Scheduling conflicts for Thais and Lenin meant Grandma got to take Sophia to soccer practice. Made me happy!

Keeping the troops happy.

The head turned side to side and the eyes blinked.

A picture from last night. Avery and Sophia went to their first sprint car race with Uncle Justin in Placerville. Thais and Lenin were also there. Avery sat on Uncle Justin’s lap the whole night, riveted to the action on the track.

Greg is cousin Phyllis’ oldest son. He lives in one half of a duplex on the Sacramento River just a few miles from downtown. To say the least, the setting is fantastic!

A big lawn for lots of different games.

Kevin, a friend from Greg’s high school days, and Roxanne live in the other half of the duplex.

A steep ramp down to the dock on the river.



Phyl’s younger son, Chris, did the barbecuing.

Fun party, Greg!

Avery’s partner this week was cousin Leo.

This is for you, Tom and Paula in Alabama. Justin’s waiting for Tom to come try it out. There’s a small race track nearby on a friend’s property where everyone goes to race and have fun.

The First Tee program at Lank Park Golf Course.
Technically, at 3 1/2, Avery was too young but the organizers decided to let him try. And he’s doing great.

There are three 30-minute stations.

Too much fun! This was Sophia and Avery’s first time ever to go bowling. With the bumpers up to avoid a gutter ball, the ball rolled s-l-o-w-l-y

down the lane.

Then we found a ramp for Sophia and Avery to use which really speeded up play! Afterwards we went to Sam’s Hof Brau for dinner, a restaurant that’s been around for 56 years.

For not bowling in decades, I was pretty happy with my 153 score. And one game seemed to be enough for everyone!

Hurray! Lenin and Thais had an evening engagement and I got to watch Sophia and Avery. The backyard is under renovation – I will definitely have to show the “after” pictures once it’s complete. Avery really wanted me to see all the things he can do in the back yard, like hanging from a branch and dropping,

walking on a narrow board,

zooming on the roller coaster,

climbing high in a tree (nervous Grandma here),

and getting in the way of his sister.

Sophia gave Grandma excellent directions about how everything is supposed to go when getting ready for bed. If I questioned anything, her response always began with, “My mom says …”

I wrapped them up “like a package” in a towel about 20 times, then they would jump around until the towel fell off and we’d do it all over again.

L-R: Leah, Holly, Lauren (wearing pink t-shirt), MacKenna holding daughter, Rita, Thais, Sophia.

Mermaid and merboy: