First Day of Preschool

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First Day of First Grade

Summer Summation

Tomorrow is the last official day of summer vacation for our family.  Tommy starts 1st grade on Thursday, Lucy starts preschool on Monday, and Tom and I report for faculty meetings on Tuesday.  So since I took a little blogcation this summer, I'd better wrap things up here.

We had a fabulous and relaxing summer.  While we mostly stayed close to home, we enjoyed road trips to Santa Barbara and Twain Harte.  Around these parts, we used our Great America passes, had fun in summer camps, potty trained, watched a lot of Olympics and Giants baseball, and hit all the best playgrounds.

Some highlights in photos: (ok, really super long, photo bomb blog post)

Tommy at SI T-ball camp with Coach Delaney

One gratuitous potty training shot

Discovering comic books

Gilroy Gardens with Grandma

Well, I certainly think I've earned this remodel!

Tommy had a sleepover at Nana's and we read bedtime stories over iChat....

...and then got a little silly!

Tom and I had a night off to celebrate our college roommate Dave's wedding.  The theme was 1950s Rockabilly complete with themed attire, temporary tattoos, and candy cigarettes.  It was a perfect event for Dave & Sarah and a great chance to see our SCU and Pigpen friends again.

Nana's house is the place for frozen treats

We also get photo evidence from Nana of all baths and sleeping children (and dogs) who spend the night.

Precious time with Grandma and cousins came during our annual trip to Twain Harte.  Twain Harte is full of traditions, rites of passage, and must-do activities.

Here's the crew waiting very patiently at the Snack Shack - very hot and very hungry

Drowning her sorrows in ranch dressing

Tommy got a hole-in-one on the challenging gold mine hole at the mini-golf place!

Cooling off in the cabin watching the Giants game...

.... and the A's game

Evening at the lake with Grandma

This was a big year at the lake for Tommy.  For the first year, Tommy happily, comfortably, and independently played in the lake.

The boys enjoyed reading stories together one night

and Lucy and Molly enjoyed some real quality time together

The real milestone and tradition of this trip was the bikini.  Legend has it that this bikini was gifted to Meredith on her 1st birthday by an anonymous donor.  Blame was placed on my godmother, but it was later revealed that my dad was the culprit.  I apparently wore this bikini for a couple of summers as it appears in many photos from my youth.  In a tribute to sentimental attachments and not throwing things away, Lucy got to wear the bikini this year.  

Some side-by-side comparisons:

After Twain Harte and summer school were over, we hung around the Bay Area

Enjoying the Earthquake exhibit at the Academy of Sciences

Visiting the SF Zoo - Tommy brought his stuffed kangaroo and Lucy brought her brown bear so they could meet their zoo counterparts

We hit a variety of local playgrounds where both kids are now pretty independent and fearless

The 3 Toms Galvin visited the Presidio for an exhibit "Before the Bridge"

We spent many fun days at Great America.  First I take a picture with my phone and then Tom takes a picture with his phone.  Precious family memories!

We did everything close to home this summer.  Haircuts got much closer to home for one family member.  First home buzz cut!

Tommy spent an afternoon in Pacifica with Grandma and Papa and the visiting Jake

Not to be outdone by her brother, Lucy got her first hole-in-one at Malibu Castle Golf and Games (with an assist from Daddy)

Lucy posing in front of the entrance to the Mercy Burlingame convent.  One of the rooms above the entrance once belonged to Grandma

Our two super readers finished all their summer reading and got to attend the VIP part at the Library

The next morning, Lucy enjoyed the special guest readers from the Daly City Fire Department.  Here she is shown with 4/5 Stecher girls and a very captivated Matt

It's summer, the sun is shining outside in San Francisco, so the Galvins go ice skating!

We had Olympic fever all summer starting with the gymnastics trials in San Jose in June

Me and Mary Lou (shown actual size)

Me and My Lu

Not satisfied enough with NBC's spotty coverage, we watched the live feed of gymnastics each morning on as many devices as we could muster.  Each one showing a separate apparatus!

And the kids continue to love their own gymnastics classes.  Here, Lucy was the only one present for her class when it began, so Tommy warmed up with her to keep her company.

When most people ask what I did this summer, I'll say "nothing much" or "I potty trained Lucy" but even without anything fancy to report, we had a lot of really wonderful family time this summer.  As busy as we look from the pictures, we spent plenty of time lounging in our jammies, staying up too late, sitting on the couch watching Transformers Rescue Bots, and playing Ticket to Ride on the iPad.

And so it's off to 1st grade for this little man!  This summer he did a great job keeping the journal he was supposed to.  It's half full of little paragraphs I had to prompt him to write and half full of math problems he begged me to give him.  Now he's asking for multiplication!  I'm going to be out of my league very soon.  Since receiving the first book in January (thanks Aunt Sara) he has worked his way through 30 of the Magic Treehouse books reading 2 chapters a night with Mom or Dad.  He loves playing baseball and really loves watching baseball.  His baseball related questions are incessant; we think he has a future in broadcasting.  He could certainly talk his way through an entire game if he had to.  He is patient and loving with his sister even though she really tests him at times.  He has handled each new advancement and challenge with great courage and eagerness.  He is super excited for 1st grade!

Curly Lu is off to preschool 3 mornings a week starting next week.  She is so excited to be going to Holy Name with Daddy.  He is very excited to have her just across the playground.  Lucy is very much like Tommy was at this age in many ways - she is friendly and conversational with everyone.  She is also very different than Tommy which leaves us often surprised.  She stops traffic a lot with those curls and that smile, but she handles it well.  "If only they knew..." I think to myself (or say out loud) when folks tell me how adorable she is.  Yes, she's adorable, but underneath she is a piece of work and she knows it.  She knows how to tick off her big brother and grows deaf when Mom or Dad are calling her name or telling her to stop doing something.  She is overly confident, pigheaded, and bossy.  Where do these traits come from?  I came across a quote this summer that's good for her: "Whatever road you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope you choose not to be a lady.  I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there." - Nora Ephron

Lucy's love affair with Brown Bear is a growing concern for those involved.  I suspect someday Brown Bear will testify against Lucy.  But her love for him is genuine and she talks to him so sweetly sometimes and showers him with such love.  He is the one she cries for in the night or when hurt, which sometimes makes the parents feel left out.  But if Tommy is hurt, she quickly grabs Brown Bear and gives him to Tommy.  To her, that is the greatest gift or showing of love she can imagine.

Here's to a fabulous school year for everyone!