Nothing short of a Miracle

First day of school! With a summer packed with camp and weekly tutoring, Mara was well prepared to join Ms Leib's 2nd grade class.  We are now in our second week and everyone is amazed at how well she is adjusting.  It's a wonder what a little TLC and food can do for a kid!!  Nothing short of a miracle as her Dad always says.

 

Mara is quite fond of her electric piano and now that we bought her a headset, so are her parents!

Mara's new favorite: Jamba Juice!!

Mara getting ready to head to her all girls Summer camp.  Cool kid! 

Graduating from her Athena all girls summer camp.  One of the themes was on inspiring girl characters and as a result Mara became obsessed with Judy Hops from Zootopia.  Now she only goes by Judy!? And guess who wants to be Judy for Halloween???

Mara also participated in a few different music camps.  Here she learned all of the songs to children's favorite movies.

Proud Mama with Mara receiving her certificate of achievement at Summer Camp!

She has the bow down!

Clare's Mom has taken up a new philanthropic passion: sewing dresses for little girls to help stop female trafficking.  Here's one she made for Mara - talk about a proud grand daughter!!

Who needs a closet full of toys when you can make a clothespin tutu all yourself?! 

Saturday mornings are reserved for a visit to Granny in Santa Cruz and our beloved walk at the harbor and yukes on the beach.

Summer birthday celebrations are always fun - especially when you get to visit Build-A-Bear!

 

A cherished moment spent before Mara headed off to her all girls camp Athena.  She thrived this summer with all of the physical activity and confidence boosting!

Mara has become a cookie monster and has lots of fans at Clare's work that feeds her addictions (which Mara is very appreciative of!).

Mara now insists on sleeping in her Mom's bed.  Not only has she taken over our bed, but she has also adopted Clare's eye shades!!

Mara has become friends (or at least a seize fire) with the cats, so much so that they have started to enjoy our snuggling fests in bed together.  Here with Biko!

Fourth of July we spent in Palm Springs (yes it was blazing hot!) at the La Quinta resort with Clare's cousins Suzette & Tommy.

Mara floating in her patriotic floatie.

 

Chilling in the shade

 

A view from our casita in the morning.

 Hanging in the pool with cocktail in tote!

The cousins: Suzette, Clare & Mara in an evening stroll after dinner.  Palm Springs was HOT but fun.

The family strolling around the lovely La Quinta grounds

Clare has made CiscoLive with her girlfriend Denise a yearly tradition.  This year it's Vegas baby! 

There's nothing better than shopping Michael Kors with a BFF and bubbly in hand!

Mara the guitarist.

Mara is just now starting to enjoy nearly all of the toys and games that everyone has given her.  It's like she has a Toys R Us in her own closet.  Here creating a wheel with her magformers.

Playing with the simplest toys like a top can bring so much joy.

But even with all of her toys, what kid doesn't love to play in a bed of leaves?!

Enjoying dinner and winning over the heart of Clare's colleague Simon.  It doesnt hurt that he has 5 year old son of his own!

Mara's balance has gotten a lot better!

Hanging with friends Mia and Evan at the local park.

Playing with the animals.

Playing in the park.

Exhausting!

Mara has become obsessed with her hair (which for anyone who sees her, has to admit is pretty beautiful!).  She now likes to have it braided, including fancy French braids.

 Long weekend spent visiting the Bay Area, including some hiking at Big Basin.  Camping here we come!!

Lots of fun summer activities - including a visit to Gilroy Gardens!

Starting Mara's art appreciation young - here we are visiting the latest opening of the SF MoMA!

Always game for shopping and lunch with our Auntie Denise, all sporting our flashy hats together!!

Mara is quite the artist and we have been enjoying coloring together! Mara and Clare like to color these stained glass window pictures.  Can you tell who did which one?!

We have been the lucky recipients of third row seats at the Sharks games, and this has been their best season ever!  Mara has a love-hate relationship with the game. She is terrified of the beginning of the show but loves to watch the action.

Last day of School.  Goodbye to 1st Grade!

Mother's Day Bragging

Happy Mother's Day! The happy family enjoyed Champagne Brunch at Villa Montalvo.

World cultural day at school. Clare made her a traditional Georgian dress and head dress.

