We celebrated Halloween in Burlingame together with Olivia, her girls and Elvis the Ghost. John photographed most that came by the Cypress Avenue. The pictures – including Isabella’s pirate costume – can be seen here. Once it was too dark and scary we strolled around Hillsborough in a neighborhood pretty much entirely converted to spider nests, graveyards, and spooky alleys. Isabella took it easy with the candy. Maybe because of the “It’s time for your dental appointment” card in the mail the day before. Good timing.
Ran off to Yosemite Sunday after Halloween thinking we would be alone on the road and hoping to take advantage of the extra hour from the end of Daylight Savings Time. We hardly saw anyone all day and almost felt like we had the park to ourselves. We took Highway 140 for a change and enjoyed it so much more than 120.
That the summer season was officially over unfortunately meant closing of the ice cream shop on top of Glacier Point. We didn’t know until we made it there. Almost five miles and quite the elevation change. But the views were still spectacular and Isabella had wisely packed plenty of snacks for small breaks along the way. There are some pictures from the quick day trip here.
This past Saturday brought another quick day trip. Isabella and John spent the day in Seattle visiting Boeing, Theo Chocolate, and downtown incl. Pike’s Place Market. Piece of advice: Fish are still being thrown around at the end of the day. Cool city and yes: it rained and rained a lot.
Boeing’s been on the list for a long time. We were both excited to be inside the world’s largest building (square footage) but it was a bit hard to appreciate the size when 747s are parked all over. It does however make you stop and think when they tell you there’s room for 800 ice hockey rinks in the building. Or 75 football fields if you prefer those. We saw the 787 Dreamliner in ANA livery and we were some of the first to see the 747-800. The 787 will be in the air at the end of the year for the first time. Looks to be an amazing plane.
There are more pictures from the trip here.
John’s been in the studio the last two day photographing kids and products. He’s done for this time but there are a few Christmas projects lined up. Saturday will be the end of a volunteer job with a series of portraits of special needs children. They’ve been absolutely awesome models with ear-to-ear smiles and it’ll be good to see their pictures on the wall at San Carlos Dance Arts Center.
Job… Pretty much status quo but cautious optimism. The one-year anniversary for the layoff (or Reduction in Workforce as it’s called these days) is coming up. Sadly Adobe laid off another 680 people today so no chance of going back there. Good friends lost jobs. One has to wonder what it’s like being there releasing the same amount of products with 1,300 less people.
Isabella had her first Lucia practice two days ago. She reconnected with Victoria – a fellow singer from the Scandinavian choir. The two of them got moved up to the “older kids” half of the choir and were proud as can be. Lots of memories at the choir – Lyne was very active and helped where she could. We’re glad that Isabella once more gets to be part of the Christmas performances.
Finally an image of the French class Isabella is joining every Thursday. We’re very happy she gets to practice her gift once in a while. John attended a parent/teacher conference at St. Catherine’s. Isabella is doing great overall, and it’s a bit hard to get excited over a “C” in English when her homework is good and she’s happy in school. After all she’s still only in third grade.
