Sunset Tour

The kids would like to take you on a tour of our new neighborhood.
It's a lovely evening for a stroll, no?

This is Jonah's school. Right across the street from us.

He thinks he owns it.

Gracie is anxious to show you the park.

It's this way...
(I can't wait for these trees to change color. Squeee!)

By the way. What are these?

They grow on trees. They look like tennis balls. Anyone?

Whatever. They are excellent for throwing in the creek.

To the park!!!

It's a lot like any other park.

Except for these. What. Are. They?!

Whatever. Back to the creek!!!

After many more runs from the creek to the park and back. We are exhausted. This tour is over.

Time to go home...

(Not a speck of zero-scaping in this town. No-sir-eee.)

Snacking While Nekid

Greek yogurt is Gracie's new favorite food. (Thanks to Marmee).

She loves it so much, she can't eat it fast enough with a spoon. She uses her hand..

Which is why she will now eat greek yogurt au naturale.

Little Piggy

Jonah went to his cousin, Perrilou's, birthday party last weekend. Here's what happened...

I can't take him anywhere (just kidding)!

Born in Arizona

Last week, some rain clouds blew in from the north and brought a lovely cool breeze with them. It was maybe 75 degrees at 8:00 that morning. As I walked Jonah to school, Gracie was shivering in her stroller. We headed to Target for a jacket right after that, and when we got home, I found her snuggled into the couch like this. Again, it was maybe 75 degrees.

The girl's still got her Arizona blood.

According to Jonah, Part 31

*conversation between Michael and Jonah*

M: How was your playdate with Donovan?
J: Good!
M: What did ya'll do?
J: Um. We played cars, 'an trains....'an YOU!
M: What? You? Do you mean Wii?
J: Yeah! Wii!

School Days

As Jonah shares about his school experiences each day, there are things I am remembering from my childhood.

For instance:

• Don't forget to air out your lunchbox overnight.
  

• The school's ice cream is whipped and soft, and you eat it with a wooden stick. Delish.

• It's really hard to understand that other peoples actions are not centered around you (i.e. grumpy faces may mean they had a fight with their brother, it's not b/c they dislike YOU)

• Being the last one picked up after school is a scary thing.

• New school supplies, new outfits, new backpack = AWE.SOME.NESS.

The State of Her Hairs

Gracie's hair has become difficult. The longer it gets, the tighter it curls. The tighter it curls, the harder it is to comb out. The crown of her head, where those first baby curls appeared, has become a pain. Literally.

Every morning, I HAVE to comb her hair or it will be a matted rat's nets for the rest of the day. When she sees the comb, she runs away screeching.

Even though I grease her head with cream conditioner before I attempt to comb it. It still hurts.

So this was our solution.


This salon specializes in curly hair.


Claudia let me hold Gracie and gave her a sucker, then OILED Gracie's head. Not even joking. But it was perfect. The comb slid straight through all those curls I've been hacking at.

Gracie actually relaxed so much during the cut, I thought she might fall asleep. (Definitely the best cuddle I 've gotten out of her in a looooooong time.) And the results were a relief. We can let her hair grow-out now, with much less maintenance, and hopefully a lot less product.