Cheeeese!

Colin and Katie rarely enjoy posing for pictures. When the rare mood hits them, though, they'll both yell "cheese!" over and over again for 5-10 seconds.

Here's an example of the "cheesey" pair as they're perched atop their new-to-them bunk bed (our big Memorial Day project and another Craigslist success story -- though let's just say that some particleboard furniture would have been much easier to haul up the stairs).

The best part of this picture: Rachel is looking on as if she can't quite believe what they're doing: "Mommy, are these two insane, maybe?" Quite possibly, Rachel, quite possibly. :-)

The new-to-us bunk bed

Here's an in-progress photo of the kids' new bunk bed. They are both absolutely delighted with it after weeks of anticipation. ("Can we go to the bunk bed store now? Now? Now?")

It took:

• Craigslist and a little negotiating
  
• Many helpers (thanks, Chris, Tim, Eudora and Jimmy!)
• A pickup truck and a minivan
• A little spackle, sandpaper, and paint
  
• A few bumps and scrapes
  
• Much head scratching ("how are we going to get this thing through the door?")
• A few Allen wrenches
• A lot of grunting

But we're very pleased with the result.

Hint: for moving big heavy awkward pieces of furniture, end-over-end somersaults work well.

Care Bears are back!

It's nostalgia time! This summer, the studios are launching remakes of the Love Bug, Bewitched, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The greeting card and toy industry is on the bandwagon as well, with the re-release of the Care Bears. They're back!

Doubt it? Then check out the Care Bear's own Web site.

I was overseas when the first explosion happened in the early 1980s, so I missed the whole trend the first time around. But no such luck this time. As startling as this might sound, I recognize all 14 of them ("no, honey, that's no Love-a-lot because she has two hearts on her tummy").

Both kids are big fans, so they were naturally eager to pose by Johanna's Care Bear birthday cake. Katie actually has stuffed versions of both Tenderheart and Cheer Bear, so when she saw the cake (and these pictures), she yelled "that's me!" (rather than "they're mine!").

Swim like a fish!

Both kids had a grand ol' time at Johanna's birthday party, which was held at the Peninsula Swim School. Katie is still talking about it a week later ("Katie swim with daddy", "Katie swim like fish!"), and Colin enjoyed running his yellow-and-blue truck in the "puddles" by the edge of the pool.

Dump truck anyone?

Colin's photo-journalism career continues...

We were delighted to have lunch with the recently engaged Cathy and Russell. They hosted a lovely banquet at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae. We went without the kids. Well, without 2 out of 3 of them. :-)

Congratulations to the happy couple!

The Other Katie's birthday party

These days, weekends feel like one birthday party after another. (Not to say they aren't fun!) Last weekend was no exception. Here are the kids at Gymboree celebrating with the other Katie. Somewhat alarmingly, our Katie thinks the other Katie's name is literally "Other Katie" because that's what we usually call her.

Helmets

Colin has long been a fan of protective headgear. He's very careful to put on a hart hat when playing with construction equipment. Because we don't have an actual hard hat at home, he usually just puts on [backwards] the play fire helmet the local fire station gave him during the last Little Lambs' Preschool field trip.

At the Other Katie's birthday party, our Katie got into the "hat spirit" by donning -- surprisingly -- an anti-riot tactical helmet.