Music Box Carousel

Each of the girls received a beautiful music box carousel from Grandma Maryalice when they were babies. The other morning Camila woke up first (as usual) and she asked that I take down the carousel for her. (Well, you know, in her own pre-verbal way.) So, I set it up on a low stool, wound it up and enjoyed it with her. You can almost imagine how magical this is...

Liv woke up a bit later and joined the magic.

First Dentist Visit

Unfortunately, an unplanned visit... Liv fell at the pool last night. I wrapped her up in a towel and she tripped and fell forward and with her arms wrapped up she fell face first.  :(

She hit her chin, lips, and front teeth. Since it wasn't a super hard fall & she's one of those lucky watch-her-heal-in-front-of-your-eyes kids -- I was (am) optimistic that there is no tooth or nerve damage beyond some pretty nasty bruising. That said, I called all the local dentists first thing this morning and went to the one with the earliest opening.

We talked about it on the way there: typical dr's office stuff, desk, papers, magazines; then the people with masks & stuff, the big lay-down chair, lots of cool adjustable lights, tables, tools, tubes. Probably an X-ray (how cool! We're going to get to look at the bones under your skin!!) and the big heavy blanket and crazy camera they stick right in your face. 

She was great! Cooperative, patient (we had to wait), calm.  The Dr says it doesn't look too bad at all, and she showed sensitivity to cold air, which means the nerves are still functioning! (He said we should keep an eye on those teeth for discoloration or blistering on the gum. And that we should come back in a few weeks for a follow-up and a full cleaning/exam). She (we) got kudos for clean, healthy teeth and "good home care."  I was one proud mama. 

Here she is after xray (see background) watching Pingu on Netflix & waiting our turn. and rocking the paper bib.

Swim Lessons

Liv had her first swim lesson yesterday!  Very exciting stuff.

Its hot this week, which makes it easier to want to go swimming. But I suspect she'd be excited no matter what...

She's the smallest of the group of 5 kids in her Level I class, and def. not the bravest. But, she's super excited to be in swim school and likes her teacher, and loves the giant pool. She's fascinated by the diving boards (and we may use that as motivation to become a strong swimmer).

Yikes

This rather large black widow was camped out on the front porch last night.

Field Trip to Local Apricot Grower

We had a wonderful field trip with the MOMS Club earlier this week to a significant local business, here in Patterson, the "Apricot Capitol of the World!" Dave Santos of Blossom Hill Apricots (Lucich-Santos Farms) very generously gave us a great tour of the processing facility and the orchard, let the kids pick cherries and sent us each home with cherries and apricots. NICE!

The facility uses computer optics and manual sorting for size, color, defects. There were about 125 people working in the processing facility.

  He told us that they are processing 2 million apricots a day!! More than any other apricot grower in North America.They clean, sort, and package organic fruit & send them to Trader Joes, Whole Foods, lots of high end grocers as well as the non-organic varieties to Costco, Mariani (dry fruit processors) and jam producers too!

Yummy!

Then we trooped out to the cherry orchard - which they officially finished picking a couple weeks ago - and he let us gather what we pleased. What a fun treat for all of us!!

Dang! Those were some juicy cherries. phew!

Now we're home with more fruit than we can safely consume - any favorite apricot recipes, anyone?

We started with popsicles. (blended apriots, yogurt, honey, milk)

A fun treat on a hot afternoon.

Liv's New Pet

No. Not really.

But she did ask. "Can the bunny be my pet? I really want one."

"Let's talk about it some more and then discuss it with Daddy when he gets home."

We kept bunny overnight. Fresh water, clean the box, lots of yummy grass. 

We talked about what kinds of love and attention pets need. And also how wild bunnies like to hop around and run, and that living in a cage, she wouldn't get to do much hopping. :(

And then ... she escaped.

Of course, Jeff started researching puppies again. sigh.

Finger Painting for the First Time

Finger Painting!

I have fuzzy early memories of happy times finger painting as a preschooler with my Grandma Maryalice. I've been stalling for a while, dreading the mess, and unsure how one even sources butcher paper these days... 

But finally, I picked up the paints at Target & just gave up on the slippery paper. (Though I will keep looking - does anyone have any ideas?)

 I really wasn't sure how to start, but I showed them a couple pictures of kids finger painting, covered the table, squirted some paint on plates, gave them paper and stood back.

A period of tactile exploration...

Wait. What is Liv looking at?

Awwww. Really?

Right. Ok. Umm,

Let's keep the paints on the paper...

"Sure! Why didn't you say so?!"

Needless to say, I stood back as much as I could... which of course, ended up not being very much.

And those are about all the pictures I took. sigh.

 The aftermath...

(not too bad after all)