Father's Day in SF

The card I made for Daddy (that's Brady at the bottom).

In celebration of Daddy, we met up with the Berman families at The Yard, an outdoor hangout spot in the city. It was hot and sunny and a perfect day for cold beers and good food. Afterward, we walked to nearby AT&T Park hoping to check out the slide inside the giant Coca-Cola bottle. Unfortunately it was closed to the public that day, but we did enjoy the scenic walk and great company.

Hanging out at the coolest spot we could find: under the table.

California Academy of Sciences

Daddy's work has membership passes to the Cal Academy of Sciences so we finally took advantage of it one weekend. The main attraction was the aquarium and we spent most of our time there.

We also walked through some African animal exhibits (stuffed zebras, lions, giraffes, etc.) which Mommy remembers seeing when she was a kid. My favorite part of the museum was walking through the four-story rainforest exhibit and having all these butterflies fly around us.

The museum was pretty crowded that day and Mommy and Daddy were gloating that good thing they had gotten free passes and didn't have to pay admission. Well, as we were leaving we discovered that we actually went on a free museum day, so everyone had gotten in for free! 

Little Sharks

I took my first ice hockey classes a few months ago and we almost forgot to post about it! The San Jose Sharks sponsored a "Little Sharks" program to introduce kids to ice hockey. For a bargain price, we got six lessons and all brand new gear, including ice skates. Daddy and I were both really excited that I would be experiencing one of his favorite activities. Even better, since he skates at the rink regularly, he signed up to be an assistant coach so he could be on the ice near me.

SO glad that I had Daddy there to help me on my first day. We're against the left wall (backs turned).

Since I barely knew how to skate, I was put in a beginner's group and most of the lessons were focused on getting comfortable on the ice. I actually found holding the hockey stick while skating to be helpful, as it provided some support. During the last few lessons we finally got to practice shooting pucks into the net. 

We'll be honest, it was a little frustrating at times. Skating is hard, and I dreaded falling down on the hard ice. There was one week when I just wasn't feeling it and refused to do the lesson. But there were also weeks where I really had fun and was proud that I skated well. The final verdict? I like ice hockey but I don't love it. While I'm open to taking more skating lessons, I probably won't be signing up for a hockey league in the near future. Daddy still has high hopes for Colin though!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Kindergarten has finally come to an end. It was an amazing year and I'm excited to move on to first grade, but Mommy is sad because she thinks kindergarten is a special year and she wants me to be five years old forever.

Anyway, we had a couple of fun surprises for our last day of school. We had been told to bring and keep our teddy bears at school for the past few weeks, and they were included in all sorts of classroom activities. On our last day, we tucked our teddy bears into their handmade beds and went to the library for a story. When we came back, they were gone! Turns out they had left us for a surprise teddy bear picnic.

"Hockey Bear," named because when I got him he was wearing a hockey shirt.

Bears waiting to picnic with us.

Four kindergarten classes anxiously rushing to the field to look for their bears.

We all loved the surprise! It was such a relief too - some of the kids had been so worried about their bears to the point of tears...phew!

We capped off the day with a class party. There was an art project, photo booth station, and snacks and popsicles. The parents were invited to join at the end, and we took lots of photos and said our goodbyes for the summer. What a great end to a great year. 

Me and my teacher, Ms. Taddeucci

What I Did at Camping, by Colin

Here are some more details from our camping trip that Kaitlyn had left out. This year we joined sixteen(!) other families at Manresa State Beach. This was my real camping trip, as it was the first time sleeping overnight in a tent. Everything went fine, except for the first night when I woke up in the middle of the night screaming and practically woke up the entire camp. It was also challenging because I refused to nap during the day, so by evening I was an overtired mess. On our second day, Daddy had to take me for a drive so I could get a decent nap in the car. Other than that, I loved being outdoors all day and exploring and getting really dirty!

We're pretty sure Brady had a good time too. He met a new friend that was twice his size, and got to sleep in the tent with us.  

We spent our entire first day at the beach. I loved it!

On the second day we took a drive to a nearby berry farm to pick raspberries. There were some chickens and a rooster there, and for some reason I kept insisting on showing this rooster my belly button. I thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Can you guess which was my basket?

Here's a video of all the kids testing out a homemade rocket ship (a soda bottle attached to a bicycle pump). I'm not even sure what it was, but I was so into it.

What I Did At Camping, by Kaitlyn

Dear Ms. Taddeucci, May 28, 2016: We are eating veggie straws and we ran around the campsite and we roasted marshmallows. May 29, 2016: Today we went on our bikes and went to the beach but oops! I got a little sandy. I took a shower and wiped off the sand and went to the temple [this little amphitheater at the campground that the kids called a temple]. I swung in the hammock.

May 30, 2016: Me and my brother played hop on pop [aka jumping on Daddy while he lay on the air mattress]. After that we went for a hike and then I climbed a tree. Oops again I forgot to brush my teeth. I brushed my teeth after that I ate a snack.

We went berry picking and we came back with berries. Then I had a quiz with my friends Jamie and Rita. After that I drew my dog Brady and swung in the swing and had a late night feast and saw 20 fireworks!

May 31, 2016: We woke up and had marshmallows for breakfast. Then we drove home.