Passover

April 26th, 2024 | holidays and celebrations

Passover is one of my favorite holidays, and its hopeful ode to Spring, renewal, and freedom from oppression is much needed this year.

Happy Holidays 2023

December 13th, 2023 | holidays and celebrations

Wishing you wonderful holidays and the very best in 2024!

On Becoming My Parents

December 2nd, 2023 | holidays and celebrations

I’m thankful that life is long enough we can make a few 180 degree turns.

Love Parade

November 25th, 2023 | holidays and celebrations

Can I take it all in?

Holiday 2022

December 6th, 2022 | holidays and celebrations

2022 was a lot! My family's year in lists and photos.

And, Summer

May 31st, 2022 | holidays and celebrations

I still feel the school year rhythms deep in my bones, after all these years.

Holiday 2021

December 4th, 2021 | holidays and celebrations

We’re so grateful for our summer Hawaii getaway; we thought it might be the start of our post-Covid life, but instead it was our one glorious taste of what we hope normal will look like one day. Soon!

Holiday Letter 2020

December 20th, 2020 | holidays and celebrations

This year has sometimes seemed like it happened to someone else, a long time ago.

Can We Hold Onto It?

December 13th, 2019 | holidays and celebrations

Am I losing faith, or is there still wonder to be found in the world?

The Santa Story

December 22nd, 2018 | holidays and celebrations parenting

Luckily when Jaden asked, I’d been on Facebook and had just the right answer.

Night Walk

August 3rd, 2018 | holidays and celebrations

We returned from London in time to celebrate Jaden’s 8th birthday at home. He had insisted on this, had threatened not to go with us if we didn’t agree to be here, home, for his birthday.

Notes on (Family) Camp

August 6th, 2017 | holidays and celebrations

We spent a week at a camp for GLBT families July 29 to August 6. Yes, 8 days of camp. Here are some notes and photos.

Saying No to the Spring Fling

April 13th, 2017 | holidays and celebrations

The speeding up of life has been well documented, but it continues to take me by surprise. Each annual event that comes along, Jay says “I can’t believe it’s time for that already, it seems like it was just a few months ago.”

The House that Love Built

January 4th, 2017 | holidays and celebrations

I was somewhat alarmed about wrangling my kids through the wedding of my dear friends Kenny and Paul.

The Love Boat

December 13th, 2016 | holidays and celebrations

I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for being aboard the Disney Wonder, the 2,500 passenger cruise ship that swallowed us up and took us away last week.

The Hard Work of Good Fun

January 3rd, 2016 | holidays and celebrations parenting

I laughed out loud to read my friend Whitney’s caption under a delightful movie of her child sledding in snow. “This video is misleading,” she wrote, “Today has not been all fun and games.” While she’s always enjoyable to read (and her blog 510 Families is an East Bay must for parents), my delight was also because I’d been mulling over the grueling labor that makes a fun trip to Disneyland possible.

Happy 2016

December 4th, 2015 | holidays and celebrations

The Cheesy Holiday Letter Goes Online

You Can’t Go Home

November 29th, 2015 | daily life holidays and celebrations

We had a lovely Thanksgiving visit with Grandpa Ted and Grandma Mary, packed with adventure. We joined 40,000 in a downpour for the Austin “Turkey Trott,” the one mile kid version, raising funds for local housing and food services. The kids dug for genuine Texas dinosaur bone casts buried beneath a giant sand pit at the Nature and Science Center. We went to church and I visited with people I’ve known since I was 6 years old. We saw the Austin Zoo, a laid-back rescue presided over by wild peacocks, housing many exotic animals, and a very hungry horde of goats and llamas ready to chow down on the sold-in-the-office feed. We had a beautiful Thanksgiving by the lake, and my kids even jumped in to show those Texans what real aquatic courage looks like. Take that, Texas wimps. (There’s a sentence I thought I’d never be able to write, and it feels very, very sweet.)

The Lady Makeup

November 4th, 2015 | gay dads holidays and celebrations

We were almost ready for trick-or-treating, but I could tell Shayla wanted to ask something. Her hesitation made it seem unlikely I’d be able to say yes. (No, we can’t take the pet rat with us. No, you can’t unstuff the couch cushons and use the fabric for your outfit. No, no, no….)

Camp Dreams

June 22nd, 2015 | daily life holidays and celebrations

One: Getting Here

It’s hard to remember, with the weeks of excitement and anticipation leading up to family camp, that what I should be reminding the kids, at least the older ones, is that the first day of camp can be tough.  Not for Jaden. Our 4-year-old is at home everywhere we’ve ever taken him. He gets right to work, charms all who might need to be charmed, and gets pretty much what he wants.