Let Freedom (and the bell) Ring!!

Today was a glorious day for The Fontana household...school began!

Gabbie was very excited to be back with her friends. All summer she lamented on how bored she was and how she couldn't wait for school to start so she could see all her friends. However, she was not so happy when I asked her to pose for the traditional first day of school photo. Her exact words were "This is so lame"!
Lame or not, you have a mother that documents every event, so smile!Corbin made fast friends at a 5th grade social last week so he was looking forward to getting in thick with all of them. I am in constant awe of his enthusiasm to meet new people and forge friendships quickly. That trait will serve him well in years to come.

Doesn't he look so precious in his uniform?

As for mom...well, she hit the gym, took the dogs with her on a bike ride and had dinner cooked by noon. And she was able to hear herself think until 3:05 pm!

"I hate Nature!"

....Direct quote spoken by Gabrielle Fontana on August 3, 2008 while hiking in Glacier National Park.

Have you ever visited a national park with a teenager? Take my advice, leave him/her/them in the hotel, in the car or better yet, at home. Particularly if you have a younger brother along on the trip. I've lost count of the number of times I've told someone to "Stop it", "Quit arguing", "Leave your brother/sister alone" or "Look, we'll never be here again so just gut it up and enjoy what God has created".

And ask them to disconnect from their iPod or Nintendo DS like we did today and you'll hear..."What?! We were on this mountain for 6 hours yesterday. What could we possible see new in this same park?"

Or how about..."It makes me sick to look out the window". You can guess this comment was from the teenager. The ten year old was a better sport, particularly when he realized he could stand on the console in the suburban, hang out the sun roof and wave to all the passing cars. He was a national park convert who gladly let his Nintendo fall to the floor.

His sister, however, spent her time doing this....

Stay tuned tomorrow for "Recalculating" or more aptly
titled "Are you sure this is the way to Polebridge?".

The Streets of San Francisco (and Sacramento and Half Moon Bay)

I went with Fred on a recent business trip to California. Perfect timing since our 16th anniversary was approaching and we found people willing to take the kids in!

We have a good friend who lives in Sacramento named Randy who we've known for more years than we've been married. He's always generous enough to take us in for a night or two. In the photo, Fred is showing off grapefruits from the tree in Randy's backyard. Sad to say I'd never seen a grapefruit tree...unless you count the stacking display at my local grocery store!San Francisco was our next stop. We spent a day walking and walking and shopping! The neighborhoods are so unique it's best to see them by foot, but I could have used a taxi ride from Union Street back to Fisherman's Wharf. Fred was determined I could make it and kept enticing me with "The hotel is just over the next hill"!

Some of you received an email photo similar to the one below. Apparently, some "yahoo" decided he could copy The Naked Cowboy who walks the streets of New York City. Fred paid $5.00 for a few memorable photos of me on the street corner with this scrungy man. I WAS NOT a willing participant but I have to admit this photo will be very funny to look back on 20 years from now! Heck, it's funny now!

On to Half Moon Bay....

Two other instances where Fred made me take cruel and unnecessary walks/adventures....
I'll admit the reward at the end of the 1 1/2 mile walk pictured below was spectacular. Male elephant seals visit this beach near Half Moon Bay to molt every year. It takes up to 5 months and many times they lay on the beach without moving for fear of using up any stored energy since they do not eat during this entire period. The ones you see in the water are quite large, therefore they have extra energy to loose.

Sixteen Years of Wedded Bliss!

The results are in!

We returned last night from the Taekwondo Jr. Olympics in Detroit. Gabbie had a very tough division with 15 other girls. She was the youngest at 13 and the rest were 15-17 years old. Needless to say, she was VERY nervous as evidenced by this photo and I wanted to run out on the field and tell her it would be ok!

About half the girls were third degree black belts and have a few years experience and medals under those belts! Even though she lost the fight 8-5, it was an incredible showing for her first year in this division and we are very proud of her courage and athletic ability. She even got a headkick in on the girl 30 seconds into the fight which scored her 2 points. I've included the short clip below, in slow motion for your viewing pleasure! Never thought I'd get so excited about seeing my daughter kick another girl in the head!

Corbin competed in forms the same day against 21
other 10-11 year old blue belts. He's come a long way since finishing 35 out of 36 two years ago in Atlanta. I'll always remember his positive attitude when he told me, "At least I didn't finish last"! Buddy, you didn't have to worry about that this year...

Corbin and Master Kim showing off the medal!The next day he sparred in the 10-11 blue belt, 66 pounds and under division. Unfortunately he lost, but only 5-3 and has improved miles since last year!

"I learned to win by learning to lose - that means not being afraid of losing"

Almost 10 and Celebrating with Friends!

Our little boy is hitting the 2 digit numbers on July 6th. Ten years have passed so quickly! He's brought an unending supply of laughter and love to our family.

He had a HUGE birthday celebration last Saturday at Fred's office with about 30 of his closest friends from school, the neighborhood and taekwondo.

The girls stick together and scream all the way down!

Fred is ALWAYS in the middle of the fun!

Corbin trying to reel in the big one.

Jonathan, Mati and Gio