Nick's Good Bedmaking Habits Party

For making his bed 7 days in a row, Nick was also due a special treat--an oatmeal chocolate-chip cookie party.

The day had been hard because Nick's bike had been stolen from the school bike cage, so he'd had to run/walk the 2.3 miles home after his already exhausting cross-country practice.

Mom's lasagna was some consolation, and Aunt Mary's musical congratulatory cards are always fun. After the party, we went to the police station to report the stolen bike.

Moonlight Run

Today I ran a 5K run in Palo Alto. It started at 9 pm under the full moon. It was the longest run that I have run so far.

By Nick

District 9

Today I went to see District 9 with Uncle Mark in the movie theatre. The movie is about aliens, and I really enjoyed the special effects.

Nick

Cross Country Run at Half-Moon Bay

I got 38th place in a race with over 200 runners.

Nick

Alameda Skate Park (by Nick)

Today we visited the Alameda Skate Park, which is located at an old naval yard which had a beautiful view onto the Oakland Bay Bridge. Unlike the other skate parks we visited, this one only had one small bowl (what I found good because I don't like bowls that much). Most of the time I was grinding on a ledge (see photo). After about an hour, we went to Wendy's.

California Skate Parks

Nick has been getting us to explore the area by trying out all the skate parks. Bowls are popular here; Germany has more ramps.

Above, he is dropping into the bowl at Burgess Skate Park (700 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA) . This will be our "home park" for the next year.

On the right, he is grinding on a rail at the Berkeley Skate Park (Harrison St., Berkeley, CA). Here, hardly any skaters wear helmets and it seems to be a popular hangout, albeit in an industrial area with a warning that the air might be toxic!

On the left, Nick is coming up a bowl at the Piedmont Skate Park (Moraga Ave., Piedmont, CA), where a full-time monitor ensures that the skaters wear helmets, knee and elbow pads. Nice grinding rails and ramps, but apparently skaters don't like to be supervised, so Nick was the only skater.

While Nick skates, Patrick and Michael amuse themselves with a ball.