Montclair Metrathon!

Crazy day of walking/running 7.5 hours to raise money for school programs - library, music, pe, computers, etc. Ryan was determined to be the top walker this year (as opposed to two years ago when he was the top money-earner). Last year's top walker hit 45 kilometres....so we knew it was a difficult task.

The beginning....everyone trying to jostle into the front.

Ryan struggling. He says he was ready to give up at 40km, but people along the way encouraged him to keep going. There's a bit of hand holding for the last 4 km. A boy has never been the top walker in anyone's recent memory.

Coming in for his last few yards.....the smile is starting to appear.

Success! 46 kilometres! That's 28.6 miles...more than a full marathon. We can't be 100% sure that he is the top walker, but based on our big ears, we think we've sniffed out that he probably was. Won't find out for sure until the Metrathon assembly where they announce such things in the next couple of weeks.

Celebrating with an oddly-placed sno-cone. And no, his hair's not cut. He has a mom-imposed pony tail.

Sierra simpatico.....she also met her goal of 30 kilometres - 18.6 miles - to earn a spot at the ice cream sundae party for kids who "walk really far." I think she feels really good to know that in all my hikes I've never walked 18 miles - that would be crazy!

Congratulations to both of you - dad and I are really proud of how hard you worked!

Some random happenings in September:

Ryan races in his first mountain bike race. The field was 8 or 9 kids and the class was 14-under. Clearly Ryan was the youngest, and the only one whose first race it was. He did great - came in a 32-ish minutes....a cluster of around 3 guys came in around that time and the leaders (who had been racing on a team all summer) came in around 22-ish minutes.

Here he's getting ready.

Mommy and Ryan.

The field of competitors.

The afterwards....playing around part. The sister thinks she's a monkey.

She really does.

No really, she does.

Earlier in the month, some playground time. Do you ever get too old for see saws and burying each other in sand?

Ryan and his friend Ryan find new ways to hang out at the pool.

And the San Jose Mariachi Festival last weekend:

Sierra and friends

As usual, Sierra wins the hula hooping contest. Those hula/tahitian hips are paying off.

Awesome park downtown with water fountains specifically for kids to cool off and play around.

And finally, even Comet was brought home a souvenir from the festival. He's thrilled.

SATURDAY MORNING A-TRAIN

Last night was the Montclair Elementary Variety Show.

Sierra danced Te Pua Noa Noa:

Ryan played the piano and sang Photograph by Jamie Cullum:

They were awesome!

Ryan is the greatest salesman in the world. I think he has all the right elements. 1. He's cute. 2. He's cute. 3. He's cute and not afraid to ask ANYONE to buy a raffle ticket. Ryan's been all over Oakland, Berkeley and Walnut Creek. We've left San Francisco for the SF boys....but we may wander over there before this thing's done. He's got a great little table - there's music playing that the boys recorded of the Inauguration songs (unfortunately not yet available or for sale, but beautiful to listen to as you're walking by); and then printouts of photos of the chorus in DC and at the Inauguration. So even when people plan to walk by, the music or the photos catch their attention.

At the above concert venue, we got there early enough to see one of the musicians arrive. He was the cellist - Lawrence Granger - and he was awesome. He had forgotten his checkbook that night and felt so bad that all he could give Ryan was $60 cash to buy raffle tickets. Ryan was unbelievably thrilled - that was his biggest sale ever! So we got a picture of them together.

We also figured out that we have to be in a path where people have to pass by you. We tried Zellarbach on the Berkeley campus, but the space is way too wide open and people can avoid your table like the plague.

And his tally so far? 44 hours of selling. 455 people purchased tickets. 1,129 tickets sold. For a grand total of $2,005. We've guessed that for every sale he's probably said his pitch 10-20 times. So that would be somewhere between 4,000-10,000 utterings of "Excuse me, would you like to buy a raffle ticket to help the San Francisco Boys Chorus?" His goal is $3,000 and he only has until June 3. The money he raises helps pay for his trip to Eugene where they'll be participating this year in a children's choral festival called PICCFest. We talked last night about how much work it is and how we don't know if we're up for it next year. But as he said - "well, you know mom, next year I'll be in the Concert level (the highest group - he's being promoted in June) and there's even more responsibility....and they tour a lot more." Oh yeah.

