Coastal tour

We did a couple of cool road trips in early September. The first was to an underground institution that could only be found in the Bay Area: Cliff's folk dancing deck. In the middle of the wilds west of Palo Alto (it really is in the centre of nowhere) a bunch of unreformed hippies have built a massive wooden deck expressly for a twice yearly folk-dancing- camping-drinking-storytelling extravaganza attended by literally hundreds. We missed Memorial Day and the prior Labour Day due to medical misadventures so Labour Day '06 was the first chance for many of Rebecca's oldest friends to revel in her restored health, meet me and catch up with an ever growing Rami. It was truly a great time.

The following weekend, we were lucky enough to get invited to the lovely country home of Maria and Michael Faer. It's near Watsonville, south of Santa Cruz, east of Monterey Bay. We got to eat fresh fruits and vegetables picked from the garden and even perfect our drives. For the young person on the trip, the highlight was undoubtedly an excursion to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While Gracie was no longer there, the sea otters were highly entertaining, at least for the first three hours. They do a great job with interactive exhibits too.


After a fine afternoon there, we found a playground in Monterey with an old steam engine that was ideal for climbing and for thoughtful portraits.


As the fall wore on, Rami decided to take a more dapper approach to his weekly visits to Shul. Amazingly enough, there was someone at home who remembers how to tie a tie. This is how Rami looks every Saturday morning.

Summer in the City

After the Alaska cruise, we had a few more bursts of glory before school started. The day after we got back from Alaska, we had a great time in Marin. First we explored the Bay Area Model, then we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum at Fort Baker in Sausalito (highly recommended). We had a great time. First we got to participate in interactive exhibits involving Buddhist legends, monkeys and dinner parties. Rami really got into the spirit of things.

Later, there was time to do some digging outside. On a rare day that was sunny, warm and cloudless, there were plenty of chances to pose.

Of course, days like these are very unusual in the Bay Area in August and that means a lack of appreciation for how quickly chocolate melts when warm.

Summer means camps. Lots of 'em. They each seem to have their specialty. But there's nothing better than a good old fashioned face painting. Here's Cap'n Lightning himself.


Of course when the weather's good, you can always rely on your almost-step father's sun glasses.

Rami took swimming lessons in El Cerrito in August. We don't have any pictures of that. But we did go to the well-equipped Oakland Zoo and the elephants there are as comfortable in the water as Rami is now.


Rami made a new friend and continued to be very comfortable on either side of the camera.

Late summer treat

Just before Labour (sic) Day, 2006, we welcomed the arrival of my Canadian brother Dave and his wife Lisa. They stopped off on their way to a wedding in Edmonton. (Kind of like travelling from Phoenix to Chicago by way of Miami.) In their previous visit to the Bay Area, Dave and Lisa enjoyed the fruits of our rainy season at their fullest. This time they wanted to experience Bay Area summer fog and cold. They were not disappointed.

Our best efforts to show them the splendour of the Marin headlands and the Golden Gate bridge were frustrated a tad by our glorious weather. Nonetheless, they shivered their way through a visit to Fort Point.

During their last visit, we began a strange fraternal tradition involving buzz cuts, downtown Oakland and Vietnamese food. On this visit, the tradition was renewed.

A highlight of the trip was a visit to the Giants' ballpark to see the hometown nine crush the Cincinnati Reds. As always, garlic fries were part of the fun and after the game Rami got to run around the bases, as he'd done earlier in the summer at an A's game.

As cultural ambassadors, Dave and Lisa brought some sacred objects from the old country, relics from my glory days that never were. Perhaps because we're not yet married, Rebecca didn't have the good sense to laugh and hide the hockey sweaters in some obscure place. She not only was foolish enough to wear one, she actually got caught being pictured wearing one. At least Rami has an excuse for not knowing any better.

We took the ferry to Marin one day for lunch. We chose to go to Sausalito instead of Tiburon. I guess that's what happens when you have the luxury of more than two weeks off a year.

Cruising in Alaska

Rami's fortunate enough to have both a very generous grandmother and an extended family who all get along with each other for hours, even days at a time. This happy combination allows for some pretty exotic family gatherings. In late July, 2006 Rami travelled to Alaska on a cruise ship with about 15 relatives. It was beautiful and a lot of fun. Rami got to take a hike in the Tongas rainforest outside Ketchikan (near the proposed bridge to nowhere) and learn about new plants and wildlife.

Our trusty guide Eric even made Rami a cool looking hat made of skunk cabbage. (Don't ask.)


Rami got to visit Alaska's capital Juneau, home of the Mendenhall Glacier (for how much longer we're not quite sure.) Lacking the budget for a helicopter tour of the massive structure, Rami had to make do with getting mud all over the backside of his pants...

...and admiring the view.
Of course modern cruise ships are very well equipped. Forget the bars, restaurants and hot tubs, it's the child care facility that's the big seller. It even comes supplied with face paint.


Out of Skagway, many of us had to chance to take a ride on a spectacular vintage railway up the White Pass & Yukon route into the northwestern part of British Columbia.

It was breathtaking.

Our fourth and final port of call was Prince Rupert, in British Columbia. Most of us went on a whale watching boat. While it was quite thrilling, the excursion deprived the Landes family of a proper introduction to Tim Horton's. Nonetheless, Rami got a chance to ride in the wheelhouse of the whale watching boat. He also made a new friend.

This is one trip that will be tough to match.

In the beginning...

...there was an incredibly generous book group in Sacramento.


They helped us buy a digital camera to help us enter the 20th century. We figured out how to use the camera pretty quickly but it took us 8 months to figure out that you can set up a blog in 3 minutes (thanks Gabe). So we're going to begin by posting some pictures from last year and then gradually get more current as we bring everyone up to date on Rami, his mom and her fiance.

Rami started taking Karate lessons in the spring of 2006. He goes pretty faithfully twice a week. He's not to be messed with.


Rami loves taking pictures with the digital camera. He's got a knack for self- portraits.

In late 2005 and early 2006, Rami became quite an expert bike rider. Here is with his friend Zach, from the Thousand Oaks kindergarten days.

Of course, Rami's favourite (sic) thing in life is hanging out with the supercoolest Ima ever.

Rami is blessed with a large immediate family and we spend lots of time with them. Here are Rami's grandma, Aunt Linda and Uncle Elliot.


Rami's also has a foreigner in his life who's going to be his stepfather. They keep each other honest.


Thanks to his mom, Rami has many honourary (sic) aunts and uncles. Here's Aunt Ruth from the aforementioned book group in Sacramento.