Tag: Adriana Esguerra

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Catching up…

John had an opportunity to walk through the condo in Hawai’i. The floors have been ripped out due to water damage, and contractors are installing new flooring throughout. Once the first wooded boards were lifted, it was clear just how many termites were having a party underneath. Anyway, the project is progressing and we’re excited to see what it will look like, once done.

The house was pressure washed recently as dust from the city’s water tank project had added a brown tint to both house and patio. Probably not the last time, and they’re just started to build the roof of the tank and add the outside cable. They (still) expect the tanks to be done in March of ’24, but that is course dependent of the amount of rain we’ll see over the coming months.

John, Eli and Andy went to see the Blue Angels during Fleet Week. Fastly had once again chartered a boat to take staff + family out. Being on the bay offers a nice and different viewpoint, but sadly we were forbidden to go where we camped out in ’19. It seems that area is now prohibited – maybe because it’s directly under the flight path. Anyway, Great to see colleagues and their families in a different and relaxed setting.

Duke is Duke… He’s still Olivia’s shadow and follows her everywhere she goes. And when she’s not around, he tries to sleep through the misery. Still chasing squirrels in our backyard, but with the inability to climb trees, it’s unfair odds from the get go.

Adriana has picked up cheer again and somehow manages to take care of that in addition to two jobs – at Dizzy Lizzy’s and at the gift shop at Mills-Peninsula. Of course, she’s also very busy with High School including the extra activities she’s signed up for.

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Weekend in Hawaii

On Friday, John and Olivia went to Hawaii for the weekend. While it was partly to relax and enjoy the island, two other action items were on the agenda. One was to inspect the condo for water damage from a recent storm. The other reason we will get to a little later.

It was great to be back on the island of Oahu and visit the local restaurants – some new, some old. The weather is typically very nice and comfortable in June, which was also the case this time. John still managed to catch a cold lingering by the time this is published.

Adriana wrapped the school year at the end of last week. She’s busy with Cheer, art projects, and working above the local hospital and Dizzy Lizzy’s Baked Goods. Up next is Pia…

Our garden is looking great. John and Olivia went to find some pincushions at a very nice nursery in Berkeley. They only bloom once a year, and we might have missed it this time, but hopefully, they will look great next spring.

As mentioned above, there was one more reason that John and Olivia went to Hawaii. The flight from San Francisco to Honolulu brought John past 3,000,000 flown miles with United Airlines. That’s a lot of flying, and it was a bit anti-climactic to receive a pen at the gate together with a thank you. Anyway, it’s done, and it remains to be seen if John will ever board a flight again 😉

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Adriana Turns 16

Adriana turned 16 on Wednesday. She celebrated during the weekend, although one of her events got rained out for the third time in a row. They left Friday afternoon all packed and ready for a weekend in Carmel, but the power went out, and they decided to come back to celebrate at home instead. They made the best of it, and 12 of us celebrated her at Left Bank in Menlo Park on the day itself.

Although there were several great gifts, the best one was that she passed her driving test Thursday morning. Although it comes with initial nervousness – especially on Olivia’s part – it’ll help all around and bring an extra bit of freedom.

The weather at home continues to be challenging. We have had powerful winds, and cleaning leaves and removing branches seem almost pointless. The winds were very powerful throughout the Bay Area on Tuesday, and like many other people, we lost power early in the day. As the night came, more than 300,000 people were without power, primarily due to downed power lines. Finally, we got the power – and heat back – after 36 hours. Unfortunately, many had to wait longer.

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Ready for spring!

The winter weather that brought snow on both sides of the bay also brought lots of wind and rain, and our house and garden have taken a severe beating the last couple of weeks. Last Monday, one of the city’s trees couldn’t take it anymore and fell, taking out a good chunk of our fence. Unfortunately, it also hit our new shed and damaged its roof and sides. From looking at the tree trunk, the tree was unhealthy, leaving the city to cover the repairs.

John and Olivia managed to get away for a weekend in Carmel while Adriana skied the slopes of Lake Tahoe. They had a great time, but it was cut short by the fallen tree and the risk of more coming down.

We have had a lot of activity around the pool and spa, and things are moving in the right direction but not without work and coordination from several parties, including us. We emptied the pool on the 23rd, and the sides were washed, cleaned, and treated with acid the day after. It took 24 hours and a lot of water to fill it again, but the ~72 hours were well spent, resulting in a pool that looks much better.

