Tag: Isabella A. Agger-Pilon

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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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Summer time in Hillsborough

It’s been a while since we last checked in. Since we last wrote, Olivia and her family sailed from Barcelona to Lisbon. Some arrived in Barcelona early, others departed Lisbon late. Most were back in California by July 5th.

At home, John and Duke enjoyed each other’s company. So much so that John was later accused of making Duke chunky, having put him back on his previous diet consisting mostly of rotisserie chicken. Anyway… lots of walking, lots of visits to the beach, and the bay, where Duke managed to find a leopard shark, correction, a dead leopard shark on one of their walks.

These little vacation pockets with very few people in the house are a good opportunity to catch up on the smaller-and-smaller list of things we need to take care of, and Manuel and his crew were here for a week treating all the outside woodwork. The outside looks so much better and should be OK for at least five years.

Eli went to Italy to visit a friend while the rest of the family was in Spain. She had a great time on the coast (La Spezia) and even made it out on the water in a family-owned boat. She was lucky to see one of her cousins in Copenhagen during a layover on the way back.

We continue to have construction in our backyard, and the dust from digging and the winds have been rather significant. The dust is everywhere – on the side of the house, on the cars, on the pool cover, and more. We have written the city, asking them to pay for at least one cleaning a quarter. Let’s see – we don’t have a great track record with them, although they have decided to take another look at our claim from the fallen tree. Their insurance company is still recommending that they deny our claim, so we don’t have high hopes for a positive outcome. For us, anyway.

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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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A Night Sky Like No Other

We had been warned of colder temperatures and wind and some of us woke up in the middle of the night as the increasingly louder sounds announced the weather’s arrival. 

Breakfast was served at 8:00. We met at the vehicles afterward and set out to find whatever wildlife the area had to offer – obviously with the usual request to see giraffes. Up until then, we had seen oryx, jackal, ostrich, and springbok. Fast forward a few hours, and you could add giraffe (yay!) and zebra to the list. 

The winds were blistering cold and two of the three vehicles got stuck in sand storms on the way back. One car, therefore, came back much earlier, and John, Nick, David, and Isabella left to race ATVs in the sand dunes. So much fun! Isabella, unfortunately, hit a sand dune at high speed and got thrown off the bike, but was ready to continue once she got the sand out of her helmet. Over the course of the afternoon, two more groups went, and only the very little once were left disappointed. 

The evening started with a lecture by the local staff members who made sure we were all up to speed on Namibia – both past and current. Last stop before dinner was a trip to the observatory to make sure all got a chance to see the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. 

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Successful Foot Surgery

Olivia’s foot underwent surgery on July 14. All went as expected during the operation and the staff at Mills Peninsula hospital took very good care of her. Olivia stayed overnight and saw the physical therapist before going home, so that she could learn to master the crotches. Unfortunately she took a dive during one of the walks so it was back to x-ray to make sure everything was OK. The photographs revealed all was intact and Olivia was back at the house in the early afternoon. It’ll be another few weeks before she can put weight on her foot/ankle but all is going well and everyone is helping where they can. 

For the girls the week started on a questionable note with a couple of fillings for Pia and spacers for Adriana. Dentist visits are always such fun… Pia said “Thanks, but no thanks” to any kind of numbing and was named “Most brave” of our four girls. Adriana didn’t enjoy it as much but it’s good to know there’s now room for when the last of the new teeth decides it’s time to come out. All was forgotten afterwards and Adriana hoped the tooth fairy would take her fresh mold in exchange for money – just this one time. She’s been active in Volleyball camp all week at Crystal Springs School. She’s excited to start that activity in the school year that’s just around the corner.

On Friday Pia left for Santa Cruz together with cheerleading teams with a 12 other high schools. She’s leading her team this year and is co-captain together with one other classmate. They are training and competing all weekend and the rumor is that she’s been awarded a very special “Nicest to be around” award. Congratulations – seems very appropriate!

Isabella is in Fiji and will soon have to start thinking about packing everything up and head home. John will meet her in Los Angeles on Wednesday after her flight from Nadi. We’ll put together a separate post on the trip as there surely is lots to tell. 

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Las Vegas in 24 hours

Las Vegas in 24 hours

 

Partly to celebrate John’s birthday and partly to introduce Pia and Bella to Las Vegas, all six set out to enjoy what at one point looked like 115 degrees (46 celsius) in the shade. As it turned out the temperature never went higher than 100 but only after Las Vegas was mentioned in the national news because of severe thunderstorms that brought hail with them. The flight was therefore diverted all the way to Los Angeles to avoid the stormy weather before making a left turn.

John and Olivia were lucky to sit next to a couple of winemakers who had brought samples of their wines. The extra hour of flying time came in handy for that reason. Good stuff – look up Enriquez Wines and Vokel Cellars if you’re ever in the Healdsburg area.

The trusted Mandarin Oriental was the base for the 24 hours in Nevada. All jumped in a cab and drove to The Wynn hotel and slowly made their way to the Bellagio where Olivia treated all to the ‘O’ show by Cirque de Soleil. Dinner was consumed at Otto in the Venetian. Despite Adriana begging the urge to ride the gondolas was resisted and the Venetian remained a visual-only experience.

Isabella had unfortunately caught some stomach bug days before leaving and the effects were still very much present upon takeoff from Oakland airport. She was, unfortunately, uable to join the rest of the family for the dinner and show and instead rested in the hotel room. It helped and she felt much better on the second day of the trip.

The following day was mostly spent relaxing on the strip and ride the roller coaster at the New York New York hotel. Adriana was deemed too short during the last visit, so she was thrilled when she was allowed on the bumpy ride this time around.

After a burger at Bobby’s Burger Palace and a quick scoop of Pinkberry, it was time to fly back so that they could all join the rest of the family for an early 4th of July dinner at the MPCC Beach House in Carmel.


