Summertime

Ah, summer in Portland.

I just love this city.  We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather with some quintessential summer activities.

First up, berry picking.

Grady, Clara and I went black raspberry picking in nearby Hillsboro to give Daddy a chance to build Grady's sandbox (more on this later!).  I was really excited to do this - growing up we had rows and rows of black raspberries, which my dad turned into fabulous black raspberry jelly.  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but Grady actually was getting some good berries, which he carefully put into his bucket before not-so-carefully putting them into his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was pretty hot and the berries were few and far between, so Grady didn't have the best time.  In memory, though, he thinks he had a great time - asking all his favorite ladies at daycare to go berry picking with him.  (He's getting to be a bit of a flirt that one!)  We nonetheless collected enough to make a few pints of blackberry jam.  Not nearly as good as Dad's, but still tasty.

Inspired, Clara and I have gone back a few more times for blueberries and loganberries.  We hope to make one more trip next week. 

So back to the sandbox. Matt has been spending much of his "free time" (such that it is) making Grady a beautiful sandbox.  This past weekend, he put on the finishing touches (except for the seats, still to come).  Grady is beyond thrilled, constantly mentioning what a great job Daddy did.

We also cashed in on a birthday present from Uncle Cliff and got Grady this dump truck and a "bulldozer tractor." They are in heavy rotation.  And Grady wants to say "Thanks Uncle Cliff" and when asked if he wanted to say anything else "Thanks again Uncle Cliff."

Next summer fun activity?  Open swim at Sellwood Pool!  Here we are pre-swim getting psyched for the big event.

It's impossible to get a picture of this kid where he's not talking

Pre-game strategy session

Before swimming, though, we stopped at the park to do some swinging - a first for Clara.

Not sure whether this is awesome or terrifying

Clara seemed to like it at first, and then sort of transitioned to being scared. Sometimes the dividing line is hard to tell.

Open swim was quite an adventure for everyone because it doesn't start until 7:20 PM - so about 10 minutes before Grady's new bedtime and about an hour after Clara's. Nevertheless, we gave it a go.  And it went really well!  Grady was SO excited to show off his skills learned from his swimming classes with Daddy.  He blew bubbles, was a terrifying dinosaur, a big lizard, back floated, and did all sorts of other tricks.  He especially liked running through the fountains.

 And some stills.

 Clara had her first swim experience too.  She was stoic about it.

But it got a bit chilly, and we were both okay with hanging out on the sidelines and watching the fun in the pool.

Despite the late bedtime, everyone woke up at the usual time. But we were a tired lot by the afternoon.

Clara is just rolling out the milestones over here.  She got her first tooth already.  I'm so not ready for this - both from a practical and an emotional standpoint.

See it?  Middle bottom, on our left

She's also trying her hand at sitting.  She's got the strength, but gets too distracted by happenings around her and loses her balance.  Nonetheless, here's a shot.

She's also moving around.  She can get several feet away from where she started, mainly by rolling from back to front, and then scooting backward.

Another big thing for Clara right now is spitting.  Raspberries are pretty much the new black around here.

We've also started offering Clara some whole foods.  She's not getting much down, it's more just for fun.  So far we've tried green beans (awful), yellow pepper (what?) and pizza crust (YES!).

First family dinner

She's also continuing to emerge as a beautiful, cheerful girl.

The main big thing though is watching the brother-sister relationship evolve over the past few weeks.  There has been a bit more jealously on Grady's part - mainly wanting toys that Clara is holding - but there's also been a lot of concern for Clara and a desire to be with her. There's an amazing video which isn't uploading.  I'll try again later.  But for now, you are caught up.