Easter with Cousin Calla

Serendipitously, Avery has a 4th cousin named Calla, who lives near us. She is the one on the far left. We went to her house today for brunch and an egg hunt. Here are the kids after the hunt with baskets full of eggs.

They kind of look like 4th cousins, don't they?

They sweetly found eggs for each other. 

And Avery got a huge tip from Calla's uncle, Steve, about where eggs were plentiful and unguarded. 

Lucky boy!

A small flashback 2 weeks to the garden. Here are some updates on our spring planting.

In the sunniest quadrant of the garden, we have planted corn. We are preparing for The Three Sisters planting method: corn as the center stalk, pole beans growing up the corn, and squash around the base, providing shade for the soil. We'll plant the beans and squash after the corn has sprouted. Did you know The Three Sisters planting method is featured on the reverse of the 2009 US Sacagawea Native American dollar coin?

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Talking Politics

Avery has been very interested in facial expressions lately, mimicking characters in books and newspapers. This is our favorite series of such pictures. He did not know that I was watching at first.

Someone wants a baby

Avery has been taking careful care of his baby, Nan. He has been rocking Nan, giving Nan bottles, and shushing Nan when Nan is "cwying." Today was the first day he wanted to take Nan outside. (I must admit, the baby carrier was my idea).

I refrained from saying, "See, Avery, being a parent can make even the simplest tasks challenging."

But often he made it look easy.

Nothing like a little manual labor with bebe.

And who didn't notice the new do? Yesterday we gave him his first haircut on the back deck. It was the mark of a new life chapter. Avery is no longer a baby with his original wispy baby hair but a little boy with a tousled bob. It was sweetly sad..

February Break

WOW! We have a lot of filling in to do from the past month...

Avery rode his first merry-go-round (with a show-me-your-teeth-smile)

Chris turned 39! And his Mama sang to him...

and gave him his Dad's special hat.

We visited friends Rachael and Shirene in Novato for a goat farm tour and overnight.

And spent two days in Santa Cruz and Monterey, goat cheese tasting and aquarium viewing.

We watched the deep sea feeding.

And Avery touched sea stars and abalone.

We were one of two families staying in a tent cabin that night. It was windy and surprisingly chilly but the electric blankets made it cozy.

And then back home for some house/yard projects, like adding the finishing touches to the gazebo,

setting up the outdoor hot tub,

putting in a shade garden on the side yard,

and flag-stoning a path.