Conversations With My Kids

Miss Daisy driving

2012-01-30T20:01:00.001-08:00

in the rain.
1/20/12

Free dress day

2012-01-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

1/6/12

Daisy fixes the TV

2012-01-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

1/4/12

Taco trunk

2012-01-30T18:47:00.000-08:00

1/2/12

2011: The Year in Pictures

2012-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Daisy the clairvoyant

2012-01-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

The kids have just noticed the Tarot card/palm reading joint in our neighborhood, and, having asked Dad what that's all about, are discussing various soothsaying matters.

Daisy: I can read palms.
Buster: No you can't
Daisy: Yes I can.
Dad: Who taught you how to read palms?
Daisy: Mya [best friend].
Buster: Daisy, there's no such thing as people who can see into the future.
Daisy: Yes there is. I can.
Buster: OK, what am I going to say next?
Daisy: Something mean.

Whattaya know. The kid can see into the future.
1/5/12

The ultimate Daisy conversation

2011-11-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Daisy: I need to give this back to L___.
Dad: What is it?
Daisy: A doll blanket.
Dad: Why do you have it?
Daisy: To give it back to L___.

Conversation: 11/3/11
Photo: 9/30/11 (Crazy hair day at school)

Almost Halloween

2011-10-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

Most of Daisy's costume, headed to a party. The pointy orange, white and yellow hat makes it much more obvious that she's a candy corn witch.

Buster plays it cool at his friend Justin's birthday party, held at a warehouse.

10/30/11

Outfit

2011-10-30T22:04:00.001-07:00

So. Not much posting for the last year. Going to try to get back to it, alternating old and new pix, rather than a futile attempt to catch up. We'll start with old. This one's almost a year old, and I'm struck by how Daisy doesn't stand in this little kid way anymore.

11/7/10

Where it came from

2011-10-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Buster: If I was taller I could lift this [garage door] all the way.
Dad: And if you had wheels you'd be a trolleycar.
Buster: What?
Dad: Grandma and Grandpa used to say that. When someone said something like that, "If this, then that," they'd say "And if you're grandmother had wheels she'd be a trolley car." I don't know where it came from, but that's what they'd say.
Daisy: It came from the '80s.

10/30/11

Gorilla's in the House

2011-10-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

Buster tries on his new Halloween costume.
"I'm King Kong's enemy. I love New York. He hates New York."

10/25/11

Minor bike spill

2011-10-18T13:03:00.001-07:00

Buster: [Presses on the inside of his knee] It hurts when I do this.

Daisy: [In all seriousness] Don't do that.

10/16/11

Walkathon

2011-08-29T23:22:00.001-07:00

Daisy warms up.

About a quarter of a mile in. Fading!

What? I have to walk around the block again?

You pretty much can't get past Maestra Monica without getting a hug.

Re-energized!

Meanwhile: Huff, huff, huff!

Luis, Buster and Elvis hit the post-walk spread.

Daisy and Cora enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Parade day

2011-08-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

The BART station was all decorated.

Office supply store too.

This isn't the parade. This is the scenery as I was walking to work at 8:30 in the morning, about two and a half hours before the parade. Is this normal? I gave Buster the option of skipping school and coming to the parade, but he would have had to spend the whole day at work with me, which is boring, and I didn't even know how close we were going to be able to get, since we had already seen people in Giants gear streaming toward the BART station in our neighborhood before 8 a.m. He wisely chose to skip the parade.

So I ended up with this delightful Salon trio, Chris, Tracy and Ruth, not one of whom is my kid, and not one of whom told me they were bored, tired, hungry or had to go to the bathroom. Though I think Ruth might have been a little hungry.

I don't have a picture of me in it, but I was wearing my new Cody Ross T-shirt. I saw it in a corner store and it made me burst out laughing, so I bought it. My favorite thing about it was knowing that in about two years, I would be able to wear this shirt in San Francisco, a city that in November 2010 was ready to elect Cody Ross mayor, and everyone would be all, "Who's on your shirt?" At this writing Ross is hitting .231 with a .695 OPS with a month to go in the season, so we're right on schedule.

An idea of the crowd. As we were fighting our way through it to our eventual vantage point in front of the Palace Hotel, this teenage girl I crossed paths with yelled at me, "Get some orange on! The color's orange!" before disappearing into crowd churn. Thanks for the tip, person who's been rooting for the Giants for 12 minutes!

