End of an era

I am so proud of my boy, Sam. He donated over 12 inches of gorgeous, platinum blond hair to Locks of Love today.

In the chair, a little apprehensive!

The flowing locks!

First cut

 Almost there!

Woo hoo!

Although this is something we've been talking about and mulling over for ages, we ended up doing it spontaneously and on the fly, therefore garnering some great reactions. Like this, when we surprised Grannie at the yarn store:

And later that day, when Jeff got home from the grocery store:

Patch had by far the most bitter sweet reaction- he cried. A lot. He couldn't say exactly why, but I think it was for a whole bunch of complicated emotions, mostly tied to his own identity as a long haired boy and his love for and desire to emulate Sam. I gently reminded him that this was a big deal for Sam, and that he, Patch, needed to support his brother. I also told him that he now holds the title of longest haired person in our household. He liked that.

The Fair

I will readily admit that I am not a huge fan of the Fair. In fact, I have been known to leave Napa when it comes to town, or at least avoid driving anywhere near that part of town, lest the children see that darn ferris wheel arching over the trees and beg me to take them. But this year, we decided to go. Some friends invited us to meet them there, Jeff had the day off, and it was not supposed to be too hot, so I acquiesed. And, all in all, it wasn't that bad. The big boys enjoyed some rides, Atti played his first carnival game (and actually won a stuffed animal!), and we all liked checking out the animals. 

Their first ride. A little aprehensive at first, but they loved it. Sam, sweet brother that he is, waved happily at Atti everytime they came around!

Atti loved watching his brothers flying around, but chose to keep his feet firmly on the ground.

The huge slide was a big hit. Patch had a minor wipeout, but bravely got right back on again!

Atti, playing a dart game. He did in fact pop a balloon with a dart. He's got good aim, that little south paw of mine!

 And, talking a phone call. He's a very busy guy.

Dinner...

Grilled chicken caesar salad, quinoa tabbouleh with roasted beets..aaand vanilla-black raspberry milkshakes. Cuz you can only have so much healthiness in one meal!

Crazy morning hair

Apparently Atti isn't the only one who can have some wild bed head!

Our incredible plum tree

We are lucky enough to have some mature fruit trees on our property, the most prolific being our plum tree. I think it produces mostly green gage plums, but it is a grafted tree and has a few different varities on it.  The tree had an absolutely amazing, overwhelming amount of plums on it this year. We literally could not pick them fast enough. We gave them away, ate them daily, occasionally threw them at each other. But we could just not keep up. Last week we sent the boys out there to pick a few pounds, which Jeff then turned into some delicious jam. 

Plum farmers

 Testing the wares

Sam, "overseeing"

The fruits of their labors

Baby's First Gum!

 Not necessarily one of your traditional milestones, but a very important step in the life of a 3 yr old!

Go Giants!

Jeff, Grandpa, and the big boys took in a Giants game last week. They had a great time, despite the Giants' loss in the 10th inning. 

 Giant slide at the Giants' park.

 Ballpark delicacies

 Great seats

 Huge ice creams

Rally!!!