I love the sunrise and sunset hours in Sausalito— the subtle colors in the sky reflected upon the water, the quiet out on the dock.
After dinner, Austin and I have taken to nightly walks and bike rides.  Here we are exploring one of our favorite docks, Liberty, with all of its plant and animal life.

Tonight after dinner Gentry and Ronan set out for for a sunset ride.  I shot a few pics from the Maggie as they paddled out from the docks and into the open ocean.

They saw a cluster of seals/sea lions (I haven’t figured out how to tell the difference just yet) and came home all smiles.  So much to explore in this new, beautiful place.

On Sunday afternoon, we left behind a sunny Byrne and drove a truck full of bicycles and clothes into the misty fog of Sausalito.  For the next six weeks, we’re staying aboard the SS Maggie, a houseboat docked on South Pier 40, just across the street from Austin’s school.  Here’s our girl on the top floor of the Maggie, enjoying some dinner.
Two loves taking in the new weather, new scenery, and the new adventure of life on a boat in Sausalito.

A surprising bonus for Gentry and I is how our bedroom floats at sea level.  Here’s the view from our bedroom, at waterline:

The Underwood crew walked Austin to her first day at The New Village School.  Here’s our excited lady:

We arrived to find this spread waiting for us.  Every morning and afternoon the kids run a cafe at the school, serving pastries and coffee as a way to earn money for their school trips.

One of the things that I’ve loved so far about Sausalito is the chance to abandon the car (once here) and get where I need to on foot and bike.  Here’s a shot from Schoonmaker Point, a beach just down the way from us.

Austin after school on a sunny day, on the dock in front of the houseboat.

We’re less than a week in and enjoying the magic of Sausalito.  A bit tired by the logistics involved in life between so many cities, a bit daunted by how we’ll make it work, but eager to see how this thread unfolds…

At summer’s end, we’ve adopted the tradition of going to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk– a last hurrah of sorts.  This year, Austin was particularly excited to be tall enough to go on whatever ride she wanted to in the park.  First stop, the Giant Dipper!
Turns out Austin loved the big roller coaster and was excited to try all the “scary rides” in the park.  Not much fear in this little one!  One of our favorites ended up being the “Double Shot,” where we were propelled 125 feet in the air, feeling the rush of free-fall back to the earth.  We were able to get Ronan to join in on this ride and it ended up a favorite for him as well!

Everyone in the crew loved the Sea Swings and the feeling of freely gliding above the ocean.

Twinsies!

Smiles as we ride the Gondola over the park.

What a wonderful, magical summer it has been!

Last Friday, we held our 2nd annual “Freedom Day.”  It’s a much anticipated happening around our house— one where each child has complete choice over his/her day.  Before we devolved into total chaos, we took Nugget to the beach to have some free roaming of his own.

With two kids frothing at the mouth for their freedom, we headed home.  First stop— the kitchen table for very buttery toast and science videos.

Toast and video games.

I headed out of the kitchen for some of my own freedom, returning several hours later to kids completely frozen in place.  Everything was exactly the same, well, except for the toast.

Austin was building a nice pile of candy wrappers from the stash she’d been saving for her big day.

And so it went until the day came to a close.  Sweets, toast, iPads and computers.  I was gearing up for a big prank war but everyone was fairly comatose and quiet with their screens. Glad this isn’t how we spend the other 364 days, but it is certainly was interesting to see how the kids used their time.  And it was nice for the adults to choose their own afternoons too!

It has been dawning on me lately, what a special time we are in with Ronan and Austin.

These two amazing souls are growing so quickly.

And to enjoy them fully, right now, feels like the best way to live.

Last week, we were fortunate to have a few days at the beach.  Life became very simple.  After breakfast, we’d run down the sandy path to the ocean, where we’d stay until long after sunset, returning only for lunch and a rest in the middle of the day.  With all responsibilities set aside, we had a lot of time to play.  And in that play I was reminded of the unique character of each child.  Ronan was a focused builder, perfecting his skill with sand.  As we worked on sand structures together, he’d ask me to knock his down, so that he could start anew, saying that the practice of knowing it wouldn’t be a forever thing allowed him to not take his work so seriously and try new techniques.  Wow, that’s quite a new learning for him!

Austin, delighted in a very different kind of play.  She loved taking my food order and disappearing to her own beach restaurant to cook.  My favorite was a meal of spaghetti and meatballs, comprised of a bed of seaweed noodles, three perfectly round sand meatballs, garnished with a special sauce of thin seaweed strands.  When she wasn’t cooking for me, she was singing and choreographing her own elaborate dance routine.  In her own world, creating and dancing.

To get away from “regular” life for a stint, to slow down and just be together.  What a gift of a few days!

More pics to come, but here’s a sneak peek of our trip to the Red Horse Mountain Ranch.  The Underwood family had a reunion in Idaho to celebrate Pops’ 70th!  All four children came with spouses and the whole lot of 10 grandchildren!  Carrots and apples for the horses…

Ronan enjoyed a morning with his cousin, Laith.  He loved teaching him all kinds of new tricks and exploring the world with him.

Austin loved everything about the ranch.  I hope to share some photos soon of her on her horse.  In this shot, she’s just come down from the zip-line, one of the many highlights of her week.

My favorite Underwood of them all:)

Back at home, Austin has been playing with friends

and loving on her Dada.

Ronan continues to dive deeper into the world of Chemistry.  I found a science supply store in San Jose and we made an outing last week to see if we could get our hands on some exotic chemicals.

Turns out one of his favorite finds of late has been our local hardware store.  Here he found Acetone and was excited to add this chemical into his collection.  (Note the outfit he wore into town in the hopes of starting science conversations!)

Austin and Ronan each had a week of camp in July.  Not too many pics to share from Austin’s week at CMT (musical theater), save this excited one with her new favorite friend.  I love watching how quickly Austin finds friends and enjoys the new connections.  We’ve been hearing her sweet songs around the house ever since early July…

Ronan had his first week of sleepaway camp at the Elkus Ranch in Half Moon Bay.  He was lucky enough to get a spot in the Tinkering School camp (the organization that spawned Brightworks) and Ronan had so much fun.  This is how Ronan greeted us at pick-up, with a knife in hand, showing us his newly acquired whittling skills that earned him his own pocket knife.

Austin took it all in, and was a great helper with the camp “tear-down.”

Ronan played his part, helping to deconstruct much of what had been built in the week, preparing supplies for the next week’s campers.

Austin was delighted to find crops of blackberries on the way out of camp, and stopped along the way on the trail to pick fresh ones.

If only Ronan could live at Elkus Ranch all summer, I think we’d have a very happy boy on our hands!

There is a whole lot of experimenting going on around here…

Chemistry is Ronan’s number one obsession these days.  He’s into fire, dangerous chemicals, chemical reactions and more.

Austin is always kind to indulge his discoveries.

A peek into the chemistry closet he’s building in his room:

We’ve been fortunate to find two wonderful Chemistry tutors over at Stanford, Don and Grace.  It is the highlight of Ronan’s week when they arrive to teach him.  He typically prepares his room and gets himself dressed into particular science outfits, most recently, a white button down shirt with black pants.

In addition to physical experiments, they also move into the nitty-gritty of chemical reactions and molecular structures.

Last night, Don led a crew (Austin and Seth included) through a series of experiments.  Ronan gave a safety briefing before the lesson to get all the kids properly suited up.  Gives me great joy to watch these moments of intense learning around subjects of genuine interest.

Now we can only hope that his learnings contribute to the greater good in our world:)