As spring
flew into summer the visible signs of the passage of time are all around our home. For starters, we have four bird's nests in our yard. Here is a late April photo of a finch nest with eggs...
and again a few weeks later. In the blink of an eye,
voila we have chicks!
Here is a chick of another sort. That's no Pirate of the Carribean, that's Charlotte showing off the loss of the first of her two front teeth...
And before you can say "lisp" She's lost both of 'em...
But some things never change. Here is Savannah and Jessica - friends for 8 years, swinging in the backyard...
Since we weren't home for Charlotte's birthday in April, we
finally got around to celebrating it in June. She asked for a luau-themed party. Of course no luau is complete without hula dancers. From left to right, here is Savannah, Charlotte & Ariana Rassouli performing
Puka Shells...
We held the party in a little park down the street. Here's Jessica & Charlotte playing badminton during the party...
and of course, cupcakes & singing
Happy Birthday. Note the paper tablecloth, the 'tiki torch' center piece and the sterno-heated chafing dishes...
During the hula performance, one of the kids in the audience said "Hey! the table is on fire!" And indeed it was! The sterno & tiki lit the paper tablecloth - not enough to call 911, but enough to make all the grown-ups suddenly act like Fire Marshall Bill. A lot of slapping, puffing and shouting...
Here is a picture Charlotte took after the eye-doctor dilated my eyes. No one should have to see their face this big
Mid-June brings the San Dimas
Ho'olaulea - a festival of all things Hawaiian. This year Savannah was the front & center dancer in her class. Just look for the blonde girl!
Charlotte made her professional debut, too. Here she is on the end doing
Kea Nui Nui
Savannah came back for a Tahitian set. Tahitian is the really fast dancing with all the rapid hip movements, and SBK really shakes those tiny hips!
Someone had a Red-Tailed Hawk at the
Ho'olaulea. These hawks have nothing to do with Hawaii, but they sure make nice pictures!
Here is the gang enjoying the festival. From left: Charlotte, Melody Rassouli, Savannah, Lesli, Ariana and Dan
(and now a word from our sponsor) if you come to our house for dinner, Lesli makes excellent home-made french fries...
For Father's Day we zipped down to San Diego. Margie & Van had a little gathering for the event, as well as to celebrate a birthday and a bon voyage. Here's Margery & Lesli...
And the girls enjoying too much dessert...
Dan with Lesli's cousin Arthur...
Cousin Dawn & her husband Scott with Lesli & Dan (photo courtesy Savannah)
I don't know what was going on here, I just love pictures of happy, toothless first-graders...
And I also
love summer solstice. Here is sunrise on the longest day of the year, taken near our house. If you click on it, you can see the San Bernadino mountains looming in the distance
And here, 15 hours later is the same hilltop with me and the girls
Towards the end of June, Aunt Julie brought Kendall Harris & Whitney Crowley for a visit. Better hosts would've taken the tourists to Hollywood Blvd, or Rodeo Drive. We took 'em horseback riding in the Hollywood hills! From left: Savanah, Charlotte, Lesli, Dan, Whitney, Aunt Julie and Kendall. The ranch dog is Jack.
Here is Savannah on Ranger...
Whitney and Charlotte on Crystal waiting for everyone else to get ready
Hitting the trail with Lesli and Kendall
Kendall & Charlotte
Aunt Julie was originally given a horse name Colonel Mustard (seen below).
He didn't like her very much. The wranglers found an alternate and asked Julie to dismount The Colonel. In keeping with her vacation tradition, she fell. On her bum. Laughing. Here she is, composure
mostly intact and astride her new ride, Sundance...
Kendall on Angel, who was anything but heavenly!
Lesli and Buckshot
Here's Whitney and Cherokee...
It's strange to be on horseback seemingly in the middle of nowhere, riding down a canyon with hawks in the air, then top a ridge and see the Hollywood sign. Aunt Julie on the right. Hollywood sign in the distance...
The local pest control was making the rounds at the ranch...
Walking back to the car. Judging from our posture, we'd all been in the saddle too long! Actually, this is a steep hill and we are all doing a walk that SBK invented last time she was here.
Later that day, Savannah's jazz dance class held their summer recital. Here she is, in costume after performing to Stevie Wonder's crowd-pleasing number
I Wish (those days could come back once more)...
The next day we took our guests to the beach. This chapter of the blog ends with a shot of Charlotte doing something we'll be doing a lot of for the rest of the summer...relaxing on the beach.
Next up - Palm Springs! All the best, -DK
During the heat of the day we came indoors and played Uno, Skipbo orMonopoly. When I was a kid, we never finished a game of Monopoly, because one of us would cry. Some things never change - this game ended with tears! I won't say who cried...
Little sister Charlotte having a slide...
Savannah's BIG birthday present is a lizard. A Leopard Gecko lizard to be precise. Here are the girls, waiting for the new lizard (aka "Frankie") to step out of the paper bag and into her new home. (sorry I don't actually have a picture of Frankie!)...
Lesli and the girls went on a two-week trip to Florida and West Virginia to see relatives. In Florida, Savannah, showing a strong affinity for reptiles, holds an Anaconda at GatorWorld...
In West Virginia, here is Charlotte cooling off at a waterpark. Note the Atlanta Braves cap (major point of pride for me!)...
Scenic beauty in West Virginia. It's hard to know what Charlotte is thinking...
As we roll into summer's last days, we're spending quality time at the beach. Here is our friend Aubrie with Savannah & Charlotte, goofing around at El Porto in Manhattan Beach.
Coming up next - our Labor Day trip to Yosemite! -DK
