A Fantastic Summer

We had a lovely summer. It was the first in many years in which I was only partially employed and we took advantage of the oodles of free time.

Following is some photographic evidence of some of our fun. Actually, I have to start before summer even began. In April, our dear friends Jessica and Seth got married and gave us a great excuse to get all gussied up and look cute together. If only I had photo documentation of a few minutes before this, when Aria was in full bumble-bee gear (wings and antennae) and crying on my shoulder as we led the wedding procession down the aisle. I'm sure someone has that photo. I'll pay good money for it...


Aria and Nana and I had a great time at the cabin in early June. Here we were on a little hike. Check out all the snow! (Click on the picture and check out the footwear. Aria hikes in style.)

Here Aria and Hank hang out by the wood stove. We love this place.

And then there was a very important birthday: Aria's third. She's getting really good at the birthday thing with all of this practice. This year, she got to celebrate on the actual day with Mama and Papa AND she got to have a fabulous birthday party. What a life!

I don't actually have many party photos - I was a little busy partying and carrying on, but I do have this sweet one of Aria and Ethan with the bubble mower that was a gift from Uncle Sam. (Bubble Mower - yes, they make such things. It's amazing, isn't it?) It was a big hit, as you can see.



We had a great time with Tara and Mischa at the new and fancy Golden Gate Park playground.


We also had many great adventures with Stella and Tara. Here our two expert hikers get a lesson about some sort of cool tree fungus (you can see who wasn't listening very well) from Tara as they take a little rest.



On another day, we headed east to the little farm in Tilden Park. Aria loved feeding the goats:


To my surprise, Aria was undaunted by the hugeness and closeness of this cow. She insisted on being held up so she could pet its head.



In fact, she was so into the cows that she was quite angry that these ones didn't respond to her emphatic, "Come here!" She REALLY wanted to pet them.

We wandered down a little path and got to play with rocks at a creek. What is better, really?

Then there were snacks and frolicking on the grass.

Snacks:

And frolicking:




I just love this sequence.






Aria and Stella have had many a good park play session this summer. Here they decided to hide behind the landscaping shrubbery. Kids!

What fun. (You might want to click on this one and check out the faces.)

Where's Aria?

Where's Stella? No really. She IS in this picture. Click on it and see if you can find her. (As you can see, she has pretty near mastered the art of hiding.)


On this day, we were hanging out with Stella and Tara at their house. Tara and I were chatting while the girls played. All was well until we looked over to find that they were both covered in pink glittery paint, as was a large cabinet. Oops. They kept right on playing while we worked on clean-up and soaked their clothes. Notice the backpack. On your way somewhere? Might want to put on some pants...


Aria and Mama had a lovely trip to LA, where we got to play at the beach. I had had some notion that, since Aria so loves the beach and the ocean, it would be nice to spend some time at the ocean in a place where she might be able to play in it for more than 5 seconds without turning blue. Best laid plans... Earlier in the morning that these very pictures were taken, Aria suffered a mild skinned knee. (Notice the band-aid in the photos below.) Her wise Uncle Ivan told her that salt water makes owies sting and she subsequently refused to go anywhere near the water. Sigh. I did get her in the next day, though, and it was lovely.

Instead of swimming, Aria had a great time with sand:

And then she entertained herself with the boogie board that our very kind hostess had provided, thinking that Aria might like to play with it in the water. Instead, Aria had great fun hauling it around the beach. Whatever floats your board, right?



May Lin lives in San Diego and came up to hang out as well. She was a big hit, and Aria insisted on touching her whenever they were in the same room. May Lin was a good sport and held Aria's hand on the 15 minute drive that turned into more than an hour in good ol' LA traffic.


Aria also got to meet my "Aunt" Barbara, my grandmother's childhood friend who I have known and loved since I was little. Barbara, who is in her 90's (Is it 92? 95? I can't remember.), was either enchanted with Aria or a great actress. She was peppered with questions that included, "Why are you so old?" and "Wanna jump with me?", all of which she fielded with grace and good humor. She's a pretty stellar woman and I felt extremely fortunate for the rare opportunity to visit with her.

Here Aria shows off some moves:




And there was Fairyland with Tara and Mischa. (It's kinda funny that Aria's two best friends both have Taras for mothers.)

They rode a real Ferris Wheel all by themselves! (They're having fun, I promise.)


Then the carousel. As you can see, Aria takes her carnival rides very seriously.


We also had a pretty awesome camping adventure in Guerneville. Aria and Stella and Tara and Phu and I were joined by Ethan and Victoria! It was pretty great.

Aria and Stella had great fun together, mostly running around through the trees and playing in our new tent with headlamps:


But then they got on opposite schedules the second day and all we saw of Stella was this:

Thanks largely to Victoria and Tara, we cooked and ate great food.



Ivan even spent one evening with us and we got this Baldinger (partial) family portrait.

I just love this picture of Ethan and Victoria.


And this one of Ethan and Aria.

When it was time to pack up and leave, Aria was really excited to use our new tiny broom to help sweep up the new tent.
We even got to hang out in Santa Rosa some before heading back home from the great camping adventure. Here Aria and Ivan enjoy some us time.
Aria got to spend a lot of time this summer with Jan, the amazing care provider at Magic Palette daycare/preschool. Aria has moved on recently to The Crayon Box, which she is loving, but Jan holds a special place in our hearts.

And some random stuff that I'm too tired to organize:

Family love. I don't know what is sweeter.


Papa love is pretty awesome too.


I just like this picture.


I have seen a significant number of these guys in our yard lately. They're pretty big. Anyone know what it is?

This was a fun game of hiding with Uncle Ethan.


And I love this hair! This is what happens when the knockers come out before bath.


Nana brought Aria a new chair recently, which she loves. as you can see, it is just the right size.



And last, but most definitely not least, on September 21, Jacob was born in Bellingham, WA. I added "Auntie" to my CV and Aria got herself a new cousin. We're pretty excited and plan to go meet him in a few weeks.

Here he snoozes sweetly with his papa.

Actually, I get the feeling that he's an expert snoozer.


Welcome to the world, little Jacob!