Josie and Evie

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Swimming at Strawberry Canyon

Hot summer days mean swimming at the pool! This was our first time going to Strawberry Canyon pool (part of UC Berkeley) and we ended up signing Josie up for swim lessons there. Hurray for summer!

We finally built the raised beds, filled them with ultra rich soil, and planted corn, squash, beets, carrots, chard, kale, tomatoes, basil and beans... We also planted cover crops in between the plants to help control weeds. These are some very happy vegetables (see growth from May 18 to to June 22 in these photos - the corn and tomato plants are already much higher since this photo was taken). The grass is almost fully recovered since the studio construction work and the other landscaping is starting to fill in nicely around it. The backyard is becoming the family's little urban oasis! So far, we've picked kale, basil, and a few zucchini and beets.

We also harvested the garlic from our garden plots at Lisa's grandparents in Sacramento. It's been dried, cleaned and trimmed. Ready to store for the year!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Camping at Pinnacles, May 2013

Pinnacles National Monument. We took the girls and met up with Kathryn, Justin, Sarah, and Laura & Evan. Evelyn is getting her legs under her and can crawl now, so she had a blast crawling around the soft interior of our tent, starting very early in the morning.

We saddled up and carried the girls up Bear Gulch to the talus caves. With Josie we talked about possible bears in the caves---she was excited---and we talked about how the map shows us the way to go, just like in the Dora the Explorer show.

Sarah kicked off one of her Crocs right here, down into the bushes below. This was near our lunch stop, so Justin had a sandwich and thought it over. He fished out the shoe with a long stick that Evan found.

Evie loved being outdoors with so many people to play with and hold her.

It was HOT! The Parekh trio sitting in the shade back at camp at 90 degrees, after the sun had started to go down. We survived the peak temperature of about 95 degrees by drinking lots of water and visiting the campground's swimming pool from 3-4 pm.

Overnight the temperature dropped to 55 degrees or so. Here are the girls eating Justin's pancake breakfast on Mothers' Day morning.

Planning their activities for the day

Opening Mothers' Day cards and gifts

As we packed up the tent, we created an even bigger, soft play area inside. Both girls enjoyed crawling and rolling around.

Josie and Evie both caught up on sleep from 12-2 during our drive home. Josie was inspired by the trip. In the cool afternoon back in Oakland, she made a new necklace, put on a fairy princess outfit, and invented new letters in chalk in the backyard. She also created a hopping game and taught it to me.

Evie in the jumper

Evelyn likes the jumper chair

More Summer in Sacramento

We went back to Sacramento on May 5th to finish our garden planting and get more time in the heat. Josie and Evie played in a couple inches of water in the kiddy pool. You can see our garlic crop in the background...we'll harvest in June.

Josie posed for a picture with G'ma.

After the girls were finished swimming, Papa joined in on this picture

Girls Yelling for the Camera

Evie and Josie yelling for the camera.

First Summer Day in Sacramento of 2013

We went to Sacramento to visit the great-grandparents and celebrate April birthdays. This was our first summer day of the season. Colin and Charlotte joined in the swimming fun, but the pool was still too cold in April for the babies. Josie likes water play on hot days.