An evening walk

We took a short walk up the hill to explore after dinner one evening. The boys each picked a stone that they attempted to kick all the way down the hill, Bob's worked the best and the soft rock material and the sharp edges quickly disappeared. We had fun watching it roll down the hill - the simple pleasures of life.
Noah found a bunch of black berry bushes so we enjoyed an organic dessert as we meandered up and down.

Chicken farming

Generous friends offered us their home while away - a gorgeous house on top of a large hill overlooking the Carmel Valley. Noah and Lukas learned some of the trials and travails of taking care of chickens, and we all enjoyed delicious eggs for breakfast every day.

What did we learn? Hens fly.... little baby chicks also fly. Hens and chicks like to play cops and robbers, and thoroughly enjoy the chase. The roster pecks, and not all hens make good mamas.

Barber shop au naturel

Lukas' hair cut has been on the To Do list for a while... but somehow always fallen to the bottom for more pressing needs. Well, last night was the night and Lukas pulled out his book and settled in - a wise move since it took quite some time to shave off all that hair.

:Lukas was a good sport posing for his after hair cut photo, as he was very itchy, those pesky little strands of hairs fall everywhere but on the ground.....

A lazy Saturday

After a whirlwind week of packing, loading, cleaning, fixing up, along with attending speech camp and moving from friends' house to friends' house, we were ready for some R&R. Our initial Saturday plans were unfortunately cancelled due to illness, so we traded an afternoon of fun with dear friends by the sea shore for a warm afternoon in the valley.
We enjoyed a lovely luncheon at a fun little restaurant, and send warm thoughts to kind friends whose generous gift subsidized this lovely meal. The village was hosting a Arts and Wine festival so we wandered through stalls of art, crafts, wine tasting and in an out of little boutiques and stores - all brand new to us. Lukas and Noah found the local market and purchased ice cream, plopped themselves down under a tree and enjoyed the shade while Bob and I perused the local commerce.
The summer heat in the valley is a good preparation for us and what we can come to expect in our new home town soon.

Finally done

Bob and the boys along with many dear friends finished packing up all our belongings, fitting it into 20' of trailer space. Who knew that is how much stuff we had? Now we do!
The three Severinghaus' men closed up the truck, a great sense of accomplishment. The only thing that remains is to finish the cleaning, the touching up of paint and sweep the yard... almost there.

So many lasts...

After a long day of loading boxes, cleaning rooms, and packing more boxes, the boys were ready for adventure and fun. And really, the yard had to be cleaned up and the wood scraps disposed of, so why not a final fire...
Bob and I opted to eat on the floor in our empty living room, while the boys enjoyed shrimp cocktail and salad outside by the blazing fire, to each his own.

 Lukas happily supervised his brother's efforts to enhance the fire. Mamma was grateful for our decision to leave the washer and dryer behind, which meant they were at our disposal even though our house was packed...

Packing it up

The empty trailer arrived just as promised. Walking around inside the cavernous space seemed eerie to me, yet garnered an entirely different response from the boys - fun; Bob immediately set out to derive a plan of action. Once we were back from the last violin lesson, and a few errands, the loading began in earnest. The boxes were organized, the plan consulted and the boys happily pushed hand carts full of heavy boxes out of the house, up the driveway and on to the loading ramp and in the truck. Bob showed us the science and art of loading the truck.....