A Week at Grandma's

This past week we spent three and a half days at Grandma E's house.  She has air-conditioning and a trampoline so there was plenty to do.  We brought our bikes and the boys far and wide in the still-too-hot morning hours with Grandpa.  We ran through the sprinklers and even went swimming in Grandma W's pool (who, alas, was not home.  She was sorely missed.  Me swimming with three dare-devil kids is just asking for trouble.)
One morning we even invaded Aunt Nurse's house and had a tea party with a cousin.  She's the same age as Lily so it was really cute.  They fought over the same toys, had the same attachments to baby dolls and tricycles and insisted on equal treatment at the tea party table.  Grandma will probably be getting a bigger tea set from us for her next birthday. 
  

The boys were ready participants in the tea party too, and they also liked climbing trees and digging in some dirt at a nearby park. 

We're half-way through the summer and kindergarten is just around the corner. (yea!  no!  help!)

And the borrower is servant to the lender

Well, we finally did it. We bought a house. And while we realize that hundreds of people buy houses every day all around the world, we're still in awe that we bought a house. Or maybe we're in shock.  We're not really sure.

Details

It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom single family home built in the 50s and remodeled about 10 years ago to expand the master suite and build on a very large garage in the backyard.  There are an assortment of fruit trees in the yard, which we've been enjoying. The street is relatively quiet, and about 2 blocks from an elementary school that we hope we can get in for next year. The kitchen is nicely done. Overall, it's a great fit for us, and even better since we didn't need to do much before we moved in.

Trees

There is an apple tree in the side yard (variety unknown) that has been producing quite well for us, and we are happy to share a few near the top with some birds. There is an avocado tree that's coming in okay. We're told this is the first year that it's producing, so we look forward to trying the avocados. There is a satsuma tree with wicked sharp thorns and delicious oranges. We have a big scraggly pomegranate tree with a handful of blooms transitioning to pomegranates. There's another apple tree with plenty of green apples that should start turning around pretty soon. There's an orange tree with a pretty serious white fly infestation, but the oranges are still good. And a lemon tree in the front yard that we mostly ignore.

The start of a pomegranate

The rest of the trees are less interesting. One tree is the "stick tree" because it's pretty much dead, but we get to use the branches for sticks to sword fight. One tree looks like it might be a short peach tree, but we're not sure. We'll have to wait and see what comes in. The last tree looks like someone grafted two different types of trees together, and we have no idea what's going on with that one. 

Finally, there's a nice large elm tree in the backyard that we used to set up a tire swing. It's a nice big tree with lots of shade. 

Tire swing and boy

Summary

We're very happy with our new house, and are still working on moving in. I think we know where most of the things are, but there are still plenty of boxes to work through. We've met most of the neighbors, and they're all very nice. We look forward to having folks over to visit with us, play in our backyard and maybe enjoy an apple or two.

Fun times in the backyard

Just some pictures

Just for fun, here are some pictures of our little girl who is now growing quite a bit.

Spring

Today we went to the beach.  We live walking distance from a terrific beach but I've taken a two year hiatus from "mom and kids" beach trips, mostly because I am certain someone will deliberately drown, just because I asked them not to.
Today was different because we went with another mom and her two kids.  I'm very motivated to do things when there is a social aspect to the activity - even difficult activities like dragging three kids and all their gear to the beach and back.
Early in the trip, I took the three older kids down to the water to fill up some buckets while my friend played with the babies in the sand under our umbrellas.  Zeke ran into the water, not even pausing to notice the lower than 60 degree temperature.  I yelled at him several times to come back and stay close to me, but he usually got distracted and forgot.  Ben took his time getting used to the chilly water, but he quickly committed to some big splashing.  The three-year old friend we brought along wouldn't go near the water.  Wouldn't even dip his toe in.  He stood where it was safe and gave me his bucket to fill for him.  What an amazing kid.

Playing croquet at the beach.

Ben was gathering water in a spot where two competing currents were sucking the waves back with a strong pull (a typical rip current), and the waves were getting bigger with the rising tide.  I saw the problem quickly, but I couldn't get to him fast enough.  I saw a wave surprise Ben and he went down on his bum, still holding his bucket against the current to fill it.  He wasn't going to let go of that bucket and it was acting like a sail, sucking him down and back with the water.  As I ran I shouted, "Let go of the bucket!  I don't care about the old dumb bucket!  I care about Ben!"  Then I was there and I grabbed his arm.  He let go of the bucket at the same time and I dug in my feet and pulled him up against the current.  Then I carried him up onto the beach and he stood there dripping, staring out at the water.
I stood between him and the ocean, looking back only to see if Zeke needed a rescue.
After a minute his face got very sad and, still looking at the water, he said, "Mom?  What happened to the old, dumb, bucket?"
About an hour later I spotted it washed ashore and now, both Ben and bucket are safely home.