Portraits

Dave went up to Sacramento for the day yesterday to pitch a campaign idea to the political powers-that-be. Will they jump on it? I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because he sure is excited about it. Plus I just wanted to say "pitch" while I used this picture that Bill took of him at the Little League game on Monday night. Dave is manager, coach, and pitcher - and he endures the catcalls of the crowd whenever a pitch goes astray. Like politics, baseball requires strategy, patience, and an ability to tune out the nay-sayers.


Luke seems to enjoy baseball, and according to Dave, he is doing pretty well. There's no tee to bat from this year; you have to take your coach's pitches as they come, and you have to go through the learning process in front of the crowd. But he doesn't seem to mind, and he almost always hits the ball sooner or later. In the outfield he's at his most impressive, parked in ready position, staring down the opposing team. Suzi and Bill came to the game on Monday night and they agreed: The way the boys are playing now, it really is a different game than it was a year ago.


This picture (again, taken by Bill) has got to be one of my all-time favorite photos of Zach. Here he had decided to put some leaves on a plate for Grandma Bobbie and Granddad to cook with their eggs. Zach is continuing on his giving streak: Today he insisted on bringing a "present" (one of his trains and a little plastic track) to school for his friend Brensan. The train caused a great deal of excitement among the three-year-old-boy crowd, and the teachers decided to put it away for Zach to take it home later. But when it came time to leave, Zach refused to leave with it - he was absolutely determined that it should go home with Brensan. We'll have to see how that plays out tomorrow.


It's curious to see how much is really in those little heads of theirs. At dinner last night I asked the boys where we should go on our next vacation. "Seattle!" crowed Luke, who has spent at least 1/2 hour on the phone with Helena and Antonia in the two days since we've been home. "What do you think, Zach?" I asked. While I was asking him I was thinking, Little kids don't know what to say other than the places we've already been, so why am I bothering with this question? And to my complete and utter surprise, he answered confidently, "San Francisco." So there you have it. He could be right. By the way, this is yet another Bill picture; in this one we are reading Richard Scarry's "What Do People Do All Day?" Even after the 100th time, this book never ceases to fascinate them.

Last but not least, this self-portrait is from Helena. She emailed it to me (before we had even left Seattle) along with a note: "Thank you for coming! I made this aspeshlly for you." Could you just weep from the cuteness?