July 13: Morning at the Beach

I'd been wanting to take the boys to the beach all summer, and it was starting to look unlikely - but it turns out we have a little beach right here just outside of Denver! The sand is a little coarse - one might call it dirt with tiny rocks - and the highway runs within distant view - but we have a beach, with a long gentle slope into a roped-off swimming area. It's one of three lakes in a beautiful open space park called Bear Creek Lake State Park, and we spent this morning there with a few friends from playgroup.


The boys loved it as much as I'd hoped, and with all my fears of water and their unrelenting attraction to bodies of water, it was surprisingly low-maintenance.


The swimming area was shallow enough that they could sit waist-deep and play. There were extra toys lying around that other families seemed glad to share, and Jonah was happily entertained for more than half an hour with this green bucket, a lake full of water and handfuls of tiny rocks.


ONE OF MY FAVORITE JONAH PICTURES EVER:




Isaac, meanwhile, was on the move, roaming the swimming area, splashing and giggling, playing with various toys. He loved it too. BELOW - AWESOME ISAAC PICTURE!




We played for a good hour and a half, then ate lunch on the beach with our friends.




It was hard to tear the boys away when it was time for naps.


So I let them play again after lunch.


Both my boys loved a foam surfboard that another little boy had brought.


Finally, I got the boys changed and dry and in fresh clothes, let them get started walking across the beach to the parking lot while I picked up all our stuff to carry...and turned around to find them five yards away in a mud puddle.


Happy as could be.




They were thirsty and we were out of water, so I convinced them to leave the mud puddle with a promise of a cold bottle of water from the concession stand. By this point, as this picture shows, they were exhausted.

July 8: Last Day in Charlotte

We let the boys pick what they wanted to do on their last day in Charlotte, and they picked the pool. After a long wait for the rumbling thunderheads to roll past us, we finally had time to get in the water before it was time to go get dinner.


My dad was in the pool with the boys the whole time.




They could have done this for hours.




The sky continued to look ominous, but I think the lifeguards were ignoring the very distant thunder.

July 7: A Fun Day in Charlotte

After Adam went back to Denver to work, the boys and I stayed in Charlotte for the short rest of the week.

They both love the Charlotte house and have their favorite things there - the bells by the stairs, the "track" around the long kitchen island, and until recently, Isaac was obsessed with the balancing fisherman on my dad's study shelf. This trip, Jonah thought it was hilarious to run into my parents' room, throw himself into this armchair by their bed, and be sprawled out, just relaxing, by the time we discovered him.



The day before, we'd gone to the mall to look for some flat-bottomed shoes so Isaac could join the weekly kids' tennis clinic at the club. We found some good basic tennis shoes, but Jonah stole the show. I glanced over at him and saw him standing by the wall of footwear, looking around innocently, all his clothes still on...and a used, open diaper lying on the floor next to his feet.
At first it was inconceivable that it could be his diaper - his shorts were still on! But it was certainly our diaper, and when I checked him - yep, bare bottom under those buttoned-up shorts.
I was flabbergasted. But it was hilarious. And Jonah, the master of deadpan, didn't even crack a smile.

On the way home from the mall, Jonah stole the show again. Isaac is a pretty good counter up to the teens, but he this time, he was counting his upcoming birthdays and telling us what presents he wanted for each one - and he forgot what came after seven.
I told him to count up to it, and he did, but he stopped again at "seven..."
And Jonah told him the answer. Clear as could be, Jonah said "EIGHT."

The next morning, we made it to the club by 9 for Isaac's first tennis lesson ever. I was so excited for him to try a sport I've played since age 10 (and casually for years before that). He picked out a mini racquet to borrow, and Jonah also picked out a racquet and ball because he thought he had a lesson too, no matter what I said.





When the preschoolers filed onto the courts, poor Jonah sped up his walk, his little legs pumping so fast, his racquet and ball clutched in his hand - but the door closed just before he could get in. I felt sad for him - he has loved playing ball for as long as he could hold one, and he didn't understand why he couldn't go with Isaac.
But we played around on the empty courts, and he recovered quickly.


Meanwhile, Isaac looked excited and energetic at first, then a little frustrated, as all the other kids had done this before and he was struggling just to make contact with the ball. But then he started getting some hits, and Kevin, who is also my mom's coach and has sons the same ages as Jonah and Isaac, was the perfect laid-back, encouraging personality for a sensitive, perfectionist little boy. Wow, that sounds familiar...

Cork gets a walk every day at 5pm. The streets were usually wet from the daily storms.


My old neighborhood...I love those big trees.


A few other bits of Jonah dialogue, as we watch his language unfold:

JULY 5

Jonah: "Babop...made...good...French toast...[to]day." - This is one of his first complete, perfect sentences. I couldn't believe it.

And after lots of dripping SC peach for lunch, Jonah: "Mama, peep wah guuuuh (peach was goood)."

July 3: Party on the Mountain

While in NC, we were in a gorgeous pattern of clear mornings and afternoon storms, much like Denver has had this summer. All the Yellow Mountain families and their guests were gathering at the Pavilion at 6pm to celebrate the 4th of July. My mom had made baked beans and chocolate brownies with caramel icing, and my dad packed us some good wine. And we four lucky, pampered people just had to bring ourselves, to the beautiful meadow with friends, food and our own private fireworks show too - thanks to several folks who had brought boxes of explosives to the potluck.

The stormy sky looked threatening, but we just got a quick downpour and a little thunder and lightning, and then it kept moving.


Whenever my dad leaves Jonah's sight, Jonah starts looking around and calling "Baaa-booop!"




He sure loves his Babop.






After eating a little dinner, the boys wandered around the meadow and played with the toys my mom had brought.


Jonah stopped to survey the vast mountain views.






Isaac loved this light-up beach ball, as did all the other kids.




Talented Adam used his hands for wine and dessert and his feet for kicking the ball...


all the same time.










Right at dusk, the adults in charge of the fireworks got ready to start the show.


They were pretty good fireworks, and they were RIGHT in front of us.


I thought Jonah might be scared, but at every lull, he said "More fireworks! More loud!"






Isaac's new light-up bubble-blaster was also a hit as it got dark.