Here's a slalom board my buddy Justin made for me. Somehow in the midst of all our action at school and studying at home, he finds time to make some amazing boards. Hint... no kids.

He hand laminated the 9-ply deck, then fiberglassed both the top and bottom, then painted the red/orange bottom with the bird, then finally sanded and added 3 more coats of epoxy resin. He's doing for fun what I used to do in college to earn my degree in plastics engineering... I added the grip tape (check out my homage to his artwork that I cut into the grip tape) and the rest of the parts.

Anj posted a video awhile back of me riding. We found a hill in SF that is fairly newly paved and is residential enough that we can run stop signs without fear of traffic. Of course, we look for traffic, there's just not that much of it. It's about 24 blocks worth of fun, with a view of the Pacific the whole way, then we catch a Muni bus at the bottom and get a ride back up. It's like skiing without the cold...

ZOONI CELEBRATES CHILDHOOD

That's their motto, not mine, but I think it works.

I've been doing some contract work for Zooni since June; here's my official (and honest) review, posted on several websites:

***

With names like Puppy Love, Leo the Lion, Firecracker and Kate's Moss, it's obvious that Zooniwear.com, a company created by a sister team in San Francisco, is having fun with their hats.

But it doesn't just go as far as the names, they've hit the other biggies, too. They get points for their eco-friendly, kid-friendly, handmade materials, and for donating a portion of profits to national and international children's charities.

Okay, that's all terrific, but, of course, the real question is: How do the kids like them?

Well, let's just say that when my girlfriend mailed my 5-year-old daughter the Panda Monium hat, my daughter squealed. She squealed and begged to put it on and ran to the mirror. She loved the super-soft yarn that gives the hat a fuzzy feel, but mostly she loved that she could see the panda ears as if they were her own and that there was a cute little panda face on the back of her head. It was a huge hit.

That was last month. Since then, she's worn it to the beach on a few windy evenings, and, come winter, I know she'll be wearing it often. (And I'm glad -- it makes everybody smile to look at it.)

This hat looks adorable on a 5-year-old, but I'll admit I also can't wait to give one as a shower gift for a baby or as a birthday gift for a toddler. At $30- $40, these hats make a unique statement, especially if you know a kid (or parent!) who's really hip or spirited -- and picking out the perfect style could be half the fun.

(If you've read this far and you like the product, go to www. zooniwear.com with this coupon code, LUVZOONI, for a 15% discount.)

Six Years Ago

Six years ago, hijacked planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia, and into a quiet field in rural Pennsylvania.

I was in Washington state, pregnant with my daughter, and my son wasn’t even a year old. I remember crying throughout the day and listening to NPR round the clock, wide awake through the dark and long hours of the night.

I couldn’t stop thinking about those voices in the rubble, silenced to a concrete and fiery death. I couldn’t stop thinking about the victim’s families: how they were thinking about the violent deaths of their loved ones, how they dared to hope for rescue, and how they all had to consider what the years ahead had to hold for them without that loved one.

I remember feeling sad and angry and scared for these people; I remember feeling that way for myself.

For the hours and days and weeks following the attack, my mind went to escape routes, shelters, to visions of myself protecting my children at all cost. What if I had to hole up in my house while foreign troops circled the perimeter? What if I had to flee to the hills with a blanket and a can of beans? How would we survive? On grass and berries and rabbits I’d snap in two with my bare hands? How would I even cook them?

I envisioned getting ahold of a gun, and played over scenes of violence and fury and desperation, where I went to my death protecting my children. Sometimes I was a lone sniper, picking off attackers; at others, I was stealth with a knife or a club. But none of these were safe or real options. I knew that.

I knew if I were being attacked, if my home was being invaded, my chances would be slim. I wondered if mothers in war-torn countries kept a small vial of poison to dab under the tongues of their children, and then their own, to avoid the prospect of torture. My mind went to that horror.

I don’t want to write these things, because to write that I’ve thought them is to wonder if I’d do them. 9/11 called into question my sanity, my sense of safety, my strength, and even the darkness of my own beating heart

AUBREY'S SECOND DAY OF KINDERGARTEN (8/24/07)

Aubrey stood next to the teacher's aid all of recess. When Miss Lisa told Aubrey she should run out and play with the other kids, Aubrey said, "No thanks. I want to be first in line when you blow the whistle."

