Happy birthday, Nate

Morning kisses, Nina in stars and stripes, and Kai in the spot he's most likely to be in the past several weeks.

We're so hot.

Sunday was a busy and very, very hot day, reaching over 100 degrees by the time we left for the concert in the park at 6 PM last night. We played in Collin and Elise's backyard pool in the morning, then while Nina napped Kai and I found a new pool to rival Ann Arbor's Vet's pool. We met Zane and Shaun there and had a great time. We joined Zane's family, Sam's family, and other friends and family for a picnic/concert in the evening, and although fun it was disastrous. Kids were tired, kept running away, I seriously thought we'd lost each kid twice and was sure I lost the camera again. Took years off our lives. Not sure I'll do that anytime again soon without leashes.

making the most of our time

Davis farmer's market this morning...might it be our last? Raspberry nectarine popsicle for Kai and apricot lavendar for Nate and Nina, a juicy hot dog and fresh squeezed lemonade for Kai and Nina too. Rushed home for the Ghana-US world cup soccer match, boo hoo, during which the kids drove us nuts with their incessant motion and noise making. We drowned our sorrows in Lake Folsom, where Kai swam and explored with life jacket and goggles, and Nina was quite content to play in the sand and "sleep" in her homemade puddles. They both had a blast.
Got home and the kids were so overtired. Shazam didn't work tonight.
Happy birthday, Grandpa Hud. Kai was the first one to remember your bday this morning.

pigtails

Nina's hairstyle, courtesy of Lydia!

The week

So far this week, we've discovered a new spray ground, had our first swim of the summer at the pool with George and Rachel, and Nina painted on the front porch with Lydia this morning. Today is Nate's last exam of the year...no more tests, no more presentations before fellowship ends! Kids have been quite silly lately. Kai's been inquiring about his new school; practicing ode to joy over and over again on the keyboard (we need a new song!); Nina's been chattering away and spending lots of time playing with the water and toothbrushes and toothpaste and my contact case in the bathroom. Carries the kitchen stool around the kitchen trying to get up onto countertops. Kai's been wanting to race his bigwheel every night, tuesday night we happened to go outside with a plan of staying out only 5 min before bedtime...but we ventured out just as Collin was riding by. Kai got lucky, 5 min turned into quite a bit longer.

Our shared holiday

Another wonderful day. Kai wished us happy birthday and happy father's day with hugs all day long. Nina ended the day singing "hap b'day da you" in her crib. Had delicious burgers on the grill, corn on the cob, and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting for dessert...all preceded by a pisco sour, a yummy cocktail. Nate got a UC Davis Aggies shirt for FDay and I got beautiful framed pictures of the kids for my bday.
This morning, after the kids played for quite a while with the kids in the 'hood, we took the 50 over to Placerville, the 49 north past Coloma, where we had gone with Meecie and Fud, parked the car near Auburn at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers, and spent a few hours walking the rocky beach, watching the rapids, letting the kids dip their feet in the water. Bought cherries, blueberries, blackberries, and peaches at an orchard on the way. 38's been good to me so far.

It was a beautiful summer evening, and so chilly here in Sac that we all had to grab long sleeves. The 'hood gathered in our front yard, kids raced big wheels and bikes and the pied piper entertained the kids with the stomp rocket. The evening ended with some tears after the older kids got in a wrestling match, trying to yank each other's helmets off! I had a wonderful afternoon with Kai, we found a new park in Fair Oaks, the town of the chickens and it feels like Ecuador, and Kai played tag with some other little buddies for a few hours while we waited for the Vibe's windows to be tinted. Now the kids won't suffer so much in that hot, bright back seat. Nate got some time alone with Nina, a rare occurrence.

Yikes

We found this when the kids tipped over the slide in the front yard. Hello black widow.

We got a call Friday night: Zane's mom, Shaun (man, I will miss her) called to ask if Kai would please take care of Zane's fish, Blue, while they were in Tahoe for the weekend. So they delivered the fish and feeding instructions this morning. Kai and Nina were adamant about eating dinner with Blue. Kai is really digging having a fish around. When they were gearing up to leave our house for Tahoe, the kids snuck in the car, shared cookies, and it was really hard for Nina to get out of the car.
Had fun today. Listened to music, rode bike to La Bou for a treat, spent some quality time with Kai during Nina's long nap , sudoko and workbooks and for some reason the magic-mellow-Kai formula worked today. He was a joy. Hardly any of the abundant sass we've had lately. Very affectionate and sweet. Here the kids are making cards for special grandpas that they miss so much. Fridays have been my favorite day in Sac. I think I'll always keep Kai home from school on fridays, even when he's 16.

The boys watching the world cup...or is the NBA finals? Nina in mommy's dress.

Around the house on the weekend

Squeezers and tippy toes

Kai: "Hey Zane, do you want to go play in the blue room playground?"
Zane: "Ummmmm..........where's the blue room playground?"
"Right there!"
"Ahhhhhh, no."
"Well what do you want to do then, Zane?"

This conversation was amazing to me. I'm so happy for Kai.

Stephanie again said tonight that Kai's is the most amazing brain she's ever worked with. She said that one day another kid asked Kai how he learned how to read. She said that Kai responded: "Well, I knew how to read when I was one. Then I still knew how to read when I was two. And then I still knew how to read when I was three..."

Nina was on her own tonight at the party and that independent little thing did just fine. From the grass to the sandbox and back again and never once had to check in with us. The kids were so filthy when we got home. And exhausted. For the second time ever I let them eat while watching Tom and Jerry - still their collective favorite.

And finally at 9:00 Nate and I had dinner on the front porch, enjoying the delta breeze and pondering our year here. I'm feeling the same way I did a year ago, it's so hard to move in the summer months. And to plan a move in the midst of such a perfect June! Yet one year out from Dexter my heart doesn't hurt, I'm hoping that one year out from Sac it won't either.

Family Fun Day

The grand finale at school and we closed the place down.

Nina's friends!

Nina's buddies: Sam's little brother Ben, and Zane's little sister Lilly. At the "paak".

Off to school

It's pajama day, and Kai was so psyched to ride his bike to school! He was quite a sight.
Pictures (of pictures of) Kai's best buddies: Zane is blond, Sam is in the hat. Also the wall of Stars (Kai's class) that the school created for the Week of the Young Child. It's been an amazing, celebratory week at school.

We're back!!!!

Hiking with the 'hood

Our memorable day at Caleveras Big Trees State Park, captured by our neighbors since we're still without camera...sob sob...
A serendipitous day we'll never forget, along with the night before when James tapped on our summer screen and said, "Hey, we're going to Calevaras tomorrow, do you want to come?" Kai liked when we watched the centipede. And when he played life savers with George. And when Kai touched that sap. And the gorgeous morels we saw and couldn't take home with us. The immensity of these trees didn't strike me until I saw these pictures. Kai hiked over 5 MILES! And Nina at least 2 out of the pack.