Fun in the Sun

Today is the last day of Nana and Atman's visit - boo hoo!! They leave tomorrow morning to head up to Orcas Island to visit Tess and her family. We've had a wonderful time hanging out with them this past week.

On one of our hot afternoons, we took the kids to a mostly shaded park to play. Here are Elliot and Atman taking turns on the slide (silly Atman!).

And, while the playground was shaded, Elliot of course wanted to check out the very-much-in-the-sun baseball diamond. Atman obliged by running the bases with him.

We also spent plenty of time hanging out in the backyard. We brought Imogen's playpen out under the apple tree so she could watch the goings-on without being trampled by her (loving) brother.

Imogen also loved discovering grass for the first time and practicing her almost-crawling skills with Papa.

And of course there has been much jumping on the trampoline.

In the midst of all this excitement, Joey the duck finally decided that she's a duck and not a chicken. She now loves paddling about in the wading pool and giving herself baths.

The hot weather has also been an excellent chance for Imogen to break in her lovely collection of sun dresses. First up, here she is playing with what I'm calling the "girlypus" - a sparkly purple octopus with frilly pink legs that Nana and Atman gave to her.

And here she is in the adorable sun dress that I really wish came in my size.

The entire day she was wearing it, I kept thinking she reminded me of something. I finally figured out that the dress reminds me of a book that I used to read at my grandmother Gm's house as a girl - The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright. The books were published in the 1960s, and apparently some of them are still in print. They tell stories of the doll and Mr. Bear using photographs of dolls and teddy bears. Here is a picture of Edith, the Lonely Doll herself.

Imogen is cuter, of course, but you can see the resemblance!

This past weekend we also were lucky enough to meet Vic's stepdaughter, Nova. Though we only got to spend a few minutes with her, we could tell she is an amazing woman. She is also a gifted photographer, and she blew me away by letting us choose a print of hers from her portfolio of work from her travels around Asia with her (also photographer) husband these past four years. I picked a gorgeous photo of a woman in Pakistan wearing clothes of elaborate bead work and embroidery, photographed from the back carrying twin babies who are peeking over her shoulders. It's breathtakingly beautiful. You can view some of Nova's work here.

This afternoon is rainy and cool, and Nana and Atman are playing with Elliot upstairs while I write this blog and Imogen naps. We're all going to miss having them around! Tonight we're celebrating with pizza and the battle of the Davids on American Idol. Go David Cook! We're rooting for a rocker to finally win!!