Update: Aubrey plays with the other kids at recess now (especially Giovanna), but she still manages to be in line right after the whistle blows.

The other day, she lost sight of Miss Lisa and got scared and started sobbing, even though there were plenty of other kids on the playground, including Giovanna. We're talking through that.

GAME TURTLES KAYAK

This post's format is a mystery to me, but that happens on the Mac. No sweat. You can figure this out. Here are the clever headings that should accompany these photos: Hangman - Star Wars/Marin style, Snacks with the turtles, Kayaking with Uncle Kai, and Kayaking with Dad.

By the way, I took the kayak out on Wednesday while everyone was in school. (I start school/teaching next week.)

What was there: silence, stillness, diving pelicans, a seal, a breeze drying my lips and standing my arm hairs up, a boat called Great White.

What was left of 'there' when I got home: salt streaks on my legs, sand on the floor, and the memory of the kayak spin-out, where you quit paddling and your kayak turns itself half-way around with a soft whoosh -- that slower, but just as satisfying, version of a teenage tire skid.

SOME RECENT LIBRARY FINDS MY KIDS L-O-V-E

*Un-Brella by Scott E. Franson -- This book is a visual delight. The author is a graphics design professor at BYU and he definitely knows his stuff. (LDS pals, be sure to check it out!) The story is completely visual, with absolutely no text, and the kids continually get a thrill out of "reading" it out loud to me. The gist of the story is that a little girl has a special umbrella that creates weather under it that is the opposite of the actual weather -- so she wears a swimsuit in the snow and makes a sunny path of green grass and flowers wherever she walks, etc., etc. It's simultaneously gorgeous and cute.

*The Octonauts & the Only Lonely Monster, by Meomi (and Oliver Chin). I checked this one out because Oliver Chin, the publisher (and writer?) is speaking at an upcoming conference I'm attending. This book is fabulous. It's incredibly innovative with appealing characters that conjure up Hello Kitty or Pokemon without the mass market/cult following. The story is sweet and adventurous, focusing on individualism and friendship; the art is exciting; the presentation is sometimes daredevil. Like that last description? What I mean is that they take risks. For example, four pages are devoted to the octonauts and the lonely sea creature traveling to extreme places underwater on the planet -- so when they go south, the two-page spread is upside down. This is confusing and funny, especially when you turn the next page, and/but it really works. A terrific book.

PHOTOS FOR "TWO FRIDAY NIGHTS AND A SATURDAY,"
THE AUGUST 9TH POST HERE ON SAUSALITO SKETCHES

DINO DIG / FOSSIL FIND FOR MOM AND DANE:



OFF TO THE OAKLAND A'S GAME FOR DAD AND AUBS:

MICK IN THE THICK

Well, happy birthday to my sweetie, who turned the big FOUR-OH this weekend.

We started the celebrations by picking Mick up at school on Friday evening and heading for the Hukilau. That's right, we ate food from his homeland. The servers wore SPAM shirts, and we ate pu pus and ahi ahi, macaroni salad and bbq chicken meat.

Saturday, Mick spent the day in the lab, working on denture stuff. Before he went, though, he had a mini stress-session, articulating those overwhelming feelings that dental school can bring. The major stressors: managing his patient load, preparing labwork with limited hours in the lab, scheduling appointments, and, all the while, fitting in time to study for Fall Boards. Can't you just feel the stomach knots? And it doesn't help that he wants to play at the beach with us or just lay around on the couch for a spell.

Sunday he got to lay around on the couch for a spell; he also had the option to sleep in all morning/afternoon, but the rascal surprised and was up by 9! I was prepared to take the kids out of the house for the morning and to come back when he called. He was up and ready to roll, though, so we had a fun, full morning. We ate breakfast at the Bayside just a few blocks away (but we'd never been!), took a walk along the houseboats dock, bought bike tubes and tires for my bike at Mike's Bikes, and bought homemade ice cream fixin's for him to use in his BRAND NEW ICE CREAM BALL!

