Part of being on vacation (it was an April break) is going to parks that we don't go to very often. This one is in Campbell and has a water feature and sand.
We decorated eggs for Easter.
Nathan had a birthday. As a surprise to him, Laurie invited Tami and I to ride in a limo with them up to a very nice French restaurant in San Francisco called Fleur de Lys. The food was delicious as were the wine parings. The portions were small but not small enough to stop me from feeling incredibly full after the numerous courses.
After, we took the limo up to the Coit Tower to enjoy the view of the city at night before heading home. That was a good time.
Easter morning and the kids went through the baskets that Tami prepared for them.
Ana, Enzo, and Shea had made these egg shells with dirt and seeds a few days before Easter. Ana and Enzo kept them watered. This was all Phyllis' doing as she planed these and got the ingredients all together. The grass grew in as hair in time for Easter and the kids, and me, enjoyed watching the hair grow in. A cool idea.
The kids got new toys from Grandma and Grandpa.
And played and made a mess of the paper grass decorations in the Easter baskets. It was a good morning.
Later, the kids did an Easter egg hunt and family came over for dinner. I didn't take pictures but I always like having family and friends over. It feels good to share days with people I care about and to know that my kids are surrounded by good people.
I scratched up the glass over the camera lens on my cell phone so all of my phone pics are now fuzzy. I am trying to wait for a new iPhone to come out. We shall see how long I can hold out. The camera is the most utilized function of my cell phone. The above is a picture of Ana doing what she does. That is, climb everything. Another significant fact about this is that it occurred on a play date. The first play date that I personally, all by myself without Tami, arranged. It was oddly a nervous experience. I felt like I was asking someone out and I was 16. It was so silly! Would I be rejected? Am I supposed to get a phone number? Do I just ask to meet at a park? Do I need to break the ice first or engage in idle chit chat? Do I initiate a play date the first time I speak to this parent or am I supposed to develop some sort of relationship first?
Parenting is so funny. Anyway, there was a matchmaker so it worked out pretty well. One of the teachers at the kids' school mentioned that a play date with a certain girl in their class would be a good idea when I picked Ana and Enzo up from school one day. Before I got the kids all ready to go that same day, the mother of the other girl came in. I started wrestling with the above questions when the teacher mentioned something casually about a play date to the mother and so I jumped in and started talking. Next thing I know I'm looking sly like the cool parent that I am, giving my business card and walking out with her digits and a plan for a date..... a play date, some time in the future. Yep, I still got it!
Ha! Anyway, after a couple of emails we worked it out to meet at a nearby park to picnic and play. The kids had a great time, we adults had a nice conversation, and I accomplished yet another of the available parent experiences common to my culture.
