Visit with Grandma

Josie had a great time with her Grandma last week. They played "hand on top," "here's the church, and here's the steeple" and "ring around the rosie." She just couldn't get enough!


Carolyn joined us on Josie's first BART train ride. Very exciting! We took the F train once we arrived in the city and went to Pier 39 to meet up with Kathryn and Justin. We watched the sea lions (live and in-person, not on YouTube!) and pretend we were tourists.

Laura's Photos

Laura is a great photographer, and she took some awesome shots during her stay over the weekend. Check out the sampling below.
You can see some of her other work on her website: www.laurajohnsonphoto.com. She's based in LA now, so if you know of anyone who needs a photographer, send them her way!

Visit with Auntie Laura

Laura came to town this past weekend for a visit. Josie had fun waking her up in the morning and showing her all of her books and tricks (like yoga!). We're happy Laura will be coming back next month to play more.

Shock! Shalk!

Josie really enjoys drawing with chalk on the driveway. When we ask her what she wants to draw, she almost always replies "cow" or "cogu" (which is her word for Boppa and Zizi's dog "Cody"). On this day, she got pretty into it and rolled around all over the chalk to really experience the art in a new way.





After every surface was dusted (including her hair) she moved on to helping her dad water the plants. Thankfully, she likes taking baths, now...

Little Farm

Cow! Moo! Cow! Cel-ry! Josie loves going to the Little Farm to feed the cow celery. She's a little intimidated by their big tongues, but she's getting braver every time.

Hiking with Skillet

We went on a hike a couple weeks ago with our friends Jim, Jeanne Marie and their dog Skillet. Josie LOVES Skillet. They could give each other kisses all day long. As you can see, Josie thoroughly covered herself with dust and dirt and had a blast doing it.

Garden Harvest

Success! We've had a great spring and early summer season so far in the garden. Lots of great peas, fava beans, chard, and now beets, carrots and garlic (see pics below). We've never had such success! We can't wait for the green beans, squash and tomatoes.

Maybe by next year, Josie can take care of her own garden bed.

Father's Day

We had a short visit with Tutu and FourFour for a Father's Day bbq lunch, then joined Lisa's family for a Father's Day dinner. The weather was so great, we spent most of the day outside. Josie and Colin played well together at the water table in the backyard, and successfully soaked their first outfits. After getting wet, they preferred to go au naturel (accessorized with rainboots, of course) while digging in the garden. Adorable!

Family Picnic

We joined the Hayashi extended family for a summertime picnic in Sacramento last weekend. It was great to see everyone and enjoy such yummy food! Josie and Colin had a great time at the playground and playing with their 3rd cousins (yes, 3rd cousins!).


A few good pics with Gma:




Jo-Jo was exhausted when we left. We took the longer but more scenic road along the Sacramento River to get back home, and she slept the whole time (she fell asleep while reading a book).

Vacation Back East

We flew to NYC for a week-long vacation, visiting our friends Ethan and Aley and their 17-month old son, Sawyer. It was a packed itinerary, including a road trip to Connecticut and Rhode Island. Josie was a real trooper, surviving the long plane flight, adjusting to the time change, and adapting to new environments practically every other day (or more).

We got a real taste of New England, from the beautiful seaside mansions in Newport to the lush woods near Essex. During the trip, we experienced record heat and summer thunderstorms- the kind of weather we never get in the Bay Area.

Josie and Sawyer got along great, with only a little pushing and jealousy, as could only be expected. Both are very active. They were quite a pair! They did remarkably well during the road trip, though Josie was too distracted to eat most of the time, and Sawyer too distracted to nap. Overall, they had a blast, especially when there were animals involved (we tried to maximize the animal encounters: dogs, farm animals, aquarium, etc.).

We left inspired and invigorated. Of course, there is still so much we want to see and do, so we'll have to make a trip back again soon.

We've included a few highlight pics from the trip and 2 links to more photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/danjoh99/NewYorkCity

https://picasaweb.google.com/danjoh99/ConnecticutAndRhodeIsland

Josie and Sawyer at the High Line, an elevated railway converted to a very cool park.

We did a whirlwind tour of the American Museum of Natural History while we were in Manhattan. Good way to escape the heat, but a challenging place to wrangle Josie.

Dan caught up with friends from his International Honors Program (IHP) study abroad trip he did in college (Ethan and Aley are also friends from that group).

Josie and Sawyer both learning how to read upside down on the way to Connecticut.

Drawing together at Ethan and Aley's house in Brooklyn.

Josie on her first boat!

Flirting...

"Baby!" In awe of the baby jellyfish.

Riding horses at the seaside amusement park. So much fun, even though the coin-op was broken!

The kids couldn't get enough of this old anchor in Newport.

Playing at the beach near Charlestown, Rhode Island.

Potter (dog) and Josie getting to know each other at Aley's parents' house in Connecticut.