This past Wednesday, Audrey's 2nd grade class took a field trip out to Scout Island. I got to go along as a chaperone. Scout Island (and the surrounding land) is an area protected by law against any development, digging, tampering, etc. It surrounds a stretch of the San Joaquin River, at the north-west side of town (Herndon to VanNess, and then further north, around and behind Fig Garden Golf Club). Audrey's class had a great day, searching for bugs in the river, animal tracks along the sand banks, going for a nature walk, and drawing nature scenes with pastels. They ended their day with a late lunch before taking the bus back to school where they journaled about the day! Audrey and one of her drawings. Audrey with her teacher, Mrs. Belcher, and a bunch of classmates.
This past weekend we enjoyed a quick trip to Oakland. Randy was asked a couple weeks ago to give a presentation on joint care for a Hemophilia Conference at Oakland Children's Hospital. The Foundation booked him a hotel room Friday night, so we all came along! As soon as Randy got home from work we hopped in the van, stopped at In-N-Out Burger for dinner, and drove to Pleasanton to stay the night. We were hoping the hotel had an indoor pool (an exciting activity when it's not summer), but they didn't. However, since we didn't have to pay for the hotel, I was NOT complaining. Instead, we just checked out sooner than planned, ate a quick breakfast at Denny's, and got an earlier start on our visit to the Oakland Zoo. I am so glad that we did! This is a fantastic zoo with activities, play areas, and exhibits suitable for very young kids! And since we're members at the Chaffee Zoo here in Fresno, we got 1/2 off the admission price! Randy joined us for the first hour and then headed up the 580 a couple miles to give his presentation. The weather was pretty cold and windy, but we were dressed accordingly. We also got some light rain in the late afternoon, but had a fun time ducking under the canopy near the monitor lizard for a snack break. Our highlight of the day was watching the alligators get fed! It was uncanny how close we were to the humongous animals. It just didn't seem right. When Randy returned 3 hours later we still hadn't seen everything! The kids had a fun time running back to some of their favorite areas to show Dad what they'd seen or done. We left the zoo as they were closing at 4 o'clock and let each kid pick out a small memento from the gift shop.
On the way home, we stopped at Pyzano's Pizzeria in Castro Valley for a slice of award-winning, world-famous pizza! It's just a hole in the wall restaurant at a strip mall off the freeway! And no reservations needed...just walk on in! How did we even know about this place? Well, after deciding to visit the Oakland zoo, I googled restaurants in the surrounding area for dinner and found this article. It caught my eye immediately...I recognized the picture! I went to my cookbook cupboard and pulled out my recipe folder, full of articles I've torn out from past Sunset and Cooking Light magazines. I had torn out this exact article from Sunset magazine in March 2004! When I first read about Tony Gemignani and his pizza, I decided to give his recipes a try and made the dough and sauce for Audrey's 3rd birthday party. We (myself and all the guests) had a great time tossing the dough ourselves, just like the article said. It turned out fantastic! I've used his recipe every time since. The original article did note that his restaurant is in Castro Valley, but I had no idea where that was. Now realizing that it was a town just south of Oakland, I called the phone number in the article to get directions. We were not dissappointed! It's just your normal pizza place, with TVs on the wall, arcade games in the back, plastic mugs filled with soda and beer. It just also happens to have a dozen or so pizza awards framed and on the walls, as well as pictures of famous people posing with Tony and his brother (co-owners) that have come to eat the pizza. The kids got some balls of pizza dough to play with at the table while we were waiting for our order...fun idea! And after we filled our tummies with gooey, cheesy bread-sticks, soda, and scrumptious pizza pie, we loaded back up in the van and headed home. A quick, but wonderful weekend getaway!
On this, the first day of spring, I thought I'd look back at our snow pictures and post some you haven't seen. Randy went up snowshoeing with friends twice this winter, in January with Rod McNeely and Aaron Wiens, and again with Rod in February. I never posted any pictures then, so I thought I'd share with you some of the great pictures he took when up in the snowy mountains. A sunny January day in Kings' Canyon (Rod, Randy and Aaron hiked up to Panoramic Point) A cloudy, cold day in February. Overlooking Hume Lake from the top of the Nordic Ski Trail Loop. Rod and Randy started from Cherry Gap. This last picture overlooks the valley, and you can see in the distance the coastal mountains! We had such clear skies all winter!
that since Isaac's field trip day was "special", I wanted him to wear jeans. Not sweats, not basketball pants, NOT SHORTS, jeans. He, of course, reasoned that since they'd be walking to the station, he needed shorts. (By the way, this was a battle practically every cold day in the fall. Finally, the first day of winter, we told Isaac that it was "school rule" that he wear pants in the winter. Consequently, he thinks he can wear shorts every day as of March 20) As we walked out the door, I thought I'd won the battle. Halfway to school I notice his jean pockets are sticking out, "Hey buddy, let's tuck your pockets in." I reach over to try and stuff them in and get quite a bit of resistance. I lift up his shirt to reveal his shorts stuffed UNDER his jeans. I bet he thinks he won, I thought to myself. So I warned Mr. Dawson when I got to school not to let him sneak off to the bathroom in the morning and take his pants off. When I showed up two hours later for the trip, sure enough, Mr. Dawson said he tried, but his jeans were still on...team effort!
This past Tuesday Isaac's class got to walk over to Fire Station 11 for a tour! Going on a field trip is a huge treat in itself, but to visit Station 11 is a special treat. Station 11 has the only certified rescue team (complete with special truck and boats) between Los Angeles and Stockton. Because of this, they do not normally allow groups to come and tour (I've tried many times to make appointments for our mom's group and they always tell me this same thing). I guess they make a special exception for the elementary school that shares their "backyard". Captain Bob did a great job showing the kids around, explaining what a fireman does, how the station works, and all the cool tools they use! Firefighter Steve also showed the kids how a firefighter prepares for a fire, from hearing the bell and the call, to getting dressed in his uniform, mask and helmet. Isaac asking Captain Bob a question. The Jaws of Life Isaac walking through the fire truck.
With spring-like weather on the horizon, blossoms everywhere on the trees, warmer days and greener grass, we are getting outside a lot more! This week Violet cannot get enough of the swing in the backyard! Being a couple months older, and stronger from her gymnastics, she loves to hold on tight and ask for "higher, higher" while giggling and giggling. Violet also has a new friend, Rosco. He's imaginary. Most times he's a dog, sometimes a boy, but he goes everywhere with Violet. Yesterday she assured me he had his seatbelt on in the car with us. And the day before he sat under the dinner table with us, in his crate. Isaac accidentally referred to him as Rascal yesterday and Violet quickly corrected him. It's quite entertaining. Although Audrey and Isaac have great imaginations, it is always used in conjunction with toys or dolls. We'll see how long Rosco sticks around.
This past Wednesday, Audrey's 2nd grade class took a field trip out to Scout Island. I got to go along as a chaperone. Scout Island (and the surrounding land) is an area protected by law against any development, digging, tampering, etc. It surrounds a stretch of the San Joaquin River, at the north-west side of town (Herndon to VanNess, and then further north, around and behind Fig Garden Golf Club). Audrey's class had a great day, searching for bugs in the river, animal tracks along the sand banks, going for a nature walk, and drawing nature scenes with pastels. They ended their day with a late lunch before taking the bus back to school where they journaled about the day! 
Audrey and one of her drawings. 
Audrey with her teacher, Mrs. Belcher, and a bunch of classmates.
