"Ice Cream Truuuuuuck!!!!!"

OMG. Riley has been screaming for the Ice Cream Truck ever since she first heard the jingle and I told her what it was... months ago. Maybe even last summer. And he never comes on a regular schedule, so we never know when to be ready, and he passes by so quickly that we always miss him.

Tonite, we were lucky enough that he came when Russell was home (now that I think about it, it was after dinner, after bath, and minutes before bed, at 8:15, but who cares... it's the ICE CREAM TRUCK!!!). Uh, wait, what kind of ice cream truck comes by at 8:15?? Read on for my opinion...

Riley perked up and screamed her usual, "Ice Cweem Twuuuuuuuck!!" So I ran for the $$$, daddy ran for the robe, and out the door we went!! I caught the (blue van with a cutout window in the side???... apparently a European import...) just as he was about to pass our corner, and ran outside to browse the choices. Way too many choices these days, including silly Dora bars, and Bratz bars, and Spongebob bars, which, I'm sure, all taste like hell, much like those theme bars I remember buying as a kid, and then regretting it. I specifically remember a PacMan bar that really was just a bunch of yellow wax covering some mediocre-at-best white ice cream. I wouldn't even have called it vanilla. Even as a 12 year old! Yuck. Why can't I find a photo of this monstrosity anywhere? Can't imagine. But I digress...



Daddy and the naked-plus-robe-minus-diaper-and-shivering-just-out-of-the-bath-baby ran out to save the day, and make the choice for me. Thank God! He let Riley point at her choice, but she randomly chose a slushie, that we both knew she really had no interest in, since she was holding her finger out aimlessly while staring at the Muslim lady (who spoke no English and kept asking her husband/driver to translate) waiting for her order. Daddy made the wise choice to go for the King Cone. Later, as she devoured the thing, I enlightened her (and daddy) to the fact that the King Cone was Papa's favorite, and he would eat ten of them at one sitting (that's actually only half a joke). Her eyes got bigger than they already are, and oooohed, 'wow, ten!'. Here is some fun viewing pleasure for you, just to prove that she is, without a doubt, her papa's gal!








I want the old man in the white box truck, from my childhood, who would normally play a well-known melody, serving ice cream to my little Riley-Belle. Now, tell me that doesn't take you back... Where are those old geezers?



Not quite so sure about supporting this new breed of Ice Cream Truck, who turned off the music as he arrived, because people apparently complain about it (huh? who are these grumps in my neighborhood? no, actually, I don't even want to know)... Listen, I have wonderful memories of the ice cream man, and so does Russell, and we're not going to ruin it by these new-fangled substitues. Life goes on, and Riley enjoyed it, and it's what we have. Hmm?

Funny footage

Sorry no time to say anything, but loads of video. I'll elaborate next time... this video editing business takes hours and hours!!
Enjoy.

Fourth of July shenanigans, with Coral and Ollie, two of her favorite buds, here we go:







'Till next time....

Zoo day with Coral, take two

Riley and I had the pleasure of visiting the zoo with Jen and Coral, and this time, Coral's grandma, Oma! We had a lot of fun, until the last 15 minutes, when Riley hit her "I'M DONE!!" wall. But, we won't talk about that, since we've all been there, and since the rest of the day was so much fun. I was fortunate enough to have remembered my video camera, and brave enough to break it out, with these two crazy ladies running around.



Going back in time a little, here are a couple of the photos of Riley and Coral, at their first meeting after Coral, Jen, and Chris returned from their 7-week jaunt in Germany. Obviously, not a day went by for the two of them... they picked up right where they left off, just as best friends do. We were all concerned about them remembering each other, but obviously for naught. (thanks for the photos, Jen!)





And here they are at Chrissy Field, watching the big ships go by. It was a beautiful day, and we had a load of fun with sand toys and sandy lunches. (again, thanks for the photos, Jen!)

A month? I've been lax...

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged. And I used to do it every day! Sorry, I miss it as much as you do. And I have a lot to say!

