summer 2015

it's hard to believe summer has come and gone already.
i know two boys who are thrilled to be back in school even though
they said they had an 'awesome' summer.

summer 2015 will be remembered for beach days, taco surf trips with their dad,
pool parties, play dates, lots of soccer, junior lifeguards, a harry potter birthday,
roadtrips, new books {finn discovered issac asimov}, concerts on the green at
kate sessions park and lots of visitors.  here's some photo highlights:



grommet guards: scout

i'm 2 months behind on this blog, but i am determined to get come
back and document some summer highlights. i just come across this a few
days ago when c shared photos and videos he had of the boys on his phone.

i found this one of scout doing some drills with his fellow guards.
here's one of the video clips c got.  scout looks so into it!
{he's in red lifeguard shorts, no hat}

~ i must mention scout was very disappointed with the grommet guards
workouts. he wanted them to be more difficult than they were.  after his big
brother showed him what his group {9-12 yr olds} were doing, he had been
practicing push-ups, planks, swimming laps in our pool and running more.

c encouraged his desire and would have the boys run the loop around our very hilly
neighborhood every morning in preparation.  he was ready to be pushed.  he would
come home every evening and over dinner tell us the jr. grom program was just too
'babyish' for him. c and i reminded him it was probably challenging for many or most
of the other 7 and 8 year olds and that next year, he will get to be with the big kids and
do all those things that finn did {including the pier jump}.

summer = good things

summer is in full swing and though i have been working most of it,
the boys are having a blast. oh to be a kid again. summer is full of good things!

while finn and scout stay busy with camps, play dates, road trips and
soccer during the week, i'm trying to soak in the summer days on the weekends
with beach days, bike rides, books, birthday parties, outdoor concerts, eating lots
of cherries and watermelon and enjoying visitors.

the boys were both home last week as we didn't have a camp scheduled
and they took a quick trip to phoenix to see grandparents and their cousin anoka
who celebrated her 1st birthday!  i can't believe my niece is a year already.  

anoka gerber

the boys had a wonderful time in the arizona,
and even got to spend a day with auntie heidi, greg and cousin anoka,
while c played golf with his pops and cousin tim.

they arrived home just in time to see auntie jen who flew in to san diego
for a long weekend.  we had a fun filled weekend and i may have a few
photos to commemorate it but i haven't had a chance to see them yet.
auntie leslie and her kiddos were visiting the weekend before
so i need to document our time together as well.

first things first, scout's 'harry potter' themed birthday party is finally
happening {saturday night}.  it seems like a lifetime for our 8 year old
who has been anxiously awaiting the return of his bestie so he could attend.
he's been in europe for 6 weeks!  he's back and the boys are ready to party.

mr. gerber is having conversations with scout-a-rama about what kind of
cake he will make, and i'm on the hunt for a birdcage.  no, i won't have a real bird,
but because owls are a big part of the harry potter stories, i did purchase hedwig
to put on the party table. it would be super cute if i can find a cage for him.
stay tuned!

it's summertime

summertime is in full swing which means our cars are full of sand,
bottles of sunscreen are strewn everywhere, and cherries fill our fridge.
it's pretty typical and now that finn and scout are too old for a summer sitter,
the boys have been spending their days reading, with friends or at camps.

finn started jr. lifeguards last week!  he spent 4 hours at the beach or bay
every day learning about water safety, exercising {think bootcamp for kids},
and doing lots of water sports: swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding
and surfing. the most anticipated event is the jump off the pier! he's very excited
about this.  

he comes home almost daily with sore abs, arms and legs.
he even has some friends from school in his group, well some friends who are 'girls',
but god forbid they be called 'girlfriends'. *wink*

he's having a blast, learning a lot, and being active so his dad and i are happy.
so happy, we've decided jr. guards is something we plan on having the boys do
every summer until they are 16 and ready for their first job. since it's 6 weeks long
for older kids, it keeps them busy for half of their summer.

here are two photos c took with his phone last week.
the group photo shows finn with all the kids. they all come together on the grass every
morning for their daily workout, then they split off with their instructors for the rest of
the day's activities.  finn surfed a few afternoons and c snapped this as he was coming in to shore.

