Diana and I officially became “empty nesters” (not a term that I love 
especially after hearing it so much in the last week) at 7:08am (precision timing provided by Diana) on Wednesday morning as Alicia drove off to start her long drive to Cuesta college in California. She picked up John at the Dallas airport and they made it all the way to Santa Fe on their first day. From there they spent the night in Sedona and Las Vegas, arriving in Arroyo Grande on Saturday afternoon. It was very strange to go from a totally full house to just the two of us over the course of a few days.
Patty and I took turns keeping Diana busy on Wednesday and Thursday and then we flew to San Francisco on Friday for the triple threat of Fathers’ Day, Finn’s birthday, and our first anniversary.
I met the boys for an early combination Finn’s birthday and Father’s Day celebration at Terun in Palo Alto. This is a Neapolitan style Italian restaurant with the official Italian government approval on the pizza style. The food was delicious – Brussel sprouts, beet gnocchi, and mushroom pizza all amazing.
After lunch we made a quick stop at Will’s apartment so that I could give Finn his birthday gift. It’s a painting that I saw in a McKinney coffee shop and thought Finn would enjoy – a panda done with pastels on suede. Finn has always loved pandas.
Bowling was our next stop at a classic old bowling alley in San Mateo. We had a lot of fun and Will’s crazy spin technique took him to victory in the first frame. Campbell did give him a good challenge.
It was a real treat to spend the afternoon with all three boys and I especially appreciated Campbell making the trip up from San Diego.
Meanwhile back in Pacifica Auntie D was enjoying some time with her nephews, Massimo and Luciano.
We’re amazed at how well coordinated Massimo is for his age. It has to be rare for an eighteen month old to be that adept on a scooter. I found this picture of Diana and her brothers and enjoy it very much. What a lot of work Clorinda had dealing with that gang. I think Amy and Adamo certainly have their hands full with two very active boys. I laughed when Luciano called me Auntie Keith. He’s used to Auntie D and assumed that’s the right title for me too.
On Sunday we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos. The restaurant burned a few years ago and re-opened in 2016 with only a chef driven (i.e. no choices) tasting menu and has received 3 Michelin stars each of the last three years.
We had an amazing four hour dinner with 12 small courses. The menu wasn’t presented until the end of the meal and we enjoyed the surprise of each new plate. The presentation with different plates, glasses and cutlery for each offering was just as impressive as the food itself. The service was so good that it was almost comical – just as you took the last sip of wine from a glass it was scooped up to prepare for the next course. It didn’t seem that waiters were hovering but they just appeared table side at all the right times. The iced oyster with radish and the caviar tart were my two favourites while Diana loved the roasted squab which tasted like a perfectly seared foie gras. The most amazing presentation was the “into the vegetable garden” course which must have taken a huge amount of work to assemble – each vegetable, leaf, and flower seemed to be exactly placed with tweezers.
Our reservation was at 8pm and we didn’t get back to the hotel (a 10 minute walk that we needed) until after midnight. The company was so good that it didn’t feel anything like a four hour meal. It’s good fun to reminisce about what we were doing on this day last year with our family and friends on the beach in Cozumel. We have Diana’s amazing albums to help remember the beautiful day.
Here’s some interesting new music from a band called Gogo Penguin. They are based in Manchester, England and combine jazz, rock, classical and electronic influences in their music. Good relaxing, background music that’s quite different from the norm.