This is Aaron Rowand trying to show Cody Ross that Ross' face is on my shirt.

OK, end of non-kid post.
11/3/10

The Giants win the World Series!

2011-08-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Eyes are shining all over San Francisco!

The Excelsior celebrates.
11/1/10

Halloween

2011-08-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

Costumes. Buster's Tim Lincecum costume includes the windup.

At the bus stop, on the way to Sanchez Street.

To meet our friends Caleb and Toby.

For Dad's costume to make sense, you may need a reminder of this. He's meat, in a Lady Gaga dress. Buster going into the windup again.

Daisy, clearly petrified by Caleb.

Wait. What the!??

The World Series game was everywhere.

Even offstage.

Daisy and Toby teamed up along the way, eventually producing this accidentally poetic-looking moment:

This kid's homemade Hershey's Kiss costume looks almost exactly like the Hershey's Kiss costume Jane made for herself when she was pregnant with Buster. It was maternity wear, cleverly hiding her big belly, though generally she was not shy about showing off her big belly. In fact, on Halloween night that year, she wore a midriff-bearing shirt and painted her belly to look like a giant pumpkin. Some of the neighborhood kids were a little shocked. Spooky coincidence: The Giants were in the World Series that year too! By the way: Not suggesting anything about this kid ...

On the bus home we ran into Fabian, who got a skateboard? That's some treat.
10/31/10

The big carve

2011-08-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Artists at work

The finished product. Dad did the carving. The messed-up tooth's on him.
10/31/11

Pumpkin Patch Gothic

2011-08-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

10/31/10

Say goodnight, Daisy

2011-08-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Daisy is playing rock, paper, scissors against herself, using both hands

Daisy, how do you play that against yourself?
What?
How do you play that against yourself? Don't you know what both hands are doing?
I close my eyes.

Three days later, Dad's still sitting there, blinking.

Spooky Giants

2011-08-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Oct. 30, 2010: Our front window was a reflection of the twin obsessions of the moment.
10/30/10

Student of the week

2011-08-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

This is kind of early in kindergarten. We're a little behind around here.
10/29/11

World Series Game 2

2011-05-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

The scene outside Your Call Is Very Important to Us Park.

And the scene inside. I'm usually against bunting, but this kind's OK.

Met my future daughter-in-law.

All the boys in San Francisco grew beards in October. And some of the girls kept theirs.
Giants 9, Rangers 0.
10/28/11

Ready for the World Series

2011-05-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sign by Buster.
10/27/10

Daisy's cozy house

2011-05-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Buster has always been the architect of the cozy houses around here, but Daisy, with an assist from Buster, finally got one.

This might be the last picture of a formerly constant scene, Daisy sucking her thumb. After years of us trying to get her to stop, she finally just stopped. Mom offered her a deal: Quit sucking your thumb for a week and you can get your nails done. She did it, and hasn't sucked her thumb since. Bribery FTW!

What.
10/24/10

Tony's Cable Car

2011-05-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tony's Cable Car Restaurant is across the street from the hospital, so it played a big role in this family's life in January 2010. This was a return visit under happier circumstances. They got good shakes.
10/24/11

The Giants win the pennant

2011-05-30T22:15:00.000-07:00

Strike 3 called! Ryan Howard strikes out and the Giants win, 3-2.
10/23/10

If you need me, call me

2011-05-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Another one where the context is lost to history. For reasons no longer remembered, Buster writes my phone number on his arm.
10/23/10

High school football

2011-05-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

We went to this high school football game in El Cerrito, because Mom likes the atmosphere of high school football, the band and cheerleaders and all that. This game ended at halftime when there was a big fight on the field among non-players. They emptied the stadium, then completed the game. We were never in danger or anything, and the upshot of all this is that this is kind of a cool, pre-fight picture of Buster.
10/22/10

Baseball

2011-05-28T23:02:00.001-07:00

Back in the present. The season is winding down for the South City Pony League A's. Dad is the coach, and it's coach pitch. Here's Dad pitching to Buster:

Note the follow-through. Uncanny resemblance to this guy, don't you think?

But we were talking about Buster.

Crack!

Safe at first.

Rounding third, he was headed for home, it was a brown-eyed handsome man. Full disclosure: These photos are presented in chronological sequence, but I don't know if they're from the same at-bat. Here's a later at-bat:

He hit it pretty hard. An atom ball and, unseen, a nice play by the first baseman.

