We have a Mexican feast for lunch. We sadly say goodbye to our beloved nanny Olivia. I could not have done this without her the last two years. We will greatly miss her. 

today eli grills purple playdough on his george forman grill. he also models his necklas he made last week. 

Eli's last art class 

our new tuesday night ritual, dining with the Nadal/Zarrow family (switching houses each week.  

eva gracefully runs around the room 

my sweet eva 

Eva in ballet class 

The children prepare for the treasure hunt in the mountain village 

Here comes the big train back from Santa Cruz 

Engineer Eli considers the ducks in the pond

Eli has his own train he must take care of 

Railroad-Eva 

The conductor takes our tickets 

train going over the first tressle 

Jan + Eva on the train 

Here comes our steam engine 

Our fun day at Roaring Camp Railroad! 

I could not resist addding these adorable passports to the blog. 

Eli and Eva paused for moment in their backyard fun to pose for the camera. 

Eva got MOST of her ballet uniform on. Anyway, it is not the clothes that make this ballerina. 

Eva as a fairy 

Eva and Eli ride MUNI aka the J-Church line...always a fun adventure.

my hip is lonely

well it's happening, after three and a half years, my babies are getting too big for me to carry. certainly there are moments of a quick whisking away, a pause with Eli is his old spot, but for the most part, my days of perpetually having a parsite on my hip are over. with each attempt to lift and comfort a crying child or a hard-headed effort to show that I can still do it, i realize that i'm just not strong enough to fight against the gravity that wants to keep these strong little bodies in constant motion on the ground. alas, I just had to acknowledge that this milestone has not come with out my notice. I think happily back on my hip-extended stance as some child perched gracefully as I was cooked, walked, or just rocked back and forth. so be warned you folks out there with little ones, if I get my hands on your child, I'll wear them proudly upon the hip.

Art and Eli are captured by Lenny 

Eva and her flag 

Buki the Clown stopped to see her friends... 

4th of July in Alameda

a link to Lenny's photos on the day http://www.lennygonzalez.com/july4_html plus I'll down load a few of my cute family....