A Midsummer's Night's Eve

Just after Daddy's birthday, Omi and Opa came to stay with us out at Ceci's!




Zoë's friend Andrés came too, with his mommy, Julie…


…and his daddy, Alex:


We had a big dinner of pesto with tempeh and a yummy salad.


After dinner, we all went to play in the yard!







It was a beautiful night.


Fergus relaxed a bit…


…but then Opa came out to play!


Yay!


Julie and Omi admired the garden.


Zoë and Opa had a nice chat on the swing.


Here's Mommy!


It was starting to get dark.


Everyone was enjoying the dusk.



Then it was time for bed.


The next day, Omi worked her magic on Mommy & Daddy's neglected garden!

One minute there was an old stump…


…and the next minute there were cala lilies…


…and phlox…


…and day lillies!

(and basil and beautiful hydrangeas too, but we didn't get a picture of them.)

Here is Stella beside her handiwork;


Meanwhile, Zoë was having a good time!




Daddy had gotten Mommy an early birthday present!


Rosie gives Julie and Andrés a call – "wanna come play in the pool?"


…and soon everyone is hanging out in the back yard.


Peanuts in the pool!


Fun for mommies too!


Fergus relaxes on the grass!


Zoë loves her Opa!


"This kid is pretty smart," says Opa!



Come again soon, Omi & Opa!

Happy Daddy's Birthday!

Did you know that July 1 was Daddy's birthday?

Zoë really surprised Daddy by saying "happy birthday" when he woke up!

Guess where we went!


That's right—the zoo!


Those are camels!


Tiger!


What does Zoë think?


Time for a snack!


What next?


Lions!


Pretty peacock!


Zebra!


Someone taking a bath—do you know who it is?



That's right—hippopotamus!


There were a lot of animals at the zoo! Can you name them all?


Monkeys! Flamingo! Pushme-pullyu! Bunny!

The bunny was just visiting.

Zoë waved at the flamingos:


It was hot, so they had sprinklers set up for the people to cool off with.


Can you guess who we saw next?


That's right—giraffe!


She looked right at Zoë!


Then we saw some kangaroos!


They all got up and went under a tree when it started to rain.

Can you see the little one nursing with her mommy?

Where to now?


Zoë liked the scarlet ibexes!


Don't forget the elks and the prairie dogs!



We all had a fun time on Daddy's birthday!


Zoë got a hat.


When we got home, Zoë went on the slide.