California Day 9

A photo of the children sleeping last night that properly belongs in yesterday's blog post, but didn't make it in until today

This morning Erica and I took the children to Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. We arrived fifteen minutes early, so encouraged the John and Mary to run off some energy in the courtyard.

After Mass and another visit to my favorite Catholic bookstore, we drove home to meet with Aunt Stella just arrived from the airport! The children did water play in the back yard, we ate lunch, and naps ensued.

Then we went to dinner at long-time friend Bill's house. We ate out of doors (so lovely!) and Bill thoughtfully set up a mat and pillows next to our table with a game of dinosaur bones for the children to play. They went back and forth between their PB&J sandwiches and playing with dinosaur "bones" while the adults socialized.

Katherine, Bill, Erica as photographed by my three-year-old

After dinner we walked across the street to yet another of this town's fabulous public parks. It contained an extensive playground, sand box, picnic area, grassy field for sports, and tennis courts, all connected to yet more of the miles of greenway that run through the town.

The heavily shaded, clean picnic area.

John is getting ever-braver about climbing structures and descending steep slides!

This was an interesting slide made of rolling things, like a conveyor belt.

John climbing up a slide

I was startled at how much fun John had coming down this tall twisty slide (and climbing up the tube) because it was opaque and, therefore, pitch black inside.

John has begun to socialize with other children he meets at playgrounds and today ran about with three older girls. (I didn't photograph them on the other side of the merry-go-round.) I thought it was neat to see how he approached them, asking to play, asking them to slow down so he could hop on. Later he even initiated a game of Follow the Leader.

When Mary goes down a slide, she goes alone (without holding my hand) and she doesn't start by sitting on her bottom: she likes to start standing and do a jump into the air, landing hard on her bottom as she's already whizzing downward.

Mary climbed to the top of this hanging ladder although, after I took a photo of her this high, I walked over to spot her in case she fell.

The kids enjoyed so much petting Bill's very gentle dog Bluebell.

Driving home, Mary kept requesting, "Puppy more! Puppy more!" I told her that we said bye-bye to the puppy, so then she changed to a wistful, "Bye-bye, puppy."

On the drive home, John treated Aunt Erica to a "Catholic Auntie Moment." He interrupted us ("Excuse me, Mama") and asked if we could please pray the rosary together ("with Auntie too"). Then he reminded us of the events when Our Lady visited the children a Fatima, Portugal, and asked people to pray the Rosary. He tried actually to keep his place using the beads and he participated with vocal prayer more than I've ever heard him do during a Rosary. I know he knows virtually all the prayers, but he's too shy to "perform." We prayed a decade and it was very endearing, helping to make up for the more stinky parenting moments that are part of life.