October 2014

 West Wood Hills in the fall, what a treat!

We thought for a while that Trajan wasn't going to be the climber his borthers are, but here is in a parking lot in Anderson.  We stopped for a few minutes and he actually climbed a tree on his very own for the first time - we had a major celebration - and a much longer stop that planned!  I am assured he can't actually get to the top of the chicken coup without help . . . 

Here are our Halloween Hobo, Pirate and Ninja, saying, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!"

We were a bit early with our carving this year.  They had long rotted before Halloween, but still a lot of fun!

Cats!

As the one year anniversary of cat-less-ness approached (I know, not really a word, but you know what I mean)  we realized we were just missing cats.  Though really, it may have been that we were missing Mom and Dad and Kona, but getting them to move to Napa is a bit more complicated that a visit to the shelter.  

So here they are:  Leibniz Drazella also known as Cat One or even KC (for Kitty Cat) - she's the grey one.  

And her sister Artemis Archimedes Bastet, also known as Cat Two or DC (for her poor choices regarding her bathroom habits - like using the leather chair in our bedroom, or even worse, using it while Patrick is sitting in it).

These are from the day they first came home in late September. Honestly, I don't know how anyone has kittens without three young boys to wear them out each day - they are crazy!

But they're also incredibly cute.  And they start purring at maximum volume at the simplest of attention - or at times just because they notice you exist. 

Leibniz learned to climb the tree fairly quickly.  Her sister only made it half way up until last weekend when Kona came to visit  and she had some serious motivation!

Earthquake

August's Earthquake was far and away the physically scariest thing I've ever been through.  It struck in the middle of the night.  Percy was in bed with me and awoke about half way though as our bed shifted over a foot while the light cover above us shattered and the armour fell against it.  Upstairs was much less impacted.  Patrick slept through most of it and was shocked to find out it had been such a big one.  Trajan slept all the way though and Hadrian sat up at the end but went right back to sleep.  Which, once we knew we and our neighbors were all okay is what Patrick and I did too.  All five of us in the kid's room.  The one place where everything seemed normal.

And a few days latter, here is the after picture.  All back to normal.  We have only a mismatch of stemware, and in general much fewer breakable things (as expected, its the old family pieces and gifts from our loved ones who have passed on that we miss the most), a small hole in one wall from the piano, a few cracks in the drywall, but a much better perspective on how fortunate we are to have each other - and a lingering gratefulness for our reliable infrastructure, that had power, gas, and water all working in a very short time.  

And despite all the calls, texts, and emails we received lamenting our timing - earthquake and all, we're glad to be back in Napa!

Moving Back to Napa

Even though we had been gone for about a year, had only lived there for a few months, and sorely miss Mom and Dad, the Pine Street house really did feel like home the minute we got here.

Hadrian spent his birthday money on a skateboard.  And while he still can't ride it, the trips to the nearby empty parking lot have been a great opportunity for Percival to practice his tree climbing!  

There is nothing better than jets for making fabulous bubbles!

We have a new friend (fortunately she's on the outside of our back door).  Apparently she's a tufted orb weaver.  This picture doesn't do her justice.  She's GIGANTIC!  She tears down and rebuilds an incredible web every day.  As I try very hard not to cringe away or accidentally on purpose, mush her.  Though if I see anything that looks like a nest who knows what I'll do!

Hadrian's Kindergarten Graduation

Summer 2014

We had a great time at Medicine Lake while Dad taught his SCUBA class.

 Bells clearly has no idea that she has outgrown the chair!

I think the drought has been hard on the squirrels and rabbits too.  It makes the chickens look really good to the Great Horned Owls.  They've even made it actually in to the hen house!

In case you don't recognize him, that's our ever creative Hadrian!

We had a bat living in the folds of our camper trailer.  It was incredibly adorable, but hard to get a good picture.  Fortunately, Patrick was able to relocate it to a tree.

Hadrian's Birthday

Technically Hadrian had his birthday on the road (again).  But we couldn't resist another celebration once we got back to Merrill.