School pick ups aren’t generally my favorite time of the day: Though I’m always happy to see the girls, I’m often also kind of tired from work or the day’s events. But yesterday’s pick up was particularly fun, with Avery and her friends performing “Hamilton” songs while we waited for Zoe to get back from cross country practice, and then Zoe joining the three girls for an adorable group hug.

-M

Speaking of cross country, here’s a peek of Zoe at her second meet. And it was a good one: She was the 12th girl (and first 5th grader) to finish.

-M

The beginning of the school year has been particularly eventful for Zoe. She joined the cross-country team (though she has been part of the school’s running group, this is her first official school sport) and she became part of the school’s youth mentoring board. She had to apply for the latter position, which involves weekly meetings with 11 other students. As described in the school’s newsletter:

The Brandeis Youth Mentoring Board officially launched this fall as part of the Brandeis mentorship program that began in the fall of 2016. This youth board consists of students in fifth through eighth grades who, says Dean of Student Life Sharona Israeli-Roth, “want to support and make a difference in the mentorship program by actively helping to create mentoring activities and serving as leaders to the rest of our student-mentors.” This Brandeis Youth Mentoring Board will work to make the mentorship program meaningful for the entire student community. Students interested in participating on the youth board were asked to complete an application that included the questions “Why are you interested in joining?” “What do you hope to gain from your involvement?” and “What are some of your ideas for the mentoring program?”

“We were so impressed with the many students who applied to be part of the board,” adds Ms. Israeli-Roth. “Because of how many applications we received, we decided to select three representatives from each grade.”

As Zoe wrote in her application, she loves working with little kids and she has a lot of ideas for ways to improve the mentoring program. She was super excited to be chosen.

-M

The girls on our way to services today…

-M

It’s Rosh Hashanah, and Avery and a few of her classmates have a message.

-M

This is my craziest time of year at work (hence my lack of posts here), and I worked at a major event all last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While finishing up a few things Sunday afternoon, Zoe — sitting across from me at the dining room table – – told me, “You’re doing a really good job at work, Mommy.”

:)

-M

Not long after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, the girls’ school arranged a letter-writing project for students at a Jewish day school there. Avery wrote hers – a new year’s card for Rosh Hashanah – the other day after school.

-M

It rarely storms in San Francisco – I can count on two hands the number of times I’ve heard thunder here – so it was a big deal when a thunderstorm came through the other night. Avery was a bit scared at first (such a San Francisco kid)! but then her dad suggested they head outside to watch the rain and count the seconds between the lightening and thunder, and she was a-okay.

-M

The girls are back into the swing of things of school; it’s almost as if no break had been had! They’ve both been busy with getting-to-know-you type projects, with Zoe also working with her classmates on expectations for fifth grade. As described in the school’s newsletter:

To set the tone for the year, the 5th grade spent time this week putting together a grade-wide agreement. On Tuesday, the students brainstormed a list of ways that they want their classroom to look and feel, as well as a list of things they will need in order to feel successful. To build on that, groups of 10 worked together to narrow down and categorize the list into 4–5 categories. After presenting their ideas to the rest of the grade, the teachers reviewed and created the 5th Grade Classroom Agreement, which will be signed by all 5th graders.

During the recent heat wave we headed down to nearby Half Moon Bay to cool off and enjoy some beach time. It was a grey day but the cool breeze made up for it!

-M

Inspired by our trips to museums in Paris and Edinburgh, the four of us headed to the Legion of Honor last weekend. Despite Avery’s insistence that she finds “painting spots” boring, she seemed to enjoy herself (sort of) – but the trip was mostly for Zoe. She took a liking to the Impressionists in Paris, and the two of us had a good time analyzing the paintings in the Degas exhibit. (Added bonus: There were three Mary Cassatts, Zoe’s favorite, including the one she’s looking at below.)

-M

As most people who know us (or San Francisco) well, the city never gets very hot, even in the summer. Triple-digit temperatures are pretty much unheard of, which is why last week’s heat wave was such a big deal – and such a shock to our system. On Friday, Zoe wore shorts to school (a first) and Avery a spaghetti-strap dress with no leggings and sandals (also a first). And when Avery walked outside she summed things up nicely be declaring, “It feels like vacation!!”

-M

Almost every day of our trip last month, Avery talked or asked about one of her good friends. (“I wonder what she’s doing right now. Can I text her? What time is it there?”) She missed her and couldn’t wait to see her; and I think part of the reason she wasn’t sad to come home was because she knew they would soon be reunited!

Indeed, friends are a big part of the girls’ life – and seeing them was a major perk of returning to school! Here are a few more pictures from their first day back…

-M

After our trip the girls spent a week hanging out at home and recovering from their jet lag (which, happily, wasn’t that bad). And then, last Tuesday, they headed back to school! They were more excited than nervous about third and fifth grade (though Zoe was a bit uncertain about her homeroom teacher), but all seemed to go well. When I asked them to describe their first week just now, Avery said, “fantastic – and different,” and Zoe said, “interesting – and different.”

-M

The last leg of our trip was to Edinburgh (another new city for us); we were there both to hang out again with Safta and PopPop and to experience the Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival.

Along with seeing some good shows (including a kind of bizarre, but impressive, Korean musical about monkeys and an amazing performance by Cirque Eloize), we explored the Royal Mile, visited the Edinburgh Castle and saw the street that inspired JK Rowling to write the Harry Potter books.

We hopped on a plane and headed home after three days there. And, after our earlier flight to Tel Aviv (which was a full four hours longer), the 11-hour flight home was no sweat!

-M