There's still one catcher named Buster in the S.F.
5/21/11

Soccer

2011-05-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Buster plays on a team in the after-school program. They practice during the week and have games on Saturdays. They play outdoors in the fall and spring and in a gym in the winter.

Pregame stretching, sort of.

Warming up.

The team. Kind of a lot of kids for 5-on-5, though the ranks thinned out on game days by spring. And now: Action.

I could have danced all night ...

The rooting section.

Ouch. He was OK.

Halftime water break with coach Brandon.

10/16/11

Latin American Heritage Night

2011-05-21T11:00:00.001-07:00

Buster and Strummer.

Daisy doing the Mexican Hat Dance with Henry.

In motion. That's Maestra Monica, her teacher, in back.

Buster not at all reluctantly posing with his first grade teacher, Maestra Rocio, who is in a traditional costume from her native country, Peru.
10/15/10

Daisy graduates kindergarten

2011-05-20T23:40:00.001-07:00

We weren't sure she'd make it.

Opening procession.

Press row.

A song. Or something.

Rhythm sticks. Definitely a song.

Break it down!

And march.

"Somos Como las Flores" in patented SkinnyVision.

Checking out the other class.

The procession out.

Back in the classroom, presenting a present to Mom. As Mr. Campos said, "They started out being bowls. Now, they're open to interpretation."

Two years ago at Buster's graduation, a lot of the kids had been all dressed up. So Daisy has been looking forward all year to her graduation when she'd get to dress up. Only the school announced the week before that students would have to wear their uniform. Daisy was disappointed she didn't get to wear the new dress we'd bought for the occasion, but we went out to dinner and she got to wear it then. Here it is:

5/20/11

Jump rope phase

2011-05-19T23:27:00.001-07:00

begins. Do not adjust your monitor. She has a green smudge on her forehead.
10/6/10

Xoxhitl's birthday

2011-05-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

Daisy takes her cuts at what has become kind of a disturbing piñata.

If it's possible to stomp on a disembodied head in a wholesome, adorable, 5-year-old kind of way, Xoxhitl is pulling it off. Her name is pronounced So-she, by the way. Here's a better picture of her, with Carina:

And here's a better picture of Carina.

And Carina's sister Mia.

And Anjolina, contemplating the last piece of watermelon.
9/26/10

More Giants

2011-05-19T23:10:00.001-07:00

Hand-me-down homemade Giants jersey from Buster.

Daisy's pose reminds me a little of this.
9/19/10

At the old ballgame

2011-05-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Let's get back to our story, shall we? It's September, and hey look, the Giants are trying to make the playoffs. I wonder how this will turn out. Well, we're going to a game.

It's Buster Posey orange T-shirt jersey night, but we didn't get any.

But we do have signs that we've made.

Each according to our own particular idiom.

Daisy let Dad wear her hat for a while.

Seventh-inning stretch.

Brewers 3, Giants 0.
9/17/10

St. Louis, Part 3

2011-05-17T00:15:00.002-07:00

The kids got themselves a gig at the Bar Mitzvah.

The familia. Late in the day, ties loosened a bit.

Talia busts a move.

The "reception" was at a game center called Demolition Ball. Daisy plays air hockey. You can't see it here but she's rocking quite the outfit:

Johnny

Buster

This just never happens, but it seems that Daisy is perched on someone's lap! It's Aunt Caryl, with Amy next to them, at the Cardinals game.

Daisy rides the airport shuttle with part of her entourage.

5/7/11-5/9/11

St. Louis, Part 2

2011-05-17T00:15:00.001-07:00

The big swing in Edwardsville:

5/6/11

St. Louis-Evansville trip, Part 1

2011-05-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

We resume our story with our trip to the Midwest. I'll try to catch up some of the meantime pictures, but who knows.

In Evansville, chasing bubbles with Amy D.

At the park. Gotcha!

Self-portrait. One of about 20 in a row, which happens whenever Daisy has my phone.

Picnic with Grandma Ann.

Giant swing at SIU Edwardsville on the way to St. Louis, visiting Uncle Matt.

At Jack's Bar Mitzvah. I took this picture because I thought it was funny. They're posing for an official photo, with Rachael fast asleep. She's going to get even for this someday. Also because it's the only picture I took of Jack. The baby is Eowyn, Rachael's baby sister. They are Bruce and Barbara's grandkids. Mom and dad Valerie and Rob not shown, but Amy and Talia are.

