Monaloca

Yesterday Melina and friends Lily and Emma had their first dance performance. The full show lasted over an hour, with each of the YMCA’s young movement classes dancing for around five minutes. Melina was excited and proud, stating “This is my first performance!” While she’s performed for parents at her school, this was in fact her first stage (ok, gym) performance in a non-familiar venue. They all did great!

Afterwards we celebrated at Jupiter with Emma and Lily and their families. We ended up skipping Nalani’s soccer class to do so, but after two rounds of swim class on Saturday followed by the dance recital Sunday morn, Joey and I were ready for something a little less planned and totally kid-centric. At Jupiter we could enjoy pizza, Red Spots, and grown-up company while the kids commandeered the fire fountain and stage-with-lounge-chairs before the patio got too crowded with other afternoon sun-seekers.

We spent the rest of our weekend on impromptu outdoor fun–of the urban variety. We finished our garage-front parklet, an idea inspired by the parklets (parking strips overtaken by temp-to-perm decks, outdoor tables and chairs, and a few potted plants) popping up at Oakland cafes. We also biked to one of those cafes on our first-ever full-family bike ride.

Melina and I have finally adjusted to the trail-a-bike, and Nali got to ride in the tot seat with Daddy while Kai followed behind. Next time we’ll try to plan enough in advance so some friends can meet us there for a pint while the kids take over the library corner and sip lemonades, which sounds like a great something-for-everyone activity in just about any weather. Do you see another theme popping up this weekend?

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