I think we OD'd on ice cream this weekend, but here are the 3 delicious flavors we made:
*coconut
*ginger
*cookies-n-cream
(Grandad, you can imagine the amount of crushed ice, rock salt, and shaking that required, can't you?)

Monday, Mick spent the day with 580 degree wax-ups at the kitchen table, preparing a crown for today. He took a break to play Lego Star Wars with the kids and to take an evening bike ride with us.

The kids just played at home all day, and I took them to the Marin City Blues and Soul Festival at the park next door, featuring the fabulous Booker T. The highlights for the kids were their root beer snow cones and the silky sun umbrellas we bought there (everybody had them -- it was a riot to see all these dainty little sun umbrellas at a blues festival). They worked well in that hot sun, though.

So, anyways, Happy Birthday, Mick. Dental school's supposed to be this busy and nerve-wracking. You're almost there. For the short term, think about wakeboarding during your next break -- at the end of September. For the long term, think about practicing dentistry in a new town with your happy family. xo

DANI AND WADE TAKE A VOW

My cousin Dani (my mom's sister Karen's daughter) married her longtime sweetheart this past weekend aboard the Safari Rose at Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay. I loved how Dani showed so much expression in her eyes, how Wade looked mellow and peaceful, how their friends gave the event a spirited feel (they were a riot) -- but my favorite part was that they ended the ceremony by dancing to "You Shook Me All Night Long."

To the decades ahead of you, Dani and Wade -- Cheers!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDAD!

I hope you make ice cream with the ice cream maker some day! Thanks for letting us have the kayak! Happy Birthday, Grandad. - Dane

You're a cute, cute Grandad. Grandad? You're a good Grandad. - Aubrey

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

LAST DAY OF SUMMER

It may not be the official last day of summer according to the solstice calendar, but since school starts tomorrow at Willow Creek Academy, it may as well be.

Dane returns, entering 1st grade with Ms. Lurie, whose specialty is reading (could she be any nearer and dearer to my heart then?), and AUBREY STARTS KINDERGARTEN!

Come 7:45 AM we'll ride our bikes in, drop Dane off at Ms. Lurie's, and then drop Aubrey off at Ms. Perez's. I'm incredibly excited for each kid -- and, yes, for myself (the time! the freedom!) -- but I have to admit my stomach is really upset today. Could this be psychosomatic? I like to think I'm tougher than that, but I'm probably not.

Aubrey has been such a great little partner over the past year, at my side for a lot of long, sweet days. And riding my bike with the trail-a-bike still attached after I've dropped her off (she's still not very interested in learning to ride her own two wheels) will probably feel weird.

As for the two of them, it's also been a great summer spent watching them grow and pal around. Things like that change a little during the school year, although hopefully not too much.

After dropping them off tomorrow, my friend Sharon is letting me sit in on her Bikram Yoga class. We'll see if 90 minutes of 105 degree heat and 40% humidity helps me keep things in perspective.

My plan for the school year will include a nice balance of part-time work at the rec center, lots of writing, volunteering in the classrooms, riding my bike for transportation, and maybe taking a fitness class a couple times a week.

Mick's plan is to keep charging through school, drumming up the kinds of patients and cases he needs to graduate (a lot of his class is frustrated and challenged by this these days).

I'll post FIRST DAY pix when I see Mick again and can download them onto his computer. He has clinic until 9 Thursday night; I leave for Tahoe the next morning for a couple days to attend my cousin Dani's wedding.

SATURDAY AT THE MUSEUM

Two Saturdays ago, we took the kids to the DeYoung's 10:30 AM children's art class. Mick studied in the cafeteria and I sat in on the docent tour/lecture and art project.

The topic was textures and patterns and symmetry. The first item we looked at was a thousand year old South American king's tunic made entirely of jungle bird feathers. You could barely tell they were feathers -- the texture was very flat -- and it was brilliant. The main color was yellow, with patterns created at the outer edge from blue, red, white and black "wave," triangle, line or square repetitions.