because scout is a jr. grommet, his camp is just 2 weeks long. at age 9, he goes for 6 weeks.
we signed him up for a later camp which will be in august, so he has been staying busy
with play dates and soccer practices, and he has a soccer camp lined up in 2 weeks.
if he had his way, he'd be in a soccer camp every day all day.
{it's his true passion...this and reading}

in the meantime, c 's been setting up play dates left and right, hosting kids at the house and
dropping scout off at friends' homes.  he's got the phone numbers to every parent of
every friend the boys play with in his cell, and doesn't hesitate to call them. he doesn't expect
me to d all the scheduling, he does it right along side...more so actually since he works it all
around this work and meetings schedule. he's a total renaissance dad and for this we all grateful.

this week, our little gerber is spending full days in balboa park attending Extreme Forts
camp organized though campfire san diego. he spends his days building cool forts, hiking,
swinging from ropes, doing archery and on his last day, he will roast marshmallows. 
he comes home filthy every afternoon, but happy as a lark and ready for bed by 8:00pm.

so that's what's our gerblets have been up to. i remind them that they are pretty lucky to live
in san diego where the weather is near perfect and they get to be jr. lifeguard. it's pretty cool.

here's to a wonderful summer!

~ scout came home from camp thrilled that he knew his camp counselor, aka as twig. 
apparently, all the counselors get to make up a nature name for themselves.  *love this*
 'twig' is the big brother of one of his buddies. he is a high tech high student
and would walk his little brother to class every day which is how scout met him. 
scout was pretty pleased he was remembered by this big kid. oh it's such a small world it is,
and yes, a beautiful one too.

summer fun with the utah gerbers

 

we had such a wonderful time with the utah gerbers

last weekend. as usual, we packed a lot into our days.

the highlights: a day at the uss midway museum,
an all-day beach day, a random summer rainstorm
and boogie boarding down the gutters. it didn't last
but 2 hours but that was enough for the boys to have fun.
the cousins zip-lined, swam and launched rockets and
i took some photos of miss maya.

i didn't have my camera in hand for all of the activities,

but here's a sampling of our time together:

utah gerbers, july 2014
 





cousins isaac {8} and finn {10}



 

 

hello sweet summer

summer is in full swing and oh how i love this time of year!
summer to me means fresh cherries, sand between my toes,
sitting on the grassy knoll at law street eating burritos from taco surf,
and lots and lots of beach days with the boys.
i snapped these two weekends ago on a lazy sunday afternoon.



summer 2014

~ i have so much more i want to journal....the boys' trip to florida,
scout's recent birthday celebration, and upcoming summer plans!
we've heading to arizona this weekend to see my little sister heidi.
i'll be attending her baby shower and can hardly wait to see her bump! 
in august, the boys and are heading up the california coast for some family time
and to visit my sister leslie and her family. i'm finally going to meet baby aria!

in the meantime, the days are full and christopher is playing mr. mom.
with the ability to work from home and flexibility, we decided against a nanny
this summer and instead are setting up lots of play dates and putting them in more camps.
this week, finn is in astronaut camp at the san diego science center, and
scout is at survivor camp in balboa park. they are loving these camps!!
they were talking over each other last night trying to tell us all about their days.
these camps seem to be perfect fits for their varying interests.

gringo gerblets, summer 2013

summer is over and before i completely forget
how the boys spent their summer of 2013,
i'm taking a few minutes to post.

they started out with ymca camps,
but those didn't last long as they weren't the best
fit for them.

we found other camps that were more focused on
their interests - science related camps here for finn and
sports and art camps for scoutie. 

finn could have spent ALL day EVERY day in science camps.
unfortunately, we couldn't afford that but he was in his element.
when i pick him up, the teenager/college-aged assistants told
me they enjoyed having finn in the class.
for scout, a handful of half days camps was plenty.
he spent the afternoons swimming, reading, and playing boardgames
with bibiana.

bibiana was the college student that we hired later to
help shuttle the boys back and forth to camps and to watch them
during those weeks they didn't have camps.  

she was wonderful!!

