Thank you for the nice letter and gifts. Brady was very happy about his new rattle.
And Evan was super excited about the Spiderman sunglasses. Ever since your trip, he's been obsessed with sunglasses. And now he has his very own pair!
Thank you Gramma and Grampa. We miss you!
It was Fleet Week in San Francisco this weekend and that means Blue Angels flying over my house! I don't know what it is about Fleet Week, but we always get the most beautiful weather on this weekend. It must be that God loves patriots and the military. Anyway, I went up on the roof to watch (along with everyone else in my neighborhood) and tried to take some pictures. It was hard to get great pictures with my pathetic little camera, but there are a few here that show how close they got. One of them flew directly over my roof at one point and it was LOUD, but very cool. You should all come next year.
You can view more pics here: http://gallery.me.com/erin73#100081
**LATE BREAKING NEWS**
I just went outside to the top of Russian Hill to watch a fire burning on Angel Island. It started at about 9pm and when I went outside at a little after 10pm, it had already engulfed most of the southeast side. I stood there and watched it with a bunch of other people in the street for about 45 minutes. My friend brought his telescope out and we could see some pretty massive flames and exploding trees. We'll see how bad it really is in the morning. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out very clear.
This is at Leavenworth and Green Street, looking north towards Alcatraz with Angel Island burning behind it.
We also had rain last weekend, and it happened to be during the hours of the triathlon at Lake Lopez (the sky cleared and sun came out as soon as the race ended).
Tyler did an exceptional job, considering this was his first attempt at a triathlon (Olympic distance - 1 mi swim, 25 mi bike, 6 mi run), and considering the wet conditions.
They started the race at 8 am with the swim. Tyler finished in 23 minutes - 2nd fastest time in his division, 13th for men, and 17th overall. Definitely his strongest (and favorite) event.
Coming out after the first lap...
After a quick transition, he was down to his tri-shorts (i.e., hotpants), makeshift tri-shirt (UnderArmour shirt), and on the bike. I was worried because of the wet roads, but I think the spill he took on a 55 mile ride the Saturday prior made him slightly more cautious (you'll notice he has a hard time with the concept of "tapering"). Bike time: 1:19.
Off the bike, running shoes on, he hits the road for the last 6 miles. Tyler always had a smile when he came running by. Run time: 53:57
Way to go, Tyler! 2:42:28 (including transitions), placing 46th overall.
"Now get your crap and get outta here!"
1) Your 7 year old announces at breakfast, "IT'S SPRINKLING OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!" in a voice that you would expect to hear if it were, perhaps, the second coming.
2) Said 7 year old declares that , "It's raining cats and dogs outside!", when in fact the water is practically evaporating before it hits the pavement.
3) The 2 year old, whose memory does not go back to the last time it rains, looks at the wet subastance coming out of the sky with bewilderment and quizzically asks, "Wet?"
4) The two with soccer games begin crying when they realize they'll have to play soccer in the semi-mist because it's, "...freezing outside mom! How can you expect us to play in such cold weather?? That's not right!"(Direct quote- it was about 65 degrees)
5) The children spend the rest of the afternoon playing "Singin' in the Rain", much to the enjoyment of the neighbors, I'm sure.
6) And, last, the giraffe umbrella that Grandma Pam bought many, many months ago is used for the first time.
Thanks to Erin's radical gift of a Batman action figure for Grayson's bday, there was a marked increase in "Bat Fever" in our household last week. 
However, in order to avoid a massive meltdown of epic proportions, we had to compromise some of the dress-up items; Derek got the mask and the belt, and Grayson got the cape (being held together by masking tape, which happened to be the fastest thing I could find during the near meltdown phase) the action figure (of course), and was really excited about Carissa's turquoise belt.
Please ignore the dirty laundry on the floor in the background- we all had Bat Fever.
Brady looking adorable with Brett at Mt. Evans. We're at over 12,000 feet!
Evan eats fries! After our drive to the mountain tops, we stopped in Golden for some lunch. 
Erin goes over our checklist before we head off to Home Depot. Funny story - the lady at HD thought we were lesbians. What is the deal? That is like the 2nd time in our lives we have been mistaken for lesbians! We're sisters, OK!!!! It must be my butch hair cut...
Erin looks so happy to be painting. 
It was a beautiful day in the Bay, and with a view like this, I wasn't complaining. That's the Golden Gate Bridge, folks!!!
And the after shot. Her room isn't acutally that small, but it is close. Hopefully Erin will post a picture when she is done moving in!
Here's a short sample of Under 5 soccer. Derek should be easy to see; he's the only blonde on the field.