All dressed up and princessed out.
3/7/11

A walk

2010-12-29T23:48:00.000-08:00

At the Cable Car Museum.

Daisy gets her Gene Kelly on.

Huntington Park.

Washington-Hyde Mini Park, which the kids thought was fabulous.
9/11/10

Willie Mays portrait

2010-12-29T23:37:00.000-08:00

9/5/10

Catching flies

2010-12-29T23:34:00.000-08:00

Dad throws the ball up, then finds Buster and hits record. He's successful about as often as Buster is at catching the flies, so the exclamation at the end is over the rare dual success.
8/29/10

Oakland Museum

2010-12-29T23:19:00.000-08:00

A lot of leaping that day.
8/29/10

Hats

2010-12-29T23:18:00.001-08:00

8/22/10

Some leftover birthday party pix

2010-12-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Carina, Clementine and Mia waiting in the piñata line.

The whole line. From left: Posie, Xoxhitl, Max, Buster, Daisy, Taye, Carina, Clementine

Whoa, Taylor's dad. Meta.
8/7/10

Homemade jersey

2010-12-29T23:04:00.001-08:00

My son the artistjock.
8/18/10

First day of school

2010-12-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

Dressed and ready.

The enormous princess backpack.

On the march.

Daisy and Cora met on orientation night, and they each already had a best friend before the bell on the first day.

Back with the boys.

A little nervous, but fine.
8/16/10

Start of school year BBQ

2010-12-29T22:45:00.001-08:00

Daisy and Ada explore the wilds.

Whoa, Liz. Meta.
8/14/10

At the dentist

2010-12-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

I don't remember what they were doing here, but it didn't hurt, it didn't cost anything, and it looked supercool.
8/13/10

Some leftover Disneyland pix

2010-12-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

How to make your daughter happy

2010-12-12T14:42:00.001-08:00

Let her paint your face.

And color your hair.

8/13/10

Kindergarten orientation night

2010-12-12T14:31:00.001-08:00

Excited.
8/12/10

The days after

2010-12-12T14:22:00.001-08:00

Angels game with Grandma and Grandpa. A few minutes later, Buster got a new Angels hat, making us practically a division on our own: Angels, Cardinals, Giants, Expos.

And then we took the new hat out to dinner. There's Grandma.

The next day, it's back to San Francisco. On the road, everybody has to pitch in.

8/11-12/10

Disneyland! Day 2!

2010-12-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

Getting loose.

Excited.

Excited. Pirates of the Caribbean.

Bribed him with popcorn to stand in front of Walt and the rodent.

We're at California Adventure, at the Tower of Terror. It's supposed to be an old, haunted hotel. It's spooky. They herd you into a room and show you a Rod Serling video. Then you go through the bowels of the building and wait for a service elevator. While we were waiting, Buster, for the first time in maybe a year, slipped his hand into mine.

We asked this security guard if he'd take a picture for us, so he did. Said it was about the 30th one of the day.

This is more like what we had in mind.

Back to the Princess Fantasy Faire for some face painting.

Another chat with Belle. Look at her feet. Can you stand it?

Random Cinderella sighting.

And Tink.

Back to the teacups. Day's over. Tired, but happy.

Yeah. Really tired. Good night, Disneyland.

Buster and Dad went to an animation lesson with a Disney animator, who taught us, step by step (start with that cross, etc.), how to draw Mickey. Buster's drawing was better than Dad's, but he didn't want to save it because it didn't live up to his usual standards, since he really can draw. Here's Dad's, easily the best thing he's ever drawn, though, strictly speaking, it doesn't really look like Mickey. The extraneous dots are the result of having been folded and stuffed in a pocket.
8/10/10

Disneyland!

2010-12-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Excited.

Excited.

Excited.

Excited.

Excited.

On our way to the first ride of the day, Indiana Jones' Adventure. It's early, and the park's not crowded yet. The sign at the entrance to the ride says the wait is 5 minutes. We discover that there's no line -- it just takes 5 minutes to walk the line area. By the time we're done with the ride a few minutes later, that whole line area, long enough that it takes 5 minutes to walk it, will be filled with people waiting.

The ride is exciting.

Obligatory Matterhorn picture. We haven't been on the ride yet. Once we do, Buster will like it, but Daisy, who'd been game, finds it too scary. For the rest of the trip she refers to the Matterhorn as Bad Mountain.

