Summer in All Its Glory

 This is what summer looks like.  David provides the pizza, I provide the adult supervision at Cherry Hill.  Or not.

 Scott loves it when I slave over a hot pizza box to provide sustenance for our family.

 Pirate boy

 Sometimes we switch it up and go to a different body of water.  I like to fill up all the seats in the car, so we invite friends.
 No pizza this time, only bologna, the object of my heart's desire when I was a junk-food-deprived kid.  These kids were confused by the red stuff around the edge.  I guess bologna doesn't hold the same appeal in 2015 as it did in the '70's, slapped on a bed of Miracle Whip between two pieces of Wonder Bread.  I always was jealous of the kid who had that.  I had Jack Spratt whole grain bread and all-natural peanut butter.

 Tizzy built herself a stage, only big enough for one, mind you, and performed her greatest hits for the seagulls.  They were more interested in breaking into the cooler and getting at the bologna.

 Sam stepped on something in the water and his toe was bleeding.  Gushing.

 So, when Araceli and Ellison finally got back from their nature walk along a designated trail on which they had somehow gotten hopelessly lost, we packed up and went home.

 Meanwhile, in Sevilla!  Scott and I couldn't sleep the night before because Golda and Ruby were catching a flight in the middle of the night our time.  After the trauma of their cancelled flight on the way to Europe, we were just anxious to have them on the plane.  No problems this time.  Phew!

 Sonia and Victor picked them up at the airport in Sevilla and took them to their dazzling airbnb apartment.  I'll have to post a link.  It's like a palace.  At midnight, Ruby texted me, "We're going to our second tapas bar of the night now!"  That's my girl.  I am so happy they are in Spain!  I spent two summers there, soaking it all in.  In my heart, there is a place especially reserved for Spain.  Can't wait to see if my girls fall in love with it too!  Last time they were there, it wasn't for long enough. This time, 2.5 weeks ins't long enough either, but it's a start.

Thank you to Catherine Lavisierre, and her daughter Olympe and Genevieve and Hubert Neyrand-Roux, who took such good care of our girls and showed them around 3 countries.  They are so generous of spirit and so warm hearted.  I want to be just like them in their hospitality.  We love you all!

Happy Birthday, Tolly Boy!

 Above:  Ptolemy, age 5.  Below, Ptolemy age 6.  I love this kid.  He is way into Beanie Boos, going to Cherry Hill and the pool, and saying "seriously?"  He just suddenly learned how to swim, after failing at swimming lessons both with me in Miami and with Tommy at his pool.  Turns out, he can swim just fine.  I have always just been too lazy to watch him properly, so I just put him in his life jacket.  I just can't trust myself to watch both him and Tizzy.  I am afraid of kids drowning.  So now, no thanks to me, Ptolemy is free of his life jacket, which we finally jettisoned because it wore out and broke from overuse.  (Thanks, Jennie!  We got your money's worth out of that thing!)

 The morning of his birthday, this bright, happy face joined Scott and me on the back deck.  We like to hang out there in the early morning and admire the view.  We live in such a beautiful place!

Marlene and Bruce gave Ptolemy money for his birthday to go to Ant Man, the new 3-D movie.  (They also gave him some Dice Masters stuff so he could play with Freestone.)  Scott took Free, Ari and Ptolemy to the movie and to Zuppa's for lunch.  I kept Xanthe because 3-D with one eye is no fun, and we went shopping for Beanie Boos for Ptolemy.  

We had an informal party at Cherry Hill at 6, with pizza and day-old donuts.  We had had a blast picking out 4 dozen donuts at Bowman's the night before, when they're half price after 7 pm.  Ptolemy wanted a giant Texas donut instead of a cake, and I was happy to oblige, considering 1. that's easy and 2. it costs 75 cents.  Win, win!

 Freestone wanted to get his little bro his very own cup of fro-yo at the Pie Pantry for his birthday.  Thoughtful kid!

 Marlene managed to brush through Tziporah's hair with her fingers.  Evidently, Golda and Ruby are the ones who do Tizzy's hair, because it hasn't been done since they left.  OK, maybe a few times.  Once a week is good, right?

 The Moodys, our playmates.  Marianne, Cleo, Chris and Camden, who is in Ptolemy's dance class.

Nana said she would be "honored to come" to the party.  She and her famous hat were the stars of the show.  It wasn't too hot, and Cherry Hill is like 3 minutes from her place, so it was the perfect evening outing.  Plus, I don't know if Nana would admit this, but she LOVES Little Caesar's pizza. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for bringing Nana!

 I love our dads.  They are the best examples there are.  I am so proud of both of them, and so proud to belong to them.

 The Byingtons, Tolly's friend Connor's parents.

 Rolayne and Araceli, buddies.

 At Cherry Hill, you can buy a bag of sand with gemstones hidden in it, and you can "pan" for gold.  My kids don't know this.  They play in the water where the sand from these kits has fallen.  They pan, and find fingernail-sized gemstones left over from other kids' kits.  It's tragic, really, how excited they are about these scraps.  So for Ptolemy's birthday, we bought him a kit and let him pan for the stones.  He ended up with a bag full of quarter-sized rocks of all colors and types.  (Xanthe wasn't in the picture because she was struggling with jealousy and didn't want to.  Understandable!  It's hard when it's someone else's birthday.  She did a great job of being excited to give him the Beanie Boo she bought him earlier in the day, but by 10 pm, it's like, "Enough about Ptolemy!"  Lol).

 Yes, it was our 3rd annual Cherry Hill camping expedition.  The campground was chock full, and it was exciting to be in the action.  Also exciting is wearing your jammies and staying at Cherry Hill to golf and carouse after all the other kids go home.  I kinda love it.

 "Take a picture of me, Mommy!  I'm a princess!"

 And in Lansevillard, Val du Cenis...

 This is in Vire, in the Lavisierres' summer home.  I mean, their other summer home besides the one in the Alps.

 My pictures are all mixed up.

Throw back to last summer when the Fab 5 were here, and we took Ptolemy on our road trip to California.  Ruby posted this for Ptolemy's birthday.  This kid leads a charmed life. He is a joy, full of joy, exuding joy, bringing and spreading joy.  The first moment I found out I really was pregnant with Ptolemy, my whole soul was filled with overwhelming joy, and it has never left.  I am just so happy Ptolemy found a way to join our family, and to bring Tziporah with him.  He is a being of light.  I don't even know what that means, but I love this guy!