Birthday month

Here's Amelia on her EIGHTH (!) birthday, with a horse named Chestnut and a trundle bed for her dolls:

Desperate for cake...

post-birthday road trip to Whidbey Island

On the ferry with Audrey

 

A little more wind and we'd have a hair commercial

Gabriel's birthday party.  Yes, that's Big Ben on the cake, to satisfy a small boy's obsession.

the annual pumpkin patch visit

(check out the crazy little elf on the right side of the photo)

first days of school

Amelia's first day was actually a week or so ago.  She's so grown-up now that it's pretty much a non-event.

This one, however, had his first official school day today.

See how happy he was in the picture?  That was before we got to school.  I'm told that after I left him, he cried for half an hour, only to be consoled by the preschool director's banjo playing.

summer vacation

we had a nice little vacation up in the seattle area, and poppa and i even managed to get away for one night to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (super thanks to halmoni, harabiji, uncle david and auntie bo for watching the kiddos!).  

waiting with cousin audrey for the monorail

everyone is more excited than they look, especially gaby

riding in a lorry with the whole fan, except amelia and momma who had their own bikes

blueberry picking

 then we came home for a day, and headed down to pebble beach for the weekend

anything can be a train track for the G-babe

aforementioned pebble beach

and when we came home, our darling friend isabel (and her mom and dad) visited us.  here are the kiddos at the exploratorium:

now it's back to work and school...

angel island

we finally got to go on our long-planned trip to angel island.  there are few things i like more than old buildings, batteries (and by batteries, i mean fortified emplacements for heavy guns), and biking with the kiddos.  angel island had all three.

here are the kiddos and poppa in front of an abandoned infirmary:

 view of sf:

 look at the love!

 aforementioned battery:

in memoriam

after nearly 92 years of a very full life, amelia and gaby's great-grandma passed away on july 15. we will miss her.

* * *

here are some very sweet photos of her with amelia from five years ago: 

three

Reading his card from Halmoni and Haraboji

Opening his present from Uncle David and Auntie Bo

Oh the anticipation!

Demonstrating his helicopter fan

Admiring the helicopter Amelia built for him (he spent most of the afternoon in this position)

actually seven