Things that made me smile today

1. We went on a walk and stopped at a construction site.  Watching my son watch big trucks is true entertainment. 
2. On said walk, we saw an emerald green hummingbird flitting to and fro among the leaves of a stately eucalyptus tree.  Beautiful.
3. This photo (on nights when Jerry works late and the kids go to bed early, I sit here perusing old photo files to keep from feeling too lonely):

 

4. At the zoo today (yes, we spent a lot of time out of the house today, hooray), my son shared his snacks/lunch generously with a little friend he met there.  I remember reading in the nursery manual awhile back that "kids under the age of 3 yrs. don't have the emotional maturity to understand sharing," or something like that.  And now that Mr. Lo is three years old, I am actually seeing the "sharing capability" unfold.   Effortlessly.  Almost. 
5. "Bruce Willis," Jerry's new nickname for baby girl Ro.  We shaved her head a couple days ago and I'm appalled how much less cute she became instantly.  *sigh* I'd been so bugged by her bald spots prior to the hair cut...but anyway, I love my sweet Husby's take on it. 

Lest anyone wonder how we can afford to live in such a great location...

After that last post--replete with my bragging about the awesomeness of our location--I should add a few details just to give a balanced viewpoint. Our apartment complex is next door to what must be the largest homeless encampment in the Western US (we're talking dozens of tents, teepees, etc with a parking lot and that is just from what I can observe as I drive past). Why don't we save a couple thousand a month on rent/utilities and put up a luxury yurt there I ask you.  We could probably arm it with a guard dog/laser alarm system for less than our monthly rent. Jerry's bike, double-locked (our personal lock plus inside our locked apartment complex bike rack) got stolen less than a week after we bought it.  I recently tried to invite over a woman from church so she could drop off some stuff for my new calling, and when she found out about my neighborhood and that she'd have to park on the street she said, "We can just meet at the church."  And most of my neighbors don't speak English (despite the fact that we asked the apartment manager beforehand and he said they were all "second-generation") so I am having an interesting time making friends within our complex. But seriously, the zoo/amusement park/playscape across the street is a huge plus. :)

random photo of baby Ro just because everybody always wants to see more of her. These are some of Mr. Lo's favorite stuffed animals right now.  They all have good stories behind them. 

We invited our son's sunbeam teacher over for dinner and she lives just two blocks away so she didn't mind our neighborhood :) and she brought this gorgeous arrangement as a housewarming gift.  She is really a sweetheart.

Smorgasbord

Wish we had more recent photos of Ro ready to go. In the meantime...

first bath

skinny newborn legs - a couple months ago

We live across the street from a zoo.

And we live across the street from an amusement park.  All the rides cater to Lo's age range, even this fun roller coaster!

 

And we live across the street from the best playscape imaginable.