The Nibbana Family

This has been a big summer for me! Ari, Mom and I stayed home this summer together and did a lot of fun things. Ari took art, science and literature classes at the local library while Mommy and I went to the kids section and played with their toys and read books. We went to the pool a few times too. I love to swim and am not afraid of the water at all. Mom and Dad have to watch me because I will try to get in by myself. We did other things too, like go blueberry picking, visit a nature center, and feed alpacas and llamas at a rescue farm.

A new playground was built near the pool. Since it is only a block from us we watched it grow and we finally got to play on it a few weeks ago. It is so much fun! There is a see-saw and swings. There are huge slides and lots of ladders I can climb, even though that part of the park is for the older kids.

Grandma took my cousins camping last week and Mom, Dad, Ari and I went too. It was hot but a lot of fun! We went tubing on the river and I loved it. I hope we go again sometime because it was so much fun. Mom or Dad held onto a rope that was attached to my tiny tube and they pulled me around or let me float down the river while making sure I stayed close to them.

Finally, I have been learning a lot of words too. I am learning to tell Mommy and Daddy what I want and need. I can tell them when I need to go potty or when I want to play outside. I also just learned to tell them I want to watch Elmo’s World (not Sesame Street, just Elmo’s World). I think I might drive them a bit crazy with that one. I also know some songs, or part of songs. I know “Tomorrow” from Annie, my ABC’s (although I just say A,B,A,B over and over), and a few others. I also know how to tell Mom when I want to hear songs!

I like staying home with Mommy and Ari, and I love seeing Daddy a lot more too. It has been a really good summer!

Every once in a while something happens that renews your faith in the kindness of others. Today, we experienced one such event.

While running errands today at the grocery store we realized at the worst moment in the checkout line that we had brought the wrong bank card. As often happens, we had gone specifically to pick up a couple of items, including some shrimp scampi that Chuck had his heart set on. We realized we had brought the wrong bank card just as the cashier finished ringing our items and impatiently waited for us to get our act together while we were holding up the line behind us. We decided to put a couple of items back which were most expensive, namely, Chuck’s shrimp scampi. I could sense Chuck’s disappointment as we finished checking out and began heading towards the car.

As we crossed the parking lot, the gentleman who was behind us in line tapped Chuck on the shoulder and handed us the box of shrimp! He said that he had been in a similar situation before and someone had done the same for him and he wanted to pass on the goodwill. Needless to say, his act of kindness made our day.

These are the moments in your life that remind you that the world is full of magnanimity.

I have been reading a whole lot of things about mummies because the first book I read is called Pyramids and Mummies. I found it really interesting! Now I will tell you how to make a mummy:

1. 1. Get a dead man.
2. 2. Wash him in Nile water.
3. 3. Wrap him in toilet paper or cloth.
4. 4. Put him in a rectangular prism box.
5. 5. Decorate the box.

That is how you make a mummy!

Abby just loves to swing. If you look around and can’t find Abby, chances are she has made her way to the swing set.

Although we have taken lots of still pictures, we haven’t been very diligent about getting the kids on video. It’s quite a process to get the video camera, find a blank tape, set it up, shoot, transfer it to the computer, etc. So last week we bought a new Canon SD780 point and shoot camera that also takes high definition video. This little thing makes capturing video much easier.

Here’s Abby going for a swing and then demanding a push at the end.

A story by Ari (age 6)

One day I saw a field. It needed some work. People had littered and it was weedy. I wanted to fix it up. As I started the work, flies surrounded me. “What shall I do?” I asked myself, “Shall I continue or not”? I decided to ignore them. They buzzed around me everywhere I went. I felt like I was a queen fly!

I recycled all of the trash. I sorted it and put it in my recycling bin. I put some things in my compost bin and had only a little trash to throw away. I weeded the field and put the weeds in the compost bin too.

When I got done, everything looked so beautiful that I couldn’t even believe my eyes. There were fields of muliticolored flowers and light green grass. I saw one tree that was so tiny. It had no grass surrounding it because I had just planted it and removed the nearby grass. It was a beautiful miracle.

Now other children can see the fantastic field and play it in. The Earth is happy too because it looks great and it is clean.