He thinks he can make his goal...and I hope he can because he's worked his little heart out.

Over the last few weekends we've begun to play Monopoly. The game begins on Saturday night, continues on Sunday after dinner, then gets put aside a week until we can come back to it. Ryan so far has been the tycoon with risky strategies of buying whole blocks of hotels and leaving himself very little money. It seems to pay off for him.

Sierra does really well with transportation strategies, and just basically loves money. I play blocker and hold onto properties for negotiation purposes. It's all been good groundwork for explaining what's going on these days in the world.......

And just a random picture of Scott's homemade pizza - Sierra's favorite being pesto, cheese and an egg.

Happy First Day of 3rd and 4th Grade!

I am so proud of Ry and Si's sewing! In case you missed it on their own blogs (see link at right), they both did lots of sewing camps this summer and these are the results of the final camp:

I loved Si's fabric so much I made myself a matching skirt.

Ry is the undisputed pocket expert around here now. He's also the tech guy. We bought a ruffler foot attachment for their machine which is extremely huge and weird looking and I went at it for about 15 minutes before giving up the other day....just didn't get how it went on. He had it figured out within 10 minutes this morning and sewed me up a ruffle asap. Rock on Ryan.

Yay! Somebody took video and posted the performance! Sierra is on the far left.....then almost at the very end she switches and as they walk off she's the 4th of 5 to walk off.

This is great because the music is so beautiful. The song is called Kawika. Also, there will be a professional DVD so if you're willing to fork out $39.95, you can buy it here. I don't think I'm quite ready to cough up that much cash.

The road to winning Ka La Hula i Reno (also known as Heiva i Reno):

First, practice, practice, practice. And preferably find someplace fun to practice. Like Half Moon Bay. You know....on the beach....where hula was meant to be done.

Always listen to your Aunty Moe - she knows what she's doing:

Now follow her lead:

Next, find a group of people at the beach who are celebrating a birthday, then perform for them to get experience in front of an audience (sorry you can't hear the song):

Arrive in Reno and hang with your hula sisters to wait for results from the tahitian competition (and be ecstatic for them when your sisters Chelsea, Katelyn and Kalene take 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in their age category - and don't forget Francisco in the back row with the lei who took first place in his age category for Kane [men]!)

Next, run over to a conference room at the hotel and watch the big girls rehearse for the next day:

Then you rehearse with your crew for the next day:

And sneak in a solo rehearsal or two:

Wake up the morning of the competition and go over to the ballroom to watch the big girls block and rehearse their dance:

Then block and rehearse your dance:

Now you can take out the braids mom spent two hours putting in two days ago. Get big girls to do your hair while telling you all their horror stories of how much it hurt to brush out their hula hair when they were little (try to listen and take comfort through tears....then get mom to take over brushout so that it's not quite so painful....or at least you can yell at her and somehow that makes you feel better):

Now go to another parent for be-flowering (hey - no fair - how did YOUR mom get the sucky job of hair brushout?) Notice big smile to get be-flowered:

Some final touches with the flowers:

Such a pretty smile. And look at that great hula hair!

Awwwwww

Now, be sure to let off a little steam in the hotel room, overlooking beautiful downtown Reno:

And be sure to blow us some kisses backstage right before you perform:

Okay....here it is - the big moment! Si is on the far left. Three judges - not too scary, right? Although the one on the far left (in purple) is a Merrie Monarch judge - the superbowl of hula competitions:

Waiting with hula sisters for the results to be announced:

Oh my gosh! Is that right? We won? Let's go get our award!!!!

