Spring has arrived in the Bay! Those of our friends back in New England may be wondering what a NorCal spring is like. Well, there are essentially two seasons here in the Bay. They basically correlate to May and September in Massachusetts. We occasionally get a few days in the summer that are about like late-June in Boston (without the humidity) and every so often a winter day or two that correlates to early November. Otherwise, it's low 70s sunny, pretty dry, and gets breezy in the afternoon. It's a hard life. Huh... I just had a moment of déjà vu, which means I've probably bored you all with that joke before.
It's been a rough couple months with lots of travel for Mom and Dad. I had to head back to New England for a week to visit with my family. My dad had a couple significant operations and my step father, who had been battling cancer for years, had to go on hospice care. My Dad is now doing much better, but unfortunately my step dad passed away a few days after I returned California. Tom was a great guy and will be missed. Very glad I got a chance to get back to see him for a last visit.
This month (currently) Elaine is off in Merry Old England looking at old buildings. That means I'm taking my first crack at single fatherhood for double digit days -- eleven to be precise. I've done several two to three day stretches and even a five day stretch in the past with no major incidents. I'm on day three as I write this post...
March 2013 - M&M motoring along.
On a health note, you may recall that Milo was due to have eye surgery this month. We brought him in, but because he had a cold the docs decided to postpone surgery. He'll probably head back in to Children's in mid-April for the procedure. We'll keep you all informed.
Woodminster Cascade, Oakland Feb 2013
You might remember the above staircase from an earlier post in August 2010 (see http://miloandmadeline.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-steps.html). Hard to believe that was 2.5 years ago. The kids easily climbed the stairs on this day and they went on to hike for another hour after that.
Done with stairs and off to the trails.
Grappling with arduous obstacles.
One of the very nice things about Alameda is the close proximity to the Oakland Zoo. As anyone who's seen the blog has noticed, the kids visit the Zoo and the little amusement park attached to it about once a month. It never gets old.
The gratuitous little car shot.
Train ride at the Zoo.
Maddy and Dad at home - March 2013.
Both kids are still on training wheels, but Maddy is getting closer to mastering a two wheeler. We haven't been able to work on it more than once a week of late, but I'm hoping to get back on it full tilt in the next few weeks. Milo was much less interested in bicycles, but yesterday the kids came down to Monterey and watched me do a bike race and that seems to have rekindled some interest in the bike. We'll see...
Above: Milo gets in the picture with Team Stage 1 (West) at the Monterey CCCX Mountain Bike Race on March 23, 2013. (Yes, I need new sunglasses.) Later, Maddy informed me she wanted to try a little kids' bike race. Sounds almost (but not quite) as good as her wanting to kayak.
A fine spring day at Crab Cove Beach in Alameda. March 2013. Despite very cold water, chilly air, and a promise not to go in more than ankle deep, the kids couldn't resist getting soaked.
M&M playing with neighborhood friends (back to front): Milo, Emma, Mason, Sierra, Maddy, and Robert.
Of course, no spring is complete without a visit to Happy Hollow in San Jose, still the reigning champion of small kids theme parks. Above, M&M model their sweet new shades before heading off to the rides -- March 17, 2013.
First up was a family trip on the roller coaster, which made for a pretty nice little video.
After a long day at Happy Hollow, Milo catches a few winks in the car.
With Elaine away for the next week, I've found that few things bring consolation like ice cream.
See you next time.
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