April Wrap Up

As April comes to a close, I realize that I am forgetting to take the camera with me a lot of the time. For example, ever since Steve started his job here we have meant to take a picture of his view from work, but it was only recently that we actually remembered to do this on a clear day. This is the view from his building, just down the hall from his office. If you look in the distance you can make out the Golden Gate Bridge, which is shrouded in fog and cloud a lot of days, and other days much clearer than this. His bike commute to work is almost 45 min of climbing but it makes for a quick trip home, and he is still really enjoying being on his bike every day. 

The kids and I often sit on our front steps for snacks. This was a smoothie day.

 This was a popcorn on the couch day...

 ... I'm not sure if she's smiling or showing me the popcorn stuck in her teeth.

My good friend Erin is due with her second baby any day now, so a few weeks ago we had their little boy Ian, who is close to Ross in age, stay with us overnight while she and her husband got a night away. We all had a lot of fun and Ian did really well.  Erin and I also went to a concert for The Alabama Shakes (with Neko Case opening - our main draw!) a few weeks ago. It was at an outdoor theater in Berkeley and it was beautiful to see the stars coming out as night fell and the music started. She and I also went to see the broadway show The Book of Mormon in San Francisco one weekend, with tickets from her dad for her birthday. It was my first time seeing a musical, and I always love a trip to the city.

Often on weekends, we try to get one-on-one time with both kids, since it rarely happens in the week.   One weekend, Steve and Madeleine went ice skating, another time Steve and Ross went to the little steam train, and this past weekend, Steve and Ross did a tour of hardware stores while Madeleine and I took the BART into San Francisco and got ice cream. It was so fun to have a big city adventure with her!

Beaches, Strawberries, and more Beaches

We continue to have nearly endless days of sun and clear skies so we have gotten out for a few day trips on these March weekends. Below are a few pictures from Muir Beach, which has some trails in the surrounding hills. The kids walked for awhile but when we wanted to keep going and they wanted to stop, into the backpacks they went.

Here you can see Muir Beach in the background:

 Looking south towards San Francisco:

At home, both kids love getting the paints out or other crafty pastimes. Ross is left-handed in almost everything.

Using our charcoal barbecue hasn't been very practical, so we ended up getting this little propane one. Steve is super excited to be able to bbq again and I am super excited to have him make more dinners.

This past Sunday we drove almost two hours south along the coastal Highway 1 and went to Swanton's Strawberry Farm. It is just the start of the strawberry picking season but they were yummy and plentiful and the kids loved it.  The only part we didn't love was joining the rest of the crowds driving home on Sunday evening. The Bay Area traffic is notoriously busy and even 20 miles out of San Francisco we were just crawling along.

And of course, another beach stop on the way home!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa!

Steve's parents came to visit for the first two weeks of February. Here are some of our favourite pictures from their visit. 

Grandma Georgia came with nearly two suitcases full of gifts for Madeleine and Ross, including lots of new Thomas the Tank Engine buildings, engines, and track. The kids (and Steve - chief track builder) love playing with the train track and they were all excited to get new pieces. 

Madeleine got two new dolls, and here they are with her first doll (named Baby Theo). Despite initially wanting to name the new dolls Baby Theo as well, she eventually decided on Elsa and Jelly.

The kids were excited to take Grandma and Grandpa to the little steam train.  Here they are waiting for the train to leave the station.

We made the most of the warm winter weather and went to Ocean Beach (not something you can do in Canada in February).

While Ross loved digging in the sand, M ran in and out of the water giggling and having so much fun.

After the beach, we drove to the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a visitor centre and lots of walkways around the south end of the bridge.

One of the days Steve was at work, we met up with my friend Erin and her little boy at Blake Gardens. This is one of our favourite places to go with the kids, and it was fun to share it with Don and Georgia.

 Madeleine and Grandma playing with her dolls during one of Ross's nap times.

Grandpa spent a lot of time reading to the kids in this chair. Ross especially loved picking out a few books and bringing them over for Grandpa to read.

Grandma and Madeleine made a cake for Mommy's birthday!

The Little Farm is another one of our favourite spots. Grandpa Don got to feed cows celery (probably for the first time ever) and teach the kids how mean roosters can be.

We spent a day at Fisherman's Wharf, where Madeleine's highlights were definitely the ice cream and the carousel.

Don and Georgia got to experience a pearl ceremony, at a store on Pier 39, where they picked out an oyster, tapped it three times, and rubbed the pearl in their hands. Georgia also picked out a beautiful gold pendant setting for their pearl.

And finally, no visit would be complete without a little garage time!

We all had such a great visit and the kids absolutely loved having Grandma and Grandpa here. We look forward to their next trip to California!

Happy Birthday, Ross!

We celebrated Ross' 2nd birthday a couple of days early this year, since I will be flying to Ontario on his actual birthday. I am going to a friend's wedding and then meeting up with one of my best high school friends in Montreal for a few days. 

