San Diego December 31 2010 world famous

San Diego December 30 2010

San Diego December 29 2010

Dec 28 2010 San Diego

Nicholas Christmas 2010

Axel Christmas 2010

Rueben H Fleet Science Center San Diego December 2010

I made jack a new winter hat today with a T for Tibbles, of course.

Halloween 2010

Jack with the parrots of telegraph hill in north beach

Amos and Jack at the bunkers on the Presidio

Jack in helicopters

Jack & water

Jack painting

Jack swinging

Jack swinging

Poooop gun

Marin County Fair July 2010

Jack poop gun

Punchy Jack

Jack and tibbles waking up

A successful day

The day began somewhat inauspiciously as Jack was expecting the delivery of a "Y-Wing Spaceship" and announced he was not leaving the house.

About 11:00, I got him dressed and out the door on the way to a Glenridge playdate at Douglas Playground. I went down the stairs ahead of him and he had no choice but to follow, denouncing me and letting fly with a string of pretty funny and original curses on my person and property. (We had earlier discussed the meaning of a curse in relation to a Hardy Boys book.)

At the playground, we noted that Aron, Theo, Barasa, Emma, Justin, and others were already there, mostly climbing on the structure. Jack asked me to push him on the swing, which I did for a while. Then I announced that I was going to talk to my friends. Jack would not join his friends, not even Emma, but stood close to me while I sat and talked to Jane Pak.

Then I asked Jack what had happened to our ball, which I had placed with Emma's things. Jack spotted it out on the field but refused to go get it without me. So I said I would go with him, but only if we could then kick it around for a while. We had been running and kicking the ball for maybe five minutes when Theo showed up and asked to play. Then Barasa and his little brother, and one other kid. I dropped out and the kids, including Jack played soccer for about 15 minutes. Ultimately, Jack picked up the ball and announced he was going home. The other kids found another ball and continued playing. I was elated because I have never seen Jack play soccer at all and I thought he acquitted himself pretty well. We stayed a short time while Jack interacted with Emma and tried to steal my keys, phone, gloves, and wallet.

At home, still no delivery despite the presence down the street of the UPS truck. We decided to go up to the clubhouse to make the time pass more quickly until the spaceship arrived. Jack did some digging, removing some of that tall grass around the bench. An hour and still no delivery. We read Hardy Boy books.

I got one of the Reader's Clubhouse books and Jack took quite an interest in it. We read it three times with Jack reading the word "hot" and paying close attention to the other words. He can now read the number 25 on the speed limit signs.

Suddenly it was time to go swimming and we hurried out with little fuss from Mr. Stay-at-home-all-day. At the pool, Jack was very active and has perfected his cannonball jump from the edge of the pool. We also swim across the pool with me underwater and Jack clinging to my swimming suit straps and also underwater. I can't really see what he does but he claims he takes a breath to the side half-way across the pool. He stays underwater for a very long time. He also dives down and retrieves rings from the bottom. Initially, he holds his nose, but forgets that after a while.

Theo's mother Judy thinks Jack and Theo are alike and suggested that we coordinate swimming in the Fall. She takes Theo to the Presidio YMCA where they have a pool that is 3 feet deep. I really like Judy and think this is a great idea.

Glenridge Camping Trip

Jack was really excited about the Glenridge camping trip. For days prior he had been asking which day the trip was, how long it was until the trip, etc.

He had packed up his stuff with Nana and Stacy the Thursday before and marveled at all the stuff we were taking with us on Friday.

The morning of the trip he was running around wondering when we were leaving and excitedly getting dressed. We managed to get everything together, have breakfast and get on the road by noon. We drove down 280 and enjoyed the scenic drive through La Honda and onto Pescadero road. The weather was sunny and Jack kept remarking on how it wasn't raining yet.

We finally got to the camping site and made our way to the "owls" section which went to bed later and woke up later in theory.

We found a spot & started trying to figure out how to set up the tents. Ericka tackled the challenge of Jack's cowboy tent with success and I did what I could to remember how to put up our tent and get the air mattress inflated.

Jack started running around excitedly and suddenly Amos was over in our area and the two of them started hatching their plan to elaborately flood our tent with pumped water. Jack had been talking about flooding our tent all week and had recruited various friends of his at Glenridge to participate.

The boys started running around and soon found other friends with light sabers and much whooping and hollering commenced. Ericka volunteered to take 4 of the kids down to the river and off they went. I went down to the larger camp area and brought down our stuff for dinner and whatnot. Then I went on down to the river.

Wow what a neat scene. Ericka and the boys had made their ways to a bank across the river that had a small eddy/pond area. The boys were all running around naked and it was just beautiful out with the sun shining. I made my way down to the river with Amos' mom and a couple other kids and we all rolled up our trousers and forded the river. It was really cold.

Jack met me and was scrambling over the rock walls and jumping in the water and finding rocks to bring to me to save and man, finally there were loads and loads of the Glenridge kids and parents all plowing down to the river and wow was there a ton of people cavorting down there.

