Signs of Summer

It's July 8. We're full into Summer Mode. Here are some of the highlights thus far:

Lemonade Stand
Liberty and her friend had a lemonade stand. I've long resisted my children selling things but I finally gave in. After all, it's not like selling gift wrap in the neighborhood, which you feel obligated to buy. People who are thirsty and who want lemonade will buy it. The friend made this gorgeous sign and the friend's mom and I stayed a good distance from the kids while they were doing their thing.

Lake Tahoe
We spent the better part of a day out on the lake with Ice Cream SIL, our nieces, and Steve, her dad, who my brother is lucky to have as a FIL. My SIL and the kids swam and then we had a leisurely lunch at Sunnyside.

Our friend Dennis Donahue, aka The Big Sexy, is celebrating his milestone birthday with a three-day golf tournament up here this weekend. Guess where Dave will be?! Margo Wallace, his wife, throws no-holds-barred parties and this event will be no exception. It will also force her to forget the Wednesdays she has been spending in what Dennis calls "The Party Room" with a chemo drip.

Dave and Paris detoured to Las Vegas before meeting us up here. Dave had a meeting while Paris explored the strip and the Mandalay Bay pool with Thom Singer's daughter Jackie, who is older than our daughter but has significantly less freedom. No one is talking much about what they did so I think they had fun. We picked them up at the airport in Reno. As far as I can tell, Reno is one big strip mall.

Fortunately the Littlest Pinks really wanted to see Eclipse so we did that while in Reno, which we never have to go back to. Eclipse was entertaining; the reviews have it right -- the production is the most polished. It is an action movie, after all. It also deviated from the book in some surprising ways.

Independence Day
Our suburb does a traditional hometown Fourth of July celebration. About 40,000 people from near and far flood downtown to see the parade. We had great seats this year -- in the shade and close enough for the kids to talk to the people on the floats. No Dykes on Bikes but lots of Kids on Bikes and veterans to cheer for.

Alameda County Fair
One of my favorite parts of the summer is the County Fair. I especially love the livestock exhibits. Sadly, there were no newborn animals the day we went-- I'm good with pigs, goats, sheep, cows -- any will do. We took the kids to see their first horse race. None of their picks placed but it was fun and also a good math lesson for them. Dave and I used to see the horses run at Golden Gate Fields quite a bit before we had kids.

The Pinks ate their fill of Tummy Trash and also had unlimited wristbands for the carnival rides. The day wasn't too hot and it felt like a pure and simple summer day.