Picking strawberries.

Yummy.

After Butano State Park we went strawberry picking at Phipps Country Farm. Nate kept calling out "Old MacDonald?" and saying "I knock-knock" when passing the buildings. In the fields Nate carried the bucket and at first kept placing the fruit in the basket. Towards the end, he started stuffing them in his mouth as fast as he could, and ended up walking back drunk with gooey redness.

On Memorial Day weekend we drove to Butano State Park just outside of Pescadero for a wooded picnic lunch. Here are Mom and Julia before a bluejay aggressively moved in to finish our crackers on the picnic table.

Nate relaxes with Chloe during our recent visit to San Francisco for a barbeque with Regina and Alex.

Nate Quotes

"I'm Stuck!" - whenever lying on the floor not wanting to move, or in the car strapped by seatbelts.

"Webs!" or "No Webs!" - his assessment of any interior's cobweb status.

"DVDVD" - meaning DVD.

"One....six, seven...six, seven...six, seven" - when counting anything.

"No, I'm fine" - when telling him we're going to be doing something he doesn't want to do, like clip toenails or drive for eight straight hours.

"I hold you!" - meaning of course "hold me."

We drove down to Kurt & Patty's Palm Springs house on Thursday, just in time for record heat (110 degrees) but at a time of year when the town was empty. Nate and Julie beat the dry heat by swimming the pool with the us; it was his second and more successful attempt, and her first. Our drive home was riddled with car problems, tormented tired riders, lots of traffic, and a mercifully relaxing stop at Casa de Fruita. But the vacation was overall enjoyable thanks to Kurt & Patty's hospitality and a weekend of food, drink, pool and nothing much else.

Blue bellied lizard.

On Sunday we went hiking along Skyline Ridge to a place called Horseshoe Lake. Probably no longer than 1 mile, the walk was littered with lazy lizards.

Julia's first swing on Mother's Day weekend. As always, she seemed non-plussed by the whole idea.

Practicing how to roll over, as demonstrated by Nate.