Dickens Fair

Saturday, December 20, 2008

We spent the day at the annual San Francisco Great Dickens Christmas Fair. We were transported in time to the streets of London and were treated to wonderful sights and sounds of the Victorian era.

Christina and Sasha joined us for this event.

Holiday School Orchestra Concert

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Syd's first viola performance consisted of Christmas tunes at Presidio Middle School.

Signs of Fall

Found this interesting arrow-shaped leaf while walking about at lunch time.

Blue Angels

Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Blue Angels were in town this weekend for Fleet Week showing off their stuff. Cool stuff.

Lunch spot

On nice and warm sunny days, you'll find me lunching (occasionally napping) under this moving sculpture at the Sidney Walton Park which is only a couple blocks from work.

Tat Wong Sparring Fall 2008

Sunday, September 14, 2008

This was Syd's first Kung Fu competition since joining the Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy last year.
You win some and you lose some. Syd placed 4th in the Jr. Division of her age group.

Syd's Summer 2008

June - July was spent at Music Summer Workshop held at A.P. Giannini Middle School. Syd got her fill of violin-ing. We were treated to a Summer concert at the end of the session.


The end of July was spent at Soulsong camp with Uncle Thad and Aunt Donna. Arts, crafts, horseback riding and trips to the beach were part of the Summer fun.


Mid-August found Syd at the ArtSeed camp where she got to visit art museums and created a small art portfolio. The camp's works were exhibited at The Seed Gallery in the Presidio, August 22 to September 26, 2008. Syd got a Certificate of Completion and an Award for "Most expert drawer of Birds!"

Syd's painting was inspired by the Warriors book series by Erin Hunter. It is called Spirit Cat and Nature.

Syd's 5th Grade Promotion

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Velvet's 40th Birthday

June 4, 2008

Here's one of 3 delicious celebratory birthday cakes!

Hit again!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

When Keith went downstairs to get the morning paper he spotted a note on the car. "Sorry, I accidently hit your car..." The parking spot must be jinxed. The car was parked in the same spot in front of our house when it got hit in January.

Curtains

Friday, May 16, 2008

Syd participated as part of the stage crew for the school production of Mary Poppins.  She did a pretty good job of getting the curtains open and shut as needed.  The show runs for 4 performances.

Syd's buddy, Jesske, was also part of the stage crew.  They got to participate in the closing song, Let's Go Fly A Kite, with the full cast.

Here she is backstage holding her kite prop next to the curtain ropes.

Golden Gate Philharmonic Recital

Monday, May 12, 2008

Here is Syd before the show started for her group, First Year Violins. They performed 3 songs, Coronation March, Fantasia in C and Dawn of Peace.

Golden Gate Park

Sunday, May 11, 2008

We spent this sunny Mother's Day afternoon in Golden Gate Park. After we listened to The Golden Gate Park Band play some tunes, we walked over to Stow Lake. Syd found an interesting palm frond that she turned into a hair band along the way.

Here we are at what Syd has dubbed Sydney's Fort in the Speedway Meadow area.

Baby Ish

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Syd had an outing at Blue Moon Riding School in Half Moon Bay with her friend, Jesske. She fell in love with Baby Ish while there.

Jesske had her riding lesson on her favorite horse, Cherokee, while Syd waited on the sidelines. Afterwards they groomed and adored the horses.

*pictures by Patti

Spring Day

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Spent a nice outing with Christina and Sasha. We listened to a Spring Koto Concert at the San Francisco Main Library and spent some time in the playground behind city hall. Here are the three circling a Manolo Valdes sculpture exhibit.

Elementary School Music Festival

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Syd is second from the right in purple top and skirt. She participated in the annual Elementary School Music Festival held Lincoln High School. She was part of the second year strings. Ms. Moseley is her strings orchestra teacher at Lafayette Elementary School.

Summer Camp Audition

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Here's Syd warming up at the San Francisco Music Conservatory. She auditions today for a spot at the Conservatory Music Summer Camp which is in July.

April Outings

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The first Sunday of the month is a free guided bird walk at the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Golden Gate park. Syd and I go up early to check it out.  Syd was thrilled to see a her favorite bird, the Scrub Jay.

On our way home we passed by this new glass and light sculpture by Dale Chihuly in front of the deYoung art museum.

Later in the day we took advantage of the breezy spring day and went for a kite fly on the beach. Keith is controlling the stunt kite in the background, Kyra (Syd's buddy) is holding the Toucan in the foreground and Syd is holding the Butterfly behind it.

Syd Winter Violin Recital 2008

March 16, 2008, 1pm

Community Music Center, Richmond District Branch, Winter Recital

Humoresque by A. Dvorak

featuring violinist Sydney Van Bueren 

and piano accompanist Lilia Zheltova

Sydney turns 11

Friday, February 22, 2008

Syd started her birthday weekend with a special dinner at home.  She enjoyed her all-time favorite meal - pasta and shrimp. Of course, she saved some room in her belly for the infamous birthday cake, a raspberry mousse concoction.

Saturday festivities included a party with her best pals. Pecan ball cookies and beading necklaces were part of the fun. This time ice-cream cake was the topper.

Toothless

Syd lost her third tooth in two months! Funny how the teeth dropping was inactive in the last couple years.

Yerba Buena Garden Shoes

Saturday, February 9, 2008

After my Powerpoint class at the Downtown branch of the City College of San Francisco, Keith and Sydney met me for lunch and an afternoon of downtown sites.

On our way to the SF Moma we passed by this line of shoes in front of the Yerba Buena Gardens museum. Ahh, here's a second life for worn out shoes.

Our first visit to the SF MOMA was to see the Olafur Eliasson exhibit of light, water, wood and metal. 

We couldn't take any pictures of the exhibit, but did get Olafur's flying fan in the lobby.

Turning Point

I entered the monthly photo contest at work this month. Below is the best of my three entries. The theme was Turning Point. It didn't make it into the top 3, but got a lot of compliments.

Popcorn Party

Circle Dance

Crash Boom Bang

Friday, January 4, 2008

We've started off the new year with a bang ;-(

Our car was hit by a drunk driver Friday evening. As we were winding down from the week and watching our latest dvd on tv, we heard a crash outside. We looked out the front window and saw a VW microbus attached to the front of our car. The driver was trying to restart his engine to flee, but we got the license plate before he left the scene. The cops caught up with him two blocks away as his vehicle was having troubles.

Last Sunset

Monday, December 31, 2007

We caught the last sunset of the year at Ocean Beach before heading down to Palo Alto for a New Year's Eve party.

Christmas Goose

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

We spent a nice and warm Christmas day in Palo Alto with Syd's grandparents. After breakfast (yummy eggs victoria aka salmon eggs benedict) and unwrapping of the gifts (mostly for the Syd-ster), we took a walk in the local Bird sanctuary's Duck Pond.



Of all the birds, here is one goose who took notice and interest in Syd.