Swim Lessons

 Anthony is doing pretty well in his swim lessons so far.  It seems like his class is going much slower than last year.  Oh well.

  Anthony is generally enjoying the class, but undoubtedly driving teacher Andrew crazy.  Andrew is talking to them, meanwhile Anthony shouts, "look at me" while he dunks himself under the water.

  I am proud at how confident he is in the water.  I just wish there was a little more skill behind it.  Or, I just wish he'd listen to his poor teachers.

Fun with Friends

 Anthony's pal S from daycare invited us over to her house for swim playdate and barbecue yesterday.  They had so much fun swimming in the hot tub together.

  You can't see, but Daddy is in there too.  The hot tub was too deep for Anthony to touch.  Daddy's entrance was spectacular--Anthony needed pulling out, Daddy tried to reach for him and slipped into the pool himself.  Fortunately Daddy was already in his swim trunks!

  I hope he learns a lot in his swim lessons this summer, safety-wise Anthony is a bit of a nightmare.  Unlike last year, he feels no need to cling to parents and will happily jump in over his head.

A New Trick

 Anthony has been eying the stepping stones at Happy Hollow for quite some time.  Today he finally made it across.  He did it three times, only getting his foot in once.

  Then was number four.  He went in quite spectacularly.  Is it really awful to say that I was reluctant to hug the child who had just dunked in a pond?

Bible School

 Anthony spent mornings this week at Bible School.  He was a little confused when I told him he'd be on the orange group.  He was *very* insistent that he was on the yellow team (last year).  He had so much fun.

  When I picked him up at daycare Monday afternoon he just exploded with the news of everything he'd done--they made a boat, they saw a play (about Jesus falling asleep in a boat), they sang "Jesus loves me", they had pretzels, "not the stick kind, the heart shape kind" for snack….  A stark contrast from the usual, where he doesn't want to tell about anything.

  Today they had a picnic after Bible School got out.  Fortunately Daddy was able to take a long lunch so Anthony could go.  They even had ice cream!

  Sunday all the Bible School kids will sing in church.  No idea, what they're singing, he won't pre-perform for us.

Father's Day

We took a family airplane trip up to Shelter Cove on the Mendocino coast for Father's Day.  It took a little convincing to get Anthony back in the airplane, he threw up repeatedly on his last flight.  I convinced him that Daddy was a better pilot than Paul and he was very excited about the prospect of going to the beach so he agreed to go.

Shelter Cove was fabulous.  Up on the cliff was a  sleepy little town with a beautifully restored lighthouse.  There's a small campground, we'll have to make a weekend trip sometime soon.  One side of the cliff leads down to a rocky beach and tidepools, we went down the other side to the black sand beach in the cove to swim.  Anthony had a great time playing in the frigid water.  He collected kelp air bladders and admired the snails stuck to the black rock, a la "The Snail and the Whale".

The tail end of the day was a little less pleasant.  We had just landed but were not QUITE out of the airplane when Anthony came to the sorry conclusion that Daddy wasn't the greatest pilot either.

You know its been a good day when...

your child is lying on the floor at 5:30.

Let's see...
1.  We spent the morning up at the helicopter airshow at the San Carlos airport.  Daddy rocked at the crosswind flight simulator.  The airshow itself was kind of unimpressive, and VERY hot, but we had a nice time.

2.  After a short rest we headed over to Eagle Park, for the pool's opening day.  We swam for almost 2 hours!  Anthony is so excited about swim lessons starting Monday.  Eight weeks, four days a week.  (I'm a little unsure how I'll get out of work early enough to get him there, but that's an issue for another day.)

3.  After bath time we made Bob's Father's Day present--homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  (What do you buy the man who has everything?)

We're going to miss Joshua

 Joshua is off to Africa next month (see Going, Going, Ghana to your left).  We're going to miss him terribly.  (We'll miss Dave and Julie, too.  But you know how it is, the parents are afterthoughts.)

  The boys had so much fun together.  They really did play together nicely almost the entire time.  I think I can remember only two fights that had to be mediated, not bad for 3 full days of togetherness.

  We really enjoyed his visit.  He's a really fun, pleasant little guy with an infectious laugh.  I don't miss the noise, though.  Two boys makes 10x the noise of one.  We kept kicking the boys out to the backyard because the volume in the house was more than we could handle.

Can we eat kitty?

The set-up.

Daddy is cutting up a Safeway roast chicken for our salad for dinner. 

Anthony says, "Is that a real chicken?"
Mommy (after pondering the wisdom of truth), "Yes, it is a real chicken."
Anthony responds, "Where's its head."
Mommy, "The butcher cut if off."

