A new kitchen!

Our backyard is almost done

The project had been going on for more than two months now: new stones around the pool, travertine tiles throughout most of the yard, outdoor kitchen, no more old deck floor but an open space, tree trimming (we were a bit upset with our contractor as he cut off the tops of our two young maple trees without our permission), new deck roof, new beam (the old one had termites), window leak fixed, new lawn, irrigation, new planting around the pool, lighting...a long list. It looks nice, and we have had Holly/James over for dinner two weeks ago.

sunset on Seabright beach

We visited the Seabright beach again last Sat. This time we arrived around 6pm. It was quite windy. Daddy and  the kids built a sand fortress while mommy walked the dog. 

Holly and James came to meet us on the beach.

Luca helps daddy cook pesto pasta

Same meal for both lunch and dinner. That’s how much the kids like it. Kudos to chef daddy and chef Luca.

fun Memorial Day weekend

We are still following the order of shelter in space. It’s a hot day today, about 30 degrees. A perfect beach day. San Cruz beaches are open before 11am and after 5pm, and other times only people doing water sports in the oceans are allowed.

We head out at 9 and arrive at Seabright Beach, a dog friendly place, at 9:30am. There are probably 150 to 200 people on the entire beach and in general everyone is pretty good at social distancing.

Luca gets really wet, so is Trevor who tries to protect Luca from getting into the water despite his discomfort of being in the water. Later the kids swim in a shallow area on the other side of the beach.

A California State ranger comes around 11am, telling people to leave through a speaker. 

In the afternoon, we have an art competition at home, where Maya wins with her drawing of fish. Daddy draws a Porsche and Luca a seascape. Mommy is the last with her pink tree ( with Maya's generous help and advice) as she has copied the idea from online rather than being original like the rest of the family. 

After a quick dinner, daddy and the kids play soccer at Houge while Trevor does fetch with mommy. It's so warm that even Trevor is less enthusiastic about his favorite game. 

In the evening, we play Ticket to Ride. Maya wins. Again!!! Luca is second. Mommy is the last. Again!!!??? The world is bit unfair towards Mommy, don't you agree?

Luca and pappa night August 31, 2019

Luca and I had an amazing evening watching San Jose Earthquakes vs Orlando City

Luca wanted hot dogs so we started out with some really huge and yummy hotdogs and a beer for daddy. Luca asked for his favorite Cheetos so we got a small bag. 

The backdrop was beautiful with the hilla glowing orange in the sunset and the occasional plan landing at the airport. 

We had awesome seats on the first row, close to the field. The game was great, Quakes Swedish player scored the first goal after just 3 minutes and Quakes won the match 3-0!

Mommy is away for her Macondo Writers work shop July 23-28, 2019

Mommy took off for her Macondo Writer workshop and daddy got to have Maya & Luca all to himself for the week!

Maya and Luca spent the days from 9-3pm at CD's art studio for Summer Art Camp while daddy tried to get some work done. Both Maya and Luca really enjoyed painting and creating art. Maya and Luca created lots of beautiful paintings, a bird house and a mosaic stepping stone for the garden!

Unfortunately our dear cat Leo got hit by a car on Friday morning. Luckily he showed up right as we were walking out the door and we could immediately tell he was injured. We took him to our vet but they referred us to the emergency clinic since the only vet on duty was in surgery. We got Leo checked in and set up for care and X-rays and then we went on to art camp and work for the day. We talked to the vet in the evening and he told us Leo had fractured his palate and injured his eye. Considering the circumstances it was a very fortunate outcome that didn't require any surgery.

We got to come visit Leo on Saturday morning and he looked a lot better but still wasn't able to eat and was in a lot of pain so we decided to let him stay another night with IV-fluids and pain meds so he could recover a bit more.

We cheated a LOT and had Pizza-My-Heart for dinner one night, the next night we had In-n-Out burgers and Friday night we went to our favorite Pho-place. We snuck in some ice cream as well! :)

On Saturday, after visiting Leo first thing in the morning, we headed out for an 11 mile bike ride along Los Gatos Creek. We had a great time together and really enjoyed the morning ride.

The rest of the day was spent painting a beautiful birthday gift for mommy and writing her a nice birthday card. After a lot of work and emotions we finally got it all done! Hope mommy likes it as much as we do!