I walk the aisles and can’t help but remember my grandfather. This is a place he could wander around in. My children have the same excitement. We spent close to three hours just walking and looking.

My grandfather could bargain. He never paid full price. I am all about the one dollar items (check out the swim mask-all her own and her new snail).

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Everywhere I turn, my family is in waterand they can’t seem to get enoughof swimmingand playing.We can do a lot less laundry if these three are going to live in bathing suits.I am lovin’ it!

My grandma is a woman whose body no longer keeps up with speed of  her mind. We drove down to Oceanside to see her and welcome my cousin back to Cali (he’s been in Texas for years).I sat listening as she would call out “How Cute!” and hearing Olivine imitate her. We spent time talking about heart ache, because it is clear when you are as old as my grandma is that she has lost most of her friends and some of her family. She told me about her first born William, who she lost after five days. The heart break of loosing such a tiny, new face. She expressed the same sort of heavy sadness in talking about the passing of her grandparents. I sat their crying and realizing that the pain won’t necessarily every go away, entirely. She spoke openly and confidently about being ready to die. She is ready to greet those who she has missed so much.For now, she is surrounded by her great grandchildren. Or as my kids say “no, my gramma” and I say back “no, my gramma.”

My mom and I agree that neither of us has much of a talent in painting. I might enjoy reading, writing letters, teaching young children and adults, but I do not have a talent in shading or color mixing.However, I enjoy the opportunity of stepping into that space of tension. Where my brain understands the instructor and I watch intently, yet my hands can’t seem to coordinate the same way. Afterwards (the class was 3 hours) my back aches, it feels like work, and I know this is NOT my talent.Yet, my sister paints for a living. She finds joy and peace in this process. Just as Joe can sit for hours practicing calligraphy or Paul can sit for hours building legos. I am reminded of how diverse God’s kingdom is and how varied the skills of those around me are. I am in awe of other people’s talents.

I am on the side of advocating (if available and willing) any and all opportunities to celebrate babies. That includes each one, breaking the tradition of one baby shower for the first baby. I love the welcoming of each of these blessings.
I was delighted to help plan and set up a sprinkle for my cousins: Jessica and Mike.
They are preparing their lives and hearts for a second baby girl. One who will look up to and learn from her big sister Fiona.
The theme was butterflies:No name yet for baby but I did expand on the butterfly theme and create a garden of treats.
Besides having a baby, these two have just bought their first house and are gardening a bit. I decided in the decor we could toss in some books, useful items to use in their backyard, some plants, and their favorite candies.I will confess this was a ton of fun to do. Maybe when I retire from teaching (a few more decades) I could professionally plan parties. Beyond the food and games, the kids were enthralled with the latest improvements to the backyard. Namely a cement path for riding this hot rod
and a swing set attached to a play house. I can already see sisters spending hours playing there.

The pool was a hit for cooling off in and having endless amounts of fun. Paul’s first time off a diving board.
My favorite part was time set aside to speak words of encouragement to Jessica. We stood in a circle, held hands, and as cheesy as it sounds; every lady spoke from their heart.

While Joe’s highlight was this “double baby” pose he struck. These two have very similar senses of humor. Their faces say it all.

This is a game Olivine likes. She dials on the bottom of her foot and says “beep, beep, boop” (whose phone sounds like this?) Then she likes to put her foot to her ear and say “Hello Grammy!” or “Hello Daren!” This girl is goofy.

In our neighborhood the crowds flock to the ocean and the park for all day and night partying. The older I get the more I avoid the crowds. So this year, rather than stay home and walk our babies to see the show among all the craziness, we opted for the day before.
Our friend Stella convinced me that low-key and a day early might be best for these little ones and she was right.We sat near the docks and enjoyed a twenty minute show without the screaming teenagers, wobbly beach cruisers, hand held firecrackers, and police presence. I love the reflections in the water. I also loved putting them to bed early on the fourth. I think we found our new spot for this holiday.

We made it to the bay on Wednesdaywhere the boys fell in love with Mikayla’s kayak.Watching them work together was entertaining, until they would paddle out too far and I would jump up nervous and afraid.

These two showed up later.

We are loving the sunshine right now.

Hope you are having a great day.

Although I enjoy the ponytails and pig tails of recent with Olivine, they had also become my “go to” hairstyle as more and more baby hair fell out. Similar to the potty training, I find myself overcome with feeling sentimental rather than rational.I snapped out of this trance on Thursday afternoon. I gave her a final ponytail and chopped it off (a souvenir for papa).Her face says it all, I think this little girl could care less as long as she gets a laugh out of you. She looks cute, don’t you think?