 

Proud to be Georgian!

Science day at school.

One happy family together at Easter!

Hunting for eggs.

With Granny.

Spring Break in Tahoe - yes, there was snow and yes, Mara had a blast!

Sledding with Dad.

Clare & Mara enjoying some down time at the North Star village.

Snow ball fight!

Enjoying some down time while Mom and Dad do some wine tasting at Linne Calodo.

 Experimenting with chalk art on the front porch.

 With her social and cognitive development well in hand, we have started to shift more focus on Mara's physical development. It's pretty easy to do when living so close to such a beautiful garden. Here Mara have a ball with a ball!

 

Flying a kite

Hanging with her friends at her friend Bailey's birthday party.  

Mara's first Cinderella Tea Party with her best friend Alexandra.

Digging a rocking chair at her Auntie Celeste's!

Chef Mara for Career Day at school.

Big girl Mara getting her first big girl haircut & wash!

Clare traveled to Krakow, Poland for work.  Another first for her! She didn't get to go sightseeing much, except for walking around town to dinners, etc.

Clare was there to visit an opening of Cisco's Security Operations Center, to celebrate the site's 4 year anniversary and to conduct a company-wide meeting.  The site really did it up!

The town is incredibly charming!

 

We received a walking tour one night before heading to a swanky dinner in a museum!

Here's where they would store torches before they would enter buildings.

 

Krakow was even prettier at night!

 Clare's hotel was right next to the castle.  She was blessed with beautiful weather!

Dinner with the Cisco team.

Partying with Cisco's CFO

Mara continues to thrive at her school, Hammer Montessori.  We would never have thought that she would excel as much as has in just one year!  

Everyone loves Mara, including the restaurant manager at our favorite local sushi joint.

Enjoying one of our famous walks to the yukeles at the Harbor in Santa Cruz.

 

Mara loves to play in the sand.

An artistic shot of Mara in her school uniform.  Truly an angel!!

Clare was excited for her first trip to Japan (through her work).

Here a shot of Tokyo from her 52nd floor hotel room.

Arriving early, Clare was able to do some sight seeing before she started work on Monday.  Here a stroll through one of Tokyo's most famous shrines, and some international gifts of French Bourdeaux.

 Along sides Japan's beloved Sake.

Exploring the Emperor's Palace Grounds.

 The sushi was to die for!

After Tokyo, Clare flew to Shanghai. Here are shot from her room.

 Then the high speed train with a large delegation of the Cisco team to Hungzou.

While in Hungzou, Clare was able to squeeze in some fabric shopping at the local market. 

After all of the work was completed, Clare's translator took her to the famous West Lake for lunch.

A shot of the famous restaurant at the lake.

A group of students on a field trip at the Lake.

The Lake would have been beautiful if the smog wasn't so bad!!

What's a trip to Asia without bringing back some prized possessions for a 7-year-old: a kimono, umbrella and fan?!

 

With the addition of Mara into our lives, Clare is even more passionate about helping other women in the world and workplace.  Here participating in the Cisco Women of Impact Event.

 We are lucky to have supportive friends who help with Mara while Clare travels.  Here, Mara shopping with her favorite Auntie Denise.

Mom and Dad still get time to get and have some fun.  Here at upfront and close with the English Beat.

Volunteering at school for one of Mom's favorite charities, the Humane Society.  

We made blankets for kitties to sleep in.  

Mara lets Mom try different hair styles.

For Winter break, we traveled to Vancouver and British Columbia. Here enjoying a wonderful brunch together as a family.

The happy family.

This trip also included a very successful experiment of Mara skiing.  She did wonderfully and we are going to pursue further. It 

The brave girl rolling with the experiment.

Enjoying birthday party at Granny's

Mara continues to enjoy the arts, in particular music.  She attends "dance class" every week where she gets to sing, dance and play music to some favorite tunes.  Her she receives some 1:1 time to learn how to play the guitar.

Celebrating Clare's birthday together.

 

We attended a colleague's child's birthday party to see some amazing pet tricks!

Mara has become quite the fashionista herself.  Clare tries to let her express without too much influence (yes, an occassional nudge), including some faux leather pants. 

 

 Learning how to tell time, with a little help from her Granny.