Practicing in the pool

We had a nice weekend visiting with Nana and Tom has the week off.  The kids spent a lot of time in the pool and tonight they practiced some tricks with dad.  

Here's Leo -- the old pro.  

Serafina is starting to catch on. 

Home and missing Arkansas already

We woke up early today and drove to Little Rock.  We were a little early so we hung out at the Bill and Hillary Clinton airport and had some lunch.  

 From Little Rock we went to Las Vegas, which was a pretty interesting scene.  Then we were on our last leg of the journey.  Leo fell asleep for a bit on the short flight from Las Vegas to San Jose.

 Tom picked us up and it was great to be reunited.  Can't you tell?

Last day in Arkansas

I have a love/hate relationship with Arkansas.  I love how beautiful it is, how peaceful it is, and of course, my family that lives here.  I hate how boring it is and how conservative most people are and the lack of decent restaurants.  I'm sad to be leaving tomorrow, but we had one last day of lovely country living.  

Here's Serafina on the tree swing.  

 Dirty country girl feet.

Here's just a part of my dad's property.  His yard is so beautiful during this time of the year.  Sharon does an amazing job of keeping it looking nice and has planted lots of fruit trees and other edibles.  

 Sharon and Leo doing a little playing.

 Wondering what Leo is wearing?  Well it's a safety vest that my dad used to wear while he walked his dogs at dusk.  Leo asked Sharon if she used to be a construction worker.

 This is Bear; he is very cute and kinda dumb.

 This is Max; he is the favorite child and rules the house.

 Both dogs got use to the kids and handled their attention quite well.

 Relaxing in the porch swing.

 More relaxing.

 Ito came out after lunch to give the kids (human and doggy) a ride in the golf cart.

 He spent a little time outside with us.

 Serafina and Grandma Sharon had a cuddle.

 After dinner and bath time, we settled in to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  My dad used his cool glasses to help with the glare from the TV.

We leave early tomorrow morning to make the drive back to Little Rock, fly to Las Vegas and then on home.  Tom misses us and we miss him.  It will good to be home, but it hurts my heart to leave.  The trip went smoothly and it was very special to spend this time with my dad and Sharon. 

80th Birthday Party for Ito

Turning 80 is kind of a big deal, so my step-mom decided to throw my dad a birthday party.  It was a casual potluck at their house.  It poured rain about an hour before everyone arrived and I was worried we would all be trapped in the house.  But the skies cleared and though it was hot and muggy, everyone had a very nice time, especially my dad.  He likes being the center of attention.  

Plus, I got to see some old friends and family.  

Here's a picture of (from left to right) my step-brother's ex-wife Mckenzie, my step-nephew Andy, my current step-sister-in-law Paula, and family friend Amanda.  I lived in Arkansas when Andy was a baby so it is pretty cool to see him so grown up.  He's 13 years old and taller than me.  

 Here's my step-brother Justen and my step-mom Sharon.

 We spent a little time in the pool at the beginning of the party.  Leo wasn't interested in having his picture taken.

 Silly girl.

 I made paper flowers for this party too.  My sister-in-law Paula was in charge of decorating and she made the pool deck look really cute.

 Sharon ordered a big cake with the instructions "something soccer or medical", so they incorporated both.

 We got my dad to sit outside and Sharon bravely carried out the big cake.

 My kids had prime spots by the cake.

 Lighting and blowing out candles.

Singing "happy birthday".  

 More paper flowers used as centerpieces.

 Serafina enjoyed the cake.  Apparently the kids got two pieces because I busy changing out of my bathing suit and people love to give my kids sugar.

 This is my dad's "girlfriend" Candi, a pharmacy tech.  She's sweet girl who dotes on my dad and my dad likes her attention.

 A picture with the birthday boy and the kids.

 Just me and my dad.

 Silly Leo wore the soccer ball plastic cake decoration as a hat.

 My kids tried to disassemble the decorations while people were still there to signal the party was over.  I had them stop.

 But Andy and his dad and step-mom stayed a little longer.

 Andy was very sweet to the kids and played with them for a long while.

 Serafina, Max and Sharon.

It was a very nice party and everyone I spoke to made sure to tell me that my dad is the sweetest man they know.

Animal encounters

 We found a little terrapin on our way home from walking the dogs.

Here's Leo watching TV and Simon the cat watching Leo.  

Mowing and more

Leo has always liked riding lawnmowers in the abstract, but he hasn't actually been too close to one.  They are very noisy but he wanted to ride it anyway.  

He rode it with his ears plugged the whole time.  

 While he was on the mower with Grandma Sharon, I was driving a golf cart for the first time.

Serafina enjoyed it quite a bit.  

 Apparently the dogs don't like to swim, but it was so hot today a dip was going to do them good so Sharon forced the issue.  It was pretty hilarious.

 All that fun makes for dirty kids.  They got into the big jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom.   Just a little bit of bubble bath gets pretty foamy with the jets.

Soap monsters.