Lately

Gosh, I guess we've been busy with the school routine.  And soccer.  And swimming.  And work.  And….
But here are a few pictures of lately.

doing some Trader Joe's shopping

 At Ryan's school on Fridays, there is an after school Lego club for all ages, and it's awesome.  They stay for an hour and a half, and each week there is a topic or a challenge.  Ryan's best buddies from school have all signed up for it.  Basically, it's the perfect end to his week.  

week 1 -- building skyscrapers with new friend from school, Casen 

week 2 -- they learned about Suspension Bridges, and built a bridge however they wanted and then tested it's ability to stand up to weight (a water bottle full of water).  So cool!

Eddy and I celebrated 7 years of marriage (1 week early, because Eddy was out of town for our actual anniversary this year) with dinner out at a fantastic restaurant in Oakland and then we hit up the Brandi Carlile concert at the Fox Theater.  Love her music.  It was so great!

And then the next day my friend Kate flew into town from Spokane, WA for the remainder of the weekend.  To hang out with us, and as she is Stella & Dot saleslady extraordinaire, I hosted my first jewelry party.  A fun excuse to have a few ladies over, so thanks to all those who came!

We took Kate out for dinner at a local restaurant, and then enjoyed walking along the water…made me love this town even more

love this view from downtown!

 Despite the calendar saying it's officially fall, the weather around here has still been darn hot.  So I took the kiddos to the local pool for probably the last swim of the summer, and was amazed by how far they have come in their skills this year.  Kaitlyn loves to jump in, touch the bottom, and pop back up to grab onto the wall -- all without any help whatsoever.  She is managing to swim a little bit of distance as well, but still needs to work on being able to take a breath and keep going.  And Ryan is swimming here, there, and everywhere. Jumping off the diving board, doing handstands, diving from the edge head first, swimming a strong freestyle and a fairly decent breaststroke and backstroke.  Finally I feel comfortable taking the kids swimming by myself, and actually enjoying it!  Can't wait until next summer! (but very much looking forward to some cold weather before we hit next summer)

this guy won't stop for a picture in the water, but managed to get his post swim hair shot!

 This past weekend, a good friend of ours from Boston came to visit….Kara.  She stayed with Cristen, and they got to do fun things like go wine tasting in Napa that I had to pass on as Eddy was out of town and I was in charge of the littles.  But I did get to see her in the evenings -- both at Cristen's house, and then we all went into the city (with Cristen's sister and other friends) for dinner.  And then Cristen and Kara came to hang at our house one evening, to play with the kids and get in some more quality time.  It was fantastic to reconnect with a great friend, laugh really hard, and just enjoy each other's company. Love having such fantastic friends!

playing tourist after dinner in the city 

the girls helping me put the kids to bed

 Ryan has been really enjoying soccer this fall.  I thought the practice 2 days per week, and games on Saturday would be a bit much, but he can't get enough.  In fact, he told me "Mama, I don't just like soccer.  I LOVE it!".  It's fun watching him figure out the game, and there are moments when he surprises me with how aggressive (in a good sport kind of way) he can be, but then he has definitely learned how to swing back and protect his goal.  I'm predicting he will be a good defensive player as he grows with this sport.  

His team the Red Dragons is a great group of kiddos -- and the best part of this league is they play 3 on 3, no goalies, and no one really keeps score.  It's pure fun, for now anyway.  

We helped our family friend Hadley celebrate her 6th birthday this weekend as well (busy weekend!), and her backyard party was complete with a bounce house, face painting, and lots of kids running around.  K waited so patiently to have her face painted, I was amazed.  She wanted "a peacock" on her face, no idea how she came up with that idea, but was happy settling for this sparkly peacock colored crown.  Ryan was no where near the face painting table.  Ever.  

On a side note, Ryan…the boy who has been notoriously shy and who usually takes an hour to warm up to new situations, has begun to make friends everywhere he goes.  He made a friend at the pool the other day, a boy we had never seen before, and I could barely drag him out of the water at closing time.  He made a new friend at Hadley's party whom he desperately wants to have a play date with soon (they were even holding hands at one point during the party!), and every time we are walking to or from school there is a new kid that yells out "Hi Ryan!" or "Bye Ryan!" and he yells back to them, calling them out by name.  He seems to be a very social, happy, and well liked kid.  And that makes my heart soar!

And finally, to add to the busy weekend, the kids had a sleepover at Nanny & Dzia Dzia's (so I could have dinner out in the city with Kara and crew) -- which started with one final swim at Las Trampas for the season as well.  Nanny, the fish, in the pool with her grandkids who have inherited her fish-like traits.  Love these 3!  And my kids LOVE swimming with Nanny.  

Not only did the kids spend the night, but I actually spent the night as well after my dinner out.  And it was super fun to wake up in the morning, have breakfast in my PJs with the kids and my parents.

playing with our old stuffed animals

 And after breakfast was the obligatory bike ride to the playground and a few swings on the big rope swing.  A great, and busy busy weekend!