Ronan Takes Chinatown

Ronan LOVES food. Shopping for it, talking about it, preparing it, and, of course, eating it. He is such a good eater and especially loves Chinese food, including this tasty soup that comes with meals at our favorite Hong Kong restaurant in Oakland's Chinatown. He's also begun an obsession with pancakes and insists on helping mix and pour them. Chef Ronan is the master of picky and refuses to eat fruit and veggies with bruises or other defects. "No! And den, it gwoss!!" ("and then" usually precedes any explanation) I'm sure he is destined for Iron Chef about 20 years down the road. Watch out Bobby Flay! He's already preparing for his closeup (see below).

Oliver Takes Chinatown

Apa and Oliver had fun drinking tea at a Chinatown restaurant. Oliver is so cuddly, we call him our "puppy." He's also obsessed with being funny. Accidents to purposeful stunt falls, he'll ask, "That funny?" His favorite joke at the moment goes like this: "How'd the chicken cwoss the woad?" "I don't know, why?" "Umm, to cwoss the woad and get some gum and stuff at the stowah."

Bike Riding by the Sea

Sand Mermaids

First Taste of Ocean '08

On the way back from the Marina, we decided to stop off at the beach accessed from the frontage road that stretches between Oakland and Berkeley. The kids played there for two hours. We found jelly fish, built sand sculptures and got our first sunburns of the season (yes, shame on me--note to self: must reapply sunscreen throughout the day). It was really tough rounding them up to head home.

Views at the Marina

Crazy kites, marine birds, and sailboats; Oh My! Oliver and Ronan called the gecko kites, "echo." Although they understood the difference between a gecko and an echo, they'd still say, "I want to see the echo!"