At the Princess Fantasy Faire, reuniting with her long-lost friend, Belle.

Getting an autograph. Or making a grocery list maybe.

Ariel. Daisy's sporting her happy birthday button. It's her birthday week.

Princess Tiana.

Buster planted himself here and said, "Wake me at a quarter to Matterhorn."

Teacups.

Getting the obligatory Mickey Mouse topiary/Disneyland depot shot.

The obligatory Mickey Mouse topiary/Disneyland depot shot.

Mom!

Whee! Space Mountain. Too cheap to buy the picture.

Uh-oh. He's licensed.

Hitchhikers! Hit the ditch!

Mickey.

In the gloaming, waiting for It's a Small World.

Whoa, it's like this looming magical looming magic thing.

Sleepy. Dark. Waiting for some nighttime show thing that's going to scare the pants off of Daisy, because everything at Disneyland, no matter how cutesy and adorable and fun it starts out, always ends up with fire and explosions and smoke and foreboding music. We weren't able to get shots of Princess Tiana and Ariel blowing up in belches of smoke and flame, but let's just say Daisy didn't like it much. Time to get back to the hotel and go to sleep.
8/9/10

Buster plays a joke on Dad

2010-12-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, say "cheese" two times.
Cheese, cheese.
Ha! You fell for it!
Fell for what? I don't get it.
Yeah, I don't either.
12/2/10

On the way to Disneyland

2010-11-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

We walked there.

A stop at Uncle Jeff's. My nephew, Bailey.

I like the idea of him, but this is about as close as I'm gonna get.

A pause in the game of fetch.

At the hotel. It really is fun here!

Free fireworks show courtesy of some joint in the neighborhood.
8/8/10

Birthday party

2010-11-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

What do you know, another princess dress.

Making crowns with Clementine.

And Taylor.

And Bella.

The finished product.

Fireman Taye.

Pink Posie.

Carina takes a whack at the Dora piñata ...

... which quickly gets a little disturbing.

Hi Mia.
8/7/10

Birthday

2010-11-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Boots.

A present from Buster.

Just what she wanted! Really.

Princess dress.
8/6/10

Bubbles

2010-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Are just really fun.
8/2/10

Daisy masters the rings

2010-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Precita Park.
8/1/10

Daisy goes to work

2010-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

For months, Daisy has been saying, "When do I get to go to work with you?" I keep telling her it's kind of boring at my work, but she really wants to go, so finally we picked a date and she came to the office with me.

The commute: Walking to BART.

On the train with Statue of Liberty Bear and a sleeping bag, Mom's smart idea.

The morning was spent being cute, meeting people and watching a DVD, none of which was evidently photogenic. So now it's lunch time, and before lunch, we wash our hands.

A sandwich on the Embarcadero. Note the Bay Bridge reflected in the window.

A better shot of the bridge.

Another movie. After this, Daisy said Statue of Liberty bear was getting tired and she wanted to put her down for a nap under my desk. I said that sounded like a good idea. She went off -- I was not sitting at my desk -- to do that, and after a while I noticed it was taking a long time, so I went to investigate.

Like father ...
7/30/10

Travis Ishikawa

2010-11-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

You sort of had to be there, but then again, it didn't make much sense to those of us who were there: There was a brief infatuation with Travis Ishikawa over the summer.
7/25/10

Soccer!

2010-10-16T23:39:00.001-07:00

and more. Coming soon.
10/16/10

Picture day

2010-10-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

"Because I like to smile."

Daisy on why she liked picture day at school.

10/9/10

Who could she be emulating?

2010-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

We'd been talking about whether Daisy remembered when she actually met Mia, her good friend from preschool. She couldn't quite remember the actual moment, which happened when they were both 3.

A little while later, we were all leaving the house, when Daisy said, "Wait, I have to check something on my computer." She ran over, tapped a few keys ...

... and said "Mia and I met in 1947."

7/25/10

A relationship, distilled

2010-09-17T13:45:00.001-07:00

Buster: You are the craziest person I've ever met*.
Daisy: You are the nicest big brother I've ever met.
Buster: You don't know any other big brothers, that's why*.

* Not said in a nice way.

9/16/10

Baseball signs

2010-09-14T22:59:00.001-07:00

I'm going to the Giants-Dodgers game Wednesday night, so Buster made me a sign to bring.

