a visit from mimi & poppy

a few days after the 4th, we got a visit from evan's parents. they came to town for a wedding in palo alto for the weekend and made a longer visit out of it to spend some time with us.

they had a few afternoon's of fun with greta (without mommy and daddy interfering), and on friday, evan and i took most of the day off and we all went up to the city for the afternoon. we stopped in at the ferry building and got a shake and root beer float at taylor's automatic refresher before heading onto pier 39. it has been awhile since evan and i have ventured there (even when we lived in the city, we tended to avoid the area). the two highlights for the 2 1/2 year old were the double decker ferris wheel ride and the sea lion sunning area. greta just loved both.

from there, we said farewell for the day to evan's parents as they had to go a rehearsal dinner that evening. we took advantage of being in the city and caught an early dinner at the citrus club, where greta had her first successful venture with chopsticks and noodles, although not in the conventional sense, followed by a quick visit to our friend's ann & will's place to visit them harriet and clark. a good visit and likely the last in their city apartment as they are moving mid-august to the east bay.

saturday we hosted a number of the "vermont crew" at our house for brunch. many of mark and fran's friends were out for the wedding and we were lucky enough to get to see them and show off our home and surroundings during their weekend trip. it was a great morning with great company. fran and mark headed to the wedding in the afternoon and evan and i took off to berkeley.

we met our friends avis and andy up there (also sans kiddos) and not only took in the death cab for cutie concert at berkeley, but also (with grandparents visiting for both) splurged on hotel rooms for the evening. it was a really fun night away. great concert, no rush or drive at the end, a few drinks post concert and a leisurely breakfast the following morning.

4th of july in the mountains

the calendar was nice enough to put july 4th on a saturday this year, and evan, greta and i hosted our mostly-annual 4th of july party, albeit, a little more low key this year.

we were very excited to host a few out of towners for the gathering. the jolly's (who we shared the ski house with this past winter) arrived friday evening and our friend jeff flew in from new york on saturday morning. greta was quite excited to see her friends ally and alec and get good quality time with them. she was a bit unsure of jeff to start (she hasn't seen him since she was 3 1/2 months old), but was showing off and enjoying the extra audience by the time he left.

blowing bubbles with jeff

on saturday we were joined by our friends barry & cristy and their girls and neighbors brian & smita and family for the 4th of july gathering. we kept it simple this year, opting for the burgers and hot dogs on the grill with some sides, salads and munchies. it was great. the kids enjoyed bubbles, sidewalk chalk and all of greta's toys. that gave the parents a good chance to relax and catch up.