Hot Bubbly Tub

They loved this!

Blue Babe Group

We decided to have Feee and Silas paint some
garden stepping stones for fun. And within minutes
they were both completely blue. So innocently,
accidentally blue. How did this happen?

We especially liked the strapless dress look Silas created.
Showering them off ended in some serious tears...it was, after all, NOT washable
paint. Finley did not enjoy the washing part.
All in all, pretty hilarious though.

The Bahia: the Best Stay-cation Destination Ever.

This place has got everything... pool, bay, ferry, ducks, lounge chairs that rock, kayaks and funcats, harbor seals...just a perfect place where everyone can be happy! If we can save up
enough we will do it again next year. Kinda spendy, but worth it.
Ok, now I feel completely vacationed. Back to reality.
But wait, Cami and Finley are coming tomorrow so we will just have to postpone reality for another 10 days or so. Hurray!

Photo Caravan!

Nana treated us to a photo caravan at the Wild Animal Park. The kids have gone with her before but it was a first for me.


Just Amazing!

We met and fed giraffes that came up to us and we saw the one of 7 remaining northern black rhinos and even a unicorn. (well it looks like it!)

Actually it felt as cool as seeing a unicorn.

Being able to ride around for 3 hours with an animal expert...

We heard all sorts of stories about the animals and their experiences.

I may revise my "next life" plan. Instead of being a choreographer/farmer I would like to add zookeeper.








Thanks Nana!

good news all around

#1 Zarina came home tonight hungry and now kind of spunky and antsy to get back out. Our theory is that she was trapped somewhere, in a garage or something and after the kids put out 50 signs our neighbors opened some doors or heard her...anyway, she's home and we missed her and we are so relieved. Now vacation can commense.












#2 Ry and Silas had some fun (in between ridiculuous quarrels about who could be Zerg. Not entirely sure who that is...)
Matt put up the tent and Ry impressed us with his climbing while Silas liked to spin around it again and again.


#3 This zucchini got this big in 3 days. I wish we took pictures of it every 3 hours. I am sure we would see a difference. Plants just amaze this time of year. That's Mac's hand!

WE CAN'T FIND ZARINA ANYWHERE!

THE KIDS ARE MAKING FLYERS. SHE'S BEEN GONE SINCE MONDAY MORNING, AUG 3RD

IF EVERYONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD COULD CHECK THEIR GARAGES AND PEEK INTO CRAWL SPACES, MAYBE SHE IS TRAPPED SOMEWHERE.

IF YOU SEE HER, CALL US RIGHT AWAY!

Palm Springs, "The Trip"

Getting out of the car in Palm Springs, 1:00 p.m. , 115 degrees, checking out the view, the outside of the condo, kinda excited...and..."oh-my-heavenly-desert-oasis, Batman!" we are in the coolest modern retro condo ever!!!!! ...everyone freaks out and within minutes is in swimming gear...Papa goes Hawaiian, Mac's got wetsuit chic...



...(above, must zoom in for this one) the boys are all about wearing 'em low ...(below) mama, kinda hollywood glam (suitable for the awesome 1945-48 condo, architect Albert Frey) and of course we can't forget goggles...OFF TO THE POOL!!


This "trip" was just amazing for being so short. Since we had to cancel our original vacation
plan because of Matts promotion (yes, he is in charge of 80 men!) we had to do some rescheduling and fun-maximizing. We are still on vacation this whole week while papa works, but for most of it we are home so... San Diego, here we come! We have so much planned its sick... or is that sic?? (Megan?;)
Next weekend we will do another short away adventure. And how grateful we are to get to do all this.

JOHNNY AND GEORGE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS PERFECT PLACE WITH US. Did we tell you that Silas called the condo "the trip" because all day we talked about the trip, the trip...so when we walked in he said, "is this the trip?" So, to us your condo has a name. The kids are already saying, "when can we go back to the trip?"
Anyway, it was great experiencing Palm Springs this way, from the tram ride, to the architecture and history to the chaos of Soak City....


