State of the Union, Summer 2014

Here's what's what so far:

Dash completed a swim class. He's now a Level 5 (highest, wut wut!), but he still looks pretty hilarious when he tries to do the butterfly.

My vanilla-kumquat marmalade has been entered in the Ventura County Fair and is currently awaiting judgment. Don't talk about it!

I tried shibori. It took three tries before I got a set of napkins that didn't turn into a muddy, bleedy mess. 

The indigo dye starts green, but turns an amazing inky blue as it oxidizes.

See?

I looked like a Smurf for about a week after.

I turned 43 and my boys took me to the beach to celebrate.

Dash got to finally try out his new wetsuit/boogie board combo.

Too bad the beach was so ugly.

When it's your birthday, no one can make fun of you for bringing your knitting to the beach.

The next day, we headed up to Sonoma County to for a wonderful visit with our beloved Grandma Sonja and Uncle Doron & Aunt Cheryl (and some new friends, too!).

Grandma's a badass.

I dunno. I like his face.

They're cute together.

At lunch one afternoon, Dash was more delightful than usual. So I drew a portrait of him, wanting to capture the moment.

He didn't like it ("I'm so mad at you!")

We spent a beautiful afternoon at the Russian River.

Dash swung off a rope swing like a tough guy.

I conclusion, here are some pictures of my feet:

(With the plums & apricots that Doron & Cheryl picked for me from their trees.)*

*Here's the jam I made with all those plums & apricots once we got home! 

So, you know. Good Summer so far.

A Summer Sunday

Jet Hawks

We've all been itching to get to a baseball game this Summer, but we just haven't had the time or the energy recently to plan a big trip down to Anaheim to see our Angels (soon, Mike Trout! We'll see you soon!).

Anyway, we knew that we had a Minor League team relatively close by, so Josh bought us some tickets ($12 each for 3rd row, behind home plate) and we headed to Lancaster to check out the Jet Hawks.

Right this moment--as I was about to explain that I didn't understand why they called their stadium the Hangar--is when it occurred to me that it's called the Hangar because they are JET Hawks. And Jets are housed in Hangars. I am sharp as a flippin' tack, I am.

Before the game some girls from the local dance school came out & performed. It was pretty perfect.

Watching the team warm up on the field was the closest I got to photographing any actual game play.

But I did get a picture of my new shoes! They are tres jolie laide, but I love them almost as much as I love Dash.

This is the team's mascot. His name is Ka Boom.

They had a pitching thing where they would measure how fast your pitch is.

Well, yeah they got Jet Hawks hats. Duh.

Hi!

After the game they let the kids run the bases.

All Star

Dash made the All Stars at Hart! Because baseball! Athlete! Good at ball-playing pastimes! Here are a series of numbers and letters that will explain some details of his season to those who speak baseball:

Batting

Games: 18

Batting Average: .564

Slugging Percentage: .782

Hits: 31

Doubles: 6

Home Runs: 2

RBI: 11

Runs: 10

18-game hitting streak

Pitching
Innings Pitched: 17.2

Hits Given Up: 10

Strikeouts: 25

ERA: 2.72

The 4th

We spent the 4th this year with our beloved Goulds. 

bocce ball!

I made this cake. Pretend I didn't fuck up the order of the layers (despite the fact that I made a diagram).

Yes. Kid got a mohawk.

And some spectacular glasses, courtesy of Grandma who purchased them just to wear in her life, not for Independence Day or anything. I love our family.

Josh went to Filmore to get sparklers!

Adorable Audrey and her bowtie.

Too cool for this bullshit.

Jen & Ollie are two of the cutest of all the humans.

How much did I love watching all the parents give their kids sparklers and try to keep them from setting themselves on fire? A lot. That's how much. A whole lot.

I made a 4 with light! Except I did it backwards, so I had to flip the image in Photoshop (transparency, yo).