Rough Housing

Going for a Row

The Reader

Balloon Envy

On the road again

It's becoming a familiar routine- route 101. Drive. Raffi. Snooze. Run around at Mission San Miguel. Drive. In-N-Out. Drive. Raffi. Run around at beach. Drive....

Greekfest

Greece is an interesting place. It's Europe, but it's not cultured in the same way as Italy or France. It has a beautiful Mediterranean climate, but it's islands are like barren rocky outcrops. The food is rustic and simple, not unlike much of it's populace. Though Greece may be the Mother of philosophy, the birthplace of a great civilization who gave us plays, math, political science and literature, she is sort of like an old crazy aunt. An old crazy Aunt who you've heard fantastic stories about, but knowing her as she is now, find hard to believe. "She was famous throughout the world for her genius, accomplishments and beauty? Aunt Helen?"
But there is something so alluring about Greece, about being in the warmth of it. There is something fulfilling about laying in the cradle of civilization and inhaling the herb infused air, absorbing the heat reflecting off the rocks, the vision of the horizon laid out beyond the endless sea that carried peoples from around the world to it's harbors. And when you drink pine flavored wine and eat fried balls of dough sprinkled with crushed walnuts and honey, it takes you back to that time.
That's why Nico and I love going to Greekfest.
It just so happens that there is an enormous, beautiful Greek church right up the hill from us. And they couldn't have picked a better weekend for their annual fundraiser.
They plan all year and have a marketplace, a small playground, vendors, dancing, singing, music and food, food, food.
Sure, Greece isn't known for it's great wines or phenomenal cuisine. It's hard to grow exceptional food on a rocky outcrop. But Greeks are like Cubans- they are resourceful people and do the best they can with what they have. extensive preparations and long cooking time can turn a few veggies, herbs and inexpensive meats into something magical. We had the most delicious keftethes (meatballs in rich tomato sauce) and Nico's favorite, pastitsio. I know pine resinated wine sounds icky, but every time I drink it (either in Greece or at Greekfest) it takes me back to my first meal in Greece, on a warm evening, under the lights of the acropolis. Besides, it just seems to go with rosemary and lamb. It tastes like the air in Greece.
We enjoyed our homecooked meal on paper plates in the company of at least a hundred other Greek loving people in their huge parish hall. While Zoe tried to get used to the strange flavors and smells of a foreign cuisine, Julian inhaled his portion then put his new walking skills to practice up and down the aisles to the delight and warm smiles of the other families.
After dinner, Julian ran around the playground, and Zoe found a group of other young children mesmerized by the talents of a balloon toy wrangler. Unbelievably, she sat, in a row of children waiting their turn to choose a balloon animal. And sat. And moved one seat down. Again. And again. And on and on and on for almost an hour. I AM SERIOUS. That was the best Elmo balloon she could have ever received. I would like to hire that guy so I can take a nap.
Then we bought a bowl of loukoumades (fried balls of dough bathed in honey and sprinkled with crushed nuts) and watched costumed dancers tiptoe and jump in a circle to traditional Greek music.
It was 85+ degrees in the evening, and the outdoor plaza overlooks half the bay and across to SF and the peninsula. We watched the stars twinkle way above the city lights and licked honey from our fingers. And as we walked uphill to our car, inhaling the perfumes of rosemary, pine and lamb, I remembered laying on a rocky hill, feeling the warm stones beneath me, and looking out over the deep blue horizon into antiquity.

At Lake Temescal

You folks stuck in the rolling summer fog of the SF winter- come on over, the weather's great!
75 degrees today, and looking warmer all week. Perfect for a refreshing dip at the lake. It looks like our beach season is beginning again.
I think we will be spending a great deal of sunny days at beautiful Lake Temescal. Only a few minutes up Hwy 13, the lake water is warm, seems clean, and couldn't be more picturesque here in the Oakland hills. There's a clean sandy beach for scooping with sand toys, a big grassy lawn for picnicking, and restrooms too. Trees? Got 'em. Shade? Plenty. Easy walk? Sure. Baby ducklings? Yeah! This place could not be more ideal for The Mommy and her own baby ducklings.
What's even better is that we got to hang out with some friends- Anlie and most of her ducklings (3 of 4) came to the beach too. All the kids had a blast splashing in the water, digging in the sand and letting loose in the outdoors. After a hard winter on the virus train, the kids (and The Mommy too) really deserved a beautiful day of frolicking in the sun. I am happy to report that the dark circles around Zoe's eyes have finally disappeared, and have been replaced by light and smiles.