The kids' project was to cut colorful felt shapes and glue them onto a rectangular sheet of white cotton material in the symmetric pattern of their choice. Dane was done pretty quickly and not terribly engaged (I think he likes drawing or sculpting best); Aubrey took quite a while and cut out very tiny hearts and circles and triangles, and then accented with little pearl beads. All symmetrically, of course.

Afterward, we grabbed Mick and went outside to find the Sky room (not sure of its real name) where the accoustics allow for you to to hear sound purely -- where a whisper can envelop you if you stand in the center. (see photo above, taken when Maureen and Jackie visited)

With our packed lunches we headed across the street to the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. We ate on benches next to the turtle pond, took a walk, played some frisbee, and finally headed home in the late afternoon.

Aubrey and Katie frozen in 'freeze dance' at Katie's Princess party on Saturday.

Momma? When I said goodbye to Uncle Kai I kind of felt like I was gonna cry. -Dane

If you get an error at the poll, click refresh way up top and it should work.

LAKE TAHOE IN JUNE!(She couldn't wait to wear the size 6!)

Rob, Dane's dentist.
We stayed at his family's cabin.

BADM STRIKES AGAIN

We didn't renew our Bay Area Discovery Museum membership this year since Dane was in Kindergarten and Aubs seemed plenty busy. However, we returned with friends Josh and Abby (mom, Camille) yesterday and shut the place down! We got there when it opened and we left when it closed (10am to 4pm).

The most exciting part for the kids was the new exhibit called "Joshua's Journey," a full-on wild west exhibit about a black cowboy. The kids could dress up in cowgear (I wish my camera battery had been charged): they had boots, spurs, chaps, hats, prairie dresses, bandanas, sombreros, and plaid western shirts galore. The kids could lassoo cattle from a wooden saddled horse and rope in the wooden calf. They could sit around a campfire next to a covered wagon and cook up supper -- there was even a triangle and spoon to call in the gang for chow. Overall, we probably spent 2-1/2 hours in there.

It was a gorgeous sunny Bay day, so we were lucky to spend the rest of the time outdoors at the play area. They searched for buried treasure in the "sunken ship," played Star Wars out at the stick maze (hard to describe that place), dipped their bods in the mock tidal pools, shoveled gravel in the gravel pit, and climbed up the crows nest.

The old standbys in the art room and train/fishing boat room were great fun, too.

Today we're home cleaning up because Uncle Kai and Jason Hickman come tonight for the weekend! They're going to an all-day concert in SF tomorrow with Mick.

Oh dear... apparently this blog's going belly-up.
Profound thanks to the third mystery voter... ;)

HEY, TAKE MY POLL! IT'S A NEW FUN FEATURE!

TWO FRIDAY NIGHTS AND A SATURDAY

Mick was given 2 Oakland A's tickets for Friday July 20th; we were also given 2 San Francisco Giants tickets for the following Friday.

The first Friday, Mick took Aubrey with him to the A's game. They ate their packed snacks, plus hot dogs, cotton candy, and Tic Tacs. Aubrey sang "Take me out to the ball game" the whole time, sat on her dad's lap, sat next to him, met the people in the rows near her. She sacked out happily and suddenly within the first 5 minutes of their ride home, after chattering wildly about how she drank Diet Coke and how that has caffeine and how she wasn't tired at all.

In the meantime, Dane and I spent a specially planned evening home. Earlier that week we'd bought "Dino Dig" from the Discovery Channel Store. Dino Dig is like the game Battleship, but with raptor fossil parts to discover in your opponent's grid instead. Dane was incredibly focused for 2 hours as we used coordinates to guess where the others' bones were. Afterward, we curled up on the couch and read books until late.

In both cases that first Friday, Mick and I reveled in how sweet each kid was -- doing something special with our undivided attention. The following Friday, we swapped kids and had similar fun.

Dane went with Mick to the SF Giants game -- along with his friend Jacob and Jacob's dad, Mike -- where the boys watched Barry Bonds hit his 754th homerun, leaving him just 1 homer shy of tying the record. (The boys were ecstatic, although I'm not entirely sure they grasped the actual significance of the momentus occasion.) They snacked, ate ice cream, talked about baseball, held up their mitts, and stayed for the entire game.

