Yesterday Simon was lucky enough to be invited to Patrick's third birthday party at the Build-a-Bear Workshop. At first Simon was only interested in the machines and not at all in the final result but, after some cajoling, Matthew convinced him to choose a skin and build his very own bear. Simon chose this one:

Today Simon and Matthew started a new multi-lingual music class together. They were planning on taking a French music class but it was canceled and isn't going to be replaced. We're having a lot of trouble filling the void of the fun French classes in Chicago. Apparently French is not a big draw in the Bay Area. In any case, Simon loves the new class so they signed up for more.

Tonight we signed the papers to place our bid on the Mountain View home. The home is being sold by a bank - we think the owner died and the money will go to her trustees. Because the sale is being run by a bank they will simply take the highest offer - no countering whatsoever. We're aiming high on this one - so high that most people in most parts of the country could buy a really nice house for what we're offering OVER the asking price. Still, we're not getting our hopes up; we know there are at least 20 other contenders.