Parker's Garden

One day, Parker decided that he really ought to have his own box in the veggie garden. So we cleared a space for him and let him choose what he would like to plant: Parker's garden is an eclectic mix right now of marigolds, succulents, corn, strawberries, enormous sunflowers, and possibly some bell pepper plants buried beneath it all. His sunflowers are in their prime right now, blooming and so tall that they are best viewed from above, from inside the house.

Happy 4th of July!

When we were making the difficult decision to buy our new sailboat, Prudence, I don't think I took into account too much the fact that we were buying her right at the start of Summer. However, we've been lucky to be able to enjoy the boat, the dock, and the dinghy so much at this time of year, since the weather has been beautiful. We got to spend the Fourth of July down in the harbor yesterday, doing some little boat jobs and cleaning before heading out on a dinghy adventure with the boys. Parker is learning how to drive the dinghy, and he'll definitely have it figured out in no time. Pretty cool for a four year old, eh? The Oceanside Yacht Club puts on a dinghy parade for the Fourth; we missed the parade, but saw some of the funny decorated dinghies as they headed back to their slips. Parker really wants us to decorate our dinghy next year--we'll at least be sure to catch the full parade next time! The City of Oceanside doesn't do a fireworks show off the pier anymore, but Camp Pendleton still does, and we were able to hang out on the boat at the slip last night and watch the show right from the decks of Prudence. So cool! Now we will have things better figured out for next year's Fourth of July. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a fun holiday!

Levi's Adventures...The Results

Poor baby. Levi is totally on the move these days, crawling and exploring and pulling himself up on everything. However, he still topples over and falls down and gets into all sorts of precarious positions. He likes to sit at the front door when it's open and look outside and get some fresh air and try to put bugs and other detritus in his mouth, but so far he has never tried to venture outside the door, as if the inside vs. outside divide created some kind of force field for him. But yesterday he somehow toppled over face-first onto the door mat outside from right inside the front door, and wasn't able to get a hand down to catch himself. So, unfortunately, his poor little baby nose took the brunt of the fall right onto the super rough bristles of the door mat--the ones that are meant to clean mud off of your boots, not kiss a baby's nose. Ouch. He looks so pitiful and goofy with his big scabby scrape today.

Pool Partying

We've had gorgeous, hot sunny weather lately, so we've had plenty of opportunities to cool off in the water. 

Levi's Adventures

Gymnastics

Parker took a gymnastics class at the YMCA for the last two months--he really liked it, and I definitely saw some improvement in his skills. I took a couple of quick videos of him trying out some of the things he has been learning since we got to class early last time. He is pretty good at balancing, and he loves jumping high and being silly (although the class is aimed at really teaching the kids actual gymnastics skills, rather than being a time for them to just run around and go crazy...it's been great for continuing to teach Parker patience, waiting his turn, and listening to the teachers). We are going to take a break from gymnastics for the next month, since he will have both summer school and swim classes to keep him busy. Although he would like to keep doing gymnastics, he also thinks he'd like to give karate a try, so we will probably make that our next activity! It's so great that he's game for trying out all of these new things. It gives him a chance to have fun, learn something new, interact with other kids and teachers, and to become more confident and independent. 

Prudence's Own Blog

I've made a separate blog just for Prudence. Why? Well, I wanted a blog that I can add technical details and hopefully get some advice from other Cal 2-27 owners. There seems to be blogs for most boat models that show repairs and maintenance but I can't find one for this model so I'm making my own.
Click here to check it out but dont' worry about checking it unless details about what window sealants get's you excited. All trips and adventures aboard Prudence will still be posted here in our family blog.