greta).

p.s., note the lack of crutches in the pictures! evan is doing great and getting around with the help of a cane. assessment by the physical therapist and a visit to the doctor last week confirmed that everything is healing at a good pace.

the bountiful garden

we are hitting the wonderful point in the summer when we don't have to buy tomatoes and other much used veggies for our household - the garden is officially flourishing! this year, we have cucumbers, 2 types of yellow squash, a pumpkin for halloween, zuchini (after a couple of years of plants that failed), green beans, peppers and tomatoes... lots and lots of tomatoes (6 different plants).


with our bounty we've been enjoying great summer recipes. some of my favorites:

veggie risotto
cucumber salad
tomoto, fresh corn, feta, marjoram salad with a red wine vinagrette
pasta with homemade red sauce from tomatoes picked that day
grilled panzanella salad with assorted grilled summer veggies, fresh tomatoes and grilled focaccia
pasta with grated zuchini and garlic sauted in olive oil and white wine with parmesan cheese

the list could go on...


we make a daily visit to the garden - greta and carson like to keep an eye on things. we are losing about half of our red cherry tomatoes to greta at this point as she loves to pick them, take the stem off and eat them with delight. she's very good at going for the red ones and taking the ones i tell her are just right.




for fruits, we check out the local farmers market and trader joes, but never fear, we are enjoying peach and blueberry season to its fullest. hope you all are enjoying the bounty of late summer as well!

enduring influences

last week, i got a call from my parents letting me know that my grandma alaspa (my dad's mom) had passed away on wednesday morning. the signs over the last weeks and days were preparing us for this news, so while it wasn't unexpected, it was still difficult to believe that such a long and full life had come to an end.

greta and i were able to make it back to wisconsin this weekend to be with family and attend the service in madison. while timing is never perfect and there was a bit of last minute flight searches and rearranging of plans, had it been a week or more ago, it would have been near impossible to leave evan to take care of the dog, house, and himself (given he just started driving solo last week).

the trip was good. greta was a rock star on the flights 95% of the time and she was in good spirits and didn't miss a beat adjusting to new environments and people. my grandmother would have loved having a happy, energetic laughing kid around and that gave me, and i think the rest of the family gathered, some nice perspective. it was good to be with family (we managed to visit with both my dad & mom's families) and reflect on the importance of family and the lasting impact family has across the generations.

as i reflected back on all the memories i have of my grandma vi, it sunk in even more what an impact her life has been on me. she was a strong-willed woman, who was filled with love of family and life, humor, wit and kindness. and the older i get, the more i realize it is examples of lives like my grandma's that surrounded me while i was growing up and into my adult life that give me the perspective of a world not of limitations, but of challenges and triumphs (big and small), love and friendship, perseverance, priorities and perspective that have helped me be a successful happy person wherever life takes me.

i will always cherish the times i had with my grandma and be grateful for the positive influence she (and many others) have had on my life and who i am.

summer fun

sticking close to home this summer isn't all bad. we don't have to deal with high airline prices, travel with very active toddler or trying to have fun while making sure the kid has some semblence of schedule (i.e., avoiding meltdowns). we have had lots of things to keep us entertained right near home...

our neighbors next door (sort of), brian and smita, have a lovely pool that we have invited ourselves over to visit a couple times. smita has also coordinated some of the neighbors with kids in the same age range to have swim "lessons" at their house. there are six of us neighbors (that i know of) with kids between greta's age and 4 months old. it's great to have lots of people close who are in the same boat.

anyway the first "lesson" with the instuctor wasn't quite what we had in mind, so we ditched the instructor and for now, we are meeting thursdays to do mommy & me swimming fun. greta loves the water and being in the pool. she stands on the side and hurls herself into my arms - great fun. she goes under without an issue and thinks it's pretty funny to float (assisted by me) on her back. all in all good times.

we have also taken advantage of the fountains in los gatos during the sunday farmers market, when it's packed with other kids. greta became very bold, running through the middle of the fountains, entertaining my parents, who were still in town.

to complete the trifecta of water fun, we bought a blow up pool for her to frolic in at our house. she has a lot of fun splashing, getting in and out, and putting her head under (our girl has no fear and gets watched like a hawk).

not to say that it's been all about the kid this summer (only 95%). evan and i got to sneak away for a couple of date nights when my parents were in town. we saw the dark knight, which we both enjoyed and we went out for gelato. we also had our mostly annual 4th of july gathering (we skipped it last year). friends and neighbors came over for a perfect weather day to hang out, catch up, eat some good food and watch kids play (how times have changed since the last one). very exciting stuff as far as we're concerned.

next on the list... camping. should be interesting.

where we stand

so, to start my foray into the world of blogging, i thought it would be good to give people an idea of where we are now...

as we enter august, it's crazy how quickly the summer is passing, but this year, it can't be quick enough. evan has been nursing his crushed heel bone since mother's day, which has meant surgery, crutches all summer and no driving. while carpooling to work (and daycare) has been nice bonding time, it gets a bit tricky working our schedules to both map to greta's drop off and pick up times.


evan's most recent visit to the surgeon was positive. he was happy with the progress of healing and said that it was further along than he expected. physical therapy started last week and although painful, has been helpful in starting to get the range of motion back and breaking up the scar tissue on the muscles that got damaged from the fall. the next step is for evan to get back behind the wheel!

greta is doing great. she picks up new words every day. her current favorites include "how are you?", "go, go, go" and "stop". of course these haven't supplanted the all time favorite "doggy". she loves carson - calls him when he's not in sight and gives him orders when he's around (down and come are her current commands, which he usually ignores).

we are coming to an end of the visitors for the summer. both sets of grandparents have visited this summer to play with greta and help us out with evan on the injured reserve.