Grandad's garden

When we were in England, we enjoyed helping Grandad in his garden. Some days Grandma would send us out to bring her carrots or green beans for dinner. We always liked to eat whatever we picked from the garden.


We helped dig up potatoes. In the greenhouse below, Grandad was also growing tomatoes and cucumbers. We helped watch them grow, but they were not ready to eat before we left.



Of course, it wasn't all work in the garden. There was also time for playing. Grandad taught us how to play swingball. We loved it, and even had a few bruises to show for it and almost broke Grandad's glasses!


When we were too tired to play swingball, we could still play in the garden with Daddy's old cars and trucks and even his Space Shuttle.

Home again

We had a fabulous time on our summer adventure. We have many more stories to share about our time in Cleveland, England, and Connecticut. For now we'll focus on what we've been doing since we returned to San Francisco.

We spent a few days sleeping off our jet lag, unpacking, doing laundry, and getting used to our new bedroom with bunkbeds again.

Then our friend Emi néni came to visit us. She is Keresztmama's sister and we got to know her in Connecticut. She took Sándor and me to the Exploratorium. We really enjoyed it. This time the shadow box was our favorite. Then Mummy picked us up and we went to the beach. We didn't realize what a nice day it would be, so we were slightly unprepared. Even so, we used our hands to make sand castles. I was surprised from behind by a wave, so my clothes ended up quite wet, but the sun dried them before we had to leave. Thanks for a great day, Emi néni!


Today we escaped the fog in San Francisco by going up to Marin to play mini-golf. We have been asking to go again ever since we went last summer. It was not quite as hot this time, so we were able to enjoy it even more. This time I even had a golf lesson from Daddy!

Daddy and his dog

Grandma and Grandad have found some of Daddy's and Auntie Tracey's old toys. We have enjoyed playing with the LEGO, the cars, the games, and the dog.













Daddy did not remember the dog, so Grandma found us some proof that it was his.

A Tree Grows in Northborough

A few weeks ago, I mistakenly wrote that only one of our wedding pine trees is living. I had forgotten that one traveled all the way to England and is thriving in the garden of Julian's childhood home in Northborough. It is smaller than Fr. Ralph's tree as it lives in a pot rather than on a vast lawn. My smile, however, was just as big when I recognized the tree.


Thanks to my father-in-law Jim for caring for this tree, and for sharing his love of the garden with his grandchildren while they are here.

The English adventure begins!

Our summer adventure continues with a visit to England. Our trip started with a beautiful sunset viewed over Lake Erie.


We arrived with no problems other than a lack of sleep. We have enjoyed spending time with Grandma, Grandad, and Auntie Tracey.

We went to Ferry Meadows in Nene Park in Peterborough. We walked around the lake, played at the playground, rode the train, played softball tennis and football (soccer), and fed the geese.

























The geese were rather aggressive, coming up to us as soon as they spotted us. One even grabbed Charlotte's hand to get the bread from her. She was so startled and upset that she dropped the remaining bread (as captured in the photo below), and that ended our goose-feeding session.


We have already had many other fun outings, and will post about them later. Cheerio!

How does our garden grow?

I have always liked to fill my apartment with plants, so I was very upset when an infestation of flies caused me to throw away every plant but one. Our place seemed so empty for so long. Once we were rid of the flies, we decided to try again. This time we started from scratch, planting the seeds ourselves. We managed to kill some sprouts, and then tried again. I would like to share our progress with Charlotte and Alexander since they are not here to see the plants themselves.

Charlotte germinated a lima bean in science class, planted it, and then brought it home to be replanted. It was just barely starting to flower when we left for Cleveland. Now we have several bean pods!

Our tomato plants are growing taller.

Our marigolds have flowered.

I hope we can keep the flies away so that we can continue to let our garden flourish!

Scooting away our worries

We've been having a great time at Najm and Najp's in Cleveland. Najm took us to an art class every day last week. It was Safari Week and we made many fun and interesting projects. We went to the zoo and saw a dinosaur exhibit. We played at the park. We ran through the sprinkler.

Even so, we have sometimes missed Mummy and Daddy and wished they were here. Then Najm and Najp bought us scooters. Now we are having a great time scooting around the driveway and the neighborhood.

Mummy and Daddy who?