Gulf Shores, Alabama

 WE just got back from a family trip to the gulf coast of Alabama.   Almost a year ago, my cousin Angie called me and told me she was planning a trip there to celebrate her oldest's high school graduation, and she asked if we would like to join.   

Now, truth be told, neither Jason or I knew where "Gulf Shores" was, nor that Alabama even had a true coastline.  But we are always up for an adventure, and has such a great time with my cousin and her family when they visited in November 2023, we decided we were in regardless!

We had some complicated logistics getting to Alabama--Ethan had to take the SAT on Saturday--and Alaina had a softball tournament.   We ended up splitting up with Ethan and I flying to Birmingham on Saturday night--and getting picked up in the 15 passenger Snyder-mobile on Sunday morning en route.   Meanwhile, Jason and Alaina flew Sunday night through Dallas, landing in Pensacola, FL on Monday morning and rending a car to join us in Alabama.

We rented a cabin near the beach that is owned by some friends of Angie and Kurt's.   The place held the 12 of us quite well and was well-equipped with games for the kids and just a short walk to a white sand beach.   We spent the majority of our days there relaxing and enjoying the beautiful water--which was over 80 degrees!

 

One day, we took a drive to the Navy base in Pensacola to watch the Blue Angels practice--it was very hot but cool to see--and there was an immense museum on the grounds we toured as well.

 

Kurt and Angie celebrated their 19th anniversary when we were there--and we went out for an adult dinner.....on the menu were "alligator bites" which everyone enjoyed but I was not brave enough to try!

Alaina in particular had a great time with the kids--she didn't pick up her iPad all week--and we hardly saw her, as she was so busy playing games, building sand castles, and swimming.

 

We left on my birthday--stopping  as a group for donuts en route before parting ways.  What a great time we all had together!

After saying goodbye, we headed west towards Mississippi--stopping briefly at an alligator viewing area/boardwalk outside of Mobile--we were lucky to spot 2!

We had lunch at a local lunch spot in Mississippi called Faye's kitchen--the lunch was heavy but authentic.   Finally we headed to New Orleans where we had a few hours to explore the French Quarter and have our second round of donuts for the day at Cafe DuMont.  

 We flew out of New Orleans on Friday night--making my birthday 2 hours longer!   Add 3 more states to my list--I am getting close to 50 now!  

All Star Weekend

 Last weekend was Alaina's rec softball all star tournament.

Since this is probably the last year she and here teammates are going to do rec, it felt important.    

The team, however did not do as well as hoped.

On saturday, they had pool play and played San Rafel first where they blew at 8 run lead in the last inning to lose the game.   After they lost to (worse) Twin Cities team.

At that point, their travel ball coach stepped in to coach their last game, against a strong Novato team.    With his coaching they pulled off a victory.   I found it pretty interesting how much of an impact he made--I mean the players were all the same....but he sure led them in a different direction.

Anyhow, all that resulted a a poor seed for the bracket play on Sunday.  Though Jason missed Saturday as he was out of town, he was bak for sunday--and we were twinning!

  Luckily the travel coach came back to help the team win their first game.  The second game was against the San Rafael team again--and unfotunately, we just could not beat them.   So we went out in the semi finals and they went on to win the tournament.    It was a disappointing end to a somewhat lackluster rec season.   Oh well.

Walk to Cure Arthritis

 Two weeks ago, Ethan was the youth honoree at the San Francisco Walk to Cure Arthritis.  This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the foundation, and Ethan has been working hard to raise money since last fall.

It was not a smooth or linear journey, but he did work hard to accomplish his fundraising goal.  Impressively, he raised over $40,000, with over 500 individual donations!   He was the top fundraiser in the walk, and one of the top in the country!   

The event was was held on a Saturday morning at the SF Zoo.  Jason's parents and my dad joined to walk with him, as well as a bunch of his friends from school.  He even gave a short speech --which was quite articulate.

 

Afterwards, we had a nice brunch at Jason's parent's favorite place, Westlake Joe's.  

The following week at his school, Ethan gave a school-wide TED talk on invisible diseases that highlighted juvenile arthritis and his personal journey.   It was a great and motivational speech!

 

Finally, prior to the event, Ethan was interviewed by a local reporter about the event for the Marin Independent Journal, which is our county newspaper.    The article just was published today--and we are really proud!  Here is the link!

Mother's Day

 I am a bit behind on my posting but a few weekends ago it was Mother's Day.

To celebrate the the kids made me dinner!

  

They made fresh pasta topped with tomato sauce and stratiatella as a special treat--and Ethan made a focaccia--it was delicious!

 

A mother's day discovery: I am now the shortest in the house!

The kids got me this t-shirt for a gift, which I am not too sure about.    I guess I will consider the dinner my present!

Bat Mitzvah

 This weekend, Alaina's friend and softball teammate Jackie had her Bat Mitzvah.  They invited the whole team to celebrate, and all the parents too!

Jackie did a great job at the ceremony and gave a sweet talk about kindness.

In the evening, the party was at the Spinnaker restaurant in Sausalito.   We had never been there before, but it was a beautiul place on the water, overlooking San Francisco.

We had a fun time getting dressed up and celebrating with all of our friends!

 

Dahlia Graden

 I have always wanted to have a dahlia garden.    Last fall, we replanted some of our yard and so we left a sunny bed vacant with the plan to put in dahlias this spring.

I ordered some tubers from a company in Washington state, and several weeks ago we planted them according to their instructions.   Alaina was eager to help.   She even brought home some worms from her science class worm farm to add to the soil!

 

Fast forward a few weeks, and 5 of the 8 have sprouted!   Let's see if we can keep them alive......

  

Prom

 We have been busy and I have gotten a bit behind on posting--but this weekend was a big weekend: Prom!

Ethan went with his girlfriend, Sophia, who he has been dating for a couple of months.

The prom routine has changed a bit in the last 30 years.   First, the process starts with a "promposal".   This occurs, as best as I can tell, actually after the couple decides to go, to avoid any awkward rejections.   So, the promposals occur in the week or two leading up to prom, and involve (usually) the boy creating a poster with a corny rhyme and finding the girl in the cafeteria to present it to the girl.   Of course, this is all caught on camera and posted all over social media.  🙄  Anyway, here is a pic of Ethan's (which, of note, Alaina made):

Saturday night was the event.  It was held at the Exchange Club, which is apparently a pretty posh place downtown.  Ethan wore one of Jason's suits.   I found this pretty impressive, since probably very few nearly 50 year-old dads can wear the same suit as their 17 year-old sons.  Ethan did complain it was a little "big", but I thought it was a pretty impressive fit.

  Ethan got ready with his friend James and then they met the girls nearby and headed to another girl's house for pictures.   

 

I think that they made a pretty cute couple!

The morning when Ethan woke up, I asked him what he thought about the event.   He told me, it was "fun but a bit overhyped".   Anyway, definitely a milestone.