Lake Clementine

On Friday we went to Lake Clementine with my Mom, Bernie and Stephy and her kids. This is a summer tradition in our family since my parents moved up here in '79. It's a great place for families to play, and we all had a great time

Good Bear!

Yesterday was a big day for the Mavy girls. Eve had a dentist appointment with Dr. Jang (who I really love - he's great with my kids), so I left Libby and Sadie with my Mom and my sister Bernie and Stephy's kids, and Eve and I had a special afternoon together. We went to the mall and got ice cream and went grocery shopping together. Eve loved it. She must have told me a dozen times how happy she was that we could spend some time together "just us." She also noted how quiet the car is "without everybody."
After our outing we went back to my Mom's for dinner and then Bernie, her husband Sheridan, Stephy's kids, Angie, Jackie, my girls and I went to see Kung Fu Panda - very cute movie, loved by all, from Libby all the way up to Sheridan. This was my girls' first movie at a theater, and it was quite an event for them. Even Libby was surprisingly entertained until the last song when she started screaming. I think her favorite part was saying "hi" to the people in the row in front of us while sticking her head between the backs of their seats. Luckily there were lots of other kids, so I didn't have to feel too badly about her disruptions. Sadie's comments were the best. At one point, when the Panda landed a particularly satisfying blow on the bad guy she shouted "Good Bear!"
We won't be attending another movie next week, but I'm looking forward to sending the big girls to one with Ben at some point. It's so fun to see your kids totally excited about a treat like that.

Dracula visits the Mavys

Well, Ben is out of town once again, and we girls are home fending for ourselves. It's been a week now and we have at least one more to go. Last night Ben had to drive a long way on country roads late at night, so I helped him stay awake by chatting with him until midnight CA time. I was pretty sleepy when I woke up 4 hours later to the sound of... was that wings beating? Not a bird though, it didn't sound fluffy, it sounded - yes, leathery like a bat! It doesn't look very big all curled up, but with those wings extended, swooping around my bedroom, it seemed a heck of a lot bigger. I was really tired and bats don't bug me, so I tried to go back to sleep, but bats make a very distinct noise when they're hunting in your bedroom and this mosquito eater kept buzzing around my head like maybe I would keep it safe. Then I started thinking about how fun it wouldn't be to open a box of cheerios in the morning and find a winged mouse inside, so I got up and tried to chase it out the front door. I hated to hurt the thing; they eat mosquitoes which makes them my friends, but it wouldn't go out the darn door, and I was getting more tired. So, I got a broom and tried to guide the thing out. Pretty soon, I was playing bat ball. I got it a few times and it slowed way down and finally roosted or whatever from the blinds in the front room. I put on some gloves, dropped it in a brown paper bag and left it on the front lawn. Poor guy, he must not be feeling well, because he's still in there. The girls think he's pretty neat and we had a great lesson on bats and echolocation. Anyway, here are some pictures of our gruesome house guest.