The spa also got some love. It’s been acting up several times, leaving us unable to heat it. Luckily the system set out while one of the pool technicians was there, so not only did we confirm that we were not crazy, it brought a good indication of which piece of hardware needed to replace. The pool company took care of that on Friday, and we’ll run tests in the coming week.

Last Sunday, most of the family – 16 of us – met at Kokkari in San Francisco to celebrate Adrian. Another corner turned. He came by for a birthday café latte the day before, but it was good to see everyone and give him that present – that’s what he treasures the most.

Downed tree that hit our new shed
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First Car for Adriana

Last weekend John and Olivia went to pick up a new car for Adriana. Olivia kept it hidden for a few days, but it was too much of a secret once Wednesday came around and sat in the garage when Adriana came home from school in the afternoon. Like with her sisters, this will undoubtedly free up Olivia’s time, and Adriana is already a self-proclaimed “great driver.”

John spent the weekend in Denmark while chasing that 3MM award with United. He spent time with his mom and saw great friends on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, Denmark had some of the worst winds in six years while he was there, and it was sometimes hard to walk outside when not protected by buildings. Still very cold there, but lovely to be out after 15+ hours on planes.

The winds have also been strong at home. We cleaned the yard more than once and are still looking for an excellent leaf vacuum for all the oak leaves that lands on the turf. Unfortunately, the pool sage continued, and we had to write a stern letter to get the acid wash of the plaster scheduled. We will have an update next time. The hot tub is also giving us trouble, and we can’t wait to get is all fixed. The pool cover is also acting up. “Aicham!” to quote Mr. Kim from Kim’s Convenience.

20230219: View from 8F – Copenhagen to Frankfurt
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Pre-Formal Dance in the Rain

The weekend brought more wind and more rain. We have reached what we usually get for the entire year, but everybody reacts with “we need it” when it is brought up in conversation. And while we have had damage two times so far, we’re delighted California is getting soaked, and the reserves are full.

On Saturday, we had 30 teenagers and 15-20 parents over for a couple of hours before the party bus took them to the Notre Dame formal dance. Very lively but well-behaved. The weather, unfortunately, wasn’t cooperating, and only one photo was captured outside.

John And Adriana prepared a bunch of balloons on Friday evening. Little did they know that they would start popping in the middle of the night and set off the house alarm that has a built-in gunshot detector… Luckily they didn’t all pop ahead of time!

Balloons galore!
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Mouth surgery for Adriana

The rain finally seems to have stopped. There’s more in the forecast, but nothing like what we got the first couple of weeks of ’23. The water was hard on our landscaping, and there will be lots of repair work over the next few weeks. The back fence also took a beating but overall, we were lucky compared to many other places and homes throughout California.

On Monday, Adriana had four wisdom teeth removed. It was a rough three hours, but she did pretty well once home. At least for the first two days while the strong medications were still available. She had a dry socket treated Friday – cloves brought almost instant relief. She’s delighted it’s a closed chapter.

The surgery coincided with the Hillsborough Water Works making good on their promise to tear down the two old water tanks in our backyard. Unfortunately, the demolition was not for the faint at heart, bringing an almost unbearable noise. How Adriana slept through some of it is a testament to the effectiveness of the medicine. The noise lasted all week and left a big pile of twister metal and iron that needed transport away from here.

Over the weekend, John spent 24 hours at the condo in Hawaii fixing TVs, Internet, and appliances. The weather wasn’t too inviting, so staying indoors and crossing things off the to-do list was easy.

2023-01-22 | One of the two water tanks being torn down
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Summer is coming to an end…

Summer vacation is slowly coming to an end, and Adriana has been busy wrapping up the last two summer camps: cake baking, and tennis. She enjoyed both – especially tennis, where the got to play with the daughter of our former neighbors.  Now it’s time to start thinking about all the summer homework assignments incl. the dreaded book report.

Bella spent the week in Honolulu together with Andrew. She’s not back at Santa Clara college until mid-September. Pia, on the other hand, was first back. She moved up to Varsity cheerleading and lost her captain position – at least for this year. Not sure she’s missing it. 

