Rain

Some of you may know that we have been experiencing an unusual amount of rain this past Winter and Spring. Even today, as we approach June, it is a chilly 55/60F and rainy. We may have left Oregon last summer but obviously forgot to tell the weather man.

Annabelle :: I know how to make rain.

Me :: You do?

Annabelle :: Yes. You take a piece of cloud, put it in a bowl, add water and stir with a spoon.

Me :: Wow!

Annabelle :: Then you get a string, mix it in the bowl, add some conditioner, tie it around the cloud and float it back up to the sky. Then the rain comes down!!

Drama Queen

This afternoon at the grocery store I bought a pack of four little fruit cups for Annabelle to try. Specifically, they were peaches in grape juice. She could hardly wait to get home and taste one.

I peeled back the plastic lid, got her set up at the table with her favorite spoon and she took her first bite.


Annabelle :: Mom! This tastes TERRIBLE!

Me :: Oh yeah?

Annabelle :: Yes! It is AWFUL!

Me :: (smile)

Annabelle :: It is making me sick! YOU KNOW WHAT? When they picked the peach from the tree it wasn't ripe! THEY DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE! Then they just cut it up and put it in this cup before it was ready for me.



Annabelle :: And I ate a bite and it was HORRIBLE!



Annabelle :: It tastes like CHEMICAL! I THINK I'M GOING TO THROW UP! THIS YUCKY PEACH IS AWFUL!

Me :: (laughing)

Annabelle :: I will NOT eat this!

Me :: (smile) Are you sure?

Annabelle :: Is Gusten! (disgusting)

A Mother's Day Respite

After a rainy morning, the sun came out to rescue my plans for the day - a family bike ride to the Jogel Slough, just past the Naval Air Station.

This trail takes us across wooden bridges, through foliage, down neighborhood ease-ways, and past three playgrounds. It is popular for family walks and cyclists alike. Best of all, the twelve mile ride can easily be extended by simply looping around another slough.


The clouds were out to play too!


Annabelle spotted some goslings. The hangars on Moffett Field in the background...


My latest favorite bench. The foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountain Range in the far distance...

Who is teaching her this stuff?

Annabelle :: (from the carseat) What is five plus five?

Me :: Use your fingers.

Annabelle :: (fumbling around) TEN!

Me :: (speechless)

Annabelle :: That means two fives are ten!

Me :: Yes.

Annabelle :: How many is four plus two?

Me :: Use your fingers!

Annabelle :: SIX!

(pause)

Annabelle :: If two fives are ten, then how many is two tens?

Me :: You can use your fingers for that too.

Annabelle :: One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... eleven... twelve... fourteen... seventeen... eighteen... twenty... thirteen... twenty three... twenty one...

(looking very surprised and satisfied)

Annabelle :: Two tens is TWENTY FIVE!

Cousin Sophia

She's five!

Her new summer suit.


Her big girl desk.


And her birthday dress, sewn by request.