Pen Pals

With a secret agenda of keeping Silas' handwriting in shape, we encouraged him to write to New York friends this summer.

Backyard creatures have played a prominent role in several of Silas' missives.

Rosemary's Swimming Lessons

We enrolled Rosemary in four weeks of daily swimming classes at the Joinville Swim Center.

Her first swimming lessons ever.

 She is now a proud "Pollywog."

End-of-unit report card:

"Great kicker.

Needs to put head under water.

Always fun."

The Fourth

We celebrated the Fourth of July at Grandpa Ray and Grandma Charlotte's. 

Charlotte made this insanely awesome jello dessert.

The dessert is called "America -- love it or eat it!"

Rosemary polished off North Dakota.

Happy Fourth!

Camping

We recently camped at Portola Redwoods State Park.

Of course, we have no idea what we're doing.

So we camped with Cooper (at left), Noah, Summer, and Cathy, who kept us alive in the woods.

After giving S'mores a skeptical shot, Rosemary decided that plain marshmallows are a better deal.

More pictures from our trip are here.

18 Months

Tess is eighteen months old today.

She knows 70 or 80 words, and has begun picking up new words daily, making it difficult to keep count.

When Tess finishes a meal she says: "I'm done too!"  Recent words include "cahdo" and "mayto" (avocado and tomato).  And also "Rosie," which put one member of our family over the moon.

At this age, Silas liked books just fine; Rosemary could take 'em or leave 'em.  Tess loves books.

Tess will bring you a book and plop down in your lap to have it read.  When it's over, she will get up and grab another book and plop back down in your lap.

She will do this twenty times in a row.  And if you try to stop reading at, say, the fifteenth title, Tess will cry.

Tess loves "doggies."  Many of her favorite books involve doggies.  Rosemary is into the Martha books by Susan Meddaugh, and now Tess has seized on these books as her absolute favorites.  She points to Martha on every page.  "Doggie!  Martha!"

We visited Grandpa Ray and Grandma Charlotte yesterday (this picture was taken there), and Tess spent much of the time chasing Annie the Dog around.  Annie was sweetly tolerant.

Words, books, and dogs -- it's a fine start.

Last Day / First Day

This past Thursday was the last day of class for Silas and Rosemary.

They have both grown quite a bit, as you can see in the comparison between these last day of school and first day of school photos.

This picture was taken on Silas's last day (note that his head is fully above the Meadow Heights sign).

First day (and a few inches shorter).

Rosemary's elongation over the course of the year is pretty clear in these pictures, I think.

Last day.

First day.

Silas and Rosemary absolutely loved their schools, which sure helped ease the transition to California.

We are just a couple of days into summer and they are already missing their classrooms.

Meredith Is ____ Years Old

Meredith is not wearing a Hawk Girl outfit for her birthday, unfortunately.

Hawk Girl Is Four

It's Hawk Girl's birthday, and the theme she chose was Hawk Girl.

Since there is basically no Hawk Girl merchandise for sale anywhere, Meredith assembled the costume and our friend Summer created the mask.

At the bakery, the entire staff came out to wish Rosemary a happy birthday and tell her that her cake request was "extremely cool."

Rosemary was thrilled with the whole affair.

She has been anticipating her birthday for months and it has cropped up in many conversations:

----

R: "Last night I dreamed about a caterpillar that turned into a robot and shot people." 

Me: "Wow." 

R: "Can I have that for my birthday?"

----

R: "Can I do motorcycle lessons?"

Me: "Well, you're too young to ride a motorcycle."

R: "How about after I turn four?"

Hawk Girl -- who can soar gracefully through the air but also whack you in the head with a mace -- is not a bad metaphor for Rosemary at age four. 

More pictures of her birthday are  here.

Tess Uses a Fork

While her siblings fight, will Tess eat with a fork for the first time ever?