Berry picking

Blueberries taste better when you pick them yourself!

Stained fingers.

Jamesville Beach

Took the Katea family to the beach today - they love swimming! Ahmed played happily in the sand (here with Ayat), just like Alana did at that age (18 months).



Alana playing in the sand.



Swimming (a terrible shot)



After swimming.



Ahmed asleep on the table.

Tot shabbat

Cantor

Rabbi

Penny Carnival in Clay Park

Knock over the monkey with the bananas



Shoot the shaving cream off the photo with the water gun



Toss balls into buckets




Bean bag toss

Funny boy

Caleb: Guess what we got to do today at camp!

Mommy: I don't know.

Caleb: It's something we never get to do!

Mommy [thinking - get a root canal] I don't know.

Caleb: Have a wrestling match! It wasn't a real wrestling match, though, no headlocks or anythng.

[He was SO pleased about this! They got to wrestle all through "free time"!]

Green Lake

Danny and his friend Jeff met us at the lake. It stayed cool and mostly overcast, but it never rained. We had a great time. Here's Danny, Caleb & Nikki in the water.


Base camp




Sand play




We didn't actually take a ride in this boat, the girls just sat in it.

Betsy's party

In the late afternoon, we went to the Going Away party for Betsy Dexter. Here, Caleb is hitting the pinata.





Alana playing with the vanity that belonged to the hostess's daughter.




Alana blowing bubbles - it was windy!




Caleb climbing on the play structure.

Sleeping baby

Ahmed snoozing on Mommy's purse while we get ice cream at Friendly's

Ed Smith Elementary playground

We took some of the Katea family members to the Open Hand Puppet Circus at Ed Smith school. After the show, we played on the playground. Here, Alana is climbing the wall of the play structure.

Ayat balancing

Park

Took Roxy for a nice walk in the park in the morning.

Killer

Rosie with her 4th dead mouse

Funny girl

So we arrive at the synagogue for the services and one of the parents tells the kids (including mine) to follow one of the boys towards the babysitting room. Alana replies: "I'm following my instincts."

Yummy lunch

I haven't had manicotti in TEN YEARS, but that travesty was remedied today thanks to Vince's Gourmet Imports in North Syracuse, who is carrying excellent GF Italian food from Conte's in Vineland, NJ (ironically, just a stone's throw from where I used to live!) Very yummy, and though not cheap, it was a very generous portion and delicious, so worth every penny!

Best place to live - NOT

Last year, Clay, NY (where I live) made Money Magazine's Top 100 Places to Live list, at #59. This year - not even on the list. The local paper says they must be taking into account the state's ability to govern itself!

Books that don't work

I got a big stack of books at the library to read to the kids. Tonight, I took the top one off the stack - That Summer by Tony Johnston, which looked inocuous enough, but I realized on page 3, it's about the summer his brother died. That's not quite what I had in mind.

So I grab the next book in the stack - The Birdman by Veronika Charles, based on a true story about a man who rescues sickly birds in the market, nurses them to health, and releases them. It seemed uplifting. I start to read and on the page 2 it says that the man's entire family, including his 3 beloved children, died in a horrible accident. So I put that one aside.

I take the third book in the stack - "Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate by Bob Graham. How bad can this be??? The very first line: "Tiger died last summer." Holy crap!

I usually just pick books that have nice illustrations, but I'm going to have to start checking the content more carefully!!

Oneida Lake

Kids on the pier at Sylvan Beach. The water looks rough but it wasn't cold.



They played for a long time - I almost had to drag them off! As much fun than the amusement park.




Alana is cuddling a small teddy bear that Caleb won for her at a carnival game - he had to knock down a stack of cans with a ball (the carny gave him a hand!)

Sylvan Beach amusement park

Giant slide





Teacup ride - this was Alana's favorite




Carousel - Alana on a bunny, Caleb on a dog

Sylvan Beach kiddie rides

After the three of us rode the small rollercoaster, we had to take a break and ride some of the kiddie rides.

Caleb shooting Alana who is in the plane ahead

Caleb skipped the mini boat ride (Alana enjoyed this more than it looks like!)

Queen of the mountain

To avoid the buggier part of the park while walking Roxy, we climbed around on the construction debris that has been dumped next to the soccer field. You can't tell from this photo, because I'm standing a bit too close, but the pile of dirt that Alana is standing on is rather high.

Lunch at The Crazy Clam

New Americans

Went with Jamie Haft to visit our friends that immigrated from Iraq. Caleb took this photo of Alana and I on the couch. Jamie is next to us and Arkan is on the chair behind her.

We took the entire crew to swim at the East Area YMCA. Everyone had a blast. (I forgot to take photos.)

I'll admit to being flattered

I talked to the rabbi after the Shabbat service tonight and he said that he expects me to be a future president of the temple. He sounded serious, not like he was just blowing smoke. I don't really see myself going that way, but I felt really good that he thinks so!

Funny boy

Caleb tells me that he's the 4th coolest boy at summer camp (in the cougars), after Joey, Michael and Joey.

Jumpy dog

Roxy jumping for the ball at Clay Park.

Oneida Shores

Dashed out of the bar b q to spend a little time at the beach. Alana said "make me a mermaid" (that's Matt's legs behind her - he's reading Jonathan Alter's biography of FDR for his history class).

Caleb and Jake are eating ice cream from the ice cream truck. Then they spent an hour playing in the water.

Fifth of July

The weather was stunning today. We went to the Proctor's for a bar b q. Here's Jim, the grillmaster.



Here's Alana and Jake on the swingset.

Here's Alana and Allison on the porch swing.

Park

The weather actually improved later, so we took Roxy for a walk in the park. Alana is obsessed with climbing this pole. She's getting really good at it.

After this, we went home for a quick dinner and then drove down to Onondaga Lake Park to watch the Syracuse fireworks - they are shot from the fairgrounds, but you get an excellent view from across the lake. It was fun, but chilly!

Indoor picnic

We spent a very pleasant afternoon at the Adler's house, mostly indoors, since the weather was cool and threatening. Here the kids are munching cheese crackers on the couch.

String queen

Alana is obsessed with cat's cradle, which she learned at summer camp.