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. 

are a daily occurrence around her with a one year old. Her vocabulary is ever expandingand I like to watch her call to her brothers by name.She loves the words “money” for coins
and “baby” for many toys she cuddles.but she is also saying long words like “backpack,” “hummingbird,” and “ninja turtle.”

A quick trip to stay at my aunt’s house.  She gave me some old clothes of mine (that now fit Olivine-check it out) that she found in her garage.

We fed her koi fish,hung out in the backyard,

and the boys invited her neighbor over to play before dinner.

We woke up early today from there and went to the San Diego Zoo.We rode the tour busand saw so many animalsWe also walked and could appreciate these moving walkways at the steepest points.Henry loved the statuesespecially when he could climb on them.Olivine liked when the stroller could be next to the glass and the animals were up close.Paul had been looking forward to seeing  the “dragon.”They made bug faces. I never knew they had a giant ant farm at the zoo.After five hours Olivine fell asleep just as we were leavingand on the freeway everyone else crashed out.We are determined to finish the summer strong.

Driving on the freeway this past Monday a rock hit our windshield and proceeded to crack, requiring that between taking Olivine for a check up and leaving for San Diego, we have someone come out to replace it. The boys would tell you this was the highlight of the day.In the last week we have had a refrigerator delivery men, palm trees gardeners who climb up high, and a glass repair man leaving these little boys day dreaming about jobs they think are super cool.The entire hour he was here, they stayed outside, even eating their lunch on the steps not wanting to miss any of the action.

is how old my grandma turned yesterday.Paul picked out flowers & Henry picked out the balloon.Happy Birthday Grandma Reidt!

of our summerwas yesterdaywith friendsand realizing we will put our beach gear away for a few monthsas the pace around here picks up.It’s a mixture of sadnessand excitement

for the changing of another season.

a little paintinglego building (Jesus on the cross)four pounds of cherries (my first batch of brandied cherries)
sangria samplerand the many

random expressions ofmy Henry.

calls for a pause, to notice that my little girl is growing so fast.She is truly our joy and delightwith all her walking, talking, and pretend play.
Joe made her this  laptop all for herself complete with cardboard, an old laptop keyboard, and a picture because she likes the sounds of the keys.

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. 

these last few weeks that are slipping by quickly.
After a meeting at school we loaded up and headed out to the bay.Olivine spent an extraordinary amount of time scooping
standing
and pouring the water.I watched her collect shells and heard her say “shell” and “pretty” for the first time.The boys stood at the sea wall looking for fish and pushing piles of sand into the water.
Us girls prefer to sun batheand avoid getting too sandy.
We hardly notice the bee hanging out on Olivine’s hat.Paul pretended to be a dolphin.
Henry likes to kick on his boogie boardor roll in the sand.There was snacking on grapes together
as our lips tasted of salt water.Some peekaboo playand so much sunshine.