As a Christmas present, Ella got a ticket for an outdoor music festival called Outside Lands. This year was their 10th anniversary. Seems to be a bit of an older crowd, so among the list are many “mature” bands. Still, good times and transportation luckily never got to be an issue. The week before, she spent the week in New York and on Long Island seeing two of her friends from school.

Olivia, John, and Adriana hosted the McGregors at Casa Bellamia in Carmel Valley. They are a British couple with three children that used to live in Burlingame. They were fellow St. Catherine’s parents, and it was good to catch up after they moved back to the UK in 2014. As usual, the kids spent almost the entire day in the pool and had no trouble falling asleep.

Before leaving for Carmel, Adriana, Pia, Olivia and John celebrated Penny’s 75th birthday together with Adrian  – and Penny, of course – at John Bentley in Menlo Park. It continues to be one of our favorite places to go to dinner. 

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Never a Dull Moment…

It’s been weeks since we got home. We’ve had more than 200 people read our travel diary from Africa, and we’ve taken a peak ourselves to remind us of what a great trip we had. 

It was sweltering the weekend we came back, and the girls mostly spent the first couple of days in and around Adrian and Penny’s pool. John had to return some rented camera equipment and continued south to Carmel and got back in the saddle riding the beautiful 17-miles drive. 

Once home John and Adriana got busy power washing the drive way, patios, and outdoor furniture. With what looked to be a terrible chore, the neighbor, Liz, had John suspected of being in the dog house, but it was quite therapeutic and very satisfying to see the moss and dirt disappear, and also to see the brown teak color come alive behind what was mostly gray chairs and couches. The free mud bath was a just a bonus that both Adriana and John enjoyed. Less so the ones who showered after us. 

As mentioned in a previous blog post, John was fortunate to get a couple of Hamilton tickets from Olivia. They went to the Orpheum Theater on July 14 and loved every minute of the show. It really is a great musical, and although had cast has changed several times over, every performance was to a tee. It’s a shame that the tickets are a small fortune – the music is perfect for a younger audience and was a great piece of history. 

Dinner was eaten at 54Mint. Great food but the basement turned out to be very dark and very loud. Luckily the staff could help get a couple of seats at the bar. 

Bella’s been busy working at a pair of event planning businesses. Long hours and much planning, but rewarding when the event is successful and both the hosts and guests are happy. Pia has been enjoying her new license and is always (and still) glad to run errands around town. Late last week she blew a tire but managed to drive back to the house. AAA replaced it within the hour. AAA is also where we have an auto insurance policy and the bill, for now, four cars – with two young drivers – is something we don’t care to think about a whole lot. 

Adriana’s summer camp schedule has been tight, and so far she’s enjoyed volleyball camp, a camp focused on producing YouTube videos and finally an art camp. So far we have not seen anything posted on YouTube, but it won’t be long – she reviews several products each day and is often recording her slime making skills.

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Game Drives in Zimbabwe

Hoping to see a bit more game in the morning, one vehicle set out for the southern part of the AndBeyond concession. No joy – the animals hid well and the favorite sighting ending up being that of a baby zebra and having morning coffee on a hill overlook the area that previously were the grounds of the AndBeyond lodge. 

After breakfast John, Olivia, Chris, Kara, Sandy, David, Sarah, Robert, Adriana and Penny went on the Zambezi river in what’s is known as Canadian canoes. Two-seaters with an extra seat for the guy paddling. Such a nice way to experience the natural border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. They spotted a few crocodiles and a water monitor lizard that decided to jump from its branch and back in the water only a few feet away from Sarah’s canoe. 

The afternoon was spent relaxing. We met at 3:30 to enjoy tea and left at 4:00 for the pontoon boats that would take us all up and down the river. We split into two groups – 10 on each boat – and started slowly drifting. Luckily away from the Victoria Falls. We were very lucky that a heard of elephants got thirsty and came down to the river bank to consume about a 100 liter of water each. A tiny baby elephant stole the highlight but any elephant is worth watching in its natural habitat. Even the skittish ones that sometimes made sure we knew who was the rightful habitant of the area. The river cruise ended with the sighting of one – maybe two – hippos, although they left most of their good looks under water.

Dinner was served in the wine cellar at the lodge. A perfect combination of wine, comfortable seating and even exhibits of old toys. The kids were entertained in the upstairs TV room and watched Disney Channel while consuming burgers.