At home, Aubrey was beside herself with enthusiasm and plans for our evening alone. The week before, we'd bought a special craft kit (also at the Discovery Channel Store) and she'd been waiting patiently since then to delve into it on our special night. When the moment arrived, we sat around coloring and framing our artwork as she chatted happily about the markers and designs; then, we played Pokemon Yahtzee and Disney Princess Dominoes, and looked (and found) every item in the Find It - Incredibles book while we sat propped up in bed side-by-side for over an hour. Of course, we also painted our nails.

Mick and I agreed that while it's always fun to do things together as a family, there's so much to be said about spending time with just one other person, devoting all kinds of love and attention and interest to that person. We're definitely going to be doing this again with the kids.

That said, Mick and I also got to spend time alone recently when the kids spent a few hours one evening at our friends' the Neilsen's. Instead of trying to do a big bike ride or go out to dinner, I found a scrumptuous curry recipe online and we went to the market to pick up all the ingredients, then came home and drank wine together while preparing and cooking it all up. We threw on some Morphine -- a band we listened to a lot that first summer we met -- and spent a sweet, chill kind of evening together.

We spent July 4th with cousins and grandparents and Karen and Bonita and Amber and Heidi and Pete at Carkeek Park in Seattle.

It was a gorgeous sunny day; we potlucked, bbq'd, splashed in saltwater, waded through drainage tunnels, and, if you were Pete or Heidi, got special treatment by the birds perched on the branches overhead. (Hint: from a bird, rhymes with bird.)


And, yes! We finally met Weston! Here he is up close and delightful, in a photo with Auntie Anjie, and in another with Kai and Indi.






Note: Auntie Dana bought the cousins matching Independence Day outfits. See if you can figure out who matches! (Think gender; think occasion -- i.e. daytime, nighttime. You'll find both.)

That week we also met up with our friends the Malcolms and swam/bbq'd at Lake Washington. Pictured with the kayaks: the Malcolm kids and the Reynolds kids all sprawled out.

Oops.

The link for The Sun on yesterday's post should be
www.thesunmagazine.org. (I'll change it below, too.)

Check it out!

Publishing Update

I can't remember if I've made note of some of my fun recent writing news. In case I haven't: The Sun's 'Reader's Write' section published a piece I wrote about being kissed on the cheek by my Mormon pal, Buddy, in 9th grade -- and its unexpected, lingering effect. (My payment: 6 months of free issues!)

And now I just stopped by my library and it turns out a similar, longer version of that story was printed up in the Marin Independent Journal on July 29th. (Think: Bellingham Herald for all of Marin County.) I'd submitted it a few months ago and had forgotten it. And, evidently, the IJ forgot to notify me that they were printing it! The headline was "Making choices today that will affect your children tomorrow." It takes up the bottom half of page D-4, and it has a computer-graphic picture of two people kissing. (Interesting choice!) My librarian and another woman from my library book club saw it and they saved copies at the front desk for me.

Visit http://www.thesunmagazine.org to see the August issue of The Sun.
The IJ's website is http://www.marinij.com, but you can't pull up archived issues.

Still working on downloading family pix for future blog entries -- I really want to write more about our summer.

Snowballs in Summer?

Yes, that's possible when you're talking about the Snowball Effect. Piles and piles of potential blogs and pictures are gaining on me. I don't even know where to start now.

Just to check a little something off my list, though, I'll give a snappy update on life here:

*The kids are in Splash Camp every day for the next 2 weeks, with swim lessons and water play, M-F, 9 to 4
*I teach pre-schoolers at Splash Camp (circle time, arts & crafts) from 9 to noon
*Because I teach there, my kids attend for free -- that provides endless amounts of satisfaction and happiness
*At noon I come home and work on my application for Soapstone Writer's Retreat that's due to be postmarked August 1st
*Soapstone is a $3/day 2-week retreat -- I want to go there in '08. It's very competitive, but it looks amazing. (Check out soapstone.org.)
*At 4 I pick the kids up, and if it's anything like yesterday, they'll be wiped out. Ready to lounge around for a couple hours.

