Which of these kids is doing his own thing?

Our pre-school puts out a sweet little newsletter. I love getting it.

I especially love the pictures and the stories.

I don't especially love the photos that clearly feature little Marco Cecchin marching in the Chinese new year parade to the beat of his own drummer.



Ug.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Go Giants!

Box Score:
3 flights to Scottsdale
1 Giants win
1 sunny day
1 hail storm
1 rickshaw ride
3 days of swimming (some in the "hot pool")
6 servings in one bag of cotton candy

Jeff always says that you know you've had a good vacation when you're ready to go home. On our last day, Marco said, "Can we go home now? But not to the hotel, to the real home, the one with the red door.". :)

And here's the proof:





























































- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2-Loves

We've wrapped up baseball and started swimming, and now Marco got a little glimpse of a new sport.  Jeff is taking tennis lessons near our house, so Marco and I walked down to check it out.

"Coach Mark" says Marco is clearly an athlete and that he wants to teach Marco too... when he's five.

They came on by twosies.

Because of our Oakland Zoo VIP status, we were invited to meet the new baby giraffe Maggie!

Full disclosure:  Well... we actually donated to the giraffes because we're loosely related to them.  The trainer is Marco's god aunt (coined it).  Anyway, they opened a new Giraffe Barn and sent invitations to supporters with an adorable picture of Maggie staring right at you.  Marco was hooked.  I was busy working to afford future donations, so I couldn't attend.  Luckily, Grandma is always up for an adventure, especially when it includes supporting her grand kids, Amy and her giraffes.

Marco nearly burst with excitement when we told him that Grandma and Lucy were picking him up for a day at the Zoo.  He carried his Maggie postcard around with him all day and subsequent day at school to show his friends.When I got home, he crawled into my lap while I was still in my car to tell me all about his day.  He was full of smiles and stories, but barefoot and tired from his adventure.  (He took a spill into the lilly pad pond.  Typical.)

Here is Grandma's proof of their day (and proof for me that Marco needs a haircut):

Lucy will do anything for Marco.  Even I won't push him in a stroller.  He's such a diva.

 Lucy's godmother and friend of tall animals.

Thanks Grandma!

Pizzaiolino

We spent a sunny Sunday (with Grammy in tow) wine tasting, playing bocce and treating ourselves to a pizza lunch. 

Marco and Jeff always check out a restaurant's pizz oven make friends with the pizzaiolo.  On this trip, Marco flew solo.  He went over, checked out the oven and struck up a conversation with the waiter about it.

I love this series of photos that really shows how serious their conversation was and how great the waiter was about chatting with Marco.  Yes, he got a good tip.

In other Zagat rating news, they also let Marco make his own dough creation to put in the oven.  He said he wanted his to look like a lemon.  And it did.

This was the girls view at the winery.  As we sipped wine at the walk-up tasting window, the boys played bocce ball.

 Che giorno Italiano, no?