Friday was my birthday.  Robert and I went into San Francisco and had a wonderful lunch at the House of Nanking.  I wish I had taken my camera to capture the restaurant set up with green and yellow bowls, red chopsticks, set against dark brown wood walls--very old San Francisco China town.  It was a gray and drizzly day to complete the cozy effect.

Went shopping and then home to watch Anders and Auggie so Gunther and Eliza could go out and celebrate his birthday, too.

Perfect day.

Tuesday night at 9 pm my phone rings.  I was in bed reading.  It was Anders.

"Hi Nana."

"What are you doing up?" I asked.

"I stole the phone.  I'm in bed, but I'm so excited about my birthday tomorrow."

"I know.  Me too.  We're going to have a wonderful party.  Better go to sleep now before your parents find out you have the phone."

Wednesday morning at 8:10 am my phone rings.  I was thinking about getting up and all the things I had to do for Anders' party.

"It's my birthday," he blurted out.

"I know.  Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"It's awesome being eight!.  I love you, Nana.  I have to go to school now."

Eliza and I did the party from 2 pm to 4:35 and 10 seconds.  We counted the minutes!  Ten eight-year-olds inside on a rainy day in high spirits.  It went very well--lots of screaming, games, popcorn all over the floor, presents, cupcakes, and guest booty bags.  The birthday boy was super happy.

It's been a great two weeks with family.  That's why I haven't been blogging!

After Christmas I had Trevor (8) and Chloe (7) here for three days.  They were a joy to be around.  We just did simple things--shopping for food, cooking, reading, playing basketball with the new hoop Gunther put up in my driveway.  Auggie and Anders slept over with their cousins, and I was in Nana-heaven.

On Jan 2, I went to Sayulita, Mexico with Gunther, Eliza, Auggie, and Anders.   Eliza's mom, Carmen flew down from San Diego, and Jamie and Paula Tipton and their kids, Eli and Lulu came too, (they are friends and also Harding School parents.) Berkeley landscaper, Heidi Becker also popped down. We all stayed together in a big place (Casa Blanca) that we rented right on the beach.  It was so much fun.  We cooked a lot of our meals--grilled fish, meat tacos, chicken pozole, grilled portobellos, polenta, cilantro sauce, salads, guacamole, salsa, corn salsa, with a few beers, margueritas, and pina coladas along the way!  

We also went for another boat trip with Darren--like we did last year. (If you want his details let me know!)  He and Gunther have become Facebook friends, so maybe he'll have our pictures up there.

I'm glad to be back home now, despite the unseasonal chill in the El Cerrito air...

It turned out to be a blissful day.

Anders and Auggie came over and Anders decided he wanted to make a crossbow.  I explained I don't have any proper material, etc. etc.  To no avail.  So we googled image crossbow.  Printed out a drawing by Leonardo daVinci of a plan for a huge (like a WMD) crossbow (with a little man sitting on the top)

I cut out a crossbow shape from a cardboard box.  Of course, it was flimsy and frustrating.  Then I remembered I had some little pieces of scrap wood in the shed.  I found the perfect two pieces.  By this time Auggie was ready to go home with Eliza, and Anders stayed on.  We worked on it for a long time--and I taught him how to hold a hammer, how to saw using the vise (I have one in the shed) and why it's better to hammer something on a solid surface rather than the table we were using.  I put garden gloves on him, and set him to sanding rough edges.  He did everything by himself.  Part way through the project, it occurred to me that this project was worthy of a cub scout badge (I told this to den leader, Gunther.)

At home Anders added a rolled up paper arrow, and attached rubber bands so that the thing actually did work--sort of!  It was an exquisite day spending time with a child who is so focused on making things.

Friday night I had Anders (7) and Auggie (5) over for a sleepover while Gunther and Eliza went to a party.  Life is sweet.

They both worked on cardboard projects involveing string and Scothch tape and booby traps while I made tacos and refried beans.

At dinner we talked about why cave men used caves for houses (their rock tools wouldn't cut down trees) and how people start inventing things and life changes.  We read three books from the new batch I got from the library.  (NOTE:  I highly recommend a beautifully illustrated and extremely imaginative book, Flotsam, illustrated by David Weisner.)  I just found the link if you are interested. I'm going to buy one for Anders' birthday next month.)

 http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=111153

After reading books, they popped into the bath, and then we watched The Country Bears movie. 

This happened to be the second time that Anders lost a tooth on the day he slept over at my house so the Tooth Fairy left two silver dollars on the floor next to his sleeping bag or bedroll as I like to call it!

Life doesn't get any better than this!