Finally the sun went over the ridge and it got pretty cold and it was time to huff it back up the hill. Ericka helped Jack get back in his clothes and we made it up to the campground where basically the next 4 hours were spent with Jack tearing around the entire campsite with a differing crew of kids. Ericka and I hung out and watched the pig get cooked and all the food get prepped. Soon enough it was dinner time. I grabbed Jack a plate of fixings and got him seated with Amos and Liam and he ended up eating pretty well. Then, back to running around. Once it got pretty dusk-like I started shadowing them a bit.

One game they were playing involved climbing down a long hollow tree with the lantern. Frankly I was pretty surprised at how game Jack was for going down this rather scary thing. But he had no problem. Overall this trip was great for physical challenges for him, he really pushed himself to climb trees and explore and take risks.

The boys LOVED his tent. He and Liam and Amos spent loads of time sitting inside of it hiding from everyone and talking and they all wanted to sleep together in the tent.

Once it was really dark Jack took Amos to his tent and Jack got in his sleeping bed and announced he was going to sleep. Brandon was there with me and he got Amos off to his own tent. I asked Jack if he really wanted to sleep in his tent and he said no, so we got him into Ericka and my tent and I read a couple of chapters of Hardy Boys and he fell asleep.

Ericka and I stayed up for another hour or so and then headed to bed. I'm not gonna lie, three of us on the air mattress isn't fun. Gotta figure out a different solution for happy camping in the future. And of course in the middle of the night my back had had it so I got up and went to sleep in the car. I awoke to Jack tapping on the window to wake me up in the morning.

It was still early and the Owl camp hadn't quite awoken, so I got Jack in the back of the car and we talked and joked around for an hour or so. Then we got out and he ate 3 bowls of cereal and I started figuring out how to make coffee.

After a bit Ericka got up and Jack went off to run around with the boys again. E and I broke down camp & that took a bit. Around 9:30 Jack came running back crying. We sat down and he told me he had gotten hit in the head with a stick by Aribella and it really hurt. He was very upset and went and got himself strapped in the car and wanted to go home immediately.

We talked a bit and he settled down. The boys had been playing with sticks and light sabers all day and they had been chasing the Zoey, Aribella crew as well. Anyways, I'll check in on Jack & Aribella later this week at Glenridge to see how they're doing together. She's actually one of the girls that he likes to play with.

The next day when Maria asked him how he liked camping, he excitedly said he really liked it. But at the time, he was through.

E and I finished packing the car and we drove around saying goodbye to everyone. Liam's parents in particular are just awesome people and I think we all enjoyed hanging out with them. They'll be great to have at New Traditions and they're already lining up a camping trip at the same place for NT for next year!

We drove home, tired and dirty but happy!

Presidio Hike

Thursday Jack and I picked up Alex at the Jackson Street house and drove to Inspiration Point to eat lunch. Alex and Jack took a short hike down from the overlook, just enough to make Jack want more. So we drove Alex back to the house and then returned to Inspiration Point. As we walked down along the trail and into a forested area, I told myself I am the world's luckiest grandmother. Jack and I have so much fun together. And we get to enjoy this amazing national park.

A little further along the trail, Jack began to discover "Native American arrowheads." Taking a look at his treasures, I suggested that they actually looked more like bullets. Soon Jack's pockets were bulging. He called to me, "Do you know how excited I am"? We discussed why the bullets might be there. Jack decided that the army cleaned up most of the Presidio, but missed this spot. The soldiers might have been having a pretend fight. The bullet must be very old and that is why they are falling apart.

Jack has become very camera-adverse. This was the only shot I got where he wasn't turned away from me. Hope this is a passing phase.

We hiked for over an hour, returning to the car pretty tired. At home, we took a brief rest with Tibbles and then read most of another Hardy Boys book.

This weekend, Jack and Greg are going on a camping trip with Glenridge families. Jack has elaborate plans for filling Greg's tent with water.

Battery Chamberlin

Jack spent Friday night with Nana (Papa had to be at Sea Ranch). We had macaroni and cheese for dinner, read some Magic School Bus books, and played with Dobby, Jack's house elf. Because house elves do not like each other, Nana's elf Espresso went up to Sea Ranch with Alex.

On Saturday, we set out around 10:00 for Battery Chamberlin in the Presidio. Just above Baker Beach, this battery was completed in 1904 when it was armed with four 6-inch guns on "disappearing carriages." The guns recoiled and dropped down below the parapet so the crew could reload behind a concrete shield. The guns protected underwater minefields from enemy minesweepers. They had a range of 8 miles. These original guns were removed in 1917 for use in WWI. Through the years, other guns were installed and removed until WWII when soldiers manned the battery around the clock. They slept in the battery's magazine. A mess hall and more underground barracks were added. In 1948, all these batteries were deactivated and disarmed. The guns were scrapped. In light of the Cold War, these guns must have seemed quaint.

Today, there is one gun at the battery, which is demonstrated on the first full weekend of each month. Jack really liked this battery and of course wants to see a demonstration. Call 415-561-4323 to confirm. You can park right next to the battery, at the north end of the Baker Beach parking lot.

