mahala's bday sleepover

we kept mahala's birthday simple this year and so she decided to have her friend sascha come over (along with her brother mischa to keep noble occupied!). she wanted to do wii dance, watch i love lucy and have a cake made from almond joys (for this i made the closest thing that was palatable - a vegan german chocolate cake). the girls also got to sleep in a different room than the boys. in the morning we had pancakes and all of the parents got to watch them do some wii - so fun to watch!

safari west fieldtrip

a fun but rainy field trip to safari west in santa rosa. we took a "safari" ride and then walked around to see the many birds. and then the highlight, especially for me, the reticulated giraffe barn…up close and personal with my favorite animal!

finally 40!

a day to do skip work, not cook and go out for my favorite sandwich, followed by chocolate cake at home!

the marin clean energy soccer team

noble had a great soccer season his fall with west marin soccer. coach gavin and coach michael did a great job pulling this team together. noble made some great goals and worked really hard overall!

best buddies

at manor school's winter faire :)

pumpkin patch fieldtrip

violin play-in

mahala's first "susuki play-in". all of the local students do this once a year. the program starts with the most advanced students and then lower levels join one group at a time until they are all playing twinkle twinkle little star. mahala had just finished her twinkle graduation so she played with that level towards the end of the program. her teacher, charmian, is the one who is just a little bit taller than her students!