January Jumble

Nothing forces you back into the swing of things after the holidays like the chaos of everyday life with our trio. January was a jumble of basketball games for both Joey and Clara, indoor soccer games for Molly May, a dinner date for Joey and one of his best buddies, Isaiah, an Elsa-themed birthday parties for one of Clara's friends, a meet and greet with a brand-new puppy belonging to Aunt Mariesa and Uncle Mike, and a spiffy new bike for Molly May!

 

Ice, Ice Babies

Real ice and snow are hard to find this year, but we found the next big thing in early January, and headed to Walnut Creek's outdoor skating rink. Cheers to more independent skaters (and less backbreaking work for mom and dad)!

 

 

New Glasses Envy

Nine!

We have a nine year-old!! I'm pretty sure this should be impossible, since he was just born yesterday, but we went ahead and celebrated our big guy with a fun family outing that included some of Joey's favorite things: baseball, his boy cousins, a yummy dinner, and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

 

But first, we opened presents at home, with the Christmas tree providing a festive birthday backdrop (which I swore I would never do to my January baby!). He is now the proud owner of a massive baseball bag that can hold all of his catchers' gear, batting helmet, bat and glove. When it stands on end, it's almost as tall as he is!

 

 

Hidden inside the bag was a new Under Armour sweatshirt (the equivalent cool factor of Guess or Cavaracci for kids in 80s) and his very own tablet... 

 

 

Do you see that maniacal gleam in his eyes when he realized just what he was holding?

 

 

He was absolutely stunned and thrilled! He even has his own email address!

 

 

Finally, he unwrapped an amazing surf photograph that we had bought in Hawaii for his new bedroom in the new house.

 

This is one lucky nine year-old!

 

 

Later that day, the whole Cecchin family cleared their calendars to meet at the batting cages in Pacifica, which was as fun for the grown boys -- and Grandma!! -- as it was for the little boys! 

 

 

 

 

After batting, we headed to the Surf Spot in Pacifica, where the boys all modeled their UA gear and subtly battled for ownership of the volleyball.

 

And then, the best part in Joey's book...cake!

 

We could not be more proud of this amazing little man!

Littlest Kicker

At long last, we have a third kid on the Saturday morning sports schedule! Molly May could not be more pumped, and we could not be more stretched! But logistics issues aside, we loved seeing her excitement while pulling on her brand-new shin guards for the first time, and joining her "Little Grasshoppers" teammates in indoor soccer. This little one has been an awesome, patient bystander for a long time, and finally has the chance to be cheered on by her brother and sister!

For the first game, there was a lot of breathless running with no ball contact, a lot of spacy goal-keeping, and a lot of chit-chatting with some of her best buddies, Dylan and Ava. In other words, it was classic preschool soccer!

 

 

School Mugshots 2014-2015

The results are in: the Cecchin kids are apparently extremely unphotogenic and go on vacation at the wrong times. We finally got our kids' school pictures back, after re-takes for Joey and Clara (the first tries were truly awful), and jumping on the second session for Molly, since we were in Hawaii for the first round.

Here they are, in all their glory, 3rd grade, 1st grade and Pre-K!

 

Fort Funston on New Year's Day

Nothing gets Tim or the dogs quite so giddy as when we round the bend on the Great Highway and catch a glimpse of the sandy bluffs of Fort Funston, our old stomping ground for dog walks in the City.

We made the trek over to this slice of doggy heaven on New Year's Day, marveling at the pep in Jake's 12 year-old step as he navigated the familiar dunes and trails, and wondering just how many more trips here he would be able to enjoy.