Ski weekend

Everyone enjoyed a sunny weekend in the mountains.  

 

Tahoe for Tom's birthday

We headed up to the lake for Tom's birthday weekend, and brought Sunny along.  

Aren't they cute?

It was one of those typical bumper season weekends, not too crowded, with cold and clear weather.  

We went to town to stroll and shop. I made my kids take a picture in front of the big Christmas tree in town. 

Sunday was Tom's birthday, so we went out to dinner at a pizza place we like.  He got this mug of beer and we all toasted him. 

Monday was the first day of the Thanksgiving break for the kids so no school and no rush to get back to real life. We went down to Donner Lake for exploring and pictures. 

Cuties that I forced to be outdoors but ended up liking the adventure until we all got too cold. 

 

Fall Tahoe Weekend

We took a quick trip up to Donner Lake to get the cabin ready for the winter.  That mostly just entails getting all our patio furniture into the shed, which left us plenty of time to soak up the sunshine on Saturday.  

I'm glad we got out and enjoyed the weather because it rained all day Sunday while we packed up and made our way home. 

 

Leo's Big Birthday Weekend

It is hard to believe that Leo turned 16 on Sunday.  Sixteen!!!  Time flies when you're enjoying an amazing human grow up in front of your eyes.  

Though this wasn't officially part of the birthday celebrations, the Wednesday before his birthday we took in a mid-week movie.  Just the two of us went to a mid-week showing of Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads concert film.  It was a remastered version to celebrate its 40th anniversary. We wouldn't normal see a movie on a school night, but it was the last night it was playing locally. 

The theater was pretty empty, but before it started, a few more people trickled in.  We both absolutely loved the film so I'm very glad we made the last minute decision to see it. 

On Saturday, we kicked off the official birthday celebrations.  First up was a trip to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to see a Takashi Murakami exhibit.  We saw some of his pieces when we visited the street art exhibit in Brooklyn in 2019

The exhibit was pretty amazing.  I'm very glad we went.  We had the added bonus of seeing the Blue Angels from the museum's roof since the air show was happening for fleet week. 

Sunday was his actual birthday and we started the day with a birthday brunch.  

Nana joined us for brunch.  

When discussing his birthday, Leo declared he wanted a seafood tower for dinner.  Well, a upscale seafood restaurant opened near us during Covid and Leo wanted to try it.  They didn't have a seafood tower on the menu, but Leo was okay with that.  

Serafina was cold so she used a napkin as a shawl. 

First course, oysters.  

That was followed by lobster and another fish dish. Look at these guys ready to dig in.  

We followed up dinner with a visit to Salt and Straw for yummy ice cream. 

It was Tom's first time trying it and he was a big fan. 

Both kids had Monday off from school, so Leo celebrated one extra day with his friends at Top Golf.  Top Golf is kind of like if a driving range and a bowling alley had a baby.  

It was a wonderful, celebratory birthday weekend for Leo. 
 

Boys Backpacking Weekend

Tom and Leo headed out on Thursday night for their annual backpacking trip with Tom's friend Rich and his boys.  Usually they head to the mountains, but because of bad weather, they opted to go to the coast instead.  

Here's Leo in my jacket that is a bit too small for him.  He usually borrows this one of mine since it isn't fancy (so it doesn't matter if it gets damaged) but is still warm.  

Here's a selfie of the whole crew: Rich, Jacob, Tom, Eli and Leo

Enjoying some sun and exploring. 

It wasn't quiet as remote as their usual trips, but they had a great time.  I miss them while they're gone and worry about them, of course, but I'm also glad they get a chance to unplug and just spend quality time together.  
 

Driving Dad's Bimmer

Tom took my car to the mountains to have a guys weekend with his friends.  We were left no other choice!  Leo had to practice driving after all.  We sent him these pictures and surprisingly, Tom did not have a heart attack.  

 

Ft. Funston for some fun

It's been a while since we took Mousse to the beach.  He doesn't love the ocean, but he loves space to run and he is an absolute lunatic about a frisbee.  

 Water was cold but the sun was nice and it was a lovely day.  

Dance Recital 2023

Another recital in the books!  It was an exhausting, inspirational, fun time.  Each year, I get to know the kids and teachers more and more so the recital becomes more meaningful.  It's such a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the dance season, especially on a year when we aren't headed to the national competition just a few weeks later.  The recital was the actual finale to this dance season, complete with an emotional sendoff for this year's graduating seniors. 

