DNA, butterfly eggs and my rock 'n roll babies

My rock 'n roll babies all ready for their first show with Aunt Tammy and Uncle Neil

Hanging out on Maco, Tita and Frida's porch

lounging lizard and butterfly eggs

Augustus, Ethan, Magdalena and Grandma Fran

"I baking"

We have been Busy. Family visiting, family visiting, party all the time party all the time. Who does laundry? Oh that's right, that's my AOR, I guess I forgot.

(drum roll) The News: it's official, Tommy from Berlin Germany is my father's son, brother to my brother, brother to my sister, and brother to me. The results are in and my daddy was a busy man back there in Germany all those years ago and we are a DNA match. Tommy found his father and his father's family welcomes him like the brother he is. Whew. And that's all I have to say about that. But also that we knew. We knew the minute we met him. You just know, ya know?

So it appears that maybe there was some brain damage after all... I had the brilliant idea of the whole family, you know, including my almost two year old and my four year old, going to a live music club to watch Tito Chuchi aka Anthony my brother play congas with a band he sits in with. Yeah, that is a brilliant idea! It'll be so perfectly toddler and kid appropriate. You'd never know from my lack of preparation and normal parenting caution that I ever worked in a rock 'n roll club. I had my babies, in a bar. A very loud, dark with flashing stage lights bar with very very did I say Very loud music bar. And even after I stuffed their little ears full of bar naps Augustus would not unbury his body from my neck and shoulder, even after I repeatedly prompted him to "go see Tito Chuchi? go see Tito Chuchi? Look buddy, he plays the drums, the congas! Go see Tito Chuchi?" He said nnnooooaaaauuu over and over. After paying $10 for Magdalena to get in, because my four year old is a minor - the baby got in free - we left in less than 5 minutes. Did I mention, however, that both my kids were rock 'n roll fabulous?

We had two wonderful family visits, first from Grandma Fran and Grandpa John. There was swimming and beach combing and feasts and love and projects all around. The next visit was from Uncle Neil and Aunt Tammy. They arrived the night of the Big Show and on the way Tammy inquired, so are there ear plugs for the kids? And then again, walking to the show at 11:30PM, so, do you have ear plugs? Her questions fell on deaf ears, ears attached to a head with a brain imagining some kind of groovy MTV unplugged version of a jam band, candles acoustic guitars and all, so who needs ear protection?

Sunday was the birthday party bonanza, with a two-year-old buddy's birthday and then on to mom's house for Aunt Su-su's birthday party for which we baked our oh-so-yummy buttermilk cake. And for which Augustus had his own plans, baking his own cake! The birthday parties were lovely, Suzanne's ribs were divine, the children were crazy, and we came home and crashed.

We wrapped up our busy 2 weeks with a visit to Kathryn's house and a little National Geographic of our own. Kathryn's yard was alive with lizards and her milkweed was full of butterfly eggs, so you must know that we will be planting some milkweed and butterfly bush coming soon for a butterfly world of our own.

Now on to our not so busy regular rest of the week and mountain of laundry that was clean at some point but now must be re-washed because as it sat so patiently in baskets in our leaky addition waiting to be folded it got damp and musty. So is goes here at Casa Rosita, our little dusty rose pink house of love and green green green lush life.