Ross woke up to birthday decorations and he and M started playing with the balloons right away. M had woken up nearly an hour before him, and was also super excited to see the decorations. She quickly decided to put all of his favourite toys on the kitchen table for him.  

To celebrate, the three of us went to the Oakland Zoo, and despite seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, camels, and even an alligator, the highlights were still the goats (which you could pet), and the little race car ride. Ross was adamant that he wanted to go on the race car ride, even though M was adamant she did not want to go with him, and parents were not allowed. But he quite happily went on the ride by himself and took the steering very seriously.

This afternoon the kids helped me make a chocolate cake, and Ross looked at all the colours of food dye and picked yellow for his icing.

A note on the birthday hats - Ross had been talking about hats ever since he realized his birthday was coming up, because in one of our Thomas the Train storybooks, it is Thomas' birthday and they are all wearing party hats.  I made sure to get some for his party, but Ross wore his hat for all of 5 seconds before declaring "ouchy" and then refused to put it back on. 

It was a fun birthday - fun to see him enjoy it, fun to see Madeleine shower him with love and excitement, and fun to see how much he has changed in this past year.  The kids are also excited for this coming week, as Grammie and Grandpa are coming back to visit and help out while I'm away.

Kenneth Henry Cordes

My grandpa passed away on Sunday morning, January 11th, three days before his 93rd birthday.  I will always treasure the time I had with him - not only as a kid spending time on their sailboat and at their condo, but also as an adult when he was always interested in what we were doing. I remember him teaching me about weather, flying, algebra, typing, the Bible... I remember going for regular swims with him down at the Clubhouse (the condo's pool), and then playing pool with him - a game he taught me how to play. Then in the evenings, playing Rumikub with him and Grandma. I remember him teaching me about finances, the stock market, and how to save for retirement. I remember his stories about three little ducks named Quacky, Wacky, and Sacky, which I now tell to my kids. 

When I brought Steve home to meet the family, I quickly realized that he and my grandpa had a lot in common. Not only are they both quiet, gentle, humble, and very intelligent people, but they also shared a lot of common interests. Grandpa took a keen interest in Steve's telescope making, and they both appreciated the engineering and mechanical side of life. Steve had a keen interest in his service in WW2, and Grandpa never tired of telling his war and flying stories.

He lost his sight to macular degeneration over the last ten years, and gradually had to give up his favourite pastimes of reading and playing free cell on the computer. He also lost a lot of his hearing due to all his years as a pilot, and used a set of headphones with a microphone device to hear people better.

After my grandma died in April, we spent a lot of time with Grandpa and recorded a lot of his war and flying stories. I'm so thankful we did that when he was still so healthy and his memory still so sharp. In the last couple of months he started to decline quickly, mostly in his memory and clarity of thought, but eventually in his body too. I went to see him two days before he passed away, spending only a night and part of the next day there before flying back. He was unresponsive, but I am so thankful to be living close enough that I could help care for him in that short time, hold his hand, shout into his good ear, "I love you", and say goodbye.  He gave so much time, love, and attention to me over my life, and it is still so strange to think of my life without him.  But, my grandparents both set a wonderful example for me to follow, and I know I will think of them often.

Christmas in California

We were so happy to have family with us for our first Christmas in California. Grammie Jean knit stockings for everyone, to match the ones that my Great Grandma had knit for our family many, many years ago.

Our living room on Christmas Eve... a bit different from our Kiwi Christmases!

On Christmas morning, the kids were so happy with their new paints from their stockings that they did not realize all the presents under the tree were for them.

Here is Uncle Matt reading to Ross on Christmas Day. Matt and Kristin flew out from London, Ontario, and stayed with Matt's brother, who lives about 30 minutes from here.

Ross and Grandpa reading in the sun... Ross would be happy if someone would just sit and read with him all day long.

Matt and Kristin brought some Christmas crackers which came with little whistles that played eight different notes and instructions on how to play carols. Pretty wild for a Hoffmann Christmas!

Ross helping screw together a wooden truck trailer made by Grandpa Mark.

Madeleine loves the horses and wooden fence from Grandpa and Grammie.

She also loves her new doll from Grandma Georgia and Grandpa Don. The doll, whom M has named "Jelly", spends most of her time in a blue carrier case that once belonged to Steve's sister Julie.

Kristin stayed with us for a few days and we all went to Angel Island one day. It is a state park accessible by ferry, and has a little cafe and beautiful views of the mainland.

Looking towards Tiburon, where we caught the ferry to the island.

On the ferry ride back to Tiburon... both kids a bit tired after lots of walking.

On Kristin's last morning with us, we made gingerbread cookies.

 

Ross is nearly two years old, and really does exercise his right to change moods on a dime. The pictures below show a typical transformation from happy-busy boy to end-of-the-world and life-is-so-unfair boy. I think this particular outburst came after we took away the bowl of icing he was starting to devour.