James Has No Front Teeth 2017

James lost his other front tooth on Sunday at 4 am - waking everyone. Unclear how such a thing can even happen at 4 am. Was he up pulling on it? He admits nothing.

Cutie

James asked to put the tooth under pillow right away, but Kevin told him the tooth fairy had finished her rotations for the night. So we put it under his bed the following night, but he was being a huge grouch. I asked him if he thought the tooth fairy would want to leave money for such a grumpy-puss James said, "She's not Santa Claus. I lost a tooth, she'll bring the money."

Michael B's Pool Party

More summer fun at Michael B's house (Cara and Jim's) last Saturday!

So many kids!

Moms: Candace, Cara, Carrie, Ericka, Erica, Rosa, Kathy, Elisa (missing Nicole)

Michael B on dino-float, near his brother John, James on floaty

Deep end scariness (for me)

James's Swim Class 2017

James's favorite sport is swimming currently. He's was very excited to start again this summer. Session 1 was July 3-14, but he's still not all the way there so we're looking into signing him up for more classes.

July 3- First day of swim class!

The town pool

Miranda and Ella waiting for their brothers


Spying on the last class through the fence.


Last day with Level 1 certificate of completion!

PJFL Chess 2017

James still loves his Chess club at the library. Wednesday he had his 7th meeting (the 3rd class this summer), and he's signed up for the rest of the summer. I really love our library!

Look at his face! What a cute happy little nerd!

P.S. He lost his 5th tooth on Wednesday too. A top one!

You can see the missing 4th tooth too but no idea when that happened.

PJFL Jazz Lesson 2017

Saxophonist Shenole Latimer used listening games, live music, group participation, and humorous demonstrations to introduce kids to Jazz music. He taught the kids about Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Charlie Parker, Max Roach, Thelonious Monk, "improvisation," and yes, I took notes on my phone because I need to learn these things too.

Latimer playing some jazz


Latimer helping the kids remember "Monk" with monkey noises- kids loved it!

Meeting Alex 2017

We got to visit Jon, Becky, Ben and our new little buddy Alex!

Miranda, Ben, James

James and Ben

Ben and Miranda

Jon and Kevin

Jon, Ben, Becky, and Alex ♡

Alex is mine now. Sorry. Not sorry.

Daisy's 87th Birthday 2017

My grandmother Daisy turned 87 on Saturday, and I accidentally surprised her on Sunday because two days of calling her wasn't working. Happy birthday, Abuelita!

Kids with Great-grandma Daisy

Mom's 60th Birthday 2017

We celebrated my mother's 60th birthday this weekend at the Chart House in New Jersey.

View of NYC from Lincoln Harbor Pier in NJ

Yvonne and Sandy are beautiful!

Mom's buddies

Bob's family: Mike, Jenny, and Tiffany

Mimosa time

Birthday Lava Cake (so delicious)

Emily and Dennis's BBQ 2017

Emily and Dennis invited us to their awesome annual BBQ. They live in a lovely part of North Fork. Emily works with Kevin, but Emily and Dennis are also the grandparents of one of the boys on James's T-ball team, Evan. How cool is that?

Emily (in white) and Dennis (in black) and lots of their friends

Spotted Kevin's work buddies

Kevin and Frank watching kids and talking sports

Jennifer, me, Joe, and Michelle

Shinn Estate Vineyard 2017

We did a quick stop at the Shinn Estate Vineyard in North Fork on Saturday.

Our favorite was white was Coalescence

James and Miranda's favorite red was Wild Boar Doe (for winter)

Miranda with the hydrangeas outside