Finding Balance in San Francisco

Nothin' like summertime in Tahoe

Just got back from a wonderful weekend up in Lake Tahoe. What a soul nurturing place Tahoe is.

Our friends Rebecca and Mike and their two darling children have been living up on the West Shore for the past couple years and we squeezed in a visit before they move to Switzerlandtomorrow. Hats off to Rebecca and Mike for having visitors the weekend before an international move!

We went rafting Saturday- the perfect blend of fun and relaxing.

Then this morning said 'ello to the neighborhood horse and logged some quality time on the beautiful beach down the street.

Rolled back into San Francisco to see that the sun is finally shining on our fair city. This has been the coldest winter in 40 years here (for crying out loud). Hope to see a little more sunshine this week.

Thanks again to Rebecca and Mike for a wonderful weekend, and good luck on a smooth move. Hope to see you guys in Switzerland next time

Sh-sh-shark!!!

I just ran across this site  and saw this wild, supposedly non-Photoshopped photo:

  

Odds and ends

Sometimes life's going by so fast it's hard to keep track of the moments and memories. Here are a few of our odds and ends.

From YMCA Healthy Kids Day:

Hula Hooping, with the lovely Miss Clara from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

Healthy Kids Day- bike course from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

The boys with my cousin's dog, Eagan:

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon:

The Hamilton Family Center 25th Anniversary celebration and presentation to Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the Poverty Prevention Award June 3rd at the von Bothmer's beautiful home in Pacific Heights:

Here's my big moment to get a shot with Speaker Pelosi... alas, sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Quinn's graduation-inspired artwork- it reads:

My name is Quinn. I am 5 years old. I like to play. I do not like to loose.

And one sweet morning in May:

Spring Skiing at Northstar

We just got back from a wonderful extended ski weekend with our good friends the Puiggalis. The kids got along great, and we stayed in Northstar in a darling little cabin.

Trick or Treat, smell my feet from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

Quinn and Clara are absolutely adorable together. They've been kindred spirits since they were babies, and the love fest continues.

and Quinn is a lucky man. Clara's a real beauty already

Northstar is a charming, lovely resort and is great for kids. As a huge bonus they even allow 3 year olds in the ski school program.

Friday we all skied the full day even though it was a snowstorm

We expected another storm Saturday, but when we woke up the sun was out! It was a truly gorgeous day

There's really nothing like a glorious and beautiful sunny day of skiing on 12 inches of fresh powder. Epic day of skiing.

We (especially the husbands) also had a whole lot of fun with this little skee-ball game where you bounce little silver magnets off of a blue launch pad and into concentric circles (with a bullseye in the middle). It was a running competition every time we were hanging out in the cabin.

A beautiful, memorable weekend. Hope we can pull together a ski weekend with our pals every year and that this was the inaugural ski trip with them.

Horsing around at the cabin from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

Ok, it's officially Christmas vacation

Well, it's officially Christmas vacation for the kiddos.  

We had dueling winter sing-a-longs and early dismissals on Friday, and thank goodness for grandparents so each kid could have family members cheering them on.  I went to Quinn's school show (the top photo is Quinn in costume with his good friend Sean)

and my parents went to Montessori to watch Jordan's school show, which I hear went great

Quinn's Spanish bilingual class did a performance of Feliz Navidad. Those little Kindergarteners up on stage singing and dancing really made me smile.  It's a lovely send off into Christmas vacation.

Feliz Navidad, with Kindergarteners from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

Now we have 2 weeks without school, which the boyz are delighted about (me- not necessarily).  I'm feeling like I need to get creative about what to do, especially because it's been raining here in San Francisco, and expected to rain again tomorrow and I'm sure the various museums are overrun with kids on vacation.

Happily, Ryan's mom (Nana) is coming Tuesday- she's always a welcome distraction and up for adventure.  Looking forward to seeing where our Christmas vacation adventures take us this year.