Pose with sisters - Sarah, Jessica, Jordan, Jasmine (hidden from view) and Sierra - and with judge and Aunty Moe and Uncle Kalen:

Now, go up and hang onto the premiere award - The Adjucator's Pick - the Best Hapa Haole Hula Award:

By winning this award they now automatically become finalists in the Hapa Haole Festival competition being held in Hawaii in October.

In all, Ke Ola Loa (Te Ora Roa O'tea) won the following:

1st place Keiki Hula Auana (that's Sierra!)

2nd place Wahine Hula Auana

1st place Wahine Hula Medley

1st place Music

1st place Costume (older girls)

Best Hapa Haole presentation

And don't forget the tahitian competition from the day before - 1st, 2nd and 3rd place PLUS a 1st place for Francisco

Now pose with everyone associated with the halau (except mom who is taking the photo):

And that's the road to winning a competition. Phew. Take a rest, spend a couple of days in Tahoe, then go see grandma. Life is good.

What a fun way to end your birthday:

It's pretty cool when an orchestral conductor actually conducts the singers for your very own version of Happy Birthday.

Alas, when I say end....I mean for this actual day. It just keeps going with the party on Monday. Oh well, all the more to post. Happy 8th Birthday, Si.

Yesterday in Foster City Si performed with her halau. She's the one in the front, in the middle.



Windy as usual, but a beautiful backdrop of the bay.

Finally.....a chance to see Ry sing at the Giants game!

On the BART platform going to the game:
In front of the ballpark:

All the boys waiting out at the PortWalk entrance:

Goofy people:

Sweeeet seats!

The dugout protected me from the cold, Si's ski jacket protected her:

Summer sports have begun. Ry is on the Brewers and Si is on the Tigers. Ry has had two

games so far and Si has had one. Hmmm.... not much more to say about it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA LLANA

Okay, so we're 3 days late, but we wanted to have time to produce the high quality that you see before you!

Another video! What Child is This piano duet from December.

Another video from the SF Boys Chorus Holiday Concert - it's called "Holiday Lights" Enjoy!

Here are Ry and Si performing at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical competition at school. They compiled various letters that children have written to Dr. King, put them in an order they liked, and recited them. They achieved 2nd place in their category, but more importantly, learned about how special Dr. King was and how relevant his learnings and teachings continue to be.

Ryan's birthday seems to never quite be a day....always more like 3 or 7 days. But I think that's probably how it should be. So here are some photos for your enjoyment of his 9th birthday week.

Everyone wears a party hat!

Hey....anyone notice there's more pictures of mom this year? It's our New Year's Resolution.

Birthday boy favorite dinner: Cherry Soup, Seared Ahi, Orzo, Asparagus and 1% Milk (and don't even try to feed him 2% because he CAN tell the difference!).

Little sister sure likes to watch Ryan open cards.....oh, hey wait....is that a camera right there? Oh, I had no idea!
I just love my brother.....
No, really....I just really, really love him!

Hey...a weather station! Now I can track all the stormfronts for the whole family! (And tell mom how to dress for the weather each day).

Okay....presents all opened, dinner eaten, cake eaten, time to head to Tahoe!

Skiing at Squaw Valley - Ry in the front, Si behind in the blue jacket.

You can't see them, but we really are on ice skates at High Camp with Lake Tahoe in the background.

Ahhh....a lovely ending to a lovely birthday snow trip.

Si received an "Alien Pizza" making kit for Christmas. Green dough, blue sauce. While they had great fun making it, the flavor was what you would expect from green dough and blue sauce. I believe they each took two bites of their individual pizzas and reverted to the fideo Scott had made for the grownups. Lesson learned? Never eat food with color that didn't naturally occur. Ever.

