What a whirlwind - and we're back

When we think of summer, we imagine carefree days, sipping lemonade, hours stretching slowly by the poolside. We think of camping and fireworks, reading for fun, suntans, popsicles, evening strolls. On that first warm day in May, the dream begins. We pull out the cut-offs and dust off our flip-flops. June, July, August seem to hold all of the time in the world. And then, miraculously, the time is over. Well-spent, for sure, but over.

And here I am, marveling over the slippery summer days, feeling the need to capture them, to do them justice . . . for we did "have a great summer"(thanks to many yearbook wishes of old).

Instead of trying to bring it back - I'm moving on - looking forward to the crisp apple days of Autumn.

So here's what's going on now:

We finally have a piano! I used to tell Matt, quite emphatically, that before buying any furniture we would have to buy a piano. I believed myself, but quickly gave in to more practical purchases - like bookshelves, a mattress, a table, a dresser, and a couch. For some reason these things seemed more urgent. I guess they were. But now, I feel as complete and settled as a young person in Palo Alto can feel. We will have real music in our house this year, and every year from now on.

Sophie speaks: can you believe it? She now says baby, bye-bye, mama, dada, duck, and dog. Quite the repertoire! She's crawling all around, eats anything we give her, and has a funny sense of humor. She loves wrinkling her nose, smiling a silly smile, and wagging her head back and forth to make us laugh. She also loves kissing Emmy goodnight and cuddling with her in bed, as long as Emmy can control her urge to squeeze her too hard.

Emmy can (almost) swim! We just finished swimming lessons, and by the end she was actually swimming, head under water, arms moving, legs kicking. She's very proud of her accomplishment, and I'm just proud that by the end of the two-week session, she would allow her teacher to help her. I was the only parent who had to accompany my child in the water. While the other kids were terrified of the water, Emmy was terrified of the teachers.

Farmer's Market fun. I've always loved going to the Farmer's Market, but I've never appreciated it as much as I do now. I just read Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegatable, Miracle and I have a new appreciation for local produce, and a yearning to someday "live off the fatta the lan.'" We've been loving the late summer heirloom tomatoes. Put them with fresh mozzarella, basil, a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and yum. We've also tried out new melon varieties, made raspberry jam, roasted brighty colored peppers and dark green zucchini, and eaten more than our fair share of strawberry shortcake. Sophie has turned almost as purple as a blackberry, and Emmy has eated almost a whole carton of cherry tomatoes in one sitting. The freshly picked fruits and vegetables from local farms really do taste better.

These are the highlights of life as we speak. Besides that, our days are occupied by Sophie's long naps, Emmy's frequent tantrums, my failed attempts at keeping the house kind of clean, and Matt and I sighing together at 8:00 each evening as we enjoy a couple hours of time to ourselves.