Easter 2016

Once again it was a double egg-hunt Easter.

The kids combed through our back yard in the early morning...

 ...then searched Ray and Charlotte's yard in the afternoon.

Cousin Elijah joined us (Ariel and Liza in background).

 Eating the loot.

Triple-sibling harmony.  An Easter miracle.

Uncle Blair's Retirement

We traveled to Maryland to see cousins and to be present for an amazing event...

Uncle Blair, a Commander in the Navy, retired after twenty-six distinguished years serving our country.

The Navy did a great job of honoring Blair's family for their commitment  and sacrifices.  

The sideboys were present and the piping of the boatswain's mate was heard as Commander Keithley requested permission to come ashore. 

Proud kiddos.

Proud parents.

On top of it all, we squeezed in a birthday celebration for Grandpa Keithley's 80th!

More photos are here. 

Early Spring

Spring comes early in Northern California.

On a recent hike, the kids ditched their jackets and enjoyed the first seventy-degree day in a long while.

Thanks to a relatively wet winter, the creeks are flowing once again.

Toward the end of the hike, Silas got beamed up to the mother ship.

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.