Spring Solstice & 15 Months

With Spring having finally arrived, it's time for a little spring cleaning. So we didn't hesitate to put Hannah to work, which she gladly obliged. Here you can see her busy sweeping the family room.... or maybe that was her just ordering US to get to work.... Either way, we are taking the hint and getting to it around here - starting with a little landscaping project so our front entryway will be more functional and attractive, hopefully before our families and friends start arriving from near and far on/before May 9th!


But all work and no play makes Hannah a dull girl, so we got out and enjoyed the spring weather with Hannah's BFFs down at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina. As you can see, it was a perfect day -- light breeze, plenty of sunshine, and tons of birds to chase, friends to run away from, dogs to meet, and flowers to enjoy. Here's some snapshots from the afternoon last week, with Kayla and Reece in tow. I think it's fair to say everybody had a blast, especially the kiddies!

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Happy (belated) First Birthday Ashlynn & Coe!

Above, Ashlynn & Coe (with proud parents, Liz & Steve) about a month after they were born.
Below, the adorable due in January, about a month before they actually turned The Big One on February 26th.

Happy First Birthday Ash & Coe!!

Peek-A-Boo Can Be Played...

ANYWHERE!!!

Just another family dinner out on the town... Hannah figured out a way to take her favorite game with her to the Beach Chalet!

The Flowers

All the names I know from nurse:
Gardener's garters, Shepherd's purse,
Bachelor's buttons, Lady's smock,
And the Lady Hollyhock.

Fairy places, fairy things,
Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
Tiny trees for tiny dames--
These must all be fairy names!

Tiny woods below whose boughs
Shady fairies weave a house;
Tiny tree-tops, rose or thyme,
Where the braver fairies climb!

Fair are grown-up people's trees,
But the fairest woods are these;
Where, if I were not so tall,
I should live for good and all.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Party In The Park - Doin' The Limbo

West Coast Choppers

Fueling up for life on the road and posing on her hog named "Triple Threat,"
"Harleyetta Handlebars," Hell's Angels' newest disciple, is looking fierce!

Crissy Field, East Beach "Runway"

Hannah, here is the history of the ground in this picture, that you, your mom (she took the picture) and I are walking on, known as Crissy Field (thanks, Wikipedia and nps.gov)...

The story of Crissy Field is inexorably linked to the early history of aviation in the United States. Named in honor of Major Dana Crissy, Crissy Field was the military’s first Air Coast Defense Station on the Pacific coast. Between the World Wars, research and innovation at Crissy Field helped develop the air power that proved essential to the Allied victory in 1945. Here, flying records were set, long-distance flights started and ended, and early aviators charted territory above the clouds.

The area was originally a rich salt marsh and a gathering ground for Indians. It later served as the landing site of Spanish explorers and Russian, English and Boston traders. Following the conclusion of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition it became one of America's foremost military airfields and a portion of the Presidio army base.

Major Henry 'Hap' Arnold led the successful effort to change the name to Crissy Field in honor of Major Dana H. Crissy, who crashed and died on 8 October 1919 in a de Havilland DH-4B during an Air Service transcontinental reliability test while attempting a landing at Salt Lake City, Utah.
During the 1920’s, Crissy Field’s place in aviation history was secured through a series of record-breaking long-distance flights. In 1924, the first successful Dawn-to-Dusk transcontinental flight ended at Crissy Field. Later that year, the army's Round-the-World Race stopped at Crissy Field, with Lieutenant Lowell H. Smith of Crissy Field leading the flyers upon their return. In 1925, two navy seaplanes took off from Crissy Field in the first attempt to fly from the continental United States to Hawaii. Expected to last twenty-six hours, the trip took twelve days and was only partially completed by one plane, whose crew had to be rescued at sea. Two years later, army lieutenants Lester J. Maitland and Albert F. Hegenberger readied their three-engine Fokker Bird of Paradise at Crissy Field and flew non-stop to the islands.

Though initially perceived as an ideal location for a coastal airfield, Crissy Field was not without flaws. Wind and fog often contributed to poor flying conditions and the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 made flights around the bay even more difficult. Moreover, Crissy Field’s proximity to the water made it a potentially easy target for enemy ships. In 1936, shortly after the activation of Hamilton Field in Marin County, Crissy Field closed as a first-line air base.

After the air corps left Crissy Field, the administration building was occupied by the headquarters of the 30th U.S. Infantry Regiment and the landing field was routinely used as an assembly area for troop mobilization. During World War II, temporary wooden barracks were erected at both ends of the airfield and the former air mail hangar became barracks and classrooms for the army's top-secret Military Intelligence Service Language School. Here, second-generation Japanese Americans—called Nisei soldiers—were trained as battlefield interpreters.

In the years after World War II, the Sixth Army Flight Detachment operated light airplanes and helicopters from the paved runway that replaced the grass landing strip on Crissy Field. By this time, Crissy Field traffic consisted primarily of liaison flights and MedEvac flights bringing wounded Vietnam soldiers from Travis Air Force Base to Letterman Hospital (which is now George Lucas' Studios). In 1974, Crissy Field was finally closed to fixed-wing aircraft, although helicopter operations continued for several years.

In 1962, along with the entire Presidio Army Base of San Francisco, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The airfield was closed in 1974.

Crissy Field was redesigned by Hargreaves Associates in 1994, and it passed from being a military airport into an open space that is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In order to create the new site, 87,000 tons of hazardous materials were removed from the site itself and the tidal wetlands were redesigned to simulate the wetlands that existed before the military appropriated the site and used the area as a dump and landfill location. During 1998-2000, individuals and groups from schools, civic organizations and corporations planted over 100,000 native plants, in efforts to restore natural systems. Community volunteers are still an important part of the efforts to maintain long-term stewardship of Crissy Field.

The Ballad of Randall Brown

Randall Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Randall Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his three cats and nine guitars
And his Subaru broken down.

You looked for Hannah Lacey
You gave her a big smile
Sang and strummed the six-string loaner
Your grand niece is so happy
That she danced around for miles
-Lyrics by Bob Dylan