more belated pictures...

super mega-excited birthday girl!!!

...this time they are of sophie's birthday party at her school. i LOVE her school with a deep and abiding passion--gus also went there. i am so disappointed that she won't be able to spend more time at a child's garden, but i'm happy she had the year that she had. her teachers, sarah and barb, were stellar. they will be lifelong family friends. gus was completely jealous of sophie all year long...i wonder why? no, i don't.

mmmmm, chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles

gus and chocofied sophie

"if you're not going to finish that..."

daddy, who made an appearance, gus, reading chicka chicka boom boom, and sophie, being smiley

sarah and gus--he volunteered in her classroom and it was a good match (so i'm further sorry to be leaving ACG since gus would probably have worked there in a few years)

and look who found gus! this is his first teacher, michelle (of michelle and nona), and they have always gotten along beautifully. she was wonderful to gus and he has carried that with him, always.

belated mother's day pictures

teddy/panda bear tea party in sophie's room

rich's stepfather passed away rather unexpectedly yesterday (he went in for major heart surgery on wednesday and didn't come out--it was peaceful and he didn't suffer, thankfully), and i know his mom is unhappy and i am sorry for her. hopefully she'll come visit soon (or i'll inflict my children on her).

i'm posting happier pictures today--these were from mother's day and a bit before.

sophie's new big girl bed!!! in a span of about two weeks, sophie became fully potty trained and traded in her crib for a big girl bed. she even picked out the color of the stain (it was originally a dark walnut, which would never suit for sophie)--fruit punch!

sophie checkin' out her bitchin' bike in the backyard

bunny in a tube

hop hop hop

there she goes

this is the sight that greeted me first thing in the morning on mother's day...actually, it's a frequent sight in the triangle

i did get a very beautiful orchid, though

sophie and rich trying desperately to be patient at gus' mother's day cello recital

look at that cello-playing stud! yes, he is big. he is huge in comparison to the other kids. be kind about it--he's developing a complex.

party in the triangle

woohoo! it's the end of an era in the AFBT--the manzano day school years are OVER and we couldn't be happier. good riddance to bad blood and all that. gus was able to celebrate in style by hosting the end-of-the-year party at our house (third year in a row) and, as in years past, it was a mucho successful fiesta. people were here for seven hours this year and i think they all had fun. rich even made an appearance! but the most important thing was that gus had a fantastic, joyful day, and that is the most i could have hoped for for him--i believe manzano owed him some joy after this year (and some learning, but hopefully iowa will fix that).

bring on summer!

sophie having second thoughts about tackling the giant, inflatable slide that dominated half the backyard (the kids LOVED it)

who's behind that big ol' splash?

it's sophie! (and cole and hart--they were very kind to her)

yyyyyyyuuuuck.

gus' sweetheart of a teacher, debbie, and parents watching the mayhem from a safe distance

kiddos loungin' on the patio with some popsicles

gus being silly on the slide

sophie being silly on the slide

all the kids loved the treehouse--there was a perpetual line to get up there...

...and that line included some parents as well! meet pamela, queen of the jungle.

happy birthday tom!

i think i might be a day early or a day late, but i know it is around this time...happy birthday tom, and i wish we were there to treat you to a delicious homemade mojito!

back, again, for now...

we're back; i know you missed us. we've been in flagstaff and sedona for a) a conference of tri-state ophthalmologists (NM, AZ and NV, otherwise known as the hardcore part of the west) and b) SOPHIE'S THIRD BIRTHDAY!!!! two tons o' pictures to follow in a day or two...

ceci n'est pas une maison

my new kitchen...and it was a major reason i bought this house

the new house; la nouvelle maison. it is very, very different from where we live now, but i think it will suit. the people who live there now have EXCELLENT taste in furniture--perhaps they will sell some to me? and, who would have thought that a house like this could be found in iowa city? any comments will be appreciated--i could use some encouragement, so if you hate it just keep it to yourself (i'm obviously still trying to wrap my head and heart around the idea of a move).

this was the other element that sold the house--can you believe this window?

living room (love the art--loret mast, love the rug)

my back is to the window, facing sitting area outside the master

view from sitting area outside the master

dining room (love the art--loret mast, again)

this is gus' room--he has his own patio!

and this is our room...which isn't as nice as gus' but will allow us to hear what he is up to when he tries to sneak out through that lovely patio door

peeping tom

i love this fountain--it totally suits the property, and the current owners won't give it to us

this isn't in the new house, but it was my hotel room while i was looking for a home--perhaps it influenced my decision...

pretty jodi, who was briefly my chauffeur during this visit and is leaving IC right when we get there, damnit!

10 pictures a day for 10 days, day ten...finally!

i see you...

i did it--10 pictures a day for 10 days, and it only took a little over two weeks to do it! oh well. i did post more than 10 pictures every time at least, so maybe i averaged 10 pictures a day for the days i posted...please don't tell me if i didn't.

these are the remaining images from fossil rim. i absolutely love the place. the giraffes are above and beyond the most incredible animals on view--we were so completely fortunate to be able to hand feed them, which was done very, very carefully by two gentle children. it was a remarkable experience.

gorgeous giraffe neck

sophie and gus feeding this long-necked beauty

this is what it looked like out my window...

...when the giraffe stuck its head through the sunroof to be fed

and, of course, they have to check and see what else might be edible (all those texas bug splats must have been tasty)

so lovely, so graceful; i hope someone is watching that tumor

it didn't take long for the zebras to come back and muscle out the giraffes (they are a bit aggressive)

zeeeebras....

...stripy, stripy zeeeeebras...

this is gus' favorite picture

i think these are grant's zebras--their facial stripes are blacker than the other herd's (pictures at the bottom)

gus being a very good sport about sophie sitting on him

twins! these aoudad are beautiful...

...and hungry.

awesome addax mother and calves--and those horns are pretty scary in person

gus and sophie are trying to figure out if they can throw the vegetarian-animal pellets far enough for the cheetahs in the background to eat...many problems with this plan...

uh oh. he found us. or rather he found sophie.

more zebras! these have browner stripes than the herd that grazes near the giraffes; i think they are grevy's zebras

more zebras

pretty, pretty zebras

one of a handful of white rhinos at fossil rim--he was sleepy, as it was hot