Oh, the Beautiful People

Fragments:
-During Story Log time, Haven strikes us dumb with his beautifully crafted poem-- the one he wrote with furrowed brow at the kitchen table while asking, "How do you spell...?" His soul shines golden.
-Gussie's laughter bursts out of him unannounced without abandon or a hint of warning
-Simeon's bum. Oh, Simeon! I don't even know where to start with you.
-Henry, elf-like still, tears around like a madcap
-Sweetest Ezra. Soft skin.  Sunbeam baby.
-Sarah's cooking! She is the best cook. (Superlative!)  Sally from Ohia?  She IS superlative!
-Pete's coffee! The BEST COFFEE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER BREWED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!


Humbug.  Who needs words?  Here are snapshots, instead.



Simeon remains obsessed with all things "so little and cute."  He and Debbie play with the little, cute man made from John's pipecleaner.

Old school parks are the best (IN THE ENTIRE WORLD).

 Four becomes

five becomes

eight becomes

nine!

The lake ten minutes from their house is gorgeous, and, best of all, isn't manned by cantankerous lifeguards who tell you to leave your snorkels at home.  (It isn't manned by any lifeguards.)  In fact, early in the morning, John saw a man in full diving gear rise dripping from the water, headlamp beaming.  Now that's a lake.

Zeke appreciated this fact, as he was able to swim to the opposite shore and back without anyone shouting at him.  Here he is resting in the sand after his long swim.

 

 

 

 

Pete and his doppelganger in miniature:

 

 

Aunt Sarah brought juice boxes!  JUICE BOXES!

 

 

Here's an Elfling (or Henry, if you're so inclined).

 

 

Debbie and I were trying to lure Simeon to each other by telling him that the other person's ears were cuter than "a tiny gingerbread man who lives inside a tulip" or "an iiiitty biiiiitty bunny you can hold on your finger," and so on.  He ran back and forth between us without tiring, and we were able to successfully distract him from telling us secrets, a.k.a. burping in our ears.   His ploy drips with earnestness:  "Oh, no.  I don't want to burp in your ear! I just want to tell you a little seeeecret!"

 

Sand angels in the making:

 

Cousins everywhere.  Yippee!

 

Gussie converses with Annika's head.

 

Gussie and Lu relax in the handcrafted bathtub.

 

John and I relax...on the living room couch.  (I'm so sleek and chic here-- not a bit frizzy. John is so handsome.)

We brought Haven's birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa.  I don't know why everyone's so fixated on this one.  It's just a giant bag of candy, for Pete's sake.

 

An abrupt end. Lucinda, unaware of me, dances through to the rhythm of live music from the next door neighbor's party.

 

And because my one snapshotting regret is not stealing a picture of Sarah, sister-friend and hostess extraordinaire, here's one I post in her honor.  I caught Luci doing this, too, Sarah.  I can't be certain, but it looks like Sally from Ohia (not Hawaiah) has been hanging around.