Ryan expresses all of our thoughts for this Christmas. It seemed a little simpler, somehow. I'm not sure if it's because we only put out very few decorations....no lights on the tree - just some simple ornaments and beads. I'd like to say it was a design, aesthetic, and lifestyle choice...but realistically it had to do more with time, or lack thereof, than anything else. For those who aren't aware, between December 5 and 23, we needed to be in San Francisco 14 days.....that's 14 out 18 days. Between rehearsals for chorus concerts, Ry and Si's actual concerts, and holiday activities we had planned for the family, this was what we did. It was fine because we love to be there, however, it leaves little time for much else. And I truly did want to simplify this year. My big idea was to do all the decorations in one color....we would negotiate as to the color (I was thinking white....Si was thinking red or gold.....the boys couldn't care less), but we just never got that far. Next year, perhaps. In the meantime, enjoy the Christmas photos.

We love each other......today.....right now....in this moment.....

There's nothing better than being able to paint your own umbrella

Unless it's blowing a ball up in the air

which is fun even for dad!

By the way, Ry and Si have opened several businesses for the purpose of raising dimes. Ry received a CoinStruction bridge. He needs 470 dimes to build the bridge and I believe he's up to 88 right now. Si is pitching in to help and they've opened the R&S Salon - massages are a dime per minute, however, I caught a sale the other day and got a 30-minute massage for 23 dimes. They also offer art lessons, math lessons, cooking or baking lessons, spelling lessons and anything else they can think of. Frankly, if you have any dimes, this would be the time to think up a job and have it done by two very motivated and enthusiastic children. Just give them a call. Happy holidays!

It feels like Ry's playing in the big leagues now. Not baseball, but singing. His San Francisco Boys Chorus winter concert was yesterday at a gorgeous church in Pacific Heights. At times there were upwards of 200 boys singing. Quite beautiful. And some playful songs and choreography too....which was unexpected and quite fun.

I must give credit to Jutka, Ry's former music teacher, for how well-prepared he was to go into this program. In fact, at 8, he entered at the level just below the touring level....and I have no doubt he'll advance sooner than we're actually ready for him to.

Ry's in the front row, 4th from left or right-hair pulled back

It's funny because we just received the DVD for the June (!) 2007 TRS performance, so we came home from the SFBC performance and watched my SFBC videotape, then the TRS DVD. For those who are in the TRS program from whence Ry came.....let me just confirm for you what amazing training they are truly receiving. Getting children to sing who want to sing is one thing, but getting them to all sing together so beautifully when there are several who really DON'T want to sing (as shared with us by Ry & Si), well, Jutka's simply a miracle-worker. The only downside is that you never get to see more than around 60 kids singing together....if the elementary children sing with the primary chorus. But they are so well-trained that if they were 200-strong, they would sound every bit as amazing. Oh, and by the way, Jutka has taught for most years around 120 students by herself. At SFBC, there are 5 chorus directors (plus theory and bell ringing teachers) to teach 200ish. Next up, Si at Davies Symphony Hall. Stay tuned.

If you've meandered over here I'm guessing you're a big Ry and Si fan. So in that light, I feel I can be unabashadly proud and tout how great they are. You've been warned.

On Saturday, we watched Si sing in a preview concert in San Francisco for her girl's chorus. Afterwards, we went to the Parol festival at Yerba Buena, which is a traditional Filipino celebration of the Christmas season, and saw many beautiful lanterns. Finally, we ended up at XYZ - the restaurant at the W hotel. It's a lovely dining room.....very warm, comfortable and grown up. I always like to watch how the kids are going to be perceived when we go to these places. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we went somewhere very nice and the waitress said "oh, are we practicing going out to dinner?" and I thought, hmmm.....really? Does she not see other 7- and 8-year olds? And to be fair, I think they normally think that the check total is going to be significantly lower because the children will want a bowl of pasta or cheese pizza. Clearly they've never met Ry and Si. As we began to order at XYZ, Si (who was sitting up very properly perusing her menu), said "I would like the oysters, the seared tuna, and the butternut squash." "A very grownup order!" commented the waiter. Ry ordered lobster and seared tuna (what have we created here?) and we had a wonderful meal and a very good time. At the end of the meal, the waiter said "we have NEVER had such well-behaved children in here." The scary part is when they grow up and go off to college, and the reality of where they can afford to eat hits them. However, in that light, they have been learning to cook since they were 2, and are quite good at it. So they'll whip things up Jamie Oliver style....simple, satisfying, REAL foods. And they'll be a big hit at their house/dorm/dive they live in with 7 other starving students.

