Friday, June 24, 2011

NorCal summer

Greetings friends and family,

100 degree heat sounds hot to some folks, but when you compare that against 115 degrees in Phoenix, 100 sounds fairly cool. You mean you can feel a difference between 100 and 115? Yes. And that's one reason we chose to be here in NorCal this time of year. The nights and mornings are downright cold. So chilly that I had to roll my window up on the way to work this morning. I'll take that any summer day.

With a few spare hours of free time I took the twins to play at the castle park. There are three huge tractor tires just the right size for Easton and Layla to play hide and seek.


We started playing in the wooden castle structure and Easton pointed out the extraordinary number of spiders and spider webs. None of them looked like Black Widow webs so I said, "Ok... Don't touch them! have fun."


How's that for NOT being an overprotective, overbearing father? I make a consorted effort to seek balance in parenting. I'm not bragging, just pointing out the intentional steps I take.

Ouma and Oupa had plenty of new toys and puzzles waiting for the twins. The two of them are really stepping up their skills in solving puzzles. The faster they solve the puzzles, the less time it keeps them occupied. :)


The hot days make for a refreshing pool temperature. The twins voiced their excitement for swimming with Oupa many times over the past few weeks. The thrill of actually doing it met the level of hype Kendra and I described.


Easton stole the show by swimming unassisted for about 12 feet from the steps. He also requested to do a flip because he saw some other girl doing flips off the side. I held him up in a plank position above the water then flipped his legs over backwards. Then after the flip he regained his composure under water and swam a few feet to Oupa. He's turning into a real fish in the water. We also had a great fan club relaxing pool-side.


Kendra heard her mommies group talking about Vacation Bible School. We agreed and signed them up for what we called "camp" for Easton and Layla. Each morning M-F from 9-12 they went to camp and had a great time.

By the second day when Kendra dropped them off they barely even bothered with a "good-bye" before rushing off to join their new friends. Kendra experienced the feeling of leaving them similar to what some parents feel on the first day of preschool. I completely understand what she described. I'm glad I was at work and didn't have to go through that, but I'm also very relieved to hear their stories of extreme fun.


The best thing about camp is the break for Kendra. This is a vacation week for her because she was able to rest every day for a few hours, which is heaven for a full time Mom.

Layla and I went for a long daddy-daughter walk one afternoon. I thought her little legs would wear out after only a few hundred yards. When I said, "it's ok if we don't make it all the way to the shopping center" Layla said, "come on, Dad. I know you can make it!" with an encouraging voice.


We did make it all the way there and wound up sharing chips and beans at the Mexican restaurant. She even held my hand during part of the walk home and I'm soaking up every time she offers to hold my hand. I don't know how much longer I have for her to ask to hold my hand, but I'll never turn her down.

She wanted to go look in the fountain so we walked up to check it out. She pointed out the bugs floating around and it was all I could do to keep her her from reaching in to grab some. I took a picture and it's one of my favorites in the past several months.


I can't believe this is my little baby girl. She looks so grown up and lovely. It doesn't seem to matter how much time and effort I focus on the twins... they keep getting older every day. We're making the most of it, doing our best, and loving every minute along the way.

See you soon!

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