We had a very busy September and October with outings on most weekends. Most of them have been free events aimed at families, or came as part of one of the museum memberships we have. It’s been a lot of fun, but November changed things up a bit.
The first weekend in November began with me taking the boys over to our local Farmer’s Market, but this time riding their bikes! It was an interesting experiment, and worked pretty well, but when a woman who works at the bakery stall we frequent saw them, she shared how she remembered when we brought them in the stroller. Indeed, they have grown!
Sunday was spent at a book fair in San Ramon, where Aaron got to “meet” Bluey and Curious George. Adam passed on this experience, and the whole thing was a bit crowded and overwhelming, but we did manage to pick up some books from local authors, including the Captain Mama trilogy of books, written by USAF veteran Graciela Tiscareño-Sato, who was a delight to meeting. Adam loves her books, and we now talk a fair amount about the KC-135R aerial refueling airplane.
Imagine our delight and surprise when we walked into our library a few days later and saw a whole display featuring her!
But back to the day of the book fair, that evening Adam lost his first tooth! It’s a first for all of us really, the first time we did Tooth Fairy! How much is the going rate for a tooth at our house? $5. I also discovered that the whole experience really grosses me out, I’m reminded that it did when I was a kid too. I’m glad I’m not a shark.
That week also marked the results of a heartbreaking election. Donald Trump was elected to the presidency again, in what probably shouldn’t have come as a shock to me, but I really was quite upset. Personally, his first term emboldened folks who are not kind to Jewish people, and antisemitic attacks rose. It was really the first time I had fear related to raising our children Jewish in the United States. Beyond our immediate household, changes in immigration rules, draconian changes to women’s rights and those of other minorities, and the threat this puts on science and research is all terrifying. My heart goes out to loved ones who are at more risk than I, and my only hope is that communities can band together on a local level to protect our own, and that the backlash toward states like California won’t hurt too many people or do much long-term damage. It did remind me that it was a good time to get vaccinated, who knows when federal funding for health initiatives that his incoming administration doesn’t believe in will go away. Sigh.
But life goes on, and on Thursday I flew to Seattle for SeaGL 2024. I arrived mid-day on Thursday because the flights worked out well that way, and gave me some time to catch up some work in my hotel room before heading out in the early evening to visit the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which was within walking distance of my hotel. I had planned on using my reciprocal membership there, but it turned out to be free that day, and open late! I was excited to see their fossil collection, but the museum was full of really beautiful displays and I enjoyed all of it.
Upon my return we celebrated our au pair’s birthday, complete with a Taylor Swift birthday cake, which was done by a local baker and came out spectacularly!
We spent the next weekend having a pretty chill time, we went to a playground, visited our usual weekend restaurants. And we needed some down time, as our Thanksgiving trip to Florida was coming up. I’ll write about that soon, but it’s only the second time we’ve all gone on vacation, and the first was just a road trip to New Jersey, so flights and eight days of hotels was quite the next experience.