By Sally Torbey
About this blog: About this blog: I have enjoyed parenting five children in Palo Alto for the past two decades and have opinions about everything to do with parenting kids (and dogs). The goal of my blog is to share the good times and discuss the ...
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About this blog: About this blog: I have enjoyed parenting five children in Palo Alto for the past two decades and have opinions about everything to do with parenting kids (and dogs). The goal of my blog is to share the good times and discuss the challenges of having a satisfying family life in a community where parents set a high bar for themselves, their children, and the schools and organizations that educate and socialize them. I grew up in the Midwest, attended a small liberal arts college on the East Coast and graduated from medical school in Chicago. I left a pediatric residency to care for our then infant son and spent the next dozen years contentedly gestating and lactating while having four more children. My husband grew up in the Middle East, came to the US for graduate school and works in high tech. Our eldest son graduated from a UC, and after working in the Middle East for a few years, now attends law school in NYC. Our eldest daughter graduated from a Midwestern Big Ten University and is a journalist in Texas. Our middle child studies engineering at a UC. The youngest two girls are in middle and high school in PAUSD. We are celebrating 20 years as PAUSD parents! I volunteer in the public schools, our church, and scouting.
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This summer we rediscovered a favorite activity, the City of Palo Alto's Twilight Concert Series. We love that we can bike or walk to the venues. It's free with no tickets or any other elaborate planning required, and the whole family enjoys a festive and relaxing evening of fun and music. We picnic and socialize with friends and neighbors we see too seldomly, and this year the weather was particularly cooperative, reminding me of the balmy Midwestern evenings of my youth, but without the mosquitos or humidity! Some folks go all out with multi-course gourmet picnics, but if that's too much trouble, the food trucks are great, too.
This year's highlights were watching all ages, from toddlers to senior citizens, in motion to the band Journey Revisited's rendition of "I'm a Believer". I also loved hearing everyone singing along to universally-loved Beatle's hits. At another concert, our teen-aged daughter's much beloved 3rd grade teacher and her family were seated nearby. Her teacher's adorable one-year-old had just started walking, but was determined to immediately master running around the park's grassy field. She had us all charmed with her high fives and hugs!
As an early riser, I appreciate that the concerts wrap up by 8pm. We can have a lovely evening out and still turn in early!
The
last concert of this summer is Saturday, Aug. 22rd at Rinconada Park. Grab a lawn chair and a sandwich and join the fun. See you there!