Lady of the Lake

Our child’s affinity for beaches cannot be overstated—she’s like a miniature, female version of Matthew McConaughey. Luckily for her, a majority of Day 3 of our whirlwind tour of a select few Midwest states, a couple of East Coast ones, and a Canadian province was spent on the sandy shores of Lake Huron, just a skipped stone’s throw from Beni’s dad’s summer home.

Davey's Jones

Day 1 of our two-week vacation finds us in the Indianapolis suburbs, where we are visiting and staying with Katrina, Beni’s best friend from high school. We’ve also taken this opportunity to catch up with friends of ours who’d moved to this area a little over a year ago. Their son Davey and Olivia were also friends, but the time apart made our child a tad apprehensive at the beginning of the reunion, while theirs could barely contain his eagerness and intense desire to play together in their backyard. (As you can see, Olivia warmed up to this suggestion merrily.)

A Bug’s Vida

We’ve enrolled our bugger pequeña in a fortnight’s worth of summer classes—Icky, Icky Insects and Intro to Spanish—at the lab school in town. Olivia’s not asked yet that we never send her back there—as she did with taekwondo class—so we can only assume that she tolerates this most recent round of our trying to provide her with fulfilling and enriching experiences.

Our daughter seems to have learned some things along the way: she has taught us that the three main body parts of an insect are the head, thorax, and abdomen, and she can now count to 30 in Spanish if you spot her the numbers 18 and 19.

Kanga-snooze

Olivia’s pursuit of hoppy-ness includes getting to nap in her parent's bed with one of her favorite stuffed animals.

A Posable Thumb

Olivia is no longer all thumbs—her clumsy phase seems to have come and gone—but she’s still all about thumbs. Our junior hitchhiker uses the thumbs-up (which is typically accompanied by a head tilt, pinched eyes, and a wry smile) as her go-to nonverbal expression of cheerfulness.

Eat, Drink, and Be Married

Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere celebrated today as the day of the year when the sun shows its shining face the longest; a fortunate (and festive) few of us Northern Hemispheroids also celebrated this day as the one that brought Gaston and Kathleen together in holy matrimony.

The Magical World of Whimsy

Visiting our friend Dimple gives us the chance to dust off our big-city boots: we eat at delicious ethnic and vegetarian restaurants, sip drinks at quaint tea shops, use public transportation, walk the diverse neighborhoods, stay in a high-rise condo, and curse repeatedly while driving and trying to find a place to park. On this particular trip, Olivia accompanied us for the first half of the weekend before getting a lift back home with Aunt Liz, who was heading to our neck of the woods for a job interview. As a result, Beni and I were able to stay in the city until late on Sunday to attend what we both agree was one of the best concerts we’ve ever heard.

My only complaint about the show was that the band’s opening act—a folk singer inclined toward sullenness—failed to warm up the eager crowd in any way. Luckily for us, our day’s opening act was much more entertaining.

Olivia, a cruise director in training, made sure that the items on her agenda wouldn’t be diminished because of the limited time she’d have with us on the day. Before our pancake brunch and afternoon swim, she started us with a sprightly game of hide and seek in Dimple’s apartment. After a few rounds, it was her turn again to seek Beni, which led to the utterance of a comment that demonstrates the vast wonders of a young child’s imagination.

Having failed to locate her mother after a quick search of the usual hiding spots, Olivia turned toward an oil painting hanging in the living room, eyed it ever so carefully, and then earnestly half-whispered, “I think Mommy magicked into the picture.”

Jolly Bean

The ever-so-happy Sabine, a.k.a Bean, and her mother Sarah are visiting us this week. Beni and Sarah are friends from years ago—they attended college together—and although their daughters had never met before, they too carry on with an air of felicitous familiarity.

Triker Gang

The skies opened up long enough this evening for us to get in Olivia’s rescheduled birthday party at Safety Town.

For Pizza’s Sake

Given that Safety Town—site of this year’s birthday bash for Olivia—has yet to install a retractable roof, we were forced postpone her party due to inclement weather. Plan B was the local pizzeria, where A.J. and G joined those of us who don’t go by initials for some pizza and cake.

Art House

Our friend Beth has helped start an art and music class out of her home for young children that has further heightened Olivia’s proclivity to the fine arts. Here’s hoping that she and her co-instructor follow up their impressive first session with an encore.

June O

Four years and zero scores ago a father and a mother brought forth on this continent a new sensation, conceived in biology, and dedicated to the proposition that while all men (and women) are created equal, some cause a greater stir upon (and since) their arrival on earth. (Recall that our child was the one who was kicked out of the newborn nursery for disturbing the peace.)

Fast forward to today and you’ll find someone who still communicates in fortissimo, but whose softhearted side never fails to provide us with moments that are sweeter than all the orange Tic Tacs and SunnyD in the world.

Here’s the cheese to our macaroni on her special day:

9:40 a.m. — Received a birthday call from Grandma Randi’s history class

11:09 a.m. — Played on the playground with Kara, a classmate from preschool

11:27 a.m. — Sprayed on the sprayground with Kara

11:45 a.m. — Practiced her ABCs (already been chewed gum). She and Kara split a wad they’d found stuck to the bottom of a slide.

12:53 p.m. — Etched a sketch

1:25 p.m. — Said thanks for the present and goodbye to Khair

5:23 p.m. — Chose "Presents from G" as her mix-in at Cold Stone Creamery

Instilling the Fear of Dog

From the safe refuge of the bathtub, Max weathered the evening storms and their accompanying thunderclaps.

Sixth Since

Six years ago today, Beni and I exchanged wedding vows. So many things have happened from then until now—we’ve been graced by Olivia’s energetic presence, traveled to near and distant lands, picked up new jobs and homes and academic credentials, and discovered masala dosas—but one point of constancy has been that we continue to turn to each other first whenever there’s a humorous incident, arduous moment, or curious fact to be shared.

To my best friend…happy anniversary!