Seth turns four

Lucky Seth got to have his grandparents arrive on his birthday for a visit. We decorated cupcakes as a family project, an idea I think I'll do forever--no slaving over decorating the cake! He opened his presents throughout the day, the highlight being his Razor scooter, and went to the exotic, cliff-diving Maya restaurant for dinner. The boys thought the fire dancers were very cool. I wish I'd had a picture of Seth staring open-mouthed at them, with his fists clenched in excitement.

Charlotte's First Birthday

Happy Birthday to my baby girl who is not a baby anymore. In the last week or so she seems to have gotten so much older. I see a little girl starting to explore her world and letting us all know what she thinks about it. She wants to be up, she wants to be down, she wants to keep up with Carden and Seth, she wants to be cuddled with her stuffed animals. She's got such an infectious smile and laugh--and even her growl makes me happy. Here's to you Charlotte Karenna. Life's much better with pink frosting!

Beach vacation

We spent two wonderful weeks in California. One week at Tyler's parents home and then a week at the beach in Monterey for Tyler's family reunion. My mother-in-law has always been a fantastic party thrower, and she went all out for us. Five cars drove down completely stuffed with food, movies, toys, inflatable swimming pools, balloons, party favors, craft projects, etc.

The kids had such a wonderful time being together, and thanks to all Grandma's entertainment, even the adults got to relax. Tyler's family has someone in every time zone of the United States, so we don't get together often enough.

Some favorite memories:

• Watching "What about Bob?" and realizing that Ben's wife, Mandi, and I have basically married Bob. WAY too many lines from that movie are part of our husbands' daily conversation.
• The family scavenger hunt in downtown Pacific Grove. How far can you make $10 go in 30 minutes? Not as far as Caroline!
• Family DVD night. Every family had to create a DVD slideshow of their family's life, so we could "tour" the homes and lives of those who live far away. The kids loved seeing themselves and their cousins on TV.
• Birthday party surprises. Surprise "Vickifest 2008" T-shirts for my mother-in-law's birthday party, and a surprise pirate party for one of the cousins, complete with costumes, props, and funny accents.
• Grandma taking the kids to see "Kung Fu Panda."
• Emergency run to Target to buy sweatshirts and long pants. We had one beautiful day at the beach, and the rest of the week was overcast and cold.
• That one beautiful day at the beach in very un-Pacific Grove-type weather. One bottle of sunblock gone in one day! Hurray for the canopy that shaded us all.
• Everyone taking a turn to make dinner--a great recipe parade of yummy food, and endless loaves of sourdough bread and chocolate malted crunch ice cream.
• Family FHE, hearing some great counsel from my wonderful second parents.
• Tucking the boys in bed every night and asking them, "what was the best part of today?" Their answer was always "EVERYTHING!"

Rockin Robins

For the second year, a robin family has built a nest in the wisteria vine climbing up our downspout. The slideshow is from last year. Every few days, once the mother bird had flown away to search for food, I climbed on a chair and aimed the camera down into the nest, since it was built too high for us to see into. Right now the babies are at picture 4; tiny feathers are growing in, but they still have mostly fuzz.

This year's nest location is, unfortunately, not as secure as last year's, and the prevailing winds have made the wisteria rock back and forth until it loosened the cable the vine is trained onto. Vine and nest sagged down to an accommodating eye-level, but also started tipping a bit precariously. So tonight Tyler and I, sacrificing all gardening instincts, hacked the wisteria almost in half, and bungee-corded the cable to the rain gutter. Mom and Dad Robin watched all this somewhat suspiciously, but I think we'll all sleep more safely tonight.

"No more teachers, no more books..."

Seth and Carden are out of school and preschool for the summer. They are so thrilled with the prospect of adhering to the daily schedule Carden drew up:

Breakfast

Morning: play

Lunch

Afternoon: relax

Dinner

Evening: have fun

We treated them to breakfast in bed on their first day of vacation and broke the news that despite it being officially summer vacation, we would not be having popsicles or running in the sprinklers since it was only 60 degrees and threatening rain.

Memorial Day

My childhood Memorial Day memories usually involved barbecues, a trip to Northern California to see my grandparents, my dad's birthday, the beginning of summer--all typical three-day-weekend events. Remembering war veterans seemed pretty removed from my teenage existence.

Now I live within two blocks of a small-town cemetery. I've learned that there's a unique culture to small-town cemeteries. In the interest of disclosure, I have always liked cemeteries. I endure a lot of teasing for this little quirk, but I find them fascinating places--the design of the gravestones, the inscriptions, the stories, all make me wonder about who these people were. Plus cemeteries are quiet and peaceful.

Like all graveyards, the small-town cemetery down the street is full of interesting names, dates, and stories--ask my kids about John Brown trying to race the train to the crossing with his team and wagon (he lost). It is not, however quiet and peaceful. We moved into our house in November, when many of the graves were decorated with fall leaves and gourds. "How nice," we thought. A few weeks later the poinsettias and Christmas stockings went up. "How interesting," we thought. In February they were replaced by red foil hearts, and in March and April the headstones sprouted shamrocks and Easter eggs. "How weird," we thought. We wondered if every neighbor had a box in the basement marked "Holiday Grave Decorations."

But Memorial Day is The Big Day at our local cemetery. The roads are packed; almost every grave sports a potted mum or two. You feel bad for the few without a floral tribute. Large groups of extended families gather to decorate the graves together, and for a week afterward, the cemetery looks more like a garden wedding than a final resting place.

I'm back to thinking, "how nice." The California cemeteries I remember are largely impersonal--heavy on the decorum, light on the decor. Say what you will about kitschy windchimes and Santa hats, it's nice to know that dear old Auntie Maud may be gone, but not forgotten.

The really lost tooth

Carden has been complaining of a loose tooth for a week or two, but this morning he was sure it was not long for this world. Tonight he rushed in saying he had lost it--really lost it. He didn't know when it had come out or where. (I suspect he swallowed it with that last handful of popcorn.) So tonight, under his pillow sits, not a tooth, but a letter: "Dear tooth fairy, I lost a tooth but I lost it. Please please find it so I can have some money. Carden" The two drawings at the bottom are him: On the left he's holding a quarter and smiling; on the right no quarter and no smile. Looks like he doesn't remember that last time the tooth fairy coughed up two whole dollars for his tooth--miraculous since the first one fell out on a Sunday night when Tyler had cleaned me out of cash on his way to Japan. And once again tonight, it's Sunday night, Tyler is flying over the Pacific, and I'm sure I'm out of dollar bills. Please, please Tooth Fairy, forget the tooth--just find me a dollar!