I picked up Sophia and Avery after summer school at St Ignatius was over. We first stopped at Petco to see if there were any animals to look at. There were lots! Rabbits, hamsters, mice, amphibians, fish, birds!
The best discovery, however, was the adoption center where you can meet and play with kittens and puppies. Perfect! Sophia really wants a cat, but Mom and Dad are not so excited. Since there is NO chance Grandma would ever purchase/adopt/pet a cat (or any other pet for that matter), I am the best person to provide this experience.
Our next stop was haircuts. Sophia went bold with a short style.
Our third stop was Sophia’s ukelele lesson. Avery and I walked around the block. He managed to entice a local kitty to follow us for a while.
I’m not sure how much fun Sophia and Avery had, but I had a great time today.
Author Archives: arletelouise
Penn Valley
I went to Maria’s in Penn Valley for a couple of days – always so much fun! Maria’s experimental garden on the front patio:
I walked each day, motivated by a FitBit Weekend Warrior challenge.
Hole #1 for the Lake Wildwood golf course is across the street. Maria spotted Janice Pucci’s group on the green.
And she came over for a visit afterward.
As always, great food. Here three different dinner salads – yum!
My experiment, frozen vodka using Ocean Vodka – organic and made in Kula Maui. Next time, I’ll make sure all the fish are right-side up!
As it melted, the scuba diver became visible.
Thank you Maria and Tim for everything!
Saturday
Sophia and Avery are taking golf lessons at William Land Park every Saturday morning.
Carson’s favorite part:
After golf, it’s off to gymnastics.
Meanwhile, in E Nicolaus.
This year’s batch of baby pigs arrived this week.
Annuals planted by Justin.
Sophia, Old Sac, and a Yuba Mundo
Today, I picked up only Sophia at Leah’s and went for a little adventure in Old Sacramento. We rented a Yuba Mundo bicycle – a great family bicycle – at Practical Cycle.
We rode to Miller Park. Along the way, turtle-spotting:
Back in Old Sac, bird-tracking:
Tree-rushing:
Posing once again for Grandma:
Swim lessons
Sophia, Avery, and cousin are taking swim lessons at Dolphin Swim Center for two weeks. 
Ukelele and laughter
I picked up Sophia from Leah’s and took her to her ukelele lesson.
After Mom got home, Sophia and Avery found a piece of bubble wrap and started jumping and popping them …
… much to the delight of Carson
Midtown Farmers Market
I worked the SABA Bike Valet with Rebecca again.
We didn’t park many bikes, but we had a good visit.
I have found a few vendors I look forward to visiting each time – one selling the best avocados, another with unique jewelry (I feel a purchase coming on). 
Afterwards, I met a friend at Old Soul to talk about doing some safety clinics for Bike Hikers, a local social bicycling club.
Stay-at-home day
It’s been a long time since I had a day when I didn’t have to go ANYwhere! Ahhh. Time for a good long walk – early in the day of course, by 10 am it’s just too hot. Justin’s neighbor planted sunflowers along his property.
This cropduster flew UNDER the power lines to get the job done:
Justin’s walnut trees are doing quite well:
There was also time to dig out a very old pattern (maybe from a 1970s Woman’s Day magazine?) and make my own sunflower:
Grange potluck
The Grange sponsors a biggest vegetable contest at the annual September Rio Linda Country Fair. A couple of giant pumpkin plants are growing at the Grange.
Deb Crowe, Jason Green
The guest speaker was CHP Officer Jenna Berry who addressed local traffic concerns.
Sophia and Avery
Mom and Dad went out tonight with Carson and I got to stay with Sophia and Avery. While Mom went to get the pizza for dinner:
Avery took this picture:
arletelouise 