What We've Been Up To Lately

Tonight, our family is separated and sleeping along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Joubert Syndrome has something to do with it and I'll write more about it in another post, but for now, here's what we've been up to this summer so far:

Marcus' birthday always kicks off the party season in our household and by the time we celebrate Auj, Mike, and our union's birthdays, we know summer is at full throttle.



I love that we get to gather our family and friends in the backyard, fill up a table with good eats, and watch our loved ones relax and enjoy.







Audrey decorated her and her Daddy's cake and I hope Daddy will remain her main man for a long long looooong time.



I love how he's looking at her in this picture. He loves her so. They share they same face, same soccer legs, same soul.



I love how they get to blow candles together every year. I also love what I'm doing in this picture. Just being happy, I guess?



And what do you do when you take 25 consecutive family pictures and there isn't one where everyone's looking at the camera? Just shamelessly pick the one you look best in. So, voilà.



The night when Audrey was born, we heard distant fireworks and it didn't register with me that our whole nation would be at full party mode every time we celebrated her birthday. And 7 years later, we saw fireworks together as a family for the first time (minus Big D). Even Marcus' sensory difficulties didn't stop us from enjoying them and although he initially complained that the noise was too "popcorny", they remained the highlight of the day's festivities.



Besides partying, we've been beaching.



The Champ is virtually BFF with the ocean now.



And Derek's fierce flash of underbite is code for "I dig this, Mama."



Audrey took a 4-week drawing class which inspired an after-dinner still life session.



I'd like to say that Auj was shooting for Realism and Marcus aimed at Impressionism but landed at Surrealism.



Summer fun means end-of-day baths and sometimes Jewish baths make you cleaner. Well maybe not cleaner, but they're certainly more fun.



And once your baby brother leaves you alone in the bath with no one to giggle with, what do you do? You have a balance-the-bowl-on-your-head contest against yourself.



Here's to a slow, restful, fun, sometimes naked summer.