It’s finally spring here in San José, after a winter that seemed to go on forever. Although we really needed some rain after a dry fall and end to 2017, it’s nice to have some sunshine and warmth. We’ve had a busy few months, with limited time for fun hobbies like sorting through and cleaning up photographs, but I’m very pleased to be able to post a collection of very nice snapshots from a simpler time: all the way back in the fall of 2012. In my defense, I think this is actually the final set of photos from 2012 to get online, so the next batch will be somewhat more recent (though there are still some gaping holes in the last five years).

Since our last post, Julia has completed her long-awaited trip to Washington, D.C. with her eighth-grade class. We dragged her to the airport at 4:00 in the morning on March 30 for an early flight so they could touch down in the afternoon and hit the ground running. She was more awake than I was, as you can see in the photo below; after seeing her off, I went home and slept for another hour or so before heading to work.

Despite having a hard time falling asleep the first night—we received a late-night video call bemoaning her plight—she had a great time on the trip and returned energized and happy; she was particularly enamored with the story of the true origins of George Washington’s teeth. And, thankfully, she avoided my fate.

One downside of the timing of the D.C. trip was that Julia missed Easter; this distressed her greatly, and she exacted a promise from us that we would stage an Easter egg hunt for her benefit upon her return. On the actual Easter morning, Joe and William were up bright and early, as you might guess, and Joe played the part of big brother to a hilt, watching bemusedly as William raced from hiding place to hiding place shouting, “Egg!” for every treat he found.

Things have slowed down a bit over the last few weeks, but are primed to pick up again next month. William will be wrapping up preschool in May, and shortly thereafter, the older kids will each be taking separate trips to Disneyland with their respective school bands. This flurry of activity will culminate—unless something takes an unexpected turn—in June with Julia’s eighth grade promotion, which, if I’ve done my math correctly, means that we’ll be parents of a high school student next fall.

Gallery: Fall 2012