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This update goes all the way back to the
Fourth of July, which we just missed in the last update.
Mia was a bit fireworks crazy, amassing a nice collection of
fireworks that she lit off over several days. |
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We spent the Fourth at a friend's house
where the neighbors had all kinds of crazy fireworks. |
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A friend of ours let Mia keep her
tarantula for a week, and I found it fascinating that the girls have
no fear of nature, they have no problem holding the tarantula and
lots of other bugs and insects. For me, though, I can't do it. |
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There was a mini-Maker Faire at UCI and
Amelie ended up volunteering at this booth. They helped you make
your own vanilla ice cream with some vanilla flavored milk and sugar
in a small zip lock that you put into a bigger zip lock that has ice
and salt in it. Shake it up for a couple of minutes and you have
some surprisingly decent ice cream. |
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Somebody had built a giant Barbie box to
stand in. I don't understand it but the kids seemed to like it. |
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We visited the Disney Grand Californian
hotel and it was pretty impressive. They have a great pool and water
slide and during the week it's pretty empty. |
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The kids just went on the water slide over
and over, and even Naomi took a turn. |
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Desmond pretty much stayed in the one-foot
kiddie pool. |
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After some serious brake work that I did
myself on the VW, I decided that driving it every day for 27 years
was long enough. I wanted to get a more reliable car to drive to
work and Amelie wanted a convertible, so we found a Toyota Solara on
Craigslist that is a lot of fun to drive around. Plus, it seats
eight!
I'm still driving the VW, though, and it's the only car I actually
enjoy having. My dad bought the car new in 1966, which means I've
been drivnig in that car since I was born, and it's the only car
I've driven since I inheirited it when I turned 16. Plus, I put a
170hp motor in it so it hauls ass and it's a lot of fun to drive. |
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We attended this year's HSC Conference, and
they had a ton of stuff for the kids to do. It's a great conference
for home schoolers, and they have a really cool water-play area
that all the kids love. |
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Miles started walking last month and by now
he's pretty stable. It's a double-edged sword, though, because he can get
going pretty far before you even know it.
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They had fairy class for the girls. This
is Grace-Ellen, Mia's friend. |
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Fencing class was a lot of fun for Amelie.
She's going up against her friend Ava here. |
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Desmond found this home-made sword
somewhere, and fortunately we were able to return it to the owner. |
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Miles turned one year old this August, and
we couldn't be enjoying him more. Even when he turns all green from
spirulina hummus. |
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Or when he gets a little too crazy with
the hose. |
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Nature-boy enjoying some of the tomatoes
in the garden. |
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How could you not love such a sweet boy?
For Miles first birthday we had lunch in Laguna Beach and then took
off for the beach at the Ritz Carlton hotel. |
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Miles is a total water baby and when he
sees the sand and the water, he starts pumping his legs and is ready
to get down and go. |
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Mia has started losing her baby teeth and
she recently lost one on top. |
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Miles is a big fan of the swings, as are all
the kids, and Amelie is nice enough to push him in the baby swing.
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We had a real tragedy recently, a coyote
got into our backyard and killed both our ducks and three of the
six rabbits. We had a couple baby rabbits in the hutch, and one of
our netherland dwarfs managed to hide, but Snoopy, Jack, and Cloud
were all killed. This is Snoopy here, he's the first rabbit we got,
and we miss them all. It was such a loss for the whole family.
Fortunately we had decided the goats weren't working out for us and
we had sold them a couple of weeks before it happened. |
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Until next time, keep that sand out of the
crack! |
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