Pics from the last week

We've had a quiet week without too many activities (which usually just means Agnieszka has been working).   Here are a few sweet moments caught on camera.


Little girl is full of coy smiles and giggles

Auggie and Mama getting ready to do a art project at Alex's birthday party

Evan and Kai getting into their art project

     Kids getting ready for the cake at Alex's party

    Baby eyelashes

    Papa and Auggie

   Esther getting to meet Ella

Trip to Cline Cellars and Traintown

On the day before Jacci and Keith had to return to Tulsa, we took a family trip to Cline Cellars and Traintown in Sonoma.  Babcia, Dziadek, Alex and Evan joined in.  We even got to borrow Ciocia's big car so we wouldn't need to use 3 vehicles to get there!

Cline was beautiful as always. While the adults tasted wine, Alex, Evan and Auggie bought fish food with the quarters we had asked them to save for this day and then fed the hungry frenzy of large pond koi. Then, everyone had a picnic in the shade. 

Afterwards (and despite some "hot" temperatures to the high 80s that none of us were used to), we took the kids to Train Town.  Everyone rode the train together and enjoyed the breeze and shade. All three kids rode the ferris wheel, but only Evan was willing to go on the rollercoaster. To everyone's surprise, all three kids (and Babcia!) wanted to go ride the Locomotion Scrambler, which had some pretty good G-forces once it got going. 

Ella rallied amazingly for most of the day, despite missing most of her naps and not being used to the hot temperatures.  She had a few meltdowns on the way home, but 5 minutes before we arrived at our house, 3 out of 4 kids had fallen asleep in the car.

Ella is 7 months old!!

Ella is 7 months old. She remains bubbly and happy. She loves to stick her tongue out when she smiles.  She has spent a lot of this month getting more and more mobile: rolling around on the floor and making some good attempts at crawling. She can sit on her own for a bit of time, until she forgets she's sitting and reaches for a toy and... oops!  She has finally started to eat some food - thanks to the persistent efforts of Jacci and Keith to get her to eat some cereal.  Her favorite thing to chew on so far, however, has been pizza crust!  We are loving our days with her and all her wonderful cuddles.

Ella eating cereal

Ella having a great time diving for the spoon of cereal: 

Ella giggles

Auggie has learned how to entertain his sister.  She is full of giggles at his shenanigans.

Keith and Jacci visit (part 2)

Auggie showing off his new haircut...

This photo is right before Auggie got his haircut...It should be in the previous blog entry. Too adorable to keep out!

During Auggie's second week off, his cousins came back from Arkansas and they spent almost every day together.  One day was a playdate at home, which included a fun trip to Arlington Park. The kids brought a net for "fishing" and tried (unsuccessfully) to catch tadpoles in the pond. They did manage to "catch" a dead crawfish that they brought to Agnieszka.  Ella got to watch all the activity from her stroller, until Alex suggested we try putting her in the swing. Ella was thrilled with the idea.

On Tuesday, August 7th, all grandparents and grandkids got together at Dziadek and Babcia's house to take have a professional photo shoot.  Before the photographer arrived. We took some of our own.

Agnieszka was not dressed up because she was not going to be in the professional photos...hence the jeans and flip-flops.

Jacci and Keith Arrive! (Part 1)

Jacci and Keith flew in from Tulsa for the two weeks of Auggie's break to help care for both kids while Auggie's school was out.

The weekend started with a fun visit from Aunt Sandee:

Auggie loved showing everyone his necklaces (and staying in PJs for as long as he could!)

Subsequently, capitalizing on free Ella childcare, Mama and Papa took Auggie in for a haircut (and lollipop!)

The next day we went to Babcia and Dziadek's for a pool party and Auggie, Mama and Ella spent a lot of time together in the pool.  The water was wonderful!

On Tuesday, August 7, our neighbors hosted the National Night Out party on our block.  An El Cerrito police officer brought along his pal, Batman, and Auggie was absolutely in heaven.  Later on, he would continue to refer to him as "the real batman" (in contrast to Auggie, who "only had the pajamas")

Ella stayed out late for the party and was ready to warm up and cuddle with Keggy by bedtime.