Los Angeles

The other night I was standing in my Dad and Karen's kitchen, making dinner for my family, listening to Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar playing on the radio and my catching snip-its of my Dad and Jack's conversation upstairs about basketball and I felt peace and happiness.

There is so much change for us right now, but so much of it is good and familiar.  While there are so many reasons why couch-surfing with a family for ten weeks is difficult, I wouldn't give up this experience for a summer mansion of our own.  A few weeks ago I saw my dad and Jack become real buddies.  Soccer buddies, basketball buddies, reading buddies, talking buddies, Deda and Grandson.  It made me remember my Deda, who although he had no real family of his own, alongside Baba, created an amazing life centered around family.

Last week we are at Baba's house.  The house that I spent so many afternoons in growing up.  Learning to subtract by eating french fries, watching movies and reading books, me on one sofa, Dani on the other, and Tai in the recliner in between the two of us.  Everything is so familiar to me, and I love that this summer, it has the chance to become familiar...home...to Jack.

Baba has an amazing ability to patiently play whatever cockamaney game Jack can conjure up, and boy does he love her for it!  One morning while sitting at breakfast, he looked up and declared that he loved it here.

Right now, Tai is playing the piano and Jack is running around like a maniac shaking maraccas.  She has taught him how to find all of the Cs on the piano and to play a scale.  Now Jack has found a little stool to stand on and is conducting Tai on the piano with a baton.  These two make the perfect play mates!

Last night Zack told he how amazing my family is.  

Other then that, we spend our days running around LA, playing, visiting, and swimming.

If our apple hadn't finally given up and died thanks to Jack falling on it during a rousing game of Super Mario Brothers on Wii with Zack and Jonathan, I'd have picture proof of our summer madness.  I'm going to see  if I can't find a way to upload pictures off my iphone soon...

...oh and I turned 30.

Yikes...