we allowed her to drive them anywhere in san diego, so they
spent lots of time at the museums, the neighborhood library,
parks and the beach.

even with all of that, she made sure to follow our guidelines.
and though my sister teased and said i gave her a 5 page list,
i didn't.  my list was actually a single page with things that
were non-negotiable (30 min/day in their work books,
30 min/day reading and piano practice for finn 3x a week).
she never missed a day.

the bonus, bibiana spoke ESPANOL!
we took full advantage of this. 
c and i asked her to speak only spanish to the boys every day from noon
until we arrived home from work every afternoon.  

at the start, the boys said they understand about 25% of what she said.
by summer's end, that number increased to 85%.
it wasn't important they spoke spanish by summer's end,
our hope was for them to get an ear for it...understand a bit more.
{they did pick up a dozen or so words which was wonderful}

we miss sweet bibiana and though she's back in college
{studying engineering at ucsd}, she occasionally sits the boys.

the one and only photo i have of her is blurry
{i need to get better at phone photos}.
i will be sure to snap another and post when she babysits next.

i'll finish today's post with a picture of my 3 standing in front
of ikea's in-store daycare....almost their second home. 





















the boys have been here so much over the years,
the ladies that work in the childcare know them by name.

last week, i ran in for something and i asked finn and scout if
they wanted to go in and maybe watch tv, a treat since they rarely
watch at home.  finn looked at me so seriously and said
"mom, i'm 9 years old.  i'm too big for daycare.
i'm always the oldest one in there".

i looked into his bright blue eyes and said, "i understand,
you don't have to". 

though finn will probably fit the height requirements to enter until he's 14,
he's done with ikea daycare.  he's been a trooper for going in with scoutie
as long as he has.  that's brotherly love. *wink*

birthday bash ahead

i've missed blogging.
i enjoy it and there's so much i want to record
but there's only so many hours in a day.

other than SUMMER stuff,
the biggest thing on my plate this past weekend
and this week will be prepping for scoutie's upcoming
birthday party.  my baby is turning 6 on july 6th!

with a house that is 50 years old
i could work on it every weekend for the next 10+ years
{that is no exaggeration} however,
i have to enjoy life and make some time for fun,
and making the boys' birthdays special is something worthwhile.

though i've only just begun thinking about specifics,
scout did select 'Knights' as his theme a few months back.
after poking around on etsy and not seeing anything i loved,
i found these adorable invites by meri meri on amazon.

 

 

the red feather incorporated into the invite is fun,

and the boxed set even includes castle drawbridge thank you cards. 

{perfect as sending handwriten notes are a must in our home}

 

scout is counting down the days until his BIG day,

and c and i are looking forward to not having to haul anything to

another place this year, as this little celebration will be held right

here in the backyard of our new 'old' home.

christopher, as always, will be the designated cake designer,

and i will decorate a tiny bit.  since it will be a pool party,

i hadn't planned on doing more than displaying a cute castle

centerpiece on the food table, but yesterday in homegoods,

i walked past a 7' tin knight!  I thought how appropriate for scout's party.

i couldn't stop thinking about it.

 

today i went back to the store to return something {with auntie jen in tow},

and this knight was still there....just waiting for me.

i guess knights aren't in high demand right now. *grin*

christopher thought i was out of my mind when i pulled up in

the driveway with this knight in the back of the volvo.

 

so what will i be doing with this 7 foot piece of tin?

the knight will be a PROP {only} for sir scoutie's birthday party

this coming sunday.  i'm anticipating guests posing next to him

or if they rather not, he can just stand there looking cool.

{i'll be sure to get a photo of him}

 

the knight theme is being taken very serious by scoutie.

 

this past weekend, i went through some serious knight training.

scout and finn discovered the foam swords i purchased as birthday 

party favors and they've been brushing up on their skills.

i was told i was the lowest ranked knight there was,

but after my training, which involved running around the pool 5x,

learning several sword moves and jumping over a sword as the boys

raised it higher and higher {think opposite of limbo}, finn and scout

declared i made it to level 2. whew!

