Under the Lemon Tree: June 2015

Summer is here! Alex and Zachy have a week and a half between school and summer school, and we are going to make sure that time is packed with fun!

To start off the week, on Monday we went to the zoo. It was probably too hot for a zoo trip, but we tried to have fun anyway. Do you think they are the spiders or the trapped insects?

Yep, definitely too hot. How can you tell? Even the savannah animals are standing around in the shade.

Mady was so excited to go on the rides with her brothers. She was smiling like this the entire time!

To finish off the day, a nice cold treat!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Mady invited Zachy to join her at preschool. Zachy said he wanted to go to school and be a helper, but I think he really wanted to have fun! Wednesday was Mady's last day of school, and Alex joined her for the end of year party.

Teacher Elizabeth, Mady, Teacher Renate

Mady also started saying her name as "Ma De" instead of "Ma" (a like the a in at)!

Last year, right after we moved in, Grandpa Prather said he didn't think we'd get our car into the garage. Well, he's coming to visit soon, so we have been working hard to get the car in the garage!

We did it! Clearly, there is still a lot of work to be done, but the car is definitely in the garage. That said, we decided that we didn't really like having the car in the garage. Mady, Alex, and Zachy helped me scrub the garage floor clean (twice for good measure) and when it was dry, we put down a fun carpet, hung some curtains and made a Kid Cave!

This is a much better use of space for us. The kids can go out to their hang out and be a bit louder than in the house, and they all really enjoy playing out there!

Friday was the last day of Mady's Music Together class, and her teacher always welcomes the kids' older siblings when they have a day off from school. Alameda schools finished up on Thursday, so there was a huge crowd in music class!

On the last day of the session, we are encouraged to bring our own instruments from materials around the house. Usually we forget, or don't have time to create anything, but this time the stars aligned, and the kids made tambourine/maracas.

At least one of the kids is humoring me during the lullaby.
After a nap, and a change of clothes, Mady set up a tea party.

Yep, it was that kind of a tea party.

And then, after dinner, Grammy and Grandpa arrived!

Saturday morning, while the boys were showing off their awesome hockey skills, Mady joined the sibling league.

For lunch, we had to go to Grammy's choice, Bubba Gump's at Fisherman's Wharf.

And then a ride on the carousel. The fruit stand had Rainier Cherries, so we had a little snack before heading back home.

After so much fun on Saturday, we kept it more simple on Sunday and took Grammy and Grandpa to Zachy's favorite Mexican brunch and Alex showed them his new kung fu skills, complete with sword.

Monday was another big day and we headed back into San Francisco. We spent the day exploring the Maritime Museum and completing the Junior Ranger booklet. The junior ranger program included the indoor museum and the pier across the street that had quite a few historic ships to tour. And a beached rowboat!

Learning about the Gold Rush

Getting nowhere, fast

One of the pages of the Junior Ranger book was a scavenger hunt list. I was pretty confident that we wouldn't see any swimmers in the bay. Boy was I wrong! In a cove in front of the rowboat, there were quite a few swimmers, and they weren't wearing wet suits!

We also stopped by Ghirardelli Square for sundaes!

Not a sundae, but a mermaid fountain

Grammy and Grandpa had to go back to Maryland on Tuesday. We sure did have fun with them on their whirlwind visit!

To celebrate the last day of mini summer vacation, we went to the Spaghetti Factory for an early dinner. Alex and Zachy wanted to eat in the trolley. Since the trolly only has tables of 4 or 2, we decided to split up. Yummy spaghetti!