More Sanibel

We enjoyed a visit to the Sanibel library where the boys found lots of great superhero books to check out (now that Grampa Stu is a resident we can take books and movies out on our visits--whee!!) and Reed had fun in the toddler corner.

Friends Jan and Dick passed on some treasures from their grandkids. The boys (especially Theo) loved Junior Monopoly, which they enjoyed playing with an adult but also solo.

We got some giant stuffed animals from Jan and Dick that Reed enjoyed tackling.

Hippo Goes Bananas was one of the library favorites.

Reed coloring.

Reed enjoying his first popsicle.

The boys' teachers gave them journals to draw and write in during their trip.

Despite massively uncomfortable adult bikes, we still enjoyed some lovely family bike rides with our Weehoos attached.

And fun on other rental bikes.

Swimming

We just got back from a wonderful eight days in Sanibel to stay at Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu's new place. We had perfect weather and no illness, which made for a lovely vacation.

The boys (and often, but not always, a parent or grandparent) spent two or three hours every day in the pool. They came to think of it as "their" pool, since there was hardly ever anyone else in it. One day while we were taking a break to eat lunch I was remarking at how quietly a woman was swimming in the pool, that we couldn't even hear her in the water, and that maybe we could try to swim that quietly. Theo got a troubled look on his face, and then asked why that woman was swimming in our pool. I had to tell him we shared the pool with all the families in all the houses we could see, which disappointed him.

Learn to climb

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Cornell climbing wall for an intro to rock climbing event sponsored by the family of Tim Starr, a kid I grew up with who died in a car accident a few years ago. Tim's sister Allison was a good friend of mine and we looked enough alike when we were small that we were often mistaken for one another. This is the first year I've been able to make the event to remember Tim and encourage a love of adventure and climbing in kids. Both the big boys enjoyed getting hooked up to the harness and trying out the wall. Theo especially took to it and was up for at least 10 minutes, and got a lot higher than these photos indicate. Reed enjoyed the wide open space of the fieldhouse and everyone enjoyed the bounce house. It was especially neat to see other friends from our high school class--Sara E, Sarah M, Hiroko, Gabe, and Elaine--and their kids.

Run Chase Run

More than a month ago a cross country runner from our neighborhood high school, Corcoran, was running a race in Rochester and was pushed by some guy who got out of his car and I guess felt at risk in some way. He hasn't run since then and our community has rallied around him to encourage him to start running again. Last Saturday was the Run Chase Run event at Corcoran, on a beautiful 65 degree day, and Reed and I walked up to cheer on the hundreds of runners wearing their Run Chase Run shirts, led off by Chase and his Corcoran cross country teammates. It was incredibly touching and made me so proud to be part of this community and neighborhood.

Visit with Auntie Alexis and Max and baby MK

Baby Reed enjoying a spaceship ride with Max, who is not coincidentally one of Reed's favorite people. Max gets out amazing and technologically advanced adult equipment like drum machines and fancy flashlights and carefully shows Reed how to use them, which Reed absolutely loves.

Some fun times in the House of Lovebo. Since Election day we have been 1) sickened and saddened by the election of Donald Trump, 2) disappointed but pretty okay with Daddy Lovebo not winning his election, and 3) enjoying having more free time together as a family. The boys have been to Billy Beez twice, once with each of their sets of grandparents, and we went to the Cascades indoor water park at Greek Peak this past weekend. No photos because WET. But here are some other fun things we've been up to.

Handprints in the wet cement on our new road (quickly erased by asphalt but still fun)

Lots of walks around our neighborhood and investigating the yards of our neighbors.

Donut eating at our neighbor's new cafe and bakeshop downtown.

Cuddling with Grandma Kathy

Raking and frolicking in the leaves

Scaling the stop sign

More frolicking