Things I know I still want to blog about:
1) The kids' trip to WA and their extended visit with grandparents/cousins
2) Our week home alone without them
3) The kids' flight home (yay!)
4) Our impressions of possible future living areas
5) The kids' other weeks at camp
6) Our fun Friday night one-on-ones with the kids
7) The kids' new art scrapbook albums

See how big that snowball's getting? I'll see what I can do...

SEATTLE = COUSINS
Days 4, 5, & 6

More about Puyallup

Mema and Poppa (a.k.a. Mom and Don) hosted a great bbq for us on Monday night. Gram and Gramps were already over from Yakima (thank you!), Vi and Gran came over from up the road, Aunt Laurie and Uncle John came over from University Place, and Peggy and Nick and Zack came down from Issaquah (a looooong drive in traffic -- and when you miss exits while talking on your cell phone...!)

The kids played like crazy in the yard -- some form of hockey Poppa made up with golf clubs and tennis balls and mini goals. Earlier that day, Dane and Aubrey made full use of the yard with underwear sprinkler running, tent crawling, and general exploring (it's a terrific big yard). Oh, and, of course, they made jam. (See post below.)

I can't believe I didn't take pictures of the whole gang (sheesh! what was I thinking??), but I'll post some pix from our visit last summer. Same people -- some are just bigger, some aren't. And nobody's sucking their thumbs anymore (usually).

Note: The picture with Patrick and Peggy was taken by a kid (sorry Patrick!); the sprinkler pictures were taken in Yakima.

*Sprinkler-running makes me really, really miss having a yard. Obvious note to self: Come July '08, we will have a yard...

ROAD TRIP - Puyallup, Day 3
Makin' jam with Great Gram and Mema

June 29 thru July 7
ROAD TRIP TO WASHINGTON!

Days 1 & 2
Hertz hooked us up with a Toyota Highlander. We've made the trip before in a Taurus, but since we were taking a bike and some scooters, and since we were four (headed north) with a cooler and a bag of car games, we decided to go SUV. We kept it for the whole trip and it worked well to keep the kids way in back for the long drive.

Of course we heard some "Are we there yet?" questions, starting in Novato, 15 minutes north of Sausalito. But once we described our drive with visuals -- a sheet of paper held up to represent California, above it a box of crackers to represent Oregon, and above that, a box of cookies to represent Washington -- we got questions like "Are we off the paper yet?" and "How far up the cracker box are we?" When we finally announced we'd reached "the cookie box," there were big cheers from the back.

Above: pictures of our first night, where we got to stay in Weaverville in our friends the Roths' cabin. Weaverville is up near Redding, two hours south of Ashland, and it's in Trinity County. The area's arid with lots of redwoods and huge pine cones; the cabin was a little house with two bedrooms, a big deck and a hillside to explore. Dane and Aubrey loved playing there: indoors, they played with Josh and Abby's toys and a felt board our friend Emily sent with them, and outdoors they threw a ball over the deck and made the mad dash through the gate and down the hill to grab it before it got out of sight.

Strangely enough, Mick got a surprising bit of cabin fever there (perhaps because he was reading too many trashy mags -- see photo) and we left after one night (instead of two) and a hike in the red clay. I think he was just excited to check out some possible future hometowns in Oregon on our way north.

Of course, on our way out of town, we had to drink some good coffee. The Roth's recommended The Red House, which had good coffee and the sweetest outdoor patio ever. Lots of tables and lawn chairs under huge trees, and fountains with boats and cars to float or sink. The kids also watered their plants (a lot).

Music in the Fish Tank
Or, What Mom Thinks About When the Kids Are Gone For A Week

The bubbles rise. Water drips down. The fish swims low. He skims his belly against layers of pink rocks, all the same size as his eyes. He weaves his way through his plant, shimmying between the plastic stems, listening out of his fish ears – wherever and whatever those are – to the rhythmic trickle above him. Nosing his way along the edges, his fins and tail wipe at the glass. This fish swims a pattern known only to him – and, of course, to his friend, the ceramic carp blowing on the sax. For all his days, he’s under the same tones, the same melody, of that pleasant little trickle above.

I miss you, Dane and Aubrey. See you soon. XO, Mom