Hanging on to summer

We are determined not to let summer slip through our fingers...we are hanging on and hanging out and having a wonderful time together. Today, just following our whims, we ended up having a really glorious day (during which both Steve and Christina got to get in to the office for a bit).

In addition to trips to the park, to the carousel, and to gather art supplies, we ended the day going to "Out to Dinner" - a local event where a live band plays, restaurants set up stands, and everyone picnics and dances and enjoys one another's company. We brought our own picnic (famous Nana Rose potato salad, a caprese salad made from our own basil and farmer's market tomatoes, plum cobbler from the many plums falling from our trees).

The girls love these sewer covers - they sound yucky, of course, but are really as clean as the ground surrounding it and make fun dancing platforms. Today, Clara pointed out the letters "C" and "F" all by herself!

Clara started showing us her moves near the picnic blanket...

...and Elena urges us to go down near the stage to really enjoy our dancing.

Mom kicked up her feet and enjoyed the warm grass...

...while Daddy took the girls to the rock climbing wall set up near the stage. Clara made it all the way to the top!

Christina went to take her turn dancing with the girls, but a previous student of hers came up to say hi, and invited the girls over to her cotton candy stand for a free "baby" cone.

Watching the floss being spun:

Running back to show Daddy their cones of cotton candy!

Baby cones? They are bigger than our heads!!!

Who cares? The cotton candy was the best we'd ever tasted, and we all got sticky and silly together from it.

We saw this fun family that we remembered running into at this same event last year. They introduced the girls to their dogs, and they stayed to pet Lady and Monte for a long time. It turns out these twin boys were also adopted....we had lots of fun swapping stories and bonding.

Danny taught the girls how to roll down the hill-- we can't quite believe we hadn't taught them this skill yet!

All four rolling together.

Then it was back to the dancing - this band really knew how to cover some summer favorites.

A sweet/sad Clara side story here: While Christina was dancing with Elena and Steve was snapping pictures, Clara walked over to this boy, and he offered to dance with her. She lit up right away and LOVED dancing with him.

At the end of the song, he went back to dancing with this lovely girl (with whom he clearly was enchanted) and Clara was very confused. Steve tried to dance with her, Christina tried to dance with her, but she burst into tears that rolled right down her cheeks and cried "I love him! He dance me. I love him! _I_ dance wit him."

Oh, it was sad. The heartbreak that lays before this girl, with such an open heart and with her emotions right at the surface. Christina decided it is never to early in life to learn how to cut in, and the boy said it made his night when she did. The lovely girl graciously bowed out for a song, and then we bid them all goodnight.

As if today wasn't enough fun already, packages from Auntie Laura, Uncle David, Grace, Suki, and Kate arrived today! They had called ahead and told the girls they could open their birthday parcels early, and so they waited all day for the trucks to bring them, and were utterly thrilled with the contents.

THANK YOU, you guys, for the craft supplies, books, and beading materials - they were a big hit, and they absolutely loved everything about them. For so many others of you who have sweetly sent gifts, we are holding them ready for the big day on Monday!