Ainsley's drama class

Ainsley and Sydney were such hams in the drama class they took together at Civic Arts. The two play very well together and worked nicely with one another in creating their "stories".

The two enjoyed Miss Amber..so sad that the class is over.

Kaley, the Dermatologist

We often joke that when Kaley grows up, she is going to be a Dermatologist (although she claims she will be a princess). Here is Miss Kaley giving daddy the once over...I think that she is examining his belly button.

Sunday, August 12

Sunday, August 12, we went to SF for Stern Grove's event featuring the SF Ballet. The Rapelas went with us and we missed the Wakefields! Ainsley, Kaley and Melody participated in a ballet workshop beforehand, which was worth the trip over there. The girls had such a fun time. The three acts which the ballet performed were beautiful. The costumes where so perfect and the music was performed live by the SF Ballet Orchestra. It was a wonderful Sunday!

Small World Park, Pittsburg

In the middle of Pittsburg, located on Leland at Railroad is Small World Park. We went there recently with Nicholas. It is a very nice immaculate park with lots of mature trees offering shade on hot days. There are three rides, two of which the kiddos enjoyed- the carousel and train which were ridden more than once. The park has many play structures, but rather than playing on the structures, Ainsley, Kaley and Nicholas were more interested in the catch and release pond. We borrowed poles and frozen bacon from the front office and off fishing for crawdads we went. What a fun time we had!

Tomatoes from the garden

We planted several types of tomatoes this year including a french vanilla cherry tomato which ripens to a bright yellow and zebra's (thank you Erik for the tip), which are green striped and when ready to pick are slightly larger than a golf ball. Both of which are very sweet and nice addition to red tomatoes.

Last night, I made this delicious Tomato and bread salad with our freshly picked tomatoes and basil. Here is the recipe:

Panzanella

prep time: 10 minutes

6 Cups 3/4 in. hearty bread cubes

4 Tomatoes on the vine, each cut into 8 wedges (I used our red vine, zebra's and french vanilla)

1/4 Red onion sliced very thin

3 Tbsp. sliced fresh basil

1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. sea salt or to taste

Fresh ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place bread cubes on a baking sheet and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until toasty and firm; let cool. Place in a large bowl with tomatoes, onions and basil. Stir together remaining ingredients and drizzle over salad; toss well to coat. If you find that the tomato/bread ratio isn't to your liking, add more tomatoes.

Makes 6 servings.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

After a quick trip over to Emeryville to return a new Leapster, which Ainsley has been testing for Leap Frog, we headed over for a day in the City. Our first stop was to see daddy...quite a special stop! The girls love seeing daddy and his friends at work. They missed seeing Miss Margaret as she was branching So Cal. Kaley hung onto daddy and would not let him go. Michael had to walk us down to the street and together we peeled Kaley off him so that he could get back to work. Our next stop was very special to Ainsley. We stopped off to see Sabrina. She hasn't changed a bit and is still as full of life as ever. As we drove away, it dawned on us that we didn't get a picture of her....Ainsley said she planned it that way, just so that we have another reason to see her again on our next trip to the City, which will be on Sunday to see the SF Ballet at Stern Grove. We planned on going to the newly renovated Children's Playground in GG Park and the Conservatory of Flowers to see CHOMP, but the girls decided they really wanted daddy to do this with us. We then grabbed some lunch, being as I left ours sitting on our kitchen counter.. and then drove up to Potrero Hill to see The Bubble Lady at the library. The girls had a wonderful time with The Bubble Lady. Bubbles are so magical and the girls really enjoyed the presentation.

Ainsley volunteered
for a haircut- got a lot of laughs
instead, Mickey Mouse ears
let the bubbles beginto grow...and grow and growwrapped into a crown of bubbles Ainsley and Kaley "in" a bubble

Pizza with the Tuffo cousins

Last Sunday we met Michelle, Kelly and Kai at Zacharys in Rockridge. The kids did really well considering the long wait. Having playdough and color wonder helped keep Ainlsey, Kaley and Kai busy while I enjoyed visiting and getting caught up with Michelle and Kelly.

Chevron Family Theatre

Last Saturday, we took the girls to the Dean Lesher to take part in the Chevron Family Theatre. The two venues we saw were "Activated Storytellers" and Leslie Carrara from the Muppets. Activated Storytellers is a traveling group of three family members who act out multicultural folk tales. They were full of energy and very entertaining. Ainsley, Kaley and Melody sat on the edge of their seats during the entire show. As an added perk, Ainsley and Kaley ran into Zephyr and Naomi as well as Chloe. The other venue we enjoyed was Leslie Carrara. She was amazing and very talented. Her show was very informative and her message about goodness was very clear. She taught about how to be a pupeeter, using ones voice, body and imagination. She stressed using ones power for good and to bring joy to others. She introduced some of her puppets, including Sesame Streets newest puppet...Abby Cadabby. There were many booths set up outside. Melody took a photo of "flying with Peter Pan". The three girls tried on Cinderella's glass slipper and watched Glank. Ainsley and Kaley and had their faces painted. Ainsley chose a flower, but Miss Kaley wanted a blue bird...something the face painter had to "wing". She did a really good job!!! The girls did not want to wash their faces that night.