Slaying Weekends, Making Memories

This winter, as the number of virus cases increased and the end of the stay-at-home order further away, I had renewed motivation to make the best of things.  Because there's no space for me to be "over it" when this shit is far from over.  

One of our go-to family remedies for stress is food.  For Mattias' 42nd birthday we brought out a brand new sushi rolling mat and got to work on the first epic sushi fest of 2021. The boys and I performed our own "Great Swedipino Baking Show" technical challenge-- the Princess Cake. It turns out reading 36 individual steps and following them in the correct order is difficult when you live in a house of chaos, resulting in the "42 Year Old Princess Cake" you see below.

We've also devoted time and energy to improving our rooftop living room and garden.  Winter brings calm, windless weather the roof is a wonderful place to relax at night and have a few friends over for wine.  Mattias and I installed solar-powered LED lights so we could be out there at night. We continue to use the roof during school for recess, lunch, and reading time. 

Other weekends we've been exploring never-visited regional parks for hiking. One of our new favorites is Redwood Regional Park in Oakland-- it's much closer to us and less crowded than redwood parks in Marin and Santa Cruz. Bonus is the swarming of ladybugs that happens every winter.  We enjoyed ourselves so much we ended up doing a 5+ mile hike, exhausting the boys in the process.  Now that's an accomplishment!

Other weekends we played tourist, visiting local treasures that we normally don't think twice about visiting.  On one gorgeous Saturday we went to Sausalito for another 5 mile walk along the waterfront.  We were delighted by the views and stumbled upon the famed Taj Mahal housebout.

Another strategy for staying sane and having fun as a family is visiting places where there's something fun for everyone. On a visit to Glen Park Mattias brought his crash pads so he could boulder, while Alvin, me and the boys roamed the neighborhood. Since it was MLK day, a national day of service, the boys picked up trash around the park. We finished off the afternoon with a picnic taqueria lunch, and everyone was happy.

Sometime in January someone had the wacky idea of getting a beehive on our rooftop. Magnus really gravitated to the idea and we're in the process of making it a reality. With full HOA approval and a bee purchase pending pick up in May, Magnus and I found a bee mentor who will be our go-to source of information as we learn a new skill. She happens to be an old co-worker and friend, and she graciously met us at her hive one weekend to teach Magnus the basics.

Don't think we don't like living in a city during a pandemic, with all the hiking we do. We still love this city and incorporate urban exploration into our rotation.  I especially love visiting a neighborhood farmers market, grabbing a picnic lunch, and playing at a brand new playground.  One of the best kept secrets about SF is that our kids' parks are incredible. Below we're in the Richmond District for dim sum.

All in all, Theo is still the big winner in the family.  He gets walked 3-4 miles per day and has a never ending source of snuggles and dirty plates to lick.