Growing!!

Liv's latest trick!!
... and favorite playtime activity is standing! she's has yet to fully grasp all the mechanics of it, but it getting better. btw, she does a wicked Hula!

we also enjoy playing with the breeze... (hmmm, wonder where she gets that??)

Real Food!!

Liv started eating real people food last week.

We've tried apples, pears, sweet potato, carrots, avocado, acorn & butternut squash. Avocado is by far the least favorite. She literally gags, if a spoonful sneaks in. ((it's hysterical!)) A friend suggested that I try mixing it with figs... hmmm, sounds yummy...

And more good news! I found my baby silver & polished it up a little... Liv seems to approve...

Olivia's Friend

Olivia is maturing to a point where she is making new friends. I am concerned though that they are the imaginary type that live in our closet. Also, today is Emily's Birthday. To celebrate, we are off to a nice restaurant tonight and have a Livvy sitter all lined up. Against Liv's request it will NOT be her imaginary friend.

Some Recent Photos

HI! Liv is almost 6 months old, now.
She's got her bottom two teeth. She's working on solid foods ... as you can see here. (Pears! Very yummy!! Thanks, Kim!!). She sits unsupported & fall less than she used to. and can recover back to sitting from most tumbles. She's very interested in her surroundings. She is starting to respond now to other small children and animals. She still loves hanging around in the Bjorn (I call it my Baby-Harness) and gets VERY excited when she sees me pick it up. And enjoys long walks in the stroller. She's starting to "scoot" and rolls over & over... until she gets stuck in the legs of the dining chairs & table or under the couch (as you can see below).

She's still very "mellow" baby. Not too many giggles, and hardly any crying. She's a delight to me and seems to make a lot of other people smile, too!





I'll try to post again soon!
thanks for visiting!
love, ~emily.

Swimming O

We have been taking Olivia for her swimming lessons during the last several heat waves. The other kids think it is awesome when she comes out to play. The kicking / swimming instinct is uncanny. Next year off to the waves for some surfing.

Drunk Olivia

So last night Olivia found the magic of Mr. William Cosby's "Zerbert". Whilst hanging out on the changing table the true art of zerbertism came to perfection. Emily absolutely lost it. You can hear her in the background laughing. At the time I was concerned that I may need to call an ambulance for her. Olivia loved being the mega ham.

Liv is 5 Months Old!

So Far, So Good!

Liv is 5 months old! We are all doing well. The official stats have her at 27.5" => Over 2-foot Tall!! and 14.5 pounds. (dr's happy)

Still a very peaceful baby. (lucky us!) She rolls over both directions, sits un-supported (falls over eventually and reliably). not "scooting" more than an inch at a time (again, lucky us!) maybe attempting to imitate some of the signs we're using... or, i could be fantasizing that. She's a lousy napper, a pretty good eater, and an awesome bath-taker!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past couple weeks.

... Super Chill Baby ...

basking & looking cute.

First Bubble Bath!
(looks a little like Grampa King with the goatee)

buddies: Adriano & Leo

cousins: Colin, Ashley, & Chase

Soaring in Minden, NV

This past weekend we took off for Nevada to one of our hiding places in the West. Jeff got to go soaring with a good friend in his glider. Jeff is still trying to fit owning and flying a glider in a congested schedule and limited budget. Who knows he has been known to do more with less in the past. The picture below is good depiction of the flight path on Saturday with some excellent meteorological conditions. Towed up 2000 feet and Leo worked his magic dialing the glider up to 12,000 feet in 30 minutes. Off to Mt. Seagull were we met up with three other gliders and then headed South towards Mono Lake. At that point we hit the fork in the road either head South towards Yosemite and the Whites or shoot North to the East of Tahoe for the majestic views. As you can see below we went North and beyond. Then right over Reno to make the air traffic controllers nervous as they are not busy anyways. Absolutely amazing day of soaring!


The video below is a fraction of the flight and I really should have included the exciting ride over Reno but I had both hands on the stick and on the look out for "heavy metal". You can hear the vario in the back ground high pitched fast beeps we are going up and slow low pitched beeps we are going down.

Emily Likes Fountains

So.... I am sure that most of you have no idea that Emily like fountains. She is frequently requesting one in the house or out on the patio. I think they are more of a pain then they are worth. In fact I think that we have a wonderful fountain type apparatus already installed in the house. Anyways, I decided I would show her how much I love her and make her the biggest fountain ever. The sequence below is how Emily got to view her belated Anniversary present as near to our patio as I could get it.

What the #@&* are they wearing?

So there is this Birthday Party picnic that we are invited too. Unbeknown to us in our hast reading the invite there is apparently a dress code. As you can see below this is what our poor eyes laid upon when we arrived. Not much else to say about that, except the captions below.

Yes one of the charming (pronounced with clenched teeth) Birthday boys. Pretty sure he did not get lucky that night. Should have got him a gift certificate for some clothes at Wal-Mart.

This gents name is Brent AKA "Bubba" name he acquired during stint in San Quentin. If you are shopping for a Chris Craft he is your man. (and then some).

Only one word comes to my mind as I look at this ..... SPECIAL......and yes she is a croquet pro as well sponsored by Voit I believe. Good party and the best friends one could buy (at least on my minuscule salary).

Aloha!!! & pictures from Hawai'i Trip

ALOHA

We are all well!! Olivia;s having a grand time. she has grown a bit I think... she's also gotten accustomed to playing in the pool and at the beach, the waves were a bit of a shock at first, but she's getting it. She rolled over (back to front) twice yesterday in her playpen/crib (where she has the mesh walls to push off) and is very close to pulling it off on a hard surface. but hasn't yet gotten front to back... soon tho' i;m sure.

There are more pictures, but here are a few!



FLASH arrived early Sunday morning, crew was tired, but happy. The days leading up to the wedding, we're fun and beautiful and more or less relaxing.

some fun group dinners, lots of trips to the beach for kiting, suring, general splashing around. lots of evenings in the hot tub, feeding the GIANT fish in the old Hawaiian fish pond they had at the house. And some last minute wedding prep (licenses for example)

Lots and Lots of SunBlock!!!

by now, everyone from the wedding has gone back home, Jeff is working at the power plant and Livvy and I are staying at the hotel, visiting with friends, going for walks, trying not to get too much sun, playing at the beach and in the pool.

We'll post more soon! some pictures of the wedding and other fun times!

Aloha!

Off to Hawaii

Aloha, Olivia is styling in First Class while Mom and Dad have to ride coach. Yes, that is a mai tai they are serving her. Apparently there is no legal drinking age in International Airspace. I guess cute goes a long way in fact all the way to the front of the plane. Daddy is lucky that he did not end up in cargo. Race Update - Jody & Skip are in 2nd and I am hoping "Criminal Mischief" is making a mistake on their southerly approach into Kanehoe. Go"Flash".

Jody & Skip leave for Hawaii on Flash

The soon-to-be bride & groom:



Joey Penrod & Jody





The Team aboard Flash:

The start:

You can follow the boat's progress at:
http://www.pacificcup.org/
there are several tracking tools... they are in Division F. boat name "Flash"