98 Caramels: End of School

The balmy to occasionally sweltering spring continued through May, letting us spend the last weeks before summer break doing some of our favorite San Francisco activities.

We've added to our picnic gear to better enjoy the Sunday Off The Grid food truck picnic in the Presidio. Hard to believe it was just last summer we wandered over after the gym, and all plopped down on the dog blanket that lives in the back of the Subaru. Now we bring toys, a waterproof blanket, and space age camp chairs and table that fold down to the size of a shoebox.

If you're going to use your ice cream sandwich to paint yourself a mustache, this is the place to do it.

It even got warm enough to go play in the water at Ocean Beach!

We went to Grattan Fun Fest - once again, the bouncy slide was the most popular attraction, junk food was consumed, games were played, small prizes were won, too many tickets were purchased... Notable changes for 2014: the kids actually ATE the snow-cones they asked for, and Daddy & Mommy did not make the mistake of going out the night before.

And then the big day arrived - the LAST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN!

He was considerably happier than the first day. And, added bonus, Mommy was working that day, so he got to home with his buddy William and play Legos all afternoon.

We also had a fun trip to Golden Gate Park with William the following week-

We celebrated the start of Summer by taking the first Monday off - all 4 of us - and spending the day at the Coppola Pool in Healdsburg. If you're willing to make a reservation (and pay), it's pretty nice - we had a little changing hut with a shower, towels, 4 lounge chairs, 2 trips to the tasting room, poolside food and beverage service, and hours in the pool. We were the first ones there and the kids jumped right in -

Lucie, of course, classed it up by: 1) bonking her head on this railing and crying hard enough to draw the attention of the lifeguards; 2) submerging herself to the point of choking & coughing, triggering a) vomiting a small amount in the pool b) delaying the opening of the pool for EVERYONE else until noon to allow for skimming and filtering c) a visit from the staff to complete an incident report; 3) last but not least, announcing she needed to "go potty" while Daddy was in the tasting room and when Mommy couldn't collect everyone fast enough, proceeding to pee at the foot of her lounge chair. I did my best to hide the evidence by dumping every cup of drinking water we had all over the area. Lucie did her best to make sure everyone knew by loudly recounting to Daddy how she went pee RIGHT THERE.

We eventually reached our maximum of sun & swimming and had to head home - but we're looking forward to going again next summer. I may be forced to join the wine club to get early access to the reservations.

There were day trips closer to home, too. The Discovery Museum, followed by lunch in Sausalito, is a reliable favorite. The kids really liked their first visit to Fish. - fish fingers, lemonade, picnic tables, boats to look at, a huge plate of fries - what's not to like?

Lucie had a last day of school, too - sadly, the little preschool both she & her brother attended from age 2 closed at the end of June. She could have had a spot at one of their other locations, but neither of them are at all close to home or work. So we had another few weeks of Preschool Madness - lots of phone calls, tours, and putting down deposits, ultimately ending in a spot at the SF Public Montessori just a block from my job. For my next trick, I'll be attempting to actually be done with work by pick-up time.

We had a cupcake party for Lucy's last day - and brought Brennan along for old times' sake.