In keeping with the breezy, content-lite nature of this week’s late summer fare, I offer a handful of beach pics and the reminder that poo still dominates the imagination of the eldest child.
The beloved took the picture above, studiously not looking through the camera viewfinder. I had to stay back and work that day, [...]

Let me count the ways.

‘Cause Baba does have a thing about schmutz on the fingers. Only the true love of a bairn would get me this be-schmutzed. Dirt, of course, is another thing entirely and more than welcome. (My thanks to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for the loaner.)

We spent a week with the beloved’s dear friend and her kids, all at this friend’s parents’ place in Carmel-By-The-Sea (yes, it’s everything you’d expect from a town with so many hyphens in its name). The kiddles spent most of the time romping around the house, the garden, or the beach (or watching those [...]

Lawn pixies, Carmel, CA.

Waiting for Godot Mama.
Given the number of rehearsals she’s seen with kids singing and dancing to beat the band, it will basically be a miracle if we manage to keep her off the stage. Mama, after all, is Artistic Director of a local youth music theater company. Ergo, reasons the lil’ [...]

When she’s all grown up, will she remember the Music Together class, where the sweet guy leading it has accomodatingly woven in “Hello, to the Babas,” after he’s sung “Hello, to the Mamas” and “Hello, to the Daddies”? I hope so.
What if instead she remembers the didgeridoo at the Farmer’s Market?
And if [...]

If we were French, or had more samolians for the vacation budget, we’d be gone for a month. But we are grateful for the upcoming week away, during which time I hope to work as little as our Commander-in-Chief. Internet access and/or familial tolerance for my noodling away in front of the computer [...]

Sleeping baby (2), Berkeley, CA.