It was fun to look at these photos of last summer while there was snow on the ground here! (Back in February when I started this post, that is.)

Continuing my catching up effort, I’m going to share some memories from last July.

At the beginning of the month, Sam started saying “ball” and pointing to things and saying, “dis?”, wanting me to name them.

I was reading about encouraging empathy in children:

Speaking of empathy, a little later in the month, Ari asked me, “Mommy, why do people look at the ground when they’re sad?” While I was trying to come up with an answer, he asked, “Why do you look at the ground when you’re sad?” He’s always been so attuned to people’s feelings! I have to do so much reading about empathy just so I can keep up with him.

Also, speaking of developing awareness of other people’s thoughts and feelings, in mid-July we noticed that Ari had figured out how to be deceptive. He would tell me he wanted to watch Peppa Pig because Daddy (who didn’t like to let him watch it) was outside, or he would tell A. not to tell me when he had done something I wouldn’t like, and he told us both that he wasn’t going to tell us anymore when he stood up to pee instead of sitting on the potty because we would get mad.

For our ADU project, we were thinking about tile and counter tops in July. We made lots of trips to tile stores! I’ll spare you all the photos.

We got together with family in Olympia and had a great time with a kiddie pool, lawn games, barbecue, and CAKE!

We also got together with friends for the 4th and enjoyed picking berries in the garden:

We escaped the heat in the Reed College Canyon, where Ari enjoyed playing “Pooh Sticks” on the bridges:

Sam was cute:

We had a fun bike ride to dinner with friends and acted like total fools taking selfies:

The ADU got windows and weather wrap:

We played at Jamison Square:

Sam practiced standing and climbing:

I did some more reading about empathy and our impoverished social milieu:

Ari practiced drawing lines and shapes:

I continued reading this book:

We had an Oregon Coast getaway with my extended family. Ari had my phone for a while and took about a thousand pictures from the backseat!

When we arrived, we had a beautiful sunset and tired kids:

Some vacation reading about empathy, in the Spirited Child book:

Fun on the beach!

In the pool!

Flying kites!

Back at home:

More ADU work and shopping:

When we were fortunate enough to have a sleeping child, sometimes we’d brave the transfer to a stroller and other times one of us would wait in the car.

We chose our flooring!

Sam played with toy glasses from Ari’s doll:

We had a day of adventure involving a visit to Ari’s eye doctor. I think I used almost all modes of transportation in Portland in one day!

We drove to the Max (light rail) stop and took the Max to the OHSU tram, then rode the tram to the eye doctor, with a pizza stop before we boarded the tram:

We took the bus from the eye doctor to the fountain by A.’s office. There was live music by the fountain and the boys had a great time:

Then we biked back to the car! A. took the boys (and the stroller) on his bike and I used a BikeTown share bike.

Then A. and the kids continued home on the bike and I drove off to Northeast Portland for an evening out with a friend. Whew!

Another day, more tile shopping. We chose these for our bathroom (the one on the left for the floor and the wavy one on the bottom right for the shower) but we later changed our minds.

A few more summer scenes – playing at the park, having ice cream with friends, Ari helping out, Sam being cute, and our new front door:

Ari’s school celebrated their annual Procession of the Species, with costumes the kids made in class. It’s my favorite school event, and this year, my aunt was able to join us!

First, we met up on the school grounds to get the kids’ costumes. I was completely blown away by Ari’s! It was an amazing dinosaur covered in glitter, with a long, shimmery tail. The photos don’t fully capture the way it sparkled in the sun!

Once everyone was ready, we paraded a few blocks to the park, then spread out for socializing over ice cream (made by the school’s chef, with flavors invented by the kids).

Sam’s class all dressed as characters from the book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and rode in a buggy together along the parade route. Sam was the black sheep!

Finally, we closed out the month with a trip to Elizabeth Caruthers park on the SW Waterfront. I felt like I was in Europe, with the taller buildings surrounding the little plaza, lavender, a boules court, little tables and chairs, and a glamorous-looking couple having a pleasant, relaxed conversation in another language while their two little boys ran wild and peed in the fountain! In perhaps more of an American style, I followed my kids around, hovering over them, playing hide and seek with Ari, and taking a million photos (while A. sat and did something on his phone).

After playing in the fountain, we ran around on the lovely grassy hill there!

That’s it for the photos!

A few Ari stories:

One day, he told us he peed on the floor at school because his friend told him to, so we had a chat about following one’s inner voice a little earlier than I thought we’d have to. Another day, he told me that he likes to do things to make people laugh and that when other kids would tell him “secrets of mean things to do,” he’d do them. Oh, dear…

A. shaved off his beard and Ari got shy and said, “Daddy, I don’t know who you are with your beard off” and asked, “When will you put your beard back on?”

One day when we declined to give him a glass of milk, he took my phone, swiped up, selected the timer, and set a timer that he said was for when he could have milk. I was impressed on so many levels by that!

Ari had so many things he wanted to become that he said he wanted to grow up to be a scientist so he could study how to grow up to be other things.

When I said no to more fig bars, Ari sobbed and said, “I’m not going to be your son anymore!”

But he’s still my son, and I love him so much.