It's July and we are still wearing long sleeves

And I wonder if it will ever feel like summer. We seem to get a warm, almost-hot spell in early spring, and then the weather turns gray and cold again for the rest of the year. It's sunny out at the moment but much colder than one might expect in the middle of July. We definitely won't be setting up the wading pool today.

Benjamin has been behaving very nicely lately, a great change from the whining and crying over everything he'd been treated us to for the past while. He even helps out with Noah and gives him kisses.


Of course it's easier to get kisses from Benjamin these days if you tell him you don't want any. Ask and you shall not receive, but tell him "No kisses!" and he will run at you and give you a big smack on the cheek (or several).

These are two little (ok, big, compared to Noah!) robots that a friend sent him. Aren't they cute?

Frederic's brother and sister-in-law came over for lunch late last week with their third daughter, Mélinda. The 2 older daughters were off at summer camp for 2 weeks. We had a nice visit despite the cool, cloudy, threatening-to-rain weather that kept us from eating outside. It's always a challenge to set up times to get together with them since both Frederic and his brother have non-traditional work schedules.

Frederic's new hours are working out well; he is much less tired already, and we are all happy about that.