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As usual, we had a long action packed weekend.
Saturday, we went to the Youth in Arts Italian Street Painting Festival in San Rafael to see Dante Diego’s work in progress, and then off to Napa to celebrate Chetan’s big three-oh. (Sylvie at the Festival in tutu and sweater made by me)

Chetan’s parents live in Napa and used to own a successful restaurant in the area, so a Chetan party is guaranteed to be a classy event. This one did not disappoint. The party was held at a vineyard off the main road. No big chateaux or tasting room, but a nice tree covered patio, pool and sand pit (for volley ball?) out in the middle of rolling hills of grapes. The scenery was incredible. The food was delicious. And the location was great for the handful of kids that tagged along with their parents. Will found a couple of of boys, 8 and 10, to join him in chasing frogs and playing bocce/shot put; Sylvie spent the afternoon transporting rocks from one planter to another and lolling about in the pool noodles.

Sunday was the pirate festival in Vallejo. When we told him we were going to see pirates, Will was a little nervous that the pirates would take Sylvie, but after we convinced him that these were good pirates, he got into the spirit. I was shocked at how convincing we were as there were quite a few scary pirates (a la Pirates of the Caribbean) and in the harbor two pirate ships shooting cannons at us, enough that I was a little rattled, but Will just thought this was all great fun. Some pirate children:

On a related note, I need a better system for keeping track of my children in well populated areas. Both children are stubbornly independent (don’t know where they got THAT!), and Sylvie is really too young to understand the consequences. I’ve been meaning to get Name and Phone number tattoos for the kids because looking around the Pirate fest I was wondering just how I would describe my child to someone – “uh, the blonde kid in pirate garb… seen him?” Another option is walkie talkies, which I think Will would love because of the technology. Taking pictures of the kids the day of the event is a smart idea, but I’d rather not have to pull out the pictures. Everyday that humiliating kiddie leash is looking more and more attractive!

My cuties sun bathing two weekends ago while Doug and I unpacked camping gear: