Crazy tooth Molly

Molly has the craziest teeth these days!

What your kids did today

Today was a teacher in-service day for Berkeley Unified. One of those random school days off that doesn't line up with any other holiday, so families end up scrambling for coverage. We lucked out and partnered up with a family around the corner that includes two awesome kids about the same age as ours. I had so much fun with them, and then enjoyed handing all four of them off to their babysitter in the afternoon so I could get some work done. 

Here's the email I wrote to their parents while I was working, giving them a heads up on how the day went:

In case you were wondering what we did all day (and in case you hear some crazy-sounding stories), here's a summary: 

- They played on their own and begged for fish oil pills (O. had one)
- I paid them to pull up crazy onion weeds (see picture)
- We ate color-coordinated snack (see picture)
- We ate greasy cheese pizza
- We watched a video of Maru the Cat (http://youtu.be/8uDuls5TyNE). My favorite online cat-video star.
- We rode the bus to Berkeley Bowl West
- I let them use their earnings to buy a treat. Those smarty kids figured out that they could buy almost 3 pounds of sugar if they skipped the fancy bakery treats and went straight to the candy-by-the-pound section. Boy did I feel outsmarted. (Picture is of them studying their earnings and checking the price of each bag).
- I let them eat so much candy that they were crazy on the front porch before I delivered them to [the babysitter]. - And, just a few minutes ago, I spied [the babysitter] taking them (and her adorable little dog!) for a walk. Sooo cute! 

Thanks for sharing them - your kids are absolutely delightful!

Ready to go!

Flower Girls

Ready to go!

Mama knit the beautiful hat and made the beautiful girl

Bus ridin'

Riding the bus to swim class. Clara's staying warm in the wrist warmers I just finished for Nona. Molly is debating what toy horse will get the leaf-saddle she's making. I'm enjoying sitting with them.

SMOAC

In late December I dreamed up a family club. This club would be a structure and motivation for us to get out and explore and try new things. I thought of it while we were hiking at Sibley Volcanic Preserve. That hike was nice, but I was struck by how much we struggled to decide where to go, get there, and actually hike. This is crazy, I thought. What's wrong with us? We are people who think of ourselves as outdoorsy, and yet this is a challenge? Besides beating ourselves up, I tried to think of what could motivate us to get out more, and practice doing the things we love. Because by practicing, we get better, and the better we get the easier it would get, and the easier it gets the more fun we would have! And as I watched the kids and thought about this I dreamt up the idea of a club. Kids love clubs. (really, who doesn't love clubs?).

After some discussion, we decided to start S.M.O.A.C (pronounced "smoke"): the Saturday Morning Outdoor Adventure Club. The rules are pretty simple: basically we do an outdoor adventure every Saturday, and rotate planning duties among the four of us. The members are the four of us, but we welcome guests. Right away we wrote a long list of great ideas, and we continue to add to it.

Our first adventure was to take a bus to hike up Claremont Canyon last week (planned by me!). This week was Clara's turn, and much to our surprise, she chose to go to Angel Island and hike to the top of Mt. Livermore! It was a 4.5 mile hike round trip, with 788' elevation gain (and loss). Next week is Molly's turn - she's already decided we're going to Alcatraz. Can't wait!