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Wrapping up another school year

Bella graduated from Burlingame High School on May 28. The ceremony at the on the football field was followed by a small dinner for the family. Nice event with good speeches and even of couple of performances of the school band and choir.

Pia had a to wait a few more days before she wrapped up he final exam with a two-mile run. There was no end in sight for Adriana and as we write this, she’s still go on strong at Saint Catherine’s. She just wrapped up the last book report of the year, and got to pretend to be Ella Enchanted in front of the camera. She’s quite enjoying those type of assignments.

Bella had invited 75 people to Adrian and Penny’s home for a reception in her honor. The place looked beautiful and Pia record effort from handing 100 rice paper lamps paid off.

Across the country Isabella was starting to her final exams and it all kicked off on Memorial Day (May 30). Five days later and she was done for the year. John went out to help help pack up the room and freight laundry from Connecticut to California. They spent the day hiking Kent Falls but also completed a rather long drive to Collin’s Creamery – surely some of the best ice cream in CT.

John flew back Sunday evening while Isabella stayed behind. She’s on a small team representing Kent School at the Independent School Gender Project. The conference starts June 16 so until then she’s staying with a very good friend – Hannah – from school. She’s back home June 18.

http://www.isgpsummerconference.org
http://thecollinscreamery.com

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CPH/CDG

John flew to New York from San Francisco while Isabella was picked up in a car from school. They met at Newark Airport and quickly checked in at the SAS counter – each with their own row of seats. January and February remains a great time to travel if you like room to spread out a little bit… They got to Copenhagen very early in the morning and met Mariane for breakfast at the Hilton – just across the street from the airport. It was good to catch up – after all it was more than 2.5 years since Isabella and her had seen each other. 

Mariane and Isabella at the Copenhagen Hilton

Once breakfast was over Isabella and John set course for the hotel. The room wasn’t ready so they explored Copenhagen in fairly decent weather. Ending up back at the hotel around noon, they watched the many famous – some only in their own mind – people who showed for the Copenhagen Fashion week. Among them Gerald Butler who was visiting to endorse Boss perfume. Meanwhile the room was ready and an afternoon snooze seemed like the right thing to do. The evening was spent with Nikoline, Albert, Pia and Carl at their home in Værløse. 

Saturday started with breakfast at Meyers Deli. A great little breakfast place with nothing but fresh and organic food. Lunch was spent with Hans Ole and Trine at Bistro Royal followed by a visit to some of the famous Copenhagen shops. Nothing was so tempting that they had to buy it so it was back to the hotel for a quick refresher before heading out to have dinner with many of the friends Isabella has met over the years. Good opportunity to celebrate Isabella’s 15th birthday regardless of the lousy service at Cocks & Cows. 

Isabella & John left the hotel early Sunday morning. Isabella wasn’t quite sure why, other than she’d been promised a surprise… They ended up in front of the departure gate for Paris and flew down to the French capital for the day. Fantastic weather and they slowly made it by foot from Notre Dame / St. Germain to the Eiffel Tower. Along the way they stopped to leave six roses at the place Lyne’s ashes were spread. Somber moments but good nonetheless. The Parisians and many tourists were out enjoying the spring weather and it was not until the end of the day that all the rain that was in the forecast finally showed. Back in Copenhagen around 9:00 p.m. Both slept well with no broadcast of the Super Bowl available to grab the attention all night. 

It was time to leave the beautiful D’Angleterre hotel Monday morning and after check-in it was back to the Airport Hilton to meet Birgit and Mogens for breakfast. It was nice to catch up with them as well. Isabella and John parted ways at the Copenhagen airport. Isabella flew back to New York while John headed direct to San Francisco. But not until some tax free candy were purchased as well as a new set of B&O earphones that Isabella received from the family. Big smile on her face and very thankful. Many treated her to little gifts all weekend and she was lucky to get spoiled so far from home.

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Fall colors all around

Olivia and John left for the east coast October 14 to visit Isabella and to hear and see firsthand how Kent School was becoming a part of her life. It was the weekend of parent+teacher conferences and all the students were excited to see their parents even if it meant cleaning their dorm rooms.

As expected Isabella was doing great. She had changed her roommate and had gotten a good group of friends – many of who she’s in classes with during the day. She received many good comments from her teachers and her counselor and so far boarding school seems to be the right choice for her even though she is of course missed at home. 

The weekend turned out to be at the very peak of the fall colors making their entrance around New England and coincidently Kent was named one of the best places in 2015 to see the changing scenery. One would think it gets a little old and boring after a while but the car was pulled over many times to photograph the trees, hills and valleys in their yellow, orange, green and everything in between. 

After spending Friday afternoon at the school the three went to dinner at Oliva on Main in Bethlehem. The restaurant was recommended by Regine, the owner of the lovely Bed & Breakfast where Olivia and John stayed. Isabella was very happy with the hummus and later spaghetti and slept well until she was picked up the following day. 

Saturday was spent touring Yale University and shopping for a winter jacket. The campus at Yale was very beautiful and it was amazing to walk there and think about all the graduates that went on from there to put their mark on World history. The three finished the day off at Community Table which serves a Nordic menu including Swedish meatballs. A very cozy place built like a Swedish cabin.

Sunday started with breakfast at JP Gifford in Kent – recently named on the the 15 best small bakeries in the US. Afterwards they toured New Preston and finished with a quick trip to a “nearby” Starbucks 30 miles away. Olivia and John had to drive to New York to fly back to the west cost and left Isabella with some time to relax and treat a spiring cold. The weather was rapidly turning colder and there was frost on the windows Sunday morning as well as both snow and hail in the afternoon. 

Good timing on that winter jacket!