July 2017

I don't know how the summer is half over already, but somehow it is. We've had so much fun together--I love being home with my kids during the summers. Helen is now 16 months old. She can understand almost everything, and follow all sorts of directions (take that towel and dry off your feet place, go bring Daddy's shoes to him, put Marcus's laundry in the hamper). She signs eat, more, water, and all done, and she says words for brush, hat, teeth, water, shoes, Marcus, Samantha, Daddy, and dog. While the big kids have lost a tooth each this past month, Helen got her first haircut (just a tiny trim of her bangs)--they're all just getting bigger and bigger!

Here are some of our adventures this past month.

Last Day of School (yes, this was technically in June, but the very very end of June)--with Samantha's teacher for K1, Ms. Hogan:

Playgrounds around town:

Creative pursuits--Samantha's animal art that was in the year-end art show, Samantha's screen-printed tote bags and embroidered tee shirts from a week of MFA art classes, Samantha's "photographs" of Robert and Helen sitting on the couch (two different days), Marcus's works from advanced pottery the second half of this semester, and Marcus's marble runs in our driveway:

Sibling love:

The end of Marcus's baseball season:

Watching Robert's softball games (one of which Marcus got to play in--he got on base 3/4 times at bat, once because the opposing team was a little bit deliberately slow to field his single, but the other times legitimately, with an actual RBI):

Lunch out with friends:

Peaceful sleepers:

"Wicked" with Sarah and Sean at the Opera House downtown (Vietnamese lunch out before):

Opening day at the Frog Pond:

Downtown day--Public Market lunch, then Colonial-era printing and chocolate-making demostrations in the North End, then fountains:

Outdoor movies at the Prudential on Saturday nights:

Frozen delights--rolled ice cream in Chinatown, homemade ice cream on the porch, and making popsicles together:

Helpful babies:

Marcus's woodworking class (pine block racecars) at the Eliot School--the car with wings won a "kids' choice" design award, and was voted one of the coolest by his classmates, so he got an apron as a prize:

Gardening--our tomatoes are taking off!

Thursday evening activities--Fix-It Clinics at the JP Library, tree-climbing in front of it, picnics and people-watching and nature crafts at the Loring-Greenough House: