Coyote Point

Pictures from an afternoon at Coyote Point park.

Tess threw a lot of rocks into the San Francisco Bay.

Silas staked a claim on his section of the beach.

Rosemary conquered the monster slide.

Rosemary at the Library

I love libraries.

With mixed success, I am trying to instill my library passion in the kids.

Back in September 2015, Rosemary applied for her own library card.

(Silas did the same when he was four: reminisce here.)

Today, the library was seeking testimonials and taping them on the wall.

Rosemary -- with no nudging by me -- asked if she could write one.  I was thrilled.

She composed her own sentence (I helped her with spelling and Ks):

"I like the books."

Mission accomplished!

Hiller Aviation Museum

What should we do today?

 Crawl all over a Boeing 747? 

   

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.