end of July (revised)

Cyndi, Ariel, the boys, and I drove up to Santa Fe on Sunday and had dinner with Jean, my cousin, and her husband Warren at La Boca. It was Spanish Market in Santa Fe, so we strolled the plaza area, viewing the retablos and other art, and had obligatory stops at J. Crew and the Plaza Bakery (for ice cream), but we missed Toyopolis, which made the boys very unhappy. We shared some good wine at La Boca, tapas, and even tried their paella. It was good to see Jean and Warren and we caught up a bit on family.

Jackson is planning a "science experiment" birthday party, and so we've arranged to go to the Explora Museum. This helps to dissuade him from thinking he'll get a Wii for his birthday. I don't want to get one, especially for his birthday. Meanwhile, Rylee is already making Christmas lists, because he's decided he wants his own set of Thomas the Train toys. He found a little product booklet and carries it around all the time.

Ariel is here for a month before she takes off, and we hope to go camping with her some weekend, probably the one after the coming one. She found out that she received a grant that will help out. She was especially pleased as it was a very prestigious one.

We noticed the vacation may have matured the boys, especially Ry. He's very enthusiastic about explaining things. They are both attending another vacation bible school this week and talk about the songs they are both learning. ("Son Rock Kid's Camp.") They took another private swim lesson from a young guy who works at the club, Jordan, and there is a noticeable improvement in skills and confidence in both. They've taken about three of these lessons, spread out over the summer, and one more may really make a swimmer of Jack and allow Ry to play in the water safely. Ry learns the physical things fast, and I can see rudimentary swimming skills already. Jack is so close.