Monica turned 12 today and we celebrated with a dinner at a local Chinese restaurant followed by some cake and presents back home. Everyone gets so excited no matter who gets the presents. The cookies and cream ice cream cake was popular with everyone. Monica had a bit of trouble with the trick candles Charlotte used. We nearly set off the smoke alarm. I think Monica really enjoyed all her presents. Books, movies, an umbrella for school, a new backpack, a figurine, and a few others. ...

Monica is doing the Gothic witch thing this year. She came upstairs to show me her costume while I was working on the computer, and I was totally freaked out. I immediately had very scary visions of the teenager to be. Of course I calmly told her she looked great. Meanwhile Gabe is still looking cute as a button in his snake costume. Charlotte took them down to the wharf during the day as a warmup for the real event later tonight. There’s even a couple of classic Woodies behind them. Later that evening we walked around the local streets and then hooked up with the Peysers to collect a bit more candy on the other side of the neighborhood. ...

These photos were taken a few days before Halloween, or as our neighbors call it, ‘The Devil’s Holiday’. Annabel dressed up as a pink poodle for Halloween (sorry no photos of that - duh!) and got lots of candy. She smells each one for a hint of peanut butter. Annabel cannot tolerate peanut butter in any form or fashion. Funny stuff!

Another birthday arrives for the Nick man. Plenty of presents including books, Playstation games, and Lego creatures. His favorite meal includes a ridiculous amount of matzah brie and sour cream. A nice big cake tops it all off.

Nibble’s favorite person has got to be Nick. It’s easy to see why when he’s treated just like another member of the family. All the kids enjoy a juice box when they’re thirsty.

Gabe was very excited about heading out to Ohlone Day over at Henry Cowell park in Felton. I guess it was a big deal at school and he was particularly interested in the spear throwing he had heard about. We brought Doug along to make sure the day was a big success. First stop is a demonstration of starting a fire without a match or a flame thrower. Gabe’s attention appears to be drifting as the guy is taking way too long to get the fire going. ...

Nick is doing cross country again this year and their first meet is over at SLV.

We headed out to the boat show in Oakland again this year. It was plenty of fun as usual, and I’m drooling over a new fishing boat called a C-Dory these days. After spending the night at Jack London Square, we headed down to visit with George and his family. Charlotte went out for a hike with George and Ellen over at Crystal Springs. Back at the their new house in Hillsborough the rest of the crew entertains themselves with media and Maddie. Charlotte can’t resist a picture of Valri’s colorful wine glasses. ...

The new wetsuits have been getting a lot of action lately. The usual routine after a day in the surf is to hose them off and then let them hang to dry. The tree out front is out of the sun and does the job nicely.

Time for another fun day down at the beach, but this time we’ve got a huge group joining us. There were a million kids and many of our good friends. The heat wave made for a great day and plenty of people didn’t even bother with wetsuits. I really enjoyed hanging out with Jan and Teren too.