the big cut

before and after!

last day of school!

i think mahala was more excited than noble but she was in a rush to catch the bus and did not appreciate my request for a photo! noble and his walking buddy of two years, magnus, off on their final morning stroll.

thank you party

one of my favorite traditions in ms. honda's class is their thank you party where they invite parents, guest speakers, and anyone who has come in to help or guide or teach the class. the kids give short individual speeches and then sing and then we all eat cake! an important lesson in gratitude!

fairfax parade and festival

it's that time of year again! parade, complete with the green team and noble singing as part of a trio, and the green team booth selling chocolate during both days. they sold almost all of the chocolate - around 400 pieces!

spring music concert

white hill had their final music concert and impressed us with their band, jazz band, chorus, orchestra and combined chorus and orchestra. mahala had been working so hard on her pieces - and they were difficult ones for someone coming from suzuki training!

2017 little league - the A's

a really fun season and improvement for noble as a catcher. coach tim was the most enthusiastic coach and humorously over the top with his long post-game e-mails. joey, felix, devin, elias, leo, chloe and will were the manor representatives and joined logan, gianni, nate, dylan for an awesome season. noble got his first homerun (although based on errors it;s still fun to claim) and achieved his goal of tagging someone out at home (there were some very dramatic plays at home this year with stealing allowed). AND how fitting that the team was sponsored by Hairfax - this was a very hairy team! go A's!

essay contest winner!

noble won first place in the district for his essay on grizzly bears! the native sons organization awarded him the prize which was a plaque (with his name written wrong!), a check for $100 and a voucher for a one month membership at the swim club. yay noble!

singing for the grandfolks

Twice a school year, Ms. Honda takes her fourth graders to sing for the veterans at the SF Veterans Hospital and at a local retirement home foe people who need care. This was their spring visit and they sang an assortment of environmentally themed songs as well as many patriotic songs.

sheeba's day

mahala made dutch babies for breakfast as requested by the queen of the day...and we went shopping (!) for some odd reason. the weather was nice so we ate vegan food outside and then because i was cooking, we had time to play a board game that night. great day.

feast at anoop's

gold trip

off to search for gold with the fourth graders! the trip included an old mining town where the kids went on a little tour through the general store, pharmacy, bar, etc. and then an overnight in cabins followed by a visit to an old mine.

may the fourth be with you

douglas's 50th birthday! date at teh golden gate bridge overlook and tea in sausalito followed by indian chaat outside under the trees for dinner. frozen chocolate treats followed :)

douglas's early 50th and noble's busy day

we squeezed in a family get together to celebrate douglas's 50th! but noble's activities dominated the early part of the day. practice track meet, baseball game, then a late lunch with family at rancho nicasio under the trees and then home for some birthday presents and dinner from sol food.

welcome to the over-50 club!

trout release

ms honda got all of the fourth grade classes to hatch baby trout this year and then they all got to be part of the release at lake lagunitas

audobon canyon ranch

the fourth graders had a tour guide lead them around this beautiful piece of property on highway 1

baseball season!

noble's current favorite position - catcher

day in the city

it was a beautiful day to head into the city. school was out for a staff day so we headed to the arboretum and ate lunch at burma superstar

mahala the chef

how lovely to be served dinner by this up and coming chef!

japanese sweets

mahala made japanese tea ceremony treats for her class project on asia!

cinderella and the wolfman

noble was in the play again this year and got a pretty good sized part - he loved it! he was definitely loud and everyone could tell that he was having a good time. all of the grandparents and seena and david came to see him.

snow!

we left at 5:30am to check out the snow scene about three hours away and returned at 5:30pm! it even started snowing at the end of our time there - the first time kids ever saw snow falling :)

pinball museum

we took a spontaneous trip to the pinball museum in alameda today and just had a pretty slow day off. unlimited pinball, jukeboxes and had some pizza next door. we met douglas in berkeley after work and indulged in a good east bay dinner.