Ginko

Outside of my Nana's backdoor looms a large ginkgo tree. I always admire the leaves both on and off of the tree. My last visit with her tree inspired me to attempt a ginkgo quilt for a new baby. I couldn't quite get the gingko leaves to look like anything but stingrays so I am abandoning that idea. Here are some ginkgo things that make me happy:

Bookends from Etsy:


A quilt from a great website called Ink & Spindle:


An access cover in Japan:

Travel Bug

I have a bit of a travel bug biting me these days. If it weren't for small children, I would be a flight attendant so I could travel the world. This book helped put things in perspective because he often stated that people are so different, yet so similar everywhere you go. I recommend it as a fun book to read, but not one you drop everything for.

Here is the gist of the book: " After more than a decade of planning, John Higham and his wife September bid their high-tech jobs and suburban lives good-bye, packed up their home and set out with two children, ages eight and eleven, to travel around the world. In the course of the next 52 weeks they crossed 24 time zones, visited 28 countries and experienced a lifetime of adventures."

They attempted to do this on two tandem bikes!


See the author's website here.

I am now reading this book:

On Amazon.com.

So far, his writing is super fluffy and wordy. Hopefully it will be a quick read. I am interested in traveling to Mexico, Central America, and South America someday so leave a comment if you know of any good pop-travel books I just have to read.

Silly

John Stewart said that the Bush Administration gave him so much material to make fun of, he didn't even know what to do with it. That is how I feel about my mother's group emails. If you are getting sick of them just let me know and I will stop. From today:

"My 3 year old daughter and I were waiting to get her hair cut at Snip-Its in Town and Country Village in Palo Alto this afternoon. We had purchased some sidewalk chalk at the CVS there and decided to draw with chalk on the sidewalk just outside the shop, making sure to not get in anybody's way. After about 15 minutes, two security guards approached my 3 year old and me and told us that we had to stop because this was private property. I pointed out the number of children oriented shops right around us and asked if they were serious. They ordered us to stop immediately. My daughter was so upset. She thought she had done something wrong, and we weren't even able to get her the haircut.

I wish I had videotaped this incident so I could truly show you how ridiculous this was to have two security guards threaten my 3 year old. And I am pretty sure there was recently a court case that ruled that malls are protected free speech areas. But I didn't think of fighting it at the time because I was too shocked. If anyone else is interested, I have half a mind to stage a "chalk-in" with moms and kids from the mothers clubs to protest this policy. At the least, maybe we could mention to shopkeepers there and write a note to the owners of Town and Country asking them to reconsider their approach to creating a family-friendly environment."

Dear Ridiculous Lady,
I am guessing your child's artwork does not resemble that of Justin Beever (as seen below)?




It probably looks more like this:

Silly lady, we all know a place that charges $25 for a kid's haircut and offers mini-manis, make-up application, and hair wraps for five year olds may want to keep their storefront clean. Someone posted a comment saying, "Buy your kids an etch-a-sketch so they can play, but not deface property." Well said!

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to all of those who celebrated an early June birthday. We got cupcakes to celebrate my sister's birthday. This last week was spent in Sacramento so my blogging has been on hold. I was having so much fun I couldn't even stop for a second to blog about it. My belly is full now and I really feel like Leann Rimes-ing it up now (I don't see the big problem, for the opposite could be worse?):

Better

We are finally feeling better and are doing lots of fun things I should be blogging about. We went and saw a "farm" rental for Andrew's parents and I want to live there. It is in the Los Gatos mountains so it is a bit far for Andrew to commute, but I dream of living like that. So here is a filler picture for the grandparents:

Mending

I guess I am earning my mothering stripes.  The flu has officially cycled through all of us now.  Andrew was throwing up once again last night and then Blake was sick every 30 minutes between the hours of 10pm-2am.  Nothing beats sleeping on the floor!  I am looking forward to a weekend of well.  I wish everyone good health.

Lame

The day started out so well. I found a park in Foster City that is literally on the shore. How fun is that? We played until the kids could take no more:


Andrew biked home from work after throwing up multiple times at Google (sorry fellow co-workers). Reade was sick over the weekend, but we thought all the barfing might have been him getting another tooth. Yeah, vomiting is usually not a teething symptom, but us parents always have to tag something on to it. Looks like it is a stomach bug that is trying its hardest to take me down too. I keep telling myself they are just sympathy pains.

I wanted to make spinach and mushroom quiche for dinner tonight. That will have to wait:


This is an okay dinner for Reade right? These were given to him while I dry heaved in the toilet. Tonight should be a hoot: