Archive for the '100. Two kids – Jan-Dec 19' Category

Zoe and Zachary for Co-Presidents

Tuesday, September 15th, 2020

The beginning of the school year was a very busy one, with Zoe and her good-friend Zachary campaigning as co-presidents for their school’s student board. They’ve been planning to run together for more than a year, and they met every other week over the summer to come up with their platform and speech.

I was excited and a bit nervous for them – they were competing against two other teams – and also proud and nostalgic. These two have been friends since their first year in preschool! They took it very seriously and worked hard, and our families were thrilled when the votes came in and we found out they won.

-M

Glamping in Gold Country

Wednesday, August 19th, 2020

To celebrate my birthday late last month we did another NoCal get-away, this time visiting the very cool Nevada City, right in the heart of Gold Country. We went glamping, exploring and swimming (it was our first time to the Yuba River), and we celebrated with Avery’s best friend – who happens to have the same birthday as me!

-M

Keeping busy while stuck inside

Friday, August 14th, 2020

The girls were supposed to spend this part of summer at sleep-away camp, but the pandemic thwarted those plans. Though stuck at home, they’ve been pretty good-natured and quite good at keeping busy! They have, admittedly, done a fair amount of watching videos and scrolling through Instagram, but the majority of their time has been spent on other activities. Zoe has done tons of reading, Avery is constantly playing with slime, and they’ve both been making videos and working on soon-due school projects. And they’ve also been creative with other activities, like when they did a blind taste test with staple-type foods (think mayonnaise, lemon juice and pepper) – as in the photo below.

-M

Sheltering in place in Sonoma, part II

Tuesday, August 11th, 2020

A highlight of our trip to Guerneville was swimming and canoeing in the Russian River. (True, we weren’t technically sheltering in place – but we wore masks and generally stayed away from people.) We had been to this particular beach once, when Zoe was super small, but of course she didn’t remember. And though none of us girls (including Maddie, who tagged along with us) weren’t super excited about the canoe part we wound up having a blast. We even extended our rental time to be out on the water a bit longer…

-M

Sheltering in place in Sonoma

Friday, August 7th, 2020

Towards the end of July, we sought out some sun and headed about 1 1/2 hours north. Our destination was the small town of Guerneville in Sonoma County, and we sheltered in place in a new place – called Maristella’s Treehouse. We spent five days lounging around, exploring the rural county, and hanging out by the river (photos coming soon); and I took the family to a place I’ve wanted to visit for years. The Armstrong Redwoods Natural Reserve is similar to the more popular John Muir Woods, but better (i.e. less touristy and crowded), and it didn’t disappoint!

-M

Summertime…

Friday, July 3rd, 2020

To me, nothing says summer quite like this pic!

-M

Oompa, loompa, doompadee doo

Friday, January 24th, 2020

For their first-semester elective, both girls chose to work on the school musical. Zoe was on the crew (stage manager) and Avery was both on the crew and in the cast (candy girl and oompa loompa). Most of the work was during school hours, but things got really busy after winter break – with numerous rehearsals and three (very sweet) performances at the Jewish Community High School.

They both had a lot of fun and I’ve gotta say: I think the stage just may be Avery’s place!

-M

Zoe’s bat mitzvah, part III

Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

“Ain’t no party like a West Coast party,” my cousin wrote on her Facebook the day after the bat mitzvah. I don’t know about that, but we did try to throw a fun party! Our aim was to take people around the world – each table featured a city that Zoe has visited – and keep everyone dancing and having fun, and I think/hope we did it.

-M

Zoe’s bat mitzvah, part II

Sunday, December 15th, 2019

Zoe made us so proud that morning! Here, some photos from the service and just after…

-M

Family week, part II

Monday, December 9th, 2019

Our pre- and post- bat mitzvah schedule was pretty packed with family stuff. Among the highlights for the girls: playing tourist and showing Tanner and Brock around the city, visiting Alcatrez for the first time, celebrating Thanksgiving with a huge group of family, and playing with cousins.

Up next: Photos from the big event!

-M

Rehearsing for the big day

Monday, November 25th, 2019

So here’s the thing about a bat mitzvah: It seems really far away through most of the planning process (especially when you pick the date two or three years in advance), but then suddenly sneaks up on you. About three weeks ago, it hit me that we were only a month away, and it suddenly felt very real. It also hit me that we had quite a bit to do: Though Q (our party planner) has been super organized and on top of everything, there are still a bunch of little details to work on, party decisions to finalize and outfits (and shoes) to pick out! 

Luckily, and most importantly, Zoe is totally on top of things, too – and she feels ready for next weekend. Here, a snap of her practicing alongside her sister yesterday.

-M

And just like that: a teenager!

Sunday, November 24th, 2019

Zoe turned 13 yesterday, and I can’t think of a better photo for my rule-following, book-loving kid than this one. (She had indeed been saving this book for around her birthday; she crawled into our bed the night before the big day and said, “Now I can read this.”)

We’ve all been so focused on her bat mitzvah (less than one week away now!) that her birthday itself felt a bit anti-climatic. Still we made it fun by doing something very Zoe: We went to Barnes & Nobel, where she browsed for a while before picking out five books, and then went to a San Mateo restaurant where she had one of her favorite things in the world (strawberry rhubarb pie). Later we had dinner in the neighborhood with Sandy and Cas, who flew in that evening, and she blew out candles on a cake that her good friend bought and surprised her with. Not a bad way to usher in her teen years!

-M

New hair, new ears

Friday, November 15th, 2019

It’s a whole new Avery! She got her hair cut in a cute, short bob (Q took her to the appointment last Saturday, and she totally surprised me with the new do) and later that day she did something she’s been wanting to for a few years: get her ears pierced! Check it out…

-M

Cheering for Halloween

Monday, November 4th, 2019

With work, school, activities and planning for Zoe’s bat mitzvah, it’s been a super busy time – but I can’t let more time pass without sharing some photos from Halloween. Below you’ll see Avery and two of her friends (a fellow cheerleader and Ariana Grande) trick or treating in the neighborhood. Zoe had her own thing going on that afternoon and evening (no photos of her this year = mom fail) but I snuck in a photo of Maddie for good measure.

-M

Day at the beach

Saturday, October 26th, 2019

The girls had a lot of days off in October, and on one of the sunny nice days Avery did something a bit different and took Maddie to the beach! This gorgeous spot is less than 10 minutes from our house; not sure why we took so long to visit.

-M