Trash Day

Do all kids get excited about seeing the garbage truck come rumbling down the street? We hear the unmistakable beeps and booms and everyone charges through the house in a mad dash to the couch to watch from the front window as the big metal monster creaks to a stop in front of our house. The trash guy waves as he wheels our cans over to the truck and sets them in front of the loading bin. The kids watch in awe as he walks around to press a button that lifts the cans over the top, then bangs them out- bang! Bang! Bang! Then the cans are lowered down, and our trash guy wheels them back over to their place at our curb, smiling and waving at the excited kids in the window.
Since Zoe was just a few months old, she has loved this Thursday morning ritual. And I think our trash guy likes it too- he always looks for her in the window and sends genuine waves of cheer. We've had the same trash guy smiling at us since the first time, and I wonder if he had to chuckle when one Thursday morning, there were two smiling faces peeking over the top of the couch.

On My Own Two Feet

Okay, you all know how much it pains me that my video apparatus is at the shop, during the most critical moments possible- the week of Mister's first steps. Grammy was pretty lucky that the week she was here, was the week that Julian went from a couple of steps a day, and mostly crawling, to walking all day, and sometimes crawling.
It all started a couple of weekends ago- we were sitting on the floor and Nico and I were rolling a ball back and forth and the kids were catching it and rolling too. I had Zoe in my lap, and Nico rolled the ball to us. All of a sudden, Julian stood up and walked over to Zoe and me. I grabbed him and yes, cried.
Since then, he practices all the time. Before the walking, he would hold on to his Alligator walker and practically run through the house like a menace, ramming into unsuspecting ankles. You could hear the roar of the clapping wooden gators coming at you from the other room, snapping violently toward your bare toes. He and Zoe would chase after each other and take turns charging everyone. If he was playing with a toy and wanted to take it somewhere else to play with it, he would lay it on the alligators and roar across the room with it bouncing on top of the snapping alligators. Although the roaring alligators are still fun for running and charging through the house, he obviously takes great pleasure in padding along the floors by himself with his hands free for carrying and balancing.

Ack!

Technical difficulties, again.

I know, you think I'm scattered. I'm a scattered Mommy. My kids often have that Quiltie look. Sometimes their hair is messy. Their noses runny. Sometimes I forget the sippy cup, or the snackie-trap. Sometimes I forget Kleenexes and have to wipe noses with a slightly pre-owned brown napkin from Rubios extracted from my jacket pocket, or worse, my sleeve. Sometimes we're late for naps and they have to go boneless in protest of something or another. Usually we're running late because The Mommy forgot something, had to run back into the house for it, then realized the three other things I forgot, scrounged most of them up, then ran off again. Then pulled over a block away to find what was thrown on the floor of the backseat to subdue wailing so early in the trip. And due to the usual chaos and distraction, The Mommy did not take time to put together a decent outfit for herself that meets all requirements: is clean, is not tattered, is not too ill-fitting, matches, etc. further continuing the appearance of being totally scatter brained.
But despite what you may think because I haven't washed my hair in three days, I still do take pictures when something notable happens. I don't just say, "oh how cute" then walk away to brush my teeth. Au contraire. My teeth go unbrushed so I can capture the special moment on (digital) film. That's right, I'm not scatter brained just for the sake of it, or because it comes naturally, no no, it's because one can only fit so many moments into a day- only so many actions and reactions. Because The Mommy must react to, say, someone screaming, "Honeeeeeeeeyyyyyy! I wanted to read that NOWWWWWWWW!!!!" then suddenly there is no time to brush my hair. The quick scraggly ponytail will have to do. Because someone may prefer to ransack the book shelf, flip over the toybox, and fling the freshly folded laundry, now another chore must fall to the wayside- like reapplying deoderant, picking up cheerios from the kitchen floor (crunch), feeding the cat, or remembering to stuff new diapers into the diaper bag.
This is how it all starts to fall apart.
But taking pictures- this is a priority. There is always time to pull out the camera.
But sometimes it feels like the world is against us.
First, Canon is numero uno on The Mommy's Poo-Poo list.
The point and shoot is shot, and had to be returned for fixing. Hopefully Canon is making lemonade...
While they are squeezing their lemons, The Mommy is out one workhorse- and completely without video at the crucial time of JULIAN'S FIRST STEPS. As a documentarian, this is killing me.
Second, while trying to step up the technical systems, again, two steps forward (new iMac -love you-) one step back (new iMac ate digital files upon insertion of Big Canon's Compact Flash card -hate you-).
In short, Little Canon at shop, so I've been shooting the good stuff only to loose 2 weeks of images trying to connect on new computer. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
The Mommy is doing the best she can. Must. Hold. It. Together.
Be patient! Thanks.