This weather has been pretty unpredictable lately, rainy one day and super hot the next. Today was gorgeous and lent itself perfectly for a fun afternoon outside with friends. We're lucky we live so close to the beach!

We spent the afternoon at the Asian Pacific Heritage Festival in Sausalito. We saw some great performances and enjoyed a picnic in the shade.

Isabel had her routine check up and blood draw today at Oakland Kaiser. She also had an echocardiogram done. I'm so thankful Alan was able to take the day off from work to come with us. We pulled Isabel out of school at noon and didn't make it back home until 5:30pm. The roads were rainy and full of traffic. The blood draw, check up and echocardiogram were all in different buildings and floors. We had to drive from the hospital to clinic in between appointments.

The echocardiogram was in the main hospital which brought back a lot of memories. Gabriel even exclaimed "I remember this place!" He was fine with it and it's so normal for him, just another family outing. We've done a good job including him during these past few years instead of sending him off to be babysat. It works better for us this way, making it a family issue instead of just an Isabel thing.

Isabel was nervous at first, even though we had explained the echocardiogram procedure in detail and assured her there would be no pain. Just being the hospital and passing the room where she was prepped for surgery and the procedure room where she had her spinal taps were enough to put her on edge. Thankfully the echocardiologist was a super friendly guy who immediately put her at ease and allowed our whole family to crowd in to see her beating heart.

We won't have the results for awhile, but we're not worried about anything. I'm glad to have a record of Isabel's health post chemotherapy and am happy she was able to experience a painless hospital procedure for once!

Here we are in the echocardiogram waiting room.

It was pretty cool to see Isabel's heart.



The echocardiologist checked out Alan's heart tattoo. He thought it was well done and liked that it's anatomically correct.


The pediatric oncology clinic is fourteen floor up!


The kids entertained themselves while we waited for the doctor.

Gabriel drew himself walking our dog and holding an umbrella under a rain cloud.

Isabel's blood draw was super fast. Oakland Kaiser has one of the very best phlebotomists!

Isabel did a family history project for her class. She was instructed to choose a person who has contributed to their family history. She chose my mom. Isabel wrote up a long list of questions and sent them off in an e-mail to her two uncles. Then she called her aunt and grandpa who gave her their perspectives. It started an ongoing discussion about who exactly her grandmother was, which stirred up so many emotions for me. At one point we pored over family photos for two hours.

It always amazes me how memories can come flooding back with just one look. I never think about the things I instantly recalled but they were there, part of my mind, deeply embedded. That striped sweater my mom used to wear! That dress I looooved as a kid. That train that putted around playing the different mini plastic records. The yard, the flowers (oh how the hollyhocks look exactly like the one on my arm!), the many animals, just every little detail. I came away from those photos with my memories refreshed and I felt very reassured.

I've told Isabel that my childhood was picture perfect and it was, it really was. It was so fun and happy and full of love and joy and not a care in the world save for the fights with my siblings or something trivial like that. My mom gave us everything she didn't have as a child growing up hard on a mid-western dairy farm. She survived neglect and abuse and came away from it still full of love with an abundance of joy to have what she always wanted. A tight knit family full of happy children. She died too young and it's a shame but she made such a great life while she was my mother.

All the photos were filled with celebrations and family trips, animals all over the place, accomplishments, birthday parties, nature outings, silly photos (my favorite is me as a toddler fast asleep in my mom's lap, clutching a fried chicken drumstick) just us in our house together. Not to gloss over the rough parts, but it was super nice to pore over those photos and point out the little details to my own family who humored me enough to pay attention. The details that came flooding back, the way every holiday, birthday and celebration was a true testament to family love.

I tried to see my mom as a separate woman instead of just my mom, which I never had a chance to do when she was alive. It was nice to stare at those photos and see her, as a woman with her kids, taking in the details of her dress, her face, her surroundings. I love the ones where she's all made up, in her 70's fashion dresses and hip tilted hats. I don't have a lot of photos and the ones I do have are so small and faded but they are something and they tell a story.

Isabel was happy go lucky throughout the whole process, eagerly listening to the answers from her aunt, uncles and grandpa and looking through the photos. I found the whole thing to be a headache, a joy, upsetting and nice to do this report on my mom with Isabel. I'm thankful for the chance to really re-visit her life and I'm glad Isabel's report is over!

Here is Isabel explaining the events on the time line of her grandma's life.
Family dolls were hand created by each student and displayed showing where they were born.
The doll Isabel sewed to represent my mom (the basket of flowers is a nod to her very green thumb).
Both Gabriel and Isabel got a chance to proudly show off their school work at Open House last week. Gabriel dressed as a paleontologist to show us his artwork and research about dinosaurs.

One of my favorite people in the world is very close to having her second boy! I went to a super fun baby shower to celebrate her and hang out with all the rest of my favorite people.

School's out in a couple of weeks and the pool's open! Summertime is upon us!

Happy Mother's Day!

My home is filled with gorgeous flowers! I love that they were all hand picked with me in mind!

Alan had to work (the only holiday he gets off is Christmas day) so I spent it with his mom and little sister. We went to breakfast together and then took the kids to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D (my first time ever seeing a 3-D movie, if you can believe that).

I received some wonderfully fragrant garden flowers and the kids were thrilled to give me all their hand made gifts. Gabriel made me a shrinky dink pin and Isabel painted and framed a picture for me (a koala mom & baby).

I'm very happy to have had such a nice day on what is usually a very bittersweet holiday for me.

Another fun weekend filled with sunny weather. We went to a birthday party on Saturday and enjoyed an Earth Day festival at the kids' school the next day. I've got to remember to stock up on sunscreen as we all got a little too much sun and ended up a tad burnt!