Mark's baptism

Today we officially became godparents to Mark Lawrence Masek, who almost woke up for the occasion. The baptism went so smoothly, could it be because we left our children with the neighbors? We did pick them up and take them to the party afterwards, so they could have two kinds of cake--one for Mark and one for his sister Maria, who just turned three.

Bike Trailer

waking up

Sometimes it's hard to get out of the post-nap daze unless you have your white crocodile, your digger book and your daddy.

Rob and Melissa

Matt's cousin Rob and his wife Melissa stayed with us last night. They've lived abroad for the last six years, most recently in Mexico. They've been on the road for three weeks driving from Puerta Vallarta. We were their last stop before they get back home to Toronto. It was great to see them. Luke loved talking to "Cousin Rob." And we all got a kick out of having a car with Costa Rica plates parked in front of our house (they lived in Costa Rica before Mexico).

Biker Boyz

Luke has a 16 inch bike, but he's still kind of nervous on it. A few weeks ago he got this 12 inch bike as a hand-me-down from a friend. He LOVES it (thanks Ali and Caleb!) and rides it all the time. He and Matt have ridden as far as the Easton soccer fields which are 4 miles away. Michael is much, much slower on his "two-wheeler." What surprises me is how much they love their helmets and beg to wear them all the time!

Baby Mark

This is Mark Lawrence Masek, our newest godson. He arrived on July 3rd. We are so happy for Larry and Joyce and big sister Maria and can't wait until the baptism next week. Hmmm, looking back on the baptism for our other godson, Benedict, I'm toying with the idea of getting a babysitter for our kids.

Got milkweed?

I saw a bumper sticker that said that in Clintonville (surprise, surprise), but it got me curious, so I looked it up. Turns out butterflies, especially monarchs, love milkweed, so I told Matt to stop cutting ours down. We were rewarded this morning with this visitor:

Not a monarch, but an adult female Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.

Luke's conversation with the butterfly:

Luke: What's your name?
Butterfly (whose voice sounds suspiciously like Luke's): Butterfly-ie.
Luke: Do you want to be adopt?
Butterfly-ie: What's adopt?
Luke: It means you lived alone in the forest, but now you can come and live with us and be in our family.
Butterfly-ie: Oh yes, I'd love to be adopt!
Luke: Ok, now you're in our family and can live in our yard.

4th of July

Usually, we spend the 4th with the Martinez family in Granville, but they are spending the summer in Columbia this year. We decided to go to the Granville parade anyway this year, mainly because Matt and I had an overwhelming need to see the "meat royalty" again. I didn't get good pictures this year, but in addition to the usual Licking County Goat Queen and Beef Princess, we also saw the Licking County Junior Rabbit Queen, the Poultry Queen and the Pork Princess. Then we came home and Luke and Michael did their first sparklers with our neighbors. We thought the big fireworks might get rained out, but the weather held, so Matt and Luke and our neighbors Josh and Ethan went to the Westerville fireworks display. It didn't start until 10pm and they didn't get home until almost midnight! I think it was one of the latest nights Luke's ever had, but he had a blast. I'm so glad he didn't inherit my fear of loud noises that left me cowering under beds for most of my childhood Independence Days!