Mike, Jill, Lucy, & Wubie!

“Tell me a story Daddy, but keep your eyes open so I can see them!”
- Lucy getting her sleepy dad to tell her a story

Here are some pics of the kid from the past week. Every time I look at pics like these it always hits me how fast the kid is growing up.

We had a nice get-together at my mom’s place last weekend. My mom has a neat backyard, with lots of trees and plants, squirrels and birds. The neighborhood cats love it. These pics show one cat in particular who’s always lazing around in the yard. Lucy and her cousins gave the cat rockstar treatment. The cat loved the attention.

Jill and I had never used this pool before. However, the kid had never been swimming, so we packed up our towels and flip-flops and made the trek. It was actually pretty fun (and very refreshing) so I think we’ll make regular use of the pool until the weather cools.

I’ve written before about how I like tooling around on weekend mornings while the girls are asleep. Last weekend I hit a few garage sales. My dad took me to lots of flea markets when I was a kid. I loved going, even enough to get up at 7am on a Saturday (that’s pretty early when you’re 8 or 9.) He’d look at old hi-fi equipment while I was on the prowl for comic books.

One of my fondest memories involves my dad getting me a big box of a beat-up comics for $2. I had enough to keep me reading for the whole summer! Talk about heaven.

I think that’s why, to this day I love hitting garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. Anyway, at one of the garage sales I hit, I saw a neglected little bicycle. I immediately shifted into flea market mode:

(look at everything except bike; before leaving, look at bike and ask out of curiosity…)

Me: “How much is the bike?”
Seller: “$10.”
Me: (pause) “Would you take $5?”
Seller: “I’d rather have $10.”
Me: “Well, good luck with that!” (interest gone, turn to leave)
Seller: “Howzabout $7?”
Me: “I’ve got my truck right here. I’ll give you $5 and take it off your hands right now. You won’t have to worry about it.”
Seller: “OK. $5.”

My dad would have been proud of me. So I got the bike home, scrubbed a couple of years of grime off, and voila!—the kid has a bike.

The Palo Alto Obon fest is the third and final Obon festival we attend, and is a bit smaller than the others. It has drums and dancing and food and game booths. We attended the P.A. Obon with Grandmommy two years ago, and keep going in her memory.

This year the big event of the day was Lucy winning a prize at one of the game booths…a kitty cat! She has had luck on the ‘wheel of fortune’ two years in a row. Yay Lucy! I think you’ve found your game!

Well that was fast. April is now in the books and 2010 is officially one third over with! Below is a collage made exclusively with pictures taken from April.

Notable happenings from the past month:

• Celebrating Jill’s birthday in SF (too bad John couldn’t make it!)
• Easter Egg Hunt at Gma Vita’s place
• BJ Penn Book Signing
• Getting together with old friends, including Kelly

Stuff I’ve watched/read this month:

Movies & Books

Just some goofy shots of ol’ blue eyes I took yesterday…some things never change!

Since we’re seeing Auntie Laura and Gpa Peter later on today in SF, I thought I’d post a collage of pics Laura took the last time the kid gave her a visit.

In these pics you’ll see the kid:

• Jump up and down on a bed
• Battle a squid!
• Get sniffed by a cat (or is that a really small dairy cow?)
• Stare down a Rover security sphere (aka, a 10 cent white balloon)
• Play with blocks!

Lucy put on a cat show last night. She made a podium out of some boxes, and the three of us judged the cats. Since there was a tie, madame had the deciding vote on the winners.

Here is the winners circle…little grey checked kitten won first prize, followed by yellow kitten and Jiji. Notably absent was…

Wubert is Lucy’s best friend, worst enemy, and favorite toy. He is a very patient cat.

He endures from her things which he would never tolerate from anyone else…like being dressed in hats and covered in blankets.

He has seen her grow from a tiny baby, and it seems he knows her vulnerability, and that she is little, and still growing.

He loves to play with her, and when she is asleep, he often sits next to her, watchfully, or if it has been a very long nap, prods her to wake up so he can play with her.

He rarely bites or scratches, unless he is really provoked. It takes a lot to get him to do it, and she almost always deserves it.

Even when he is napping, he always seems to have an ear cocked listening for her. The vet says this is the kind of interaction that will keep him young, keeping his mind active and occupied.

So here’s to you Wubie, the very patient cat!

Here’s a video of Lucy reading to koala, shopping at the bookstore, and playing with Wubie. It’s a bit leisurely-paced…and about 9 minutes long. So get a cup of tea, settle in, and enjoy!

Lucy playing (large version) from Jill C on Vimeo.

Lucy got a reply to her letter from Father Christmas…

She was particularly enchanted by the drawings of cat and dog…

They look just like the ones in her book!

Her first question upon seeing the letter was a matter-of-fact ‘what did he say about the train set’….I guess she’ll just have to wait and see.

Lucy and I meandered over to Los Gatos to visit a cat store last week. (Funny, that…cats…los gatos…)

Down the street from the cat store, we noticed a curious store that sparkled and shone. It was a candy shop, so of course we went in!

Lucy stood in the entryway, a bit overwhelmed, stunned, amazed, and unable to move. It was a bit of a sensory overload…shelves and shelves of candy, music and movies playing, sparkling tin ceiling tiles, lights, umbrellas, old signs, toys and games, lots and lots of things to look at.

It was a very Willy Wonka kind of place…they even had the movie playing on the back wall.

I found some nostalgic favorites, like the little dots on paper that you peel off, and a curly-whirly for Lucy’s daddy, which is the closest thing left to his childhood favorite Marathon bar.

Powell’s Sweet Shoppe it’s called. Oops, I forgot to get a Wonka bar! Guess we will have to come back…