On Friday I'm taking both kids to the game against the Brewers. So Buster made himself a sign too.

We may be approaching the face-painting years.
9/14/10

Shopping for school clothes

2010-09-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Daisy really likes

jumpers.
7/24/10

Walking around in Berkeley

2010-09-10T21:27:00.001-07:00

7/24/10

Is this too matchy matchy?

2010-09-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

Nah!
7/22/10

Theology minute

2010-09-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, Dad. If I were religious, I would pray for the Giants to win two in a row starting today, and for the Padres to lose two in a row starting today.
That would be --
Awesome
That would be what you'd pray for?
Yeah.
Not world peace? [Funny look from Buster] Or an end to hunger worldwide?
Mmm. That too.

Minor league trip

2010-08-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

It's the annual minor league trip, which means swimming at a motel, then a minor league game. This year, it's Stockton.

Buster doles out the rules of the card game Speed to Dad. He explains a little at a time, and then whenever Dad gets an advantage, suddenly remembers another rule.

Sunshine. A strange and exotic thing for a couple of San Francisco kids to see in July.

Dinner for 21 at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The 21 include Buster, Max, Posie and Daisy.

On to the ballpark.

It's the Stockton Ports vs. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. The Ports are the Oakland A's Single-A team. Here's shortstop Grant Green, the top prospect on the club, about to have a rough night in the field. The Ports are wearing special Cal-themed uniforms rather than their usual red and blue duds.

Some of the crew: Jill, Mike, Marty.

Jennifer, Kati, Taye.

Lynn, and a little bit of Tony at right.

Jorge, just before he was drawn up into the mothership. With Buster, Oliver and, of course, the kid in the orange shirt.

Funnel cake.

Day 2. After breakfast, a stop at a local park before the drive home for some whiffle ball.

Crack! It's a worm-burner!

Each kid got one souvenir. Buster chose a baseball. Daisy went for a Stockton Ports helmet. It comes with a set of stick-on numbers so you can put your favorite player's number on the back, just like the real helmets. First, Daisy put Buster Posey's number 28 on, but on the ride home she decided to add some other numbers. Here's the work in progress at a bathroom stop somewhere on Interstate 580.

The finished product. Daisy: "It's a math helmet."

7/17-18/10

La Santaneca

2010-07-20T22:55:00.001-07:00

We like the horchata at La Santaneca. It's got cacao beans in it, the guy said. It's like chocolate horchata.
7/16/10

Nails

2010-07-20T22:47:00.001-07:00

Mom's were painted by a pro.

Dad's were painted by Daisy.
7/5/10

Fourth of July party

2010-07-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Places, everyone.

Quinn.

Tony and Jesus.

Lots of people. Your legs were closed, Page.

Zavian's T-shirt. Your cool too, Zave.

Two of these guys used to be in the Smokejumpers. You have to guess which two.

Smokejumper better halves. Way better. These pictures were taken pretty early in the day, and then I guess I put the camera away and had fun. And it was fun. A lot of fun. How much fun? Let's ask Daisy.

7/3/10

Giant pile of cute

2010-07-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

6/28/10

KOA "camping"

2010-06-29T23:08:00.001-07:00

In the cabin, or actually the "kabin."

Living off the land, fully immersed in the wild.

Just like the pioneers!

Daisy and Posie play hoops in the gloaming. It's not as dark as it looks in the photo.

Postgame pose.

Ren.

Banana bikes. It takes a few minutes to get used to riding them. Buster gets started.

Now he's getting it, and he's having more fun than it looks like here.

Posie. Here she is getting the hang of it:

Four-wheel version for Daisy.

Jennifer, Taye and Ren go for the SUV model.

Daisy Andretti!

It looks dire at the end of this, but child-welfare authorities please note: She did not crash into that building, or anything else.

Cecil B. DeKing gets the shot.
6/26/10

One last look

2010-06-20T23:33:00.001-07:00

at the long hair before a (voluntary!) haircut. Buster requested this picture be taken as final documentation of the Lincecum Look.
5/1/10

Pony League Day at the Giants game

2010-06-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Big ol' lemonade.

A pregame lecture by professors Tim Flannery and Duane Kuiper.

That's just silly. The baseball's way too big.

Parading on the field.

