Chef Rosemary

Rosemary loves to help out in the kitchen, and we love having her there.

Here she is mixing sugar and strawberries for a cobbler.

Below, she's tending potatoes and onions while I flip pancakes.

Rosemary is passing along to Tess her interest in perfecting our pancake batter.

She can also whip up a mean Play-Doh breakfast.

Valentine Workshop

Pinewood Derby

Next scouting event:  The Pinewood Derby.

Silas designed his own car and did a fine job. 

On race day, each car is weighed and measured; there's a seven-page design rulebook that might strike a novice parent as overkill.

The fastest cars took the course in just under 2.2 seconds; the slowest in 2.4 seconds.

Silas' ran around 2.3, the middle of the pack.

Each car competes in six heats, and the three cars with the best average time advance to a regional competition.

The Scouts do a good job emphasizing "do your best" rather than "come in first."  Silas had a ball.

Snow Trip

We headed 6000 feet up the Sierras, near Arnold, CA, with Silas's group of Boy Scouts.

Rosemary misses winter every bit as much as Silas, so I brought her along too.  (Tess stayed home with Meredith.)

The kids loved being in the snow.  And it wasn't even that cold -- just 32 degrees.

More pictures are here.

Copying Day

We read a children's book set during a museum's "copying day" (Arthur Geisert's "Mystery").

Silas asked if he could go to a copying day.

We said sure, and took him to the Legion of Honor.

We told him it was copying day.

He decided to copy a 16th century Italian plate depicting Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Silas' sudden and uncharacteristic interest in art-making kind of bowled us over.

Hopefully this is the first of many such visits.

Leaving the museum, Silas asked why he'd been the only one copying on copying day.

Tess, Noah, Sammy

One nice thing about living in San Mateo is that many of Meredith's high school friends remain in the area.

Among these friends, there are two kids quite close to Tess' age: Noah (Summer's son) and Sammy (Sarah's son).

Here are Tess, Noah, and Sammy about 18 months ago, a year ago, and now.

Christmas 2015

Christmas morning: two pictures required prior to present-opening.

From Tess' point of view, on the final day of her birthday celebration there were a few gifts for her siblings.  Perhaps so they wouldn't feel left out.

Ready for dinner with the grandparents.

This toy is life-sized.

Tess is 2

Tess is two, and she knows it.

She saw what happened with Rosemary in May and Silas in October -- and it turns out she was paying attention. For the past few days she's been saying:

"My birthday! My present!"

And also: "I like my cake!" ("like" means "want").

Tess loved opening her gifts, though all of her toys wound up with Rosemary, who graciously tested them out.

The weekend fell right in between Tess' birthday and Grandpa Ray's, so we had a joint family celebration on Sunday.

Silas is teaching his tricks to Cousin Liam.

The birthday boy took good care of the birthday girl.

Tree Farm

On a chilly Sunday morning, we drove to a Christmas tree farm near Half Moon Bay and met friends for a tailgate.

The kids searched a bit for a tree, but mostly played with the other kids.

Failed photo op, but...

...a successful tree decoration.  More photos are here.