 

BOYS - oh how i love 'em!! 
{they keep me moving and encourage me to be healthier so i can keep up}

 

~ c wasn't thrilled about the foam swords. i bought them on my own

because they were inexpensive and the boys had been using painting stir

sticks from home depot which were dangerous. the foam swords are far safer. 

i promised c i'd hand them out at the end of the celebration. 

summer's begun

it's official folks.
summer has begun!

i love summer for SO many reasons,
the longer days, warmer weather, beach days and sand between my toes
it's worth that mess in my car, my hair, and my house.
ahhhhh, i just LOVE it!

via

here's the thing.
i love almost everything about summertime,
except the kids being out of school so long. 

they don't need 2 1/2 months off school.
{did you know it's a tradition left over from america's farming days?}
2 or even 3 week breaks during the year would be great ...camps and family
vacations could happen, and then our kids could be back in school learning.

until year round school becomes the norm,
the challenge for parents everywhere {even those that stay home}
is how to keep our kids engaged all summer,
or rather 'enriched' is the term christopher used that i prefer.

at 16, most kids are doing internships and/or working. that's easy.
what to do with grade school and middle aged school kids isn't so easy.
i could plant them in front of the tv or computer to entertain them all day,
but what parent wants that for their kids for 2+ months?!

the challenge is how to give our kids an enriching summer.
an attentive, book loving and adventurous sitter would be enough
for scoutie, but finn needs more.

i dream of putting him in ucsd's robotics and science camps,
he'd be in heaven and learn so much. unfortunately, they are crazy expensive...
more for families who can afford to send their children to private schools. 
unfortunately, we can't offer these camps to finn. 

so what's left? the traditional camps, like the more affordable ymca camps,
{which still aren't cheap}.  this is where my two peanuts were last week,
and where they are all of this week. 

they come home every evening with stories about their day and activities.
scoutie's is the same - he tells me he had fun, but the days are too long.
physical activity is great, but from 8:30am to 4:30pm is a bit much for an almost 6 yr old.
he's ready to crawl into bed before 8pm every night.

finn complains there is no time to just read or to focus on any one activity.
they corrall the kids from one activity to another all day long every hour.
from his description i have to think the camps are set up for kids with
attention deficit disorder {aka as add}. 

*sigh*.

though the ymca entertains and engages kids,
their camps don't seem to enrich kids.

that's not an inherently a bad thing,
but for an entire summer, it can be.
our kids have so much potential.
{they are ripe for learning}

SO

as the boys finish their 2nd week of y camps,
i am on the lookout for more enriching camps they can attend.

c and i also found a summer sitter who we are hoping
will keep the boys both engaged and enriched...to some degree.
we sat down with her last night and went over expectations, etc.
her name is amber and she's a pnlu student {starting sophmore year},
and starts with us on monday.  the boys are excited.

happy news:  denise, a lovely lady in my book group and mother of 2 sweet boys,
welcomed a daughter today. i hope to meet this little girl this weekend once mom goes
home. {i didn't mention her name because they are still undecided...tomorrow hopefully}

so long summer

since the boys go back to school tomorrow,
summer as we know it officially ends.

since the boys were knee high,
their san diego summers have a few constants.
these are: summer sitters, water, sand and POPSICLES.
{and during heatwaves, we all have more than our share}

the boys love rocket pops, but these were prettier to post.

via

and i realized i hadn't posted a picture of anna, the boys's 2012 summer sitter.
she was born in russia so the boys got their first exposure to the russian language.
{they told me it sounded "so cool" when she talked to her parents on the phone}.

finn {8}, anna k., and scout {5}

she adored the boys and shed a few tears when she said goodbye to them last week.
we assured her we would all see her again as we will be calling her when we go on
'date nights' throughout the year!

~ as i was setting out the boy's school clothes tonight, this conversation took place.
scout: i'm scared about starting kindergarten and going to a new school
{and before I could get a word out to comfort scoutie}
finn: don't worry scoutie, i'm popular at the school. i can show you everything!

now finn didn't mean that in some arrogant way at all.  he was just being matter of fact.
he knows the point loma campus like the back of his hand, and not just explorer elementary.
but the 2 high schools and the 2 middle schools as well. his daddy has been dragging him all
over the campus' since before he could walk. the staff knows him well.
we are fortunate to have the situation we have, so very fortunate.