This week, Russell's parents (Grandma and Duke) are in town. Well, they're actually in Carmel for the weekend, but they're in California. And we've been spending some good quality time together. Shopping, eating... what more could you want? Riley got some beautiful clothes at Lucky on Thursday, but wouldn't leave the store without trying to take the display with her. There were a bunch of sweatshirts piled on a wagon, which she proceeded to attempt dragging out of the store. Not without a tantrum thrown in there. Duke said, buy that girl a wagon! So, today we did. On Duke. Riley helped me put it together, handing me tools and hardware. What a great helper! She LOVES it so much. She even had a tea party in it (just as grammy taught her a couple of weeks ago when she was here). And, we bought her some new sneakers today. Bright red Nike's. Russell and I both had similar pairs in high school. She's so cool, and doesn't even know it (yes, she does)!





Daddy also got a little gift. And Riley loves it, too. They'll have fun with this one, for sure.





So far during their visit, we've had a fancy lunch, and a fancy dinner so far. Riley accompanied us to both, and she probably ate more than any one of the adults at each sitting. This girl can EAT!! And we highly recommend both of these restaurants. Wonderful food, great wine lists, and good for kids who like to eat fancy foods....

And, a quick summary of the past month:
My mom came to town last month to hang with Riley while daddy and I went to a wedding in Big Sur. It was great to have some adult time, and the wedding was beautiful (and a lot of fun), but the fires made it a weekend Apocalypse. Seriously. Due to road closings because of wildfires, every guest (and bride and groom) were stranded at the outdoor wedding site with NO shelter until 5 in the morning. And boy, it gets cold on the cliffs of Big Sur, overlooking the ocean! People were scrambling to get the last of the tablecloths to wrap up in near the fire pit where someone was brave enough to build one. But, if it were to happen to anyone's wedding, it seemed appropriate to happen at Dave and Tania's. In fact, when the shuttles did finally come with sheriff escorts through the closed roads, the bride and groom wanted to stay, but were, unfortunately, asked to leave.

We took loads of photos, but unfortunately lost our camera (but got it back today - thanks dave and tania! - although, with no memory card inside, so still, no photos). We received this one photo from a friend who was there.



And here are some beautiful shots from the wedding photographer's website. Just scroll down (way to the bottom photo collection) to "June 21st Wedding in Big Sur". Will share more as we get them (hopefully we will get them, cause my dress was fab!!).

From left: Pat Duffy and wife, Chris Neiratko, some guy, Russ and me, and Dimitry Elyashkevich. Yes, it was a semi-questionable crowd, which is why Riley stayed home with grammy. But all were mostly well-behaved. Thank God Riley was home with grammy with all those road closures. The other kids at the wedding were lucky enough to sit on a shuttle bus for 7 hours on closed roads before being dropped off at Denny's, just to wait for another shuttle that got them to their hotel at 7:30am.

BTW, here we are with a lot of questionable people on Tania's blog. It's an old one, but still a load of fun to look at.

Jen and Coral are back from Germany! Yay! Riley and I had lunch with them this week, and I've never seen quite a serious display of affection (aside from when I met Russell). They screamed and hugged and kissed and laughed for an hour. Gawd, I love those gals! And then they came over yesterday for a little fourth of July action. And so did Tracy, Todd, and Oliver, and their latest addition, Calvin, who I didn't even know about (haven't talked to them in a while)! No photos due to lost camera, but took some fun video of the day! I'll try to edit that and post this week. I'm sure I can steal some photos from Jen soon.... hehehe

Lisa had her baby! Finally! Actually, she was right on time, but it seemed forever. All are healthy and beautiful. Riley and I went over last Friday to occupy Juliet a little, and take a lasagne for the family. Riley and Juliet had a load of fun, and we'll be hanging out again soon (and now that we have our camera back, we'll take some photos!) Adeline looks exactly like Juliet, I think! Check them out.

And honestly, with few photos, that's about all I have to report! Will try to be better about keeping up. Promise!