Unabashed proud moment #2: Before we got our tree yesterday, Ry and Si wanted to go to the main library in downtown Oakland. We have a friend who works there so it's their second favorite library after the Berkeley main library. We didn't have much time, so Scott said no, and as they protested, Scott said, no, but we can go to Boomers! [horrible, awful video game/mini race cars/overall screamy kid pit of running around crazy]. Ignoring her father's addiction to sarcasm, Si said - no - I'd rather go to the library.

Instead, we went for a family hike in Redwood Park....Si was hike leader because she had hiked the trail with me before, and Ry was yoga leader - in charge of a few breaks where we breathe and stretch properly. We hiked almost three miles with 700 vertical feet of climbing, came home, and Scott and Si cooked up a homemade lasagna and coconut rice pudding. All in all, a pretty perfect day.

So here's what I came up with:

Japanese class (4x)
Spanish class (4x)
Capoeira class
Capoeira music lessons
Chorus (2x) (once in San Francisco)

(Ry is in the front row, furthest left, sitting up on knees & hair pulled completely back)

Piano lessons

Homework

Practiced piano

Went to the Berkeley library and got a book on Orangutans for a book report, as well as a book called "Magnets and Electric Currents"

Used information and material lists from "Magnets and Electric Currents" to build a "transporter" out of his old tractor and lawn chairs (this is a third incarnation....it's also been a racecar)

Read a book on the building of the Golden Gate bridge, taught the whole family about it, then continued to enlighten us on Thanksgiving day as we walked across the bridge and back

Performed with his chorus at the lighting of the Christmas tree in Union Square (so did the Jersey Boys and Santa - see photos)

Went to dinner in the City with friends

Quizzed us all on 2005 Guiness Book of World Records facts

12-mile bike ride in the Marin Headlands with dad

Put on a play with Si with newly received "Snowbabies" and other figurines (that was only part 1 of the show....then there was a piano interlude, acrobatics, and poems)

Helped cook dinner (caesar salad is his specialty)

Rode his scooter (including in the garden.....have you seen our garden? How does one do this?)

I know he's not unique in his schedule, but what I really should ask is how do other children find the time to play video games? According to the mom who began this conversation, they have to negotiate for when her son gets to play it. Do I really want to negotiate with my children? Here's my negotiation tactic......NO.

Getting ready......

Yummy pumpkin seeds

Mermaid & Venom (Ry thought this was a more powerful version of Spiderman, but found out from his friends that it's the evil character.....guess it would help if mom and dad would let him see movies like that.....no matter - his friends all thought he was cool)

Si and friend

2nd Grade

Mermaid Tail

Silly Girl

Birdwatcher, Bird and Venom (a form of a spider.....see the theme here?)

Ry and pals - check out the kid who shaved his head for his costume....now that's dedication!

Pretty ladies

Mermaid and Medusa at dinner......Halloween's a wrap by 7:15!

Dias de Las Muertas Festival at the Oakland Museum - Sunday, October 21

Si wears the flower she made and watches a great band

Ry checks out the band that ultimately gave us all a headache

Si and friend Maya show off their Pan de los Muertos and Mexican Hot Chocolate

METRATHON - OCTOBER 20, 2007

Si enjoys a well-deserved SnoCone

Wait....is that the same SnoCone?

Ry runs....

Si takes a break for a treat.......

Ry runs......

Si enjoys a treat with friend Lily.....

Ry runs.......

Okay....I'm being funny, but Si worked very hard too.......she actually did 18 kilometers (11-12 miles).....at 7 years old!

Ry getting his card stamped at one of four stations along the 1km route

And the final results! 32 kilometers!

Ho'ike - October 6, 2007

Tahitian Costume

Funny Girl

Hula ending

Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride

Practicing backstage

The glamour of waiting around