He's holding the cat at the time.
"Mommy, can eat kitty?  We can pretend its turkey."

Lemonade

   Usually we donate hundreds of pounds of citrus to the food bank.  They didn't show up this year so we've been plowing our way through the lemons ourselves.

  Anthony and Joshua had a great time making lemonade on Sunday.  They used the fruit picker to pick the lemons, washed them in the sink themselves and with Uncle Dave's help squeezed a cup and a half of lemon juice.

Water Fun

 When we came home from Sheep to Shawl we were thrilled to discover the neighbors across the street getting out their water toys.  We had a great time playing with them.  The kids haven't really mastered the "sliding" part of slip 'n' slide, but they still had a great time.

  After they got too cold from the water, Joshua went into the house for rest time and Anthony played "husband and wife" with H, the cute little red-headed girl.  Her choice of game and he is always a willing partner.

Sheep to Shawl 2012

 I just love Sheep to Shawl.  Its the best "agriculture event" I've encountered since moving out here.  The boys ground corn, fed the chickens and goats, brushed the donkey, watched a sheep get sheared, watered plants, dyed wool and even brought home a baby plant  in a paper cup.

  Highlights:
1.  While we were watering the vegetables, a volunteer came over to ask if they'd like to try some broccoli.  Not just did they gobble up the broccoli, but they happily sampled dinosaur kale, lettuce and chives.

2.  At lunch the boys got up from the table to be chickens.  They squawked and strutted much to the entertainment of the entire picnic area.  Joshua, in particular, does a very good chicken walk.

3.  Chives.  Specifically, "MORE!"

4.  The playground area.  It had tire swings, hay bales for jumping and some old tires.  After lunch the kids ran over there to play while the adults hung out at the shady picnic table.  They're old and mature enough that distant supervision was just fine.

Best Friday Ever

 Anthony's cousin Joshua (and his family) are in town for the weekend.  We celebrated my birthday with an enormous front yard Friday.

   Miss Kathryn's big tree has a bee hive, so she invited Vera from down the street came to share her beekeeping knowledge.  Vera was great, she showed the kids her gear, talked about how not to get stung, and then feed them honey.

A while after she left the entire Mountain View police force arrived to visit.  They were invited this time, but they all knew exactly who it was who broke up our Easter Egg Hunt.  Joshua loved playing in the police car, Anthony wanted nothing to do with it.

  It was a great time and the kids were EXHAUSTED at the end of the night.

Last Day of School

 Today was Anthony's last day of school for the year.  They celebrated with a big all-school carnival.  There was a "cake-walk" (for prizes), a bouncy, and some really neat bubble activities.

I'm having problems publishing photos, but it was pretty cool.  They had the kid stand on a stool in the middle of a wading pool full of bubble solution.  They pulled a hula hoop up and then the kid was surrounded by an enormous bubble.

I ordered glycerin.

Mary Poppins (Redux)

Sunday we took Anthony to see Mary Poppins at Broadway San Jose.  Yes, we saw the show in Sacramento last year, but what can I say, the kid is a fan.

We enjoyed lunch ahead of time at Peggy Sue's, a 50's themed diner.  Anthony thoroughly enjoyed eating the whipped cream off the top of Daddy's milkshake.  He didn't touch the shake itself, or the maraschino cherry.

Anthony really enjoyed the show.  He got restless last year, and at Beauty and the Beast earlier this spring.  Today he just sat back and enjoyed the show from the comfort of Daddy's lap.  He did turn it into a bit of a sing-along.  Fortunately he kept the volume under control' we've really seen him belt out "Spoon full of sugar." 

We ended up buying a bunch of replacement souvineers.  His beloved parrot handled umbrella is on its last legs, as is the souvineer color playbill from last year.  They weren't cheap, but he thoroughly enjoys them.

Quote of the Day

"Mommy, my shirt is wrinkled.  Will you iron it for me?"

Much to Daddy's chagrin, I did.

Big Basin

 Today we drove out to Big Basin State Park for a picnic and nature walk.  Anthony had a great time dropping pebbles off a bridge and admiring the fairy rings (Redwood tree rings).  His favorite, though, was all the caterpillars we found near the visitor center.  At one point he was holding five of them, he needed some persuasion to put them back so we could leave.

  Poor kid definitely doesn't like twisty windy roads.  At least we arrived without incident.  (Ironically, he was wearing the t-shirt we bought in Yosemite after an emergency there.)

  A minor bummer--we didn't spot a single banana slug.  I was a little disappointed.