BIG day tomorrow- first day of school. we're all so excited!

summer sweets: cute cupcakes

summer is almost over for the boys {one week left}
and these cute cupcakes are the cutest i've seen in a long time.
i really want to make them before they go back.

via

the boys would have fun decorating these and even
more fun eating them but gosh, i hope it cools down.
we're still having unusually warm weather and
the thought of being near a hot oven doesn't sound fun.

i need to visit weather.com and see what's in the forecast.
my fingers will be crossed we get some relief soon.

on another topic, we couldn't do our family funday on sunday because
c needed to work all day to prepare for the opening of another school,
high tech middle north county. {hope to post about later and include pixs}.
this one is another GREEN school that boasts photovoltaics on the roof.
pretty cool stuff.

while he was busy directing crews on sunday,
i hung with my little men for most of the day.
we stayed in target for almost 3 hours shopping, browsing,
enjoying their air-conditioning, and yeah, spending too much.
later scoutie and i even took a nap.
it was heaven! {i really should do that more often}

hangin' with the hoskins

this past weekend, i spent much needed time with my dear friend aleyda.
with our busy lives, it's challenging to find a day that works in our calendars,
but when we find one, we're always rewarded with all the good things friendship brings.
my two loved playing with her son daniel.
they spent time in their invention room,
ate a few chocolate chip cookies,
and swam while us mommas caught up with each other
and made plans for our next mom's night out. {so important}
we're going to see this movie.
we are SO excited. 

here are our little water bugs.
daniel recently made a swim team and he swim's beautifully.
his mom and i agreed, we'd never challenge him to a race in the water.
we'd be sure to lose. {watch out ryan lochte}

~ i can't believe how fast summer is flying by.
for finn, the school year can't come fast enough.
he would be happy with summer vacation being a week long.
anna, our summer sitter is doing her best to keep the boys busy,
{and has been good at limiting tech time to no more than 30-45 min. a day}.
finn is looking forward to another camp at the science museum next week,
but more than anything, he'd love to be back in school.

scout on the otherhand, seems to love summer,
especially because he no longer has to nap.
{at 5, we allow the boys to drop it}.
it was easy to keep up because naps have always been part
of their daily daycare routine.  working mom's love it.
still, on occasion, if scout has had an extra active morning,
you might find him asleep on the couch or the stairs in late afternoon.

oh, and the boys are reading alot these days.
finn has discovered 39 clues,
and scout is still enjoying the magic treehouse books.

summer sitter

before summer comes to an end, i wanted to post a photo of the
young woman the boys shared most of their summer days with.
meet renae:


after a long day at the zoo























c and i were looking for a gal who was active and could keep up with our boys
and this gal lived up to our expectations. when we learned she is the only girl in
a family of 4 kids, we knew she'd be just fine with finn and scout.  
renae spent her days shuttling the boys to and from swim lessons, the beach, sea world,
parks, and museums (most often the train museum and the science center at balboa park).

one day she took the boys to meet her previous science professor and to see a working lab
on the point loma nazarene university, the school she just graduated from.
i'll never forget coming home from work to hear finn tell me "i saw a REAL lab".
(that extra effort renae made to share and inspire my boys meant the world to me).

the boys will no longer be asking us if today is a 'renae day',
and renae will no longer be running around with two little boys.
as the boys start back to school/pre-k, she will be entering this pharmacy school .

while the boys have been away, it occured to me we would have a 2 week gap w/out childcare.
i got to work immediately looking for help, never imagining it would be hard to find someone.
i eventually got the first week covered (thanks to maddy), but with the all the san diego high school
and college kids back in school 8/29, i couldn't find someone for the last week of august for scoutie.
he doesn't go back until after labor day.  i started to feel a little bit of a panic set in.
what to do??

i called grandma and once again, she came to our rescue!!
she arrives on monday for 2 weeks.
we are all excited!

it will be so nice to have her and she's looking forward to relaxing
and spending time with her west coast daughters and grandkids. 
after her time here in san diego, she heads north to oakland to spend
a few days with leslie and her sweet little guys.

