Ray of Light

Havana Ruby, you bring us so much joy.

You light up our lives with your songs and dances;

Your silly facial expressions

And your sense of humor.

Now you are 5 and who  you are is emerging more and more.

Your light is shining brighter.

Your kind heart and gentle spirit so big.

You are Thoughtful.

You are Warm.

You are Strong.

You are Love.

You are Sunshine.

What's That?

"What's that Mama?" "It's a telephone....." and there began our conversation about this relic!

Summer Garden

Here area a few photos of our garden; it's the early stages but we have been reaping chard, peas, peppers, tomato, peach, Asian pear and more. Don is in his element when he is out in the yard and the whole family reaps the benefits of his hard work. Havana is reluctant to eat raw veggies but Amara has been very interested in trying things she once resisted like a fresh picked pepper. Veggies I cook (like chard and carrots) in homemade miso/ramen soup) are a more tad more tolerable to Little Havana. But I am confident that in time, Havana will follow in her our footsteps and learn to enjoy the fruits (and veggies) of her father's loving labor.

Don planted these stunning sunflowers that are taller than him and are still growing.

We have two pumpkins so far! Not alot but that'll do.

The end of a long season  of  scrumptious chard.

                         

Don found this horn worm on the tomatoes. We love the creatures in nature but not on our tomatoes!

Batty

 I was going through Amara's school work from this past year when I came upon her journal. I had permission from Amara to read it so I did.

Well, what I found took me by quite the surprise. It actually hurt my feelings and I had to take a few deep breaths.

Then I saw the next page and didn't feel quite as bad.....

Vampiress

 Meet Vampiress; a young vampire who looks eerily like Amara. She appeared in our house just after Amara disappeared while putting make up on.

Vampiress is fierce and determined. We are keeping our distance from her and we hope that Amara did not fall into the hands of this terrifying vampire who's running a muck in our home.

Golden Gate Bridge

                                                               

I have been wanting to take photos of Havana at the Golden Gate Bridge for a specific scrapbook layout I have in mind. With Nana's two week stay quickly coming to close I thought it would be fun for us to take her with us for the photo shoot. Unfortunately, the day was foggy (welcome to California summers!) & I forgot my camera (welcome to my tired life!). Thankfully, my cellphone captured some good enough photos.

Havana looking  out at the view.

                           

We headed into the city afterwards for lunch in Chinatown. Lucky Vegetarian. Yum Yum!

Havana trying soup for the first time. She only took a few tastes but that was good enough.

Havana helping Nana cross the street.

                                                           

A quiet street in Chinatown. What a rare site!

Two conked out sisters after a lovely morning outing!

Pt. Molate

Pt. Molate is a recently re-opened beach park in Richmond in what I think is the south side of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge. The area has some interesting history. Just past the beach was once the largest winery in the US, employing about 400 people. Thanks to prohibition, it closed and was eventually taken over by the Navy as a fuel depot but is now abandoned.  When we drove past the ghost town we had to do a lot of explaining about what we meant by ghost town ("lock the windows" i heard a voice from the backseat prior to our explanation!)

There was just one other person there when we rolled into the park just past 10 a.m. on a recent Sunday morning. The beach itself was not that easy for kids to access (there was a steep edge so adults needed to help the little ones get down) but the beach itself provided exciting things to discover like crab remains and glass made smooth by the water. The water, well it was the Bay; which meant a bit funky. I asked the girls to not go in but of course Amara had to at least let her feet touch the water. I am not sure we would frequent there often but it's close enough a drive for the girls to get their fill of sand play and to enjoy the beauty of Mt. Tam and the San Pablo Bay.