Early October

Yom Kippur started the evening of September 29, so we hurriedly celebrated Benjamin's birthday before Sunday.  On Saturday, the synagogue had the older kids run the service for the little kids, so all three of ours helped with the service.  Afterwards, while the adult service was still going on, they made mezuzot for people who lost their homes in the hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

Sunday, to celebrate Benjamin's birthday we went to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.

We learned how to pick a giant lock.

Benjamin made friends with a robot who said "cheese" when I took the picture.

Both Laura and Benjamin built devices to propel a ball across the "river"/

In the evening, Dave ordered Chinese food delivered for dinner.

Wendesday, October 4, we celebrated Sukkot at the synagogue and enjoyed Mike's Pizza after the service.

On Thursday Laura started a skateboarding class.  She has also been taking a chess course after school on Thursdays.

October 6, Laura's school, Vallejo Mill, had a color run fundraiser.

On October 7, we visited Coyote Point Regional Park in Fremont and October 8, we met up with Iyer and his son in Shoreline Park for a bike ride on the Bay Trail.  Afterwards, we had dinner on Castro Street in Mountain View.

October 11 we celebrated Simchat Torah at the Synagogue.  They have a tradition of giving the kids candy and then the kids enjoy negotiating candy trades among themselves.

October 14 we went to the Monterey Aquarium.  Fortunately we stopped at AAA to buy tickets on our way because the line to purchase tickets when we got there was very long.  Aquarium was fun but crowded.

Laura and Benjamin pretend to be cephalopods at the aquarium.

Cephalopods change color or pattern depending on their mood.

On our way home, we stopped at the Gilroy outlets so that Laura could shop at Justice and then had dinner at a nearby Chinese buffet.

October 15 Laura finally got to show Dave the skate park and Tree House Playground.