before the boys come back (sat pm),
i am squeezing in one last day of quiet and r&r for me.
tomorrow i will be poolside here with some girlfriends.
i'm crossing my fingers there will be sunshine!

celebrating summer

sex is good, but not as good as fresh, sweet corn.
- garrison keillor

i love summertime rituals and eating corn on the cob
smothered with butter and salt is one of mine.

sweet corn is a staple in our home this time of the year.
the boys and i just devour it.  i can eat 3 large cobs
without blinking and scout isn't too far behind me now,
though he prefers his without butter or salt.

my love of corn goes back to my childhood in florida.
my parents would go to the zellwood corn festival every year
and come back with a few bushels for the family.
with a house full of kids, it went fast, so it made sense for
them to buy in bulk. (this was pre-costco)

tonight i prepared chicken, asparagus and you guessed it
corn on the cob for dinner. this is the first time in
months that finn has been able to eat his corn ON the cob. 
we've been taking it off for him while he's been waiting for
his front teeth to grow in.  they are a good 3/4 of the way in.
i agreed with his comment "it's more FuN to eat it ON the cob".

as i sit here writing about summer and my love of sweet corn,
i can't help but think summer is almost over. 
'renae days' will come to an end this friday (the boys will miss her),
and then the boys are off to minnesota for a week.
when they return, they'll have just a week before school starts
the first day is august 29th!  

finn received a letter in the mail from his new 2nd grade teacher yesterday.
her name is diana glover.  neither finn nor i have met her, but c knows her,
and assured us she's wonderful.  finn also learned his buddy joshua will be in his class
so he is looking forward to going back.

i came across this picture of finn and his k-1 teacher, diane hawke.
i don't think i've ever posted a photo of her and i wanted to be sure i had
her saved in my blog/journal before we move on to 2nd grade.

this woman has been a big part of finn's life the past two years.

i snapped the photo at explorer's exhibition night -
a highly anticipated event that takes place a week before the school year wraps up. 

families are invited to classroom(s) to see what their child has been working on all year.  

finn's largest project was writing and illustrating a 'How To' manual.

any guesses on what his manual was all about?
it was titled How To Program Lego Mindstorms. 

he dedicated his book to scoutie.



can you read it?  





finn sat and read this entire technical manual to scout
(it was slightly above his comprehension level, but he did comment on the finn's illustrations)



more smores please!!

midweek evenings are generally pretty uneventful at the gerber house,
but tonight was a little more fun. after dinner, finn, scoutie and i picked up maddy
and headed to the hilton hotel for their weekly  'Smores Night' on the bay.

a few weeks ago, i learned the hilton has weekly events for guests all summer long.
because we are members, we get to participate in them (such a fun perk).
i took my friend connie and her girls a few weeks ago (pixs here),
and wanted to share the experience with maddy.  i knew she would love it.
their dive-in movie is next on our list.. i promised finn i'd take him before summer ends.

we all got our fill of marshmellows, graham crackers and chocolate tonight.
the boys burned off their energy and calories in the pool afterwards,
while maddy and i chose to grab a lounge chair and catch up with each other's lives.

she's had a busy summer - fresh back from a medical camp at ucla for high school
students interested in pursuing a medical career and she's a just a few weeks away
now from becoming a senior.  i can hardly believe it.  what an exciting year she has
ahead of her - lots of decisions to make.  here are some fun photos of tonight.

connie and her crew

i finally sat down over the weekend to get things done,
including going through all the photos i took during my girlfriend's visit to san diego.
she's been wanting to see them for so long and i finally go to them.
i appreciate her patience with me.

i had to post a few of my favorites. i  miss these sweet girlies.

top: serene, connie and paige, scoutie, me and finn
'smores night' at the hilton hotel

so long summer

i can't believe summer is over already!
it came and went before i ever realized it was summer.

part of this must be because it has been an unusually mild summer for san diego.
i think there were a handful of days it reached 80 degress at the beach so it simply
didn't feel much like summer. i can't complain when so much of the country was hot and
miserable, it was just unusual is all.  we usually get 2 weeks of hot weather.
since we didn't, i really welcomed the recent phoenix trip.

