Puppy Love

Today was probably the best day in Jack's short life.

It's a day that started out like any other Saturday... morning cartoons, a woobie with a sippy of milk, breakfast of yogurt and apples. But, then, right around mid-morning, Daddy disappeared with sisters and returned with...

a puppy in a bucket...

And not just any puppy, but the sweetest, gentlest, darlingest puppy you can imagine. Seriously. She quickly warmed all of our hearts. Even me, who I have to confess, was the last hold out on the puppy train. I melted when she licked my fingers and looked up at me with her sweet brown eyes for the first time. Love at first sight.

Chris has been campaigning for years and waiting and waiting (and waiting) until the kids were old enough. But I didn't want a puppy. I know how much work they are and didn't want to add another newborn's schedule to our home.

But then this past June, our very good friends came over for a BBQ and told us their Golden Lab and Border Collie just had seven puppies, then invited us all to come and see them. I rolled my eyes and knew what was going to happen.

In the end it was fate...

Because this is true love all around.

We picked her out a week ago and today she came home to stay. The girls have been counting the days. And she really could not be more perfect. Quiet and sweet, docile. The runt of the litter, the Omega. Poor baby.

We named her Tessera, or Tessa, which means "four" in Greek, as in, Baby #4. Zoe and Athena were allowed to add to that, so her full name is "Princess Tessera Jewel." Which isn't too bad considering Athena's first choice was "Princess Unicorn" or "Rapunzel" and Zoe was going for "Miss Pepper."

Jack just calls her "My Puppy" (emphasis on my).

And this guy, oh this guy, who I love to distraction,
finally has his puppy longing-heart filled to the brink.

There is however, one family member decisively NOT thrilled about our new addition.
But we're keeping them separate, for now.

First Day of School

I have been way remiss and skipped over a ton of important events and pictures - that I plan to pre-date and post later on this week - but today trumps all. Today is the first day of school for all three of our babies.

Jack starts full time day care, Athena's in First Grade and Zoe will rule the pre-school in Class 8. Class 8 is for kids old enough for public school Kindergarten but not quite old enough for St. John's Kindergarten - Zoe missed the cut off by six weeks. BUT, all her best friends, especially fellow pink ladies Aubrey, Kendall and Caitlyn, are also in Room 8, so she is thrilled.

This is how we rolled (literally, Athena had to have a pink Hello Kitty rollable backpack).
Getting to school on the first day is a family affair.

In First Grade you get your very own desk, full of your very own supplies
(pink ruler, pink scissors, pink and purple pre-sharpened pencils).

Isn't she just the cutest First Grader ever!?
This was right around the time she asked me if I could please leave now.

Outside the elementary we ran into one of Zoe's buddies, also dropping off an older sibling.
Caitlyn had not seen Zoe all summer and she squeezed the stuffing out of her.

At Jack's preschool orientation, the teachers talked about "first day tears" and how to make a quick exit. Jack did not have any problem with that, I had to wrangle him for a good-bye kiss and then he was off to play play play. He's in Class 3, which is the first class Zoe was in at this school, so we know and love his teachers and they've known him since he was six months old and are so excited to now have him in their class.

And then Zoe, my little Llama, who is truly excited about going back to school, was sooo disappointed when we got to her class and none of her people were there yet. She needs her people - her Kendall, her Aubrey, her Caitlyn and her Nate - her core group to ground her. I knew Caitlyn was right behind us and until she got there Vinnie would do for a little while.

I thought I would be more upset than I was, especially about dropping Jack off, but in all the chaos of getting stuff in the right place, etc etc. There wasn't anytime to get weepy. I'm thrilled for Jack, he is going to love school and will grow leaps and bounds everyday. Zoe will actually get homework in Class 8 and Athena, who knows, will probably doing long division before the year is over.

Oh my poor heart, how grown up they all are.

Drinking it in

There comes a time as a parent that you realize although you can control the experiences you set before your child, you cannot control their reaction to it. Something that you love or loved as a child may not be at all interesting to your child. And as my poor physicist father can attest, after raising three scientifically ambivalent children, your kids are not little yous.

They are their own people, drawing off your collective genetics and taking them in a different direction, sometimes farther, than you ever thought possible.

But ever so often something special to you clicks with them too and its awesome.

On our New York work-vacation (my work and their vacation), the very-much-missed Mimi and I took the girls to see their first Shakespeare play. At four and six this is quite a stretch, the language is challenging, but the circus-themed performance of Comedy of Errors had many visuals to enjoy - a lady with a pink beard and mermaid in a wheelchair - and Athena especially, drank it all in and loved every minute of it.

It was delicious to watch.

Of course it helps that the Festival is held outside on one of the most beautiful pieces of property ever to exist and picnicking beforehand is a must.

Zoe got a little bit antsy towards the second half of the 2nd Act and after a loud stage whisper to Mimi "When is it going to be over?" was quickly whisked away to the concession stand to help close out the cash registers and other fun activities.

Athena stayed until the last curtain call, absolutely riveted.

She is now completely in love with Lucky Gretzinger who played Antipholus in Comedy of Errors and romanced the mermaid right out of her wheelchair.

Hmm, maybe she is a little me.

