Way down yonder in the strawberry patch

Today we headed down to Davenport, near Santa Cruz to do some strawberry picking. It was only about 90 minutes away and it was the perfect day with a warm breeze and the sound of the ocean in the background.
I highly recommend this activity it was so much fun and the berries are all organic with no pesticides so you can eat them while you pick and as you can see Jack was a huge fan of the eating not so much the picking.Madison, on the other hand, was a big helper to Oma with the picking... but don't let her intensity in this picture fool you... she also ate her fair share!!It was all in a good day's work.... we had such a great time... looking for the sweetest one, the biggest one, etc

This is Jack and Madison looking over our "loot" and deciding who was going to pull the wagon back up the hill.
Looks like big sister got the job... We ended up picking about 15 pounds of strawberries... so I think we will be having smoothies, jams, and anything else I can think of to make with them for a long time!! Good times and we pledged to make this an annual summer outing.

4th of July

Where's Jack?

By now you might be wondering "where's Jack?" well have no fear.. he is here and eating of course. I had my appendix taken out... so there were a few weeks where everyone enjoyed some "special treats" Here is Jack.. insisting on his own baguette.. he is such a sucker for some good sourdough

We all live in a yellow submarine...

Well not really but we listened to this great song as we dropped Madison and Opa off for an adventure on a submarine.This was down at Pier 41... before the tour.
The adventure ended (as all good ones do) with some ice cream. Thanks Opa for a great day!

Long overdue update....

A bit of the fun we had in June... including Maddy/Daddy day at the Giants game.
There were a couple big highlights... Lou Seal signing her baseball...
Running the bases... with a new friendBut probably the best part (besides the hot dog, cracker jacks and ice cream that she suckered Daddy into letting her have) was the new pink Giants hat that she proudly wore to sharing at preschool the next day.

Memorial Day

How quickly we forget the true meaning of Memorial Day.... more often we think of it as a day off of work marked with warm weather and a bbq but the true meaning, remembering those who serve and have served our country should not be lost. We had a special treat this year when Opa put on his Air Force uniform to be part of a ceremony and celebration in Napa. He stopped by afterwards so the kids could check out his sharp looking duds.Everyone was very impressed with all Opa's ribbons and medals... and even his nametag.
Madison even got to try on Opa's hat.Thank you and God Bless all those that our serving or have served our country.

New tricks at the park...

Watch what I can do... is a phrase we hear a lot around our house these days. Madison is climbing and jumping and swinging from everything.. probably time to pick up those gymnastic classes again. We love meeting our friend Riley at the park in the afternoons to work on our tricks! Here are a few .....going down the slide headfirst....Going down the slide on our knees??
Hanging upside down on the monkey bars....
and the newest and coolest... going across the monkey bars all by herself

Tante Friedel turns 100!!

On Saturday Tante Friedel turned 100... an amazing milestone for an even more amazing woman. For those of you who don't know who she is... she first started taking care of Mark when he was 10 months old. She started out as a babysitter but quickly became a treasured friend and family member. We enjoyed dinner with her every Wednesday night until recently and this always included a wonderful and long back rub!! She lost her husband to the concentration camps in Germany and has seen so much in her lifetime but she is always positive and full of class. She has a hard time hearing and seeing but other than that is in great health and even better spirits!! They held a tea for her at the Heritage House where she lives. In the pic below you can see she is just slightly appauled at Jack's meltdown....but he recovered quickly and charmed her with a birthday kiss. Tante Friedel came to see Madison in the hospital when she was born and watched her grow and develop over the past 3.5 years... we feel so blessed to have her in our lives! This was a picture of Jack charming all the ladies with his piano "skills". I am sure the place is still recovering from "hurricane Jack"
Happy Birthday Tante Friedel.... we love you and wish you many happy returns!

Bollywood Party

One of the auction items we got this year was for a "Bollywood Party" put on by two of the moms in Madison's preschool class. The party was on Sunday and it was so much fun... they had the kids dress in traditional garb, wear the "bindi" (jewels on the forehead), they tried Indian cuisine and the highlight was learning some traditional Indian dances. These are pics I downloaded from Andrea so they are blurry until I can get the originals....
The three muskateers....

Mother's Day

It was a busy Mother's Day trying to celebrate all the wonderful moms in our lives. We kicked off the weekend with a wonderful picnic in the Marin Headlands with Lena and John and Kami who was visiting from NYC. Lena is feeling good so thank you for all your prayers we have a lot to celebrate in that!! (Note: the black eye was from an accident with a cart at Home Depot)We brought a wonderful lunch, some kites and some bubbles to enjoy the beautiful views and vistas. Oma loves spending time with Madison and Jack and we are lucky she is so involved in their daily lives. And they love their Oma... from her patience in a 2- hour walk down Chestnut with Jack who has to stop and wave at every bus, truck, and dog or teaching Madison German and and taking her on special playdates which usually involve french fries and some form of chocolate... but that's what Oma's are for. Thank you for all you do for us... we love you!!Sunday... we were off to Danville to celebrate with Grammy....and the crew. My mom is such a source of inspiration, I am constantly wondering how she did it with all of us and now to see her as "grammy" we are so lucky. The kids love the time they spend at Disneyland... I mean "Grammy's" and all the fun projects she has for them. She is a role model for me and has given so much of herself and her time to help me be a good mom... so thanks Mom for being you and for all that you do.. we love you!!
This was a Mother's Day cheers... to all the moms (especially Julie who was celebrating her first Mother's Day) and more importantly to having successfully gotten all 6 kids down for a nap so we could enjoy a calm and quiet lunch.
It was a wonderful day spent outside by the pool. My favorite part of the day was the recordable card Madison made for me that I have played at least 100 times since I got it. Time flies but I feel so blessed to be the mother of these two lovable munchies!! Thanks also to Mark for breakfast in bed and letting me sneak out to the gym... you are a wonderful husband and Dad... I love you!! (It's Mother's Day.. I get to be a little cheezy on my blog, right?)