...and we rested a little too!

For Erin...

...who said this morning (when I dropped off Silas at preschool) that
she loves to walk on the beach everyday
watching children do the happy-wave-wind-in-the-hair-dance...

summer is just ridiculously good...

...the dragon fly couple that hangs out near the tomatoes!




















...my favorite food!...














...and why I go to the beach in the morning...
it's all mine!

ok, I am not stalking Jonathan Safran Foer but...this guy seems like NY family doesn't he?? ...a bit like a young Marty Sternstein?!

I do realize that he spends most of this interview talking about vegetarianism and not his books at all but he is just the opposite of what I expected a "literary genius" to be like. Very approachable and unpretentious seeming. Yes, Marty/Paul Simon/Matthew Broderick etcetcetc. (and some Dmitry in there too!)

PS Just finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. So so so good.

girls...

...so I snuck a video of these girls. They just sat down and started singing this song, "on the radio". Gotta love em.

watch me watch me are you watching me are you?

...the summer emmett and mac become one with the pool
silas is still beach, all the way...

where the wild things are

ok, everyone loves this book right?

(thank you again Maurice Sendak)

I made a felt story of it when I was in
6th grade...cut out monsters and all the
scenes and even small felt letters...
I performed it for the kindergarteners
and 1rst graders (got to skip class
to do it too)
and I still have the felt-boy in my trunk.

I mean this is just a great book.

And now,
with Silas,
I even have my
very own little wild thing.
I can't believe how good this movie looks
but even if it isn't, the trailer is awesome.
watch it ---> HERE.
The music sounds great too.

thanks mom for the quote of the day...

memory lane....Mac and friends!

(click to enlarge the goodness!)
2-3 years old! magic years! and check out Megan and Max and Bebe and the Aida smooch!
thinking of you baby fee!

spring to summer growth, before and after

...and here's Silas enriching the compost!! ;)

I LOVE HALF BLOOD PRINCE. (and...I am such a mush.)

We went to see Harry Potter (and we are taking Nana again tonight!) and this was my very favorite movie so far.
But what is really interesting to me is that I am in love with the characters so much, as is the world, that I cry at the drop of a hat thinking about them. Just weird.
For instance, my throat gets tight when I think of them leaving Hogwarts or growing up. It's like a little bereavement thinking of there being no more books or movies. I was very happy to hear that the last book will be two movies.
Of course much of this is tied to our kids and their friends and all the growing up that has happened since we stretched out to read the first book...changing right along with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny...and Luna, and Neville and Hagrid and Dumbledore (waaaaaaaaa!).
They are so damn cute in this movie.

the only rain I'm gonna get ...turn up the first two minutes loud!!

"extremely loud and incredibly close", another amazing read!

"Succotash my balzac, dipshittake!"

Emmett thinks this is the most brilliant almost curse of all time.

Thank you Jonathon Safran Foer.

(so I blogged it afterall Caline! hahaha)

ok, three things...

#1 I watched "A Little Romance" with Mac and Emmett tonight and just went back in time. I saw the movie for the first time when I was 11 or 12...as Mac is...and the main character played by Diane Lane is turning 13. Lawrence Olivier is also in it. Such a sweet movie. And half way through we had an amazing realization. The boy in the movie looks so very much like Pablo it's crazy...without the curly dark hair.











#2 is about a book... "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan
Safran Foer that I am reading thanks to Caline's recommendation is soooooo good. The first chapter is hands down the funniest first chapter ever and the rest is completely wonderful and beautiful and hilarious. Too good not to share!














#3 is another first in the family... I am not supposed to make too big a deal of this but Mac babysat for the first time tonight at someone else's house for someone else's kids. (Thanks Polly!) She is so incredibly ready and prepared for being a great babysitter (she has had Megan after all!) and we are just P-R-O-U-D!!