Posing by the Bay.
4/25/10

She really will break it

2010-06-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

4/24/10

Lawrence Hall of Science

2010-06-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

4/24/10

Cal Day

2010-06-20T22:57:00.001-07:00

At Cal's annual open house

Learning how to drive the bomb-disposal robot.

A science lesson. The lesson was something like: When you buy your kid a brand new T-shirt at Cal Day, there is a 100 percent chance that within a half hour, he's going to get vinegar all over it.
4/17/10

Who, me?

2010-06-20T22:54:00.001-07:00

4/4/10

Easter egg hunt

2010-06-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

In the house.

4/4/10

I am the fly

2010-06-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

4/3/10

Baseball

2010-06-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

Buster's first baseball team is the Hooks, named after a Double-A team in Corpus Christi. Here he is on photo day, showing his newly learned throwing form -- point your shoulder, arm up, turn your core, hand in left pocket.

Daisy also has the Tim Lincecum look going, but needs a little work on the form yet.

Down and ready at third base in the first game of the season.

The season just ended, but Dad got roped into being a coach, and didn't get any more pix.
4/2/10

Gay marriage

2010-04-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Daisy: [Certain friend] says kissing and marrying is gross.
Dad: Aw, and I was planning on asking her if she wanted to marry me.
Noooo!
I'm just kidding. That's all right. [Friend] is 5 years old. She doesn't need to worry about kissing and marrying.
I know.
What do you think of kissing and marrying?
Yum!
You like kissing, don't you. Who are you going to marry?
Bunny!
Is Bunny a boy or a girl?
Girl.
OK.
[Friend] thinks girls can't get married to girls and boys can't get married to boys, but they can.
That's right.
Girls can marry girls, and women can marry women, and boys can marry boys, and men can marry men, and men can marry women, and women can marry men.

Indoctrination session complete. Next up: Single-payer universal health care! Mwooohahahaaaa!

A kiss from the future daughter-in-law.
4/8/10

Drive, he said

2010-04-01T20:48:00.001-07:00

3/27/10

Strummer's pirate birthday party

2010-04-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Strummer

Big kids waiting for the piñata. Django is in front of Buster, in the red and white shirt. Elvis is in the red, at lower right. Gina is next to Buster, with the bandanna

Littler kids. That's Daisy's future kinder classmate Ariana.

How can you smack such a cute pirate boy?

Arrrr! The kid met a sad fate, mateys.

This piñata brought to you by Fellini

Dennis flips the bird

Don't remember what was so funny, but it was funny. Did we mention? Another front tooth: Gone
3/21/10

Green dress

2010-03-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

3/11/10

First baseball practice

2010-03-28T23:06:00.001-07:00

He came home with his hat and jersey. He's a Hook. The team is named after the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A farm club of the Houston Astros.

3/5/10

Beehaveyoer Chart

2010-03-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Created by Buster, without prompting. It's a copy of his teacher's chart for all kids at school.

3/5/10

Face paint

2010-03-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

One of those times when the red-eye correction wouldn't improve the photo.

2/26/10

Lost a front one

2010-03-28T22:57:00.001-07:00

2/10/10

Quesadilla

2010-03-28T22:49:00.001-07:00

Chef Buster about to get to work on his signature dish. Note the short-order tag taped to the cabinet with everyone's orders. It says:

Pork: Mom
Trky: Daisy
Spisi: Dad
(Illegible line)
Put ranch dresingon salid
2/6/10

Birthday party

2010-03-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for his Rock 'n' Roll birthday party.

Princesses can be kind of rock 'n' roll, don't you think? Note the "Welcome Home Daddy" sign, a Buster-Daisy collaboration celebrating dad's return home from the hospital the day before.

Some of the posse. From left, Ada, Javier, Strummer, Buster, Oliver.

1/30/10

Birthday

2010-03-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

Crown from school, present from Grandma Ann and Granddad Jim
1/29/10

Cozy house update

2010-02-10T22:47:00.001-08:00

The improvements include an address, 606, new window treatments and a sign that says, "I need alone time." Absolutely none of this was prompted by any adult. At some point after this Buster colored the sign because, he said, people were ignoring it.
1/17/10

Hospital visit

2010-02-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

Dad went into the hospital on Jan. 6. Because of H1N1 fears, no kids are allowed to visit. Now, 11 days into Dad's stay, the kids have gotten special permission to go see him. Daisy has put on her prettiest dress and everyone, even Coco, has to wear a mask.
1/17/10