another reason i feel it flew by? we didn't go on a family trip anywhere this summer.
we usually squeeze something in and the summer of 2010, well we didn't.
c was buried at work, we were both preparing the beach cottage to sell and
preparing for our 'temporary' home.  things were far from 'status quo' at the house.

at least the little guys enjoyed their summer.
brooke entertained them with trips to museums, the zoo and sea world and because finn needed
a little more than just that, we put him in science and tennis camp for a week as well. 
science camp of course was his favorite!  there's *very* little that excited him more than science.
(no joke). finn oliver would have been perfectly content being there all summer

next year, he's requested 'robotic camp', however here's the hitch.
children have to be 8 years old to attend.
finn however believes "is very intelligent" and thinks the director
might let him."  i've promised to ask. :)

besides the move, i had to be sure to get a picture of brooke with the boys
and also finn on his first day of kindergarten.
actually it was his 2nd day. i forgot my camera the first day. *smile*

super sunday

the boys and i spent this past sunday evening with our friend paul, his 135 lb.
great dane 'gigi', and the hoskins family.
aleyda and aaron have a son, daniel, so it was perfect setup for our us.
the boys played and ran around for hours outside wearing gigi and themselves out.
the adults had a chance to just enjoy the evening catching up.

and the food, OMG. it was fab!
paul provided some appetizers, marinated tri tip and fresh corn on the cob,
aleyda made homemade mac and cheese, and we brought a boston creme pie (c's favorite).

it wasn't homemade, but it was baked fresh from our neighborhood von's.
i considered trying to bake, but since i've never made one, i didn't want to risk it.
(i want to be invited back to paul's place again}.

i must remember to tell my brother and sister-in-law about the meat.
it came from cardiff seaside market and it's supposed to be one of the best
 places to purchase meat in san diego.

you see, my bro and s-i-l recently moved here from minnesota and apparently
are having the darndest time finding good meat (unlike they did in mn).
shelly said the reason there are so many vegetarians in cali is the meat here is tasteless. *laugh*
this could be true for all i know.

c and i would be the last people to give advice on meat. we eat some, but could live without it.
paul and aledya however, are true carnivores and can vouch for good meat.
this was good stuff even to their pickiest of pallettes,
so shell, if you are reading, check out this market and let me know what you think.

hopefully you'll agree there's more than just good vegetables and weather in southern california. *wink*

summertime

sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now.

- wordsworth

summer is in full swing now and with finn out of pre-school, christi has her hands full with both boys four days a week. as expected, she's handling it so well and they seem to be having lots of fun. they spend their days at the beach, the pool or parks around the city. they are simply enjoying the beautiful san diego summer - sunny and mid 70s!

i get a little bummed being cooped up inside at work instead of enjoying the outdoors. christi has a lovely sister jenny, a recent grad, that has been unable to find work in her field. she has taken up a nanny job in the meantime and it's just a few blocks away. the little boy she cares for is just a month younger than scoutie and the sisters get together almost daily with the 3 boys. it's a great set up for all of them.

oh to be a child again and have summers to look forward to.

i look back on summers with a smile. i was a child of the 70s and 80s and though we had the video game system, atari, my parents didn't allow us to spend our days sitting in front of the television. as soon as we ate breakfast and did our chores, we were outside playing - all day long. we came inside just long enough to grab lunch or a snack. it wasn't forced - it's just where we wanted to be.

it helped that we grew up on a street with lots of kids and that my best friend robin was one of 6 kids. between her large family and mine, we always had enough kids to form teams to play most anything. we also spent alot of time in our backyard pool - mom and dad knew exactly what they were doing when they made that purchase. our friends were over often and it kept us home which allowed mom to keep her eye on us for many summers.

when i think of childhood summers, i think of long and happy days - filled with childhood friends, my brothers, bike riding, touch football and four-square games in the street (yes in the street), neighborhood parades, swimming, lots of kool-aid, pb&j and chasing down the ice cream truck for a sweet treat. oh to be a kid again.

here's to a sweet and sensational summer!!