Santa Cruzin'

It's settled. This is now our family tradition for my birthday celebration...an annual trip to Santa Cruz, an awesome little surf village in Northern California, which just so happens to be an easy drive from San Francisco (where some of our favorite people live), and boast funky restaurants, miles of seashore and a huge boardwalk with rides and treats and endless fun.

We're chalking this trip up to a recon visit and will add to it next year. It was so much fun, but not nearly long enough and frankly our hotel could have been more appealing. Next year, we'll do just a little bit better and even better the following. Etching out what will hopefully become many more family memories.

We arrived about midday on Saturday and went directly to the boardwalk, meeting Alaine, Ian, Delphine, Sophie there and even our darling Unca Stu zipcar'd down for a quick visit.

It took about three and a half seconds for the little girls to get reacquainted, all were giddy with excitement almost immediately.

But even with our good friends, Zoe did not forget her Unca Stu. She clung to him like velcro, and rode every ride she could with him.

The Dude was left out of alot of the fun - but there were a couple of little guy rides he enjoyed.

Mostly he just waited by the sidelines with me or Chris.

It was an excellent evening of junk food and whirling, flying rides that made me ill. Can someone please tell me how a little girl who gets car sick every time we go over the mountains can cry "Again again!" after the most vomit-inducing spins and stomach-churning dips and rises? Because I just don't get it.

The next day - my birthday - started with an excellent Birthday Brunch and too many Mimosas. So many that when left unattended for a minute, Alaine and I slipped into an awesome little vintage-inspired dress shop next door to the restaurant. While the husbands and kids waited impatiently outside, we tried on dress after dress and both left with a real find. There are a couple of weddings coming up, you know!

After that, the rest of the day was spent at the beach.

It was 75 degrees and beautifully sunny.


But the water was way too chilly to do anything but chase waves.

and take pictures,

and dig in the sand,

and take a few more pictures...



The kids played in the sand until almost sunset, while the grown ups enjoyed some snacks and margaritas and Coronas at a nearby Mexican cafe - the end to a lovely birthday!

Hot Summer Trip

We began our holiday weekend by heading directly into the heat. Palm Springs was just slightly cooler than the surface of the sun at 115 degrees, seriously, we found the one place on earth hotter than Bakersfield to go on vacation. But Baba and Nana had a cool, salt water pool and a well air conditioned house and lots of cold beverages.

The little ones immediately dove right into the pool - you really don't feel the 100+ degree heat when up to your neck in cool water. They did not come out until they were completely pruney and demanding hot dogs.

The next day was dubbed the "Greatest Day Ever" by Athena, after a little breakfast we "discovered" the Children's Discovery Museum of Rancho Mirage and fell in love with the place.

They had an awesome art station and science activities, a bungey chord maze and the Dude could not be torn away from the ping pong ball pipes.

Zoe found the play Vet Clinic and was completely transported to an alternate reality where she was Dr. Zoe who gave solemn diagnosis to stuffed ferrets of vague illnesses like "acuture" and pronounced they needed days in the hospital to recover.

Meanwhile the Dude and his Dad found a real live CHiPS motorcycle.
(duhn duhn da na...)

When Athena found the dress up area, well, we knew we were going to be here awhile.

Jack and Baba settled down to look at an "encyclopedia" (remember those?)

Zoe made an adorable Fireman

And Baba introduced Jack to a funny thing called a "typewriter"

(I think this museum made Baba feel old).

My girls take dress up seriously but eventually we were able to drag them out with promises of PF Changs (Athena's favorite restaurant) and Cars II followed by a wee little trip to Ben and Jerry's.

After a quick rest, we regathered the troops for dinner to celebrate Nana's birthday. She does not like birthdays, she's had enough of them she says, but we did manage to lure her out to her favorite restaurant as long as we promised not to make the waiters sing.

The restaurant was terribly popular and had a minimum 30 minute wait, so we opted for the terrace to be seated right away. It was still around 100 at 8 o'clock at night, but they had fans and misters so we were fine. Immediately following dinner, we were paid back with a fantastic fireworks display at the neighboring golf course.

We had the perfect view right from our table, it was truly and unexpected and magnificent end to the evening.

The next day, we got up bright and early (Jack was up brighter and earlier than the rest of us) and packed up to head to Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron's traditional July Fourth BBQ.

There was football...

and corn toss...

and basketball...

and a whole lot of cousins and aunts and uncles.
There is only one person who can make Chris look short,
his cousin Matt, aka "the Big Guy."

And, sparklers, of course. I love this picture. These are our girls in a nutshell. Zoe carefully examining her sparkler trying to figure out how it works and Athena dancing as if to say "Yay! It's sooo pretty!"

It was a great weekend of concentrated family time. Ahh. When we asked Athena and Zoe what they liked best about our weekend trip, Athena said "the cereal at the hotel" (these poor children are denied Fruit Loops at home) and Zoe said "playing basketball at the hotel."

Wait a minute, we said, what about swimming in Baba's pool, or the children's museum, or the fireworks, or seeing Cars II? "Oh yea!" Zoe said, "I liked all of it, except I did not like throwing up in the car."

No, that was not a highlight, but all the rest was.