Our Little Florence Nightingale

Audrey had her first oral report this month! It was a biography report and she chose Florence Nightingale. We've always pictured our little girl growing up to be a nurse so it was a lot of fun to research and write this report with her. We learned so much about Ms. Nightingale (her work to improve and standardize hospital cleaning and care practices, her love to kitties and her nickname, The Lady with the Lamp) and, thankfully, a good friend had a perfect outfit for us to borrow for Audrey's presentation.

 Our little nurse standing among (from left to right) Thomas Edison, Beatrix Potter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Harriet Tubman and Johnny Appleseed!

She did such a good job putting the report in her own words and practicing reading it aloud to our family before she presented to her class. She did a GREAT job!

Our BIG Backyard

We are very fortunate to live within a short walk of some very expansive open space. We like to think of it as our big backyard...and justification for our enormous property tax bill. Directly behind our neighborhood it is mostly pasture land with huge, gorgeous, centuries old oaks. But across the road (accessible by underground tunnel) the terrain is steeper, more wooded and home to some very interesting discoveries. Corey and the girls went exploring one afternoon and after visiting the stone labyrinth someone else created they decided to make their own rock art. Once they were finished they sent location clues to some friends to see if they could find it. They accepted the challenge, found it and then created their own nearby. It will be fun to see how long their creations last.

Warrior Game!

Corey gets free tickets to at least one Warriors game a season thanks to his generous boss and this year he chose to take Natalie as his lucky date. She was so excited to wear her new Warriors hat and spend the evening with Daddy and Draymond! And about three quarters of the way through the game my phone just lit up with texts from friends and family because the camera panning the audience stopped on her and she was famous for about four or five seconds! So fun!

 Natalie spotted "Sweater Mom" and they snapped

a photo. Sweater Mom is at all the Warriors games,

dancing a little gig of her own invention

in the stands while wearing a hideous 

colorful team sweater!

 Our famous girl on TV!

 And a peek at Corey!

Weekend in Reno

The girls and I headed over the hill for a quick visit with GGMa. We had a great time together but I failed to snap a photo of all of us. I did happen to take this one when we were struggling to keep up with her at Safeway. She can walk faster than all of us. Still. In other words, she's doing fantastic!

 We wandered through the neighborhood to check out the Truckee River one afternoon and stopped to see the wagon that's fascinated me for ages. We've started watching Little House on the Prairie episodes with the girls and so the wagon I make them visit for my nostalgia might have actually meant a little to them this time.

Daddy Daughter Day in the City

Corey and the girls headed into the city last Saturday for some adventuring. After taking BART into the city, they walked to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, hit a few of their favorite parks, including Washington Square Park and Levi Plaza, hiked up 400 steps to enjoy the view from Coit Tower, explored North Beach and Chinatown and even looped through Union Square! They put some miles on their shoes, that's for sure.

They also ran into a few of Audrey's twin friends which made the day all the better. So fun!

Happy New Year!

Cannot believe it's 2018. Cannot believe we stayed up to see it arrive. Cannot believe we had the kids with us and let them stay up to see it arrive.