Before & After - Melia's first car is in her mouth!

Twenty six months ago we began a journey - just two months before turning nine Melia got braces. Now I don't know what they cost in the 80's when I had them (twice!) but I'm sure it wasn't nearly what they cost today. Quite frankly Melia has gotten an investment that is worth an inexpensive or gently used car in her mouth!





All of the trips back and forth to San Mateo (and a few more to go yet for periodic check ins) have been worth this!

...these are a few of my favorite things....

No, not girls in white dresses, but boys in white uniforms (with black and orange letters)..... GIANTS!!!!!!! And definitely my idea of one of the best ways to spend my birthday! Dead center field, blue sky and sunshine and a Giants spanking of the Yanks - 9-2! Could have done without the two girls behind us for a few innings hollering for their hometown boys (Jeter et al) and the beer she splashed on my ankle (ditz!).... but all in all it was fun in the SF sun.

To celebrate Father's Day and his birthday (today, June 25th) I got a pair of tickets for my Dad too. He brought my brother-in-law Mike along for Mike's first EVER major league baseball game. I think he had fun too.

The Clemens vs. Bonds duel was anti-climactic. Roger walked Barry on 5 pitches. Since we'd been treated to a pretty rare Barry Bonds steal earlier in the game the fact that he wasn't terribly productive at the plate (no HRs) was OK.

Sending the Yanks packing with two losses in the series was a great birthday gift - thanks boys! :-)

For those of you readers who are wondering, I'm still closer to 35 than 40! Ha!

Grey SF Day in June

Summer for the Roberts girls in 2007 is a cornucopia of activities - some planned vacations and trips and others opportunitistic. Like our visit last Wednesday, June 20, to Golden Gate park. Since my colleagues and I on the MBA team at the Eberhardt School of Business planned to make a day trip there to map out our upcoming orientation scavenger hunt for our incoming students, I decided that Duane could use a break from the girls hanging around at home all day (sleeping, watching TV or playing games online), so with me they came.

We met up with my team at the office and headed to the BART station. Once off BART in downtown SF, we jumped onto the N-Judah Muni (our first time on a Muni train ever!) and in a short time we were a block from the park. Kali spent much of the rides there and back with her nose in a book. Melia often queried our arrival time and 'what's next?' - the normal Q&A from Melia.

Outside of the newly redesigned de Young Museum sat a pair of stone sphynxes. They appear rather intimidating but that didn't frighten either of the girls as you can see.

Visiting the Harris family in PA

My recent trip to Philly for a conference was a great opportunity to drag Duane and the girls along to a new city they had not yet explored. So on Melia's birthday, June 13th, we hopped on a red-eye from Sacramento thru Atlanta (at 3am!) to Philadelphia, PA. This was my second trip to this historic place but I was eager for the three of them to see some of the important sites, including the Liberty Bell and the site where the US Constitution was signed by the founding fathers of our country.

The trip was also a GREAT opportunity for us to visit Shannon, Jeremy, Connor and one-month old Declan Harris in their new Furlong, PA home. They moved from San Mateo in March 2006 so that Jeremy could pursue a nanotech start up job in that area. Shannon and I had become great friends in their short time in San Mateo and I was excited to catch up with her again. We all enjoyed our visit - Kali protected the cats, Cleo and Tigger, from Connor's attempts at over-eager attention. Melia played games with Connor (she is very patient with little kids) and enjoyed holding Declan for a few minutes. Duane LOVED Jeremy's home brewed beer. (Jeremy is a chemist, so the beer is a natural extension of his expertise.)

Our visit extended overnight to Father's Day and, coincidentally, Shannon & Jeremy's 7th wedding anniversary. (Thanks for letting us crash your dad's day and your anniversary!) We had a 1/2 day to spend with them before we had to head back to the airport. Shannon suggested we visit a small town on the Delaware River, New Hope, PA. It was great! OLD tiver village from the colonial days - very colorful bunch of visitors (a harley davidson gathering at one spot, lots of families and others enjoying the warm weather). We even walked across a bridge over to Lambertville, NJ.

Though the red-eye flight, time difference and short turn around of the trip made it a little challenging to be fully alert and energetic at all times, we had fun, saw many interesting things (ground hogs!) and people (woman with full facial hair... transition to one sex or another? Duane and the girls saw Lou Ferigno (sp?? the hulk!) in the hotel restaurant). Next time we hope we can spend more time visiting historic sites and the Harris family.

Kali & Mrs. Plath on Promotion Day

Promotion Redux

Who says you can't have two graduations in two years?! Melia wasn't too pleased that her sister was getting two graduations but sometimes things don't always go her way. Our move to Elk Grove meant another year of elementary school for Kali and another promotion/graduation event. And thank goodness, since Grandma missed the one last year at North Shoreview in San Mateo.

Kali had a great year academically, made many new friends and was selected by her teacher, Mrs. Plath, for an awesome honor - the Donner Ace Award. That was a real honor, since Mrs. Plath met Kali for the first time the second week of school (we missed the first week due to a girl scout camp conflict and not knowing that the girls would be starting school in July when we moved) and Kali had virtually no track record at this school. We are VERY proud of Kali's accomplishments this year in preparation for middle school.

Look out Eddy M.S., here comes Kali Roberts!