Fire Dragons Quilt

For the fourth year in a row I made a quilt for Isaac's first teacher at Satori. Well, it's not really for her, it's for her 3's class to put in the school auction. Every year the class has a name, this year they are the Fire Dragons. I found this super cool dragon fabric that looks kind of like Japanese tattoo art. I found some fabrics to go with it, including some that look like dragon scales. The kids make the squares by using fabric paint to make their handprint and fabric markers to write their names and decorate their squares. I embroider a center square, this year because of the shape I had two; one with the dragon and one with the name of the class and the school year. It goes into the auction May 2nd, may parents bid high...the money goes to the school.
This is one corner of the quilt that shows a little of the front with part of the back folded over so you can see the dragon fabric.















Here is the bottom half of the quilt, it's a little closer so you can see more detail than the picture below which shows the whole quilt.

Pima County Fair

Going to the fair has become a pre-birthday tradition. This year Paul had his head in the books, but Isaac and I went and had a blast. The last couple of years the water ride was broken when we were at the fair. This year it was up and running and Isaac went on it three times in a row it was so fun. Then it was time for a jacket and some dinner. At the end of the night I let him ride it three more times because he could get wet and then go change in the car. This ride was definitely the highlight for Isaac, though he likes the fun houses a lot, too. My favorite was the rollercoaster, so much fun it made me scream and laugh histerically.
This picture captures the afterglow from the thrill of the water ride! He was so pleased with himself for going on the ride. I couldn't go because I had our precious camera and couldn't get it wet. But seeing his face as he went down the second and larger waterslide while he screamed was the second best part of the night--best part was eating funnel cake.







After several tries and lots of strange faces from Isaac, I finally got this picture of Isaac and I. Not the best, but the best of what I had to choose from. Already looking forward to the fair next year!

Birthday With Buddies

For Isaac's birthday this year he decided to have his two best buds Sam and Sam over for an afternoon of playing and a sleepover. One of the favors I made was an altered frame from the Dollar Spot at Target. I took pictures of the boys and then had this one printed to put in the frame to send home with them. There were tons of other good pictures of them playing in the backyard, but I thought this was the best pic to share here. What a great group, they had lots of fun and Paul and I enjoyed watching them play. I am so glad the two great boys are Isaac's best friends.

Tilden & a Dare

When Dan met us at the park, he offered to take us up to Tilden for a trip to the Little Farm. Most of the animals had been put away, but we saw a few critters and someone else was nice enough to share some lettuce to feed to the goats. We also took the quick, but muddy walk around the pond. Lucky for us we were able to see some of the local turtles. Amazingly enough we didn't scare off the turtles and were able to catch a few good pictures of them.
After the pond circuit we let Isaac play on the playground a little. Most popular was making loud and raunchy farting noises through these sound carrying tubes with Dan. As many have noted before, farting sounds are funny to guys of *all* ages and Isaac and Dan had each other in stitches.

Foggy Beach

I have seriously been slacking on getting posts up...but now that I'm about 6 weeks late, here are some pictures from our trip to the beach is SF on our Bay Area trip in March. It was a perfectly foggy day when we reached SF by BART. We had a delightful lunch with my Aunt Rebecca and then we headed to the beach. Isaac got soaked and didn't seem to mind. We collected lots of sand dollars, shells and rocks. As folks from a landlocked state, a beach is a rarity and we try to make the most of it.
When we left we headed back to Rebecca's where she was kind enough to loan Isaac some dry shorts and a bit of cord to belt them, for the ride home on BART. Isaac had lots of fun running from the waves and scooting around on his bum to "mark his territory" around Rebecca and I. Brr, but so much fun to hang out with Rebecca!

East Bay Visit

Isaac and I recently had the chance to visit the Bay Area for both my grandfather's 95th birthday, as well as to visit friends and family. We arrived on Sunday March 15 and had the pleasure of being greeted at the airport by Kier and the girls with a "Welcome to CA Aunt Miwa and Isaac" sign. That evening we went to my grandfather's party and had the extreme fun of surprising my grandparents with our visit. My grandmother's face when she realized it was us was priceless, and that it took my grandfather a full 45 minutes to truly believe it was me just added to the fun of the surprise. Monday Isaac had no plans and so went to my old stomping grounds in north Berkeley and Albany. Turns out that in order for me to find my way around there is to put me in my old neighborhood and then I can get where I want to go, otherwise detailed instructions are absolutely necessary. I learned to drive after leaving CA and so only know how to get where I used to walk myself. First, we stopped in to see my 7th grade teacher Ms. Davis who is now the principal of the middle school. Ever since I moved to AZ in 1988, she and I have managed to keep in touch. Next we headed up Solano and ate lunch at Zachary's Pizza and then drove to the park next to the pool where I used to go to swim team practice. The day was perfect, overcast and yet sunny, cool with the warmth of intermittent sun. I had my camera and snapped some pictures in the awesome light.
Since the weather was so nice, and we had no where to be, it was really great to just hang out at the park and let Isaac play. He had a blast and loved that I wasn't hurrying him home. Out here in AZ parks are most always *hot* and it's little fun for mom to sit while kiddo plays...










To top off a great day, Dan, a friend from swim team that I hadn't seen in over 20 years, came and met us at the park and then took us to the Little Farm in Tilden Park. Unluckily, most of the animals were put away, but we did tour the whole place and also walked around the pond. While Isaac ran ahead and tried to hide, Dan and I chatted--it was just like no time had passed, pretty amazing since the last time we were hanging out I was 13 and he was 14. Our only failure was to take a picture of us together! Next time, we'll have to remedy that, Dan! Capping the day off with dinner at Kier and Eric's made for the perfect ending to a great day!

Renaissance Festival

I have totally fallen behind on the postings, so I guess I'd better start catching up! Back in the beginning of March, Isaac and I went up to the Renaissance Festival. Paul couldn't go this year, too much homework and studying to do...As usual, Isaac created some ensemble out all hiss various mom-made costumes. We make the Renaissance Festival and all day event, Isaac tried lots of rides and games, I focused on the food. On the right is Isaac after completing the joust, one of his favorite rides.
Another of Isaac's annual favorites is the bow and arrow. In fact, this year he liked it so much that he spent the remainder of his Christmas money to buy a bow and arrow to bring home. At home he sets up a cardboard box and shoots his arrows into it. For some reason, the booth where the bow and arrow target practice is always has the best light for awesome pictures with super cool shadows. I particularly like this pictures because of the focused look on his face and how his mouth is working so hard to help him string the arrow.
Naturally hitting the climbing wall is a must. In previous years Isaac took his boots off, but this year, despite them being a little too big and quite awkward on the wall, he kept them on and still made it to the top. There is a little dragon at the top of the wall that you're supposed to tap when you get all the way up, but I think the bells at the gym are better. Isaac loves to get up there just to ring that bell.





I always knew there were elephant, camel and llama rides at the Renaissance Festival, but had never actually found them. This year in our search to find the bow and arrow booth, we came across the animal rides. Since Isaac was using his own money at this point for more rides and games, he opted for the camel ride since it was cheaper than the elephant ride. It's amazing, now that I have started making Isaac use his own money to buy things he has been so much more frugal! And since his birthday and Christmas are almost six months apart it's pretty easy to let him know that that money needs to last him since mommy won't be buying him anything in between.