After walking all around the battery, speculating on what each building and window might have been, we climbed down to beautiful Baker Beach and ate our snack. What a spectacular place--Golden Gate Bridge to the right, Marin headlands directly across the channel, Sea Cliff to the left. The ocean roars in directly in front of you, each wave coming right at you. Plenty of people on the beach, but it does not seem crowded.

Jack wanted to see more batteries, so our next stop was the WWII Memorial to the over 400 military men who died in the waters off the US coast during WWII. Larry Halprin designed the surrounding landscape. We walked up the road looking for a battery shown on the map (Battery Saffold), but I think that one is behind a fence and overgrown with brush.

Back in the car, we drove to the batteries Alex found long ago. These are named Battery Godfrey, Battery Boutelle, Battery Marcus Miller, and Battery Cranston). Jack knows these well and led me to the one furtherest east where he wanted to climb down a rusty iron ladder. I decided I wasn't confident that I could get both of us down safely, disgusting Jack, who now thinks his grandmother is a wimp. Instead, we walked all the way around to get down to the lower levels. Jack will probably refer to these batteries as "Battery Dynamite," which is actually a little further south, but who could resist that name? We need to find a ranger who knows more about each of these batteries. They were mostly built between 1890 and 1904. Jack wants to visit all of them, including the ones on the Marin headlands.

Jack was now ready to go home to wait for his mother. Had a little lunch, read some more about Ms Frizzle, packed up, and greeted Stacy with delight.

I have found a great website with tons of information about Battery Chamberlin: http://www.militarymuseum.org/BtyChamberlin.html

This is a test post from my messaging on the iPhone

Jack exploring the SF bunkers

Bike riding in Glen Park

This is a picture from the first time we took the bikes out connected.
Pretty fun! Jack yelled to me as we were cruising down the street,
"this is fun! Why didn't I think of this before?"

Hidden Villa farm trip with Glenridge

Jack petted Emma an old sheep he met on the outting with Glenridge.

Gryffindor robes!

s.Super cute and cozy, too.

Ready for a bike ride!

Last Sunday Jack and I rode our bikes down to Paxton Gate on Valencia
St. This is the longest ride we've done so far. Jack said, "it's a
real bike ride!"

15 Seconds Under Water

Jack and I have been swimming every week for a long time. He has been afraid to put his face underwater and generally seemed to be making the slowest of progress learning to swim. But today, all that changed. After about 45 minutes of our usual play, he began to practice holding his breathe and then blowing bubbles. Then he announced he was going to put his face in the water. Next it was most of his head. And then he started going under water all the way and floating under water with his feet off the bottom of the pool! He did it again and again and again until I lost count. Finally, I timed how long he was staying under and it was 15 seconds! All this is without me touching him; he did it all on his own. I stayed close in case he wanted to grab me.

We were both excited and very proud. This is a real accomplishment. I'm especially pleased that he did it without any request for or promise of any kind of reward. Accomplishment is its own reward. Please congratulate our little swimmer.

Stacy is going to take Jack for a swimming lesson this weekend I think. Please ask the teacher what we should be working on next.

Jack's Poem

When Jack awoke this morning, he made up this poem:

I see an ear.

I see a head.

I see TT at the foot

of the bed.

TT is one of Tibbles many nicknames.

A bracelet from a best friend

Yesterday while I was working at Glenridge for a while I was sitting at the table where kids sit and make bracelets. It was a popular table for a while, mostly girls, busily making bracelets for themselves, their friends, their families.

Amos came over and sat down and started making a bracelet. Then he asked me what Jack's favorite color was. Red. Amos started a string of all read beads and butterflies. This is for Jack.

He finished it, I tied it off and Amos went and gave it to Jack. Through the rest of the afternoon at Glenridge (and all night) Jack wore the bracelet and would every now and again finger it and look at it.

When we got home and were getting Jack ready for bed, he put the bracelet in the very special things shelf that's right behind his bed that has all the little treasures he keeps over here. I remembered that we had the makings for a sports bracelet that Jack had brought over some months back. Jack and I talked about it and Jack described how he wanted to make it for Amos and how he wanted to bring it to Glenridge and leave it in Amos' cubby with a note.

We were talking about Amos being a friend of Jack's and Jack said, "He's my friend, he's my best friend!"

Telsquirt's requirements

Jack and Tibbles

This week Jack has been explaining to me a new fire service that he will be heading up. The name is "Telsquirt" and it has a two-fold mission: to rescue cats trapped up in trees and to fight bush fires. After he completes the clubhouse (which will be Telsquirt Headquarters), Papa is to build an engine for Telsquirt. The engine is to be a big wooden thing with red paint. Here are the requirements:

1. Water pump


2. Tank for water


3. Motor


4. Steering wheel


5. Board on the back for Nicholas to stand on, with a strap and handles


6. Hitches for hoses on the sides


7. Compartment for rope, helmet, lifeline harness for the cat


8. Doors that open


9. Tires


10. Bracket for hose


11. Button to turn on water and a hole for hose to attach to the water pump