Summer (actual)

About a month after the start of school, San Francisco's summer arrived.  As it does.

It's a great time to play hooky from preschool and go enjoy the Discovery Museum across the Bay.  There's drawing - 

and hoarding of all the hula-hoops -

and hoarding of all the rubber crabs and using their hollow bodies for  water transport -

When it gets even hotter, we go to the beach.  It's polite to wait until Brennan gets out of school so he can go, too.  (in other news, this is the day I got a new parking ticket to add to my collection - a FEDERAL one, since Baker Beach is in Golden Gate National Park)

And on even hotter days, we drag Daddy over the bridge to Stinson Beach.  (I really shouldn't make it sound like this is something we do reugularly.  I haven't been to Stinson Beach since before Brennan was born.  Which is too bad, since it's not only beautiful, but also really shallow for a long way and I worry a lot less about the kids getting dragged out to sea.)  If it wasn't for the 45 minutes winding our way along Hwy 1 to get there, and that's so rarely beach weather, I'd love to come more often.

It's a good time to play with our neighbors - we got very lucky when Matt, Yinlan, Willow, and Beck moved in next door.  (Lucie & Beck have been buddies from about 4 months of age and on, since Mei watched over both of them) The grown-ups play "Now try this obscure beer", and the kids play, well, whatever this is:

They also have more wholesome activities, like Movie Night.

There's also meeting up with school buddies at the Cole Valley fair and block parties -

Grabbing a bite at the neighborhood restaurants-

Celebrity watching at the Letterman Center -

Rooftop parties to watch the Blue Angels-

And even more parties at Julius Kahn Park and downtown.

Somewhere in there, I even get out on my bike to enjoy the nice weather.  I actually have to go kind of early, otherwise it gets too hot.  Here's the fog burning off in Golden Gate Park, and morning at the top of Twin Peaks -

But one of the best parts of October is that Gangi usually comes out for a visit!  We treated her to a morning at Lemos Farm, which may actually be one of the Circles of Hell, if Hell has pumpkins.

Don't worry.  We also took her out to lunch at a waterfront place in Half Moon Bay.

On her last day, both kids woke up with a fever - as far the the school district knows - and we had a nice walk up Tank Hill to check out the new rope swing and the view.

We wish we didn't have to take her to the airport - Bren asked her to stay all month - but we're looking forward to her next visit.  And coming up is Halloween!