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29 October 2007
	Walking the kids to school this morning we spy a meter maid's car parked in front of a fire hydrant. Of course, if *I* did that.... One of the kids snaps a picture of me in the Kaiser waiting room. It was time for them to get their annual FluMist nasal spray. No ten days with high fever for our kids. Mark Pinder at Hapkido, practicing with the long staff. Caroline Kang taking a break during boxing class.
28 October 2007
	There's been a long-standing ban on parking cars on city streets with For Sale signs in them. At least in some places. Here, on Mission Street, we see several of San Francisco's finest ticketing all the cars being sold by one enterprising Latino. He wasn't too happy about this hit to his bottom line. He was running ahead of them, trying to get the signs off. Some of them were stuck inside the cars, and he didn't seem to have the keys handy, sadly (for him).
27 October 2007
	On the way to Domo's wedding in Tilden Park I realized that the iPhone directions were only to the park, not to Brazil House. This friendly - and fast - bike rider gave us an escort directly to our destination. Lila, at Hapkido's Parent's Night Out. It's ten at night, and she's still full of vigor. Lila's late-night iPhone self portrait.
26 October 2007
	Lila and Isaac at the swimming pool; free swim day for all!
25 October 2007
	It's swim class day. Lila has moved into the advanced class, and has the most precise and languid crawl I've ever seen. The coach sends her down the lane and then tells the rest of the advanced class exactly how to mimic her. She's by far the youngest, and he's caught her before she's developed any bad habits. Both kids love being in the pool, and we try to have them there as often as possible. Here's Lila in mid-air; Isaac watches.
23 October 2007
	Isaac's cartography: in class they're doing relief maps of the San Francisco Bay Area. The large map at right was rescued by Rose from the school years ago. I cut out the cardboard square to show the area the kids are modelling.
22 October 2007
	Lila in the school-yard, with one of her best friends. The lighting of The Pumpkin House each year heralds the coming of Halloween. Every time we pass it by, on Clarendon Street, we scream and gape.
21 October 2007
	It's Tikkun Olam (Saving the World) day at the kids Hebrew Sunday school, and we're doing a beach clean-up. Folks from all over the world will be doing the same thing today or tomorrow. One of the quirks of the iPhone camera is how it pulls the image from the CCD. If you move the camera while you're taking a picture it comes out strangely. The clean-up crew, with the Rabbi raising his hands in the background. Isaac, in the dunes by the beach. It's time for a concert at our synagogue: Magain David Sephardim.
20 October 2007
	Isaac and Lila play with a neighbor's dog in the parking lot. From a young age the kids have learned about "doggy hand" and other dog behavior. That's really useful in an urban setting.
19 October 2007
	It's our school's semi-annual Beautification Day, and, while I won't be able to make it, I drop off some gardening implements for them to use. It's Fitness Day at the school. Because of heavy mist and light rain the excursion to the park is cancelled in favor of holding a mini-event on the school-yard. At a party Dave Sopchak shows off making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. Tres cool. The birthday boy, blowing out the candles.
15 October 2007
	Isaac at visit to the orthodontist: both kids are enraptured with Game Boys. Silence in the office :-) Hapkido red belt results: both Lila and I pass! Yea! This was a long time in coming; six months of work plus a couple of holidays during which we forgot what we learned. We took the first advanced class right after this was posted; what an exhausting and exhilarating class. Lila chose the venue for our celebration. She and Isaac agreed upon Benihana, in Japantown. She wanted me to strike a pose.... Benihana chef Chely, whom we've seen before, make the beating heart for our table.
14 October 2007
	At the Oakland Zoo there's a small amusement ride area (which the kids love). So we headed on over after the kids' Hebrew School. The ski ride, from which one can see many of the animals in the zoo, is a big hit. Rose follows our progress on foot, giving us progress reports the whole way. She got pretty far up the hill before she hit that dead end.
13 October 2007
	We've borrowed Mindy & Neil's SUV so we can take all six of us to the Sacramento Train Museum, a favorite of Isaac's. We stop at a long-time favorite, Redrum Burger in Davis. (It used to be called Murder Burger, before a squabble between owners ended that.) Sad to say, the burgers are now horrible. Thin patties, probably frozen, have replaced the large fresh slabs of ground meat that made this place famous. The shakes are still good, but not worth the stop anymore. Sob, sob. With an In-n-Out burger shop near-by, and the quality plummeting here, Redrum Burger is not long for this world, I suspect. At this display there's a video camera mounted on the front of one of the trains. The view, sent to a near-by monitor, is a favorite of ours. While chatting with a volunteer I mentioned how cool (and relatively easy) it would be to stream that onto the Internet. (This museum is a natural for streaming video; they've got so many perfect sources.) There are Two Cattlemen's restaurants bracketing Sacramento; one just to the north, another south. It's become our family tradition - whenever we head through that area, be it Lake Tahoe, Reno, Burning Man, or Sacramento - to stop here and wait out rush-hour traffic. Rose figured a great veggie alternative to the big meat: a side of sweet potatoes with maple butter and another side of veggies. It was really good. That's what I'm getting next time. Isaac, "working" at Cattlemen's: he's found quite the niche. He sits himself by the pager controls, keeps an eye on the goings-on, and when a new customer arrives he tells the staff the next pager number, enables it, and when the customer is to be seated, they tell him which number to activate, he does, and he returns the pager back to the pool. He loves it, they do too, and the customers have no idea what's going on. Perfect, no?
10 October 2007
	Isaac, on the playground during recess. That's Coach Drew in the foreground and his teacher, Ms. B., in the background. The Sports4Kids program - at least as implemented by Coach Drew - is unbelievable. Such a better alternative to what I recall Physical Education as being. Lila started guitar class today, not because of a deep love of music, but because her classmate Alejandro told her he'd gift her even more "treasures". She seems to be enjoying the class, though, so it's all good (by me).