Serafina performed all of her competition routines, with the ballroom routine performing in two shows. Because she was a teaching assistant this year for a pre-jazz class, she was also in the opening number.  Her large hip hop routine closed every show. It is one of the most high energy, fun routines and is delightful to watch. 

In addition to her competition routines, she performed with her four technique classes as well.  Here's a few shots from hip hop.  My phone acted up and I couldn't record it. 

Here's her technique class contemporary routine.  I took this video during dress rehearsal so there is a lot of talking in the background. 

Here's a video of the opening number featuring the teachers, TAs and seniors.  This is also from rehearsal so they are all in various costume pieces.  For the actual show, they looked more uniform with matching shirts and bottoms. 

I helped back stage for the two morning shows.  I got this cute picture in the wings before the girls went on for Show Jazz. 

Serafina's school friend Bella came to the first show.  It was really sweet of her to support Serafina. 

Tom, Leo and I got to watch the afternoon show on Saturday. 

Sunday morning I worked backstage again.  I got a few pictures of Serafina's ballet dance from the wings.  She wasn't that please with me about it. 

Her bestie Sunny, along with Sunny's aunt, and Serafina's former teacher Mrs. Ghelfi, came to watch with her daughter Sadie.  Sadie loved the recital and had lots of questions about it.  She had her mom sign her up for a class as soon as they got home.  

They hung out with us during the break between shows. We walked around to the front of the theater and I got this shot. 

Ah these two. 

The final show was Sunday night.  Tom, Leo, Nana and I were in the audience.  The little jazz dancers that Serafina was a TA for performed during that show and I told her I needed a picture of her with "her little friends" (that's what I called them all season when she went to assist in their class).  Serafina was dressed for her Senior Hip Hop Crew dance that went on immediately after their routine. 

After the show we were able to give her lots of flowers and praise.  

That night we celebrated my birthday and Father's Day with one delicious cake. 

I don't really mind spending my birthday at recital.  Next year, Serafina will be old enough to sign up to participate in the "Dancing Dads" routine.  Tom isn't so sure about it all, but it is a crowd favorite and Serafina assured him he'll be towards the back.  
 

Mexico Trip - Puerto Vallarta

After a fantastic time in adorable little Sayulita, it was time for some big resort living.  Just two nights in a Marriott in Puerta Vallarta, but we were excited for less bugs and more hot water.  

We were offered an upgrade to a room with a view.  We declined and found our room still had a pretty spectacular view from the balcony.  

We are pretty good at resort life. 

I really wanted to go down to the boardwalk, but Tom wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with the crowds.  I may have pulled the emotional card since this was a special place for me and my dad.  But it worked and we all were very happy we went.  We got there just in time to catch the sunset.  

We literally jumped out of the taxi and ran down to take it in. 

Then we walked along the boardwalk to take in the sights.  

Including these guys...

We also enjoyed these cool sculptures. 

Serafina telling secrets to the giant ear. 

We ended our stroll at a pretty fantastic restaurant that the concierge at the hotel recommended. 

I mean, Sayulita is great but you're not going to be served flaming dancing fajitas. 

The musicians were terrific and they played Guantanamera, which is a song my dad loved to sing along with whenever he heard it. 

Again, we loved Sayulita but they didn't have a night market with a cake booth.  

Saturday we woke up early and headed to the port to go on an excursion called "Outdoor Adventure".  This outing started with a 20 minute speedboat ride to a small beach south of Puerta Vallarta, which I wasn't thrilled about because of my earlier boat barfing, but I did just fine. 

After the boat, we loaded onto these Unimog trucks to head up into the jungle.  

At "base camp" we geared up for the day.  Harnesses and helmets on!  

But we still needed to travel further up the mountains into the jungle.  For that, we rode mules.  Yes, mules.  Mine was named "Mosca", which is a slang term for fly (my dad taught me that).  Mosca decided he wanted to run up that hill and I wasn't a fan.  My thighs were sore the next day from squeezing on for dear life. Serafina apparently almost slide off her mule too.  And Leo's mule was the slow poke and brought up the rear.  That certainly wasn't my favorite part but we made it, and it was on to the rest of the adventure.  We took nine ziplines through the jungle, rappelled down a waterfall, and finished off with a waterslide that required we wear hockey masks with full face protection.  Oh man.  It was scary, exhausting and so much fun.  We definitely made some memories.  No phones were allowed on the course (with good reason), but I don't think any of us will ever forget the experience.