Before our trip, we went to the pier in SF, and rode on the carousel.
We also saw all the sea lions bathing in the sun.
Ariella's preschool class had their seder. Ariella made a beautiful 10 Plagues placemat.
Ariella, modeling one of the ten plagues.
Andi with the kids at Laurie Levenson and Doug Mirell's seder extravaganza in LA. That's Solly behind in the top hat and tails.
Rick and Jonah at the seder.
Ariella was a great helper during the seder, following around Laurie and her youngest daughter Daniella. This is Ariella in the Passover play.
We also visited with friends in LA, including Guy and Jennifer.
We had a great time in Santa Monica with Arlene and her daughter Sophie. Sophie and Ariella picked up being best friends as if we never moved - it was fun to watch. Here they are, outside.
And on the carousel at the Santa Monica Pier.
Rick and Jonah also rode on the carousel.
This is a funny picture - looks like Andi grew bunny ears.
Ariella and Sophie both loved riding the bunny.
Here they are, at the amusement park on the pier.
Arlene and Andi, after a day full of beach and pool play with the girls.
Then we flew to Atlanta, and first visited with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron. We had a great time with both sets of grandparents - thanks for the hospitality! We went to the YMCA and all went swimming, went to the park, and more. Here's Grandma Nancy showing the kids home movies on her computer.
We took a nice trip to Babyland General - where Cabbage Patch dolls are made. Here's a doll, being born out of the cabbage.
Ariella had a good time visiting inside.
And got a wonderful gift from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron.
Meanwhile, Jonah was interested in running around outside.
Ariella and Grandma Nancy.
Andi and Rick
Nancy and Ron
We also visited with Rick's grandmother, Nanny. Ariella ran into Nanny's arms and gave her a hug.
Jonah was just interested in her wheels.
We visited Helen, Georgia, a nice mountain town. The only place we could find to eat in town was this place, the Troll Tavern. At least we still have our sense of humor. Although we did pass on the onion rings - at 1% of gross annual income, they seemed to pricey (just kidding). In case it isn't obvious, the last sentence about the price of Troll Tavern onion rings is our opinion alone, and not that of any of our employers.
On to Papa Steve and Nana Donna's. Ariella enjoyed lots of drawing on the patio.
And lots of reading with Nana.
Meanwhile, Jonah enjoyed "Nana's school bus"
And also enjoyed ... more of Nana's school bus!
As you can see from this picture, Jonah wouldn't put the school bus down, even for pictures.
Three generations of Frenkel men.
Another activity was making Papa Steve's ice cream birthday cake. You can see Jonah helping in the background.
Ariella and Nana at work.
The infamous cake "making" video!
Here are some pictures from a visit to a local park.
And here are some pictures from Papa Steve's birthday party.
That's cousin Jackson in between Ariella and Nana.
Back home, on the day Ariella turned "four and three quarters." With pigtails.
Celebrating Mother's Day.
After brunch, Jonah saw this yellow Lamborghini, and went crazy. There was actually a car seat in the front passenger seat.
Andi, the kids, and Gamah Charlotte.
Andi and Jonah, just before Ariella's end-of-year ballet recital.
Ariella showing off her ballet skills in pictures...
and in movies!
Ariella, with her bouquet of flowers.
Andi, Ariella, and Gamah Charlotte.
To celebrate the recital, the girls went for mani-pedis (something Ariella knows she can do maybe once a year).
But after all that adult time, it's back to playing with Jonah outside.
Maya, who is leaving us for over six months to spend time in DC, London, Paris, and Barcelona, babysat for us as we went away to celebrate our 7th anniversary (early). Here's Maya and Ariella.
We had a nice dinner at Cafe Sparrow in Aptos.
We had fun at the beach just south of Santa Cruz.
And in the Santa Cruz Mountains (far away from the fire, at an arts festival in Boulder Creek).
Back home, Maya with Ariella...
... and Jonah.
On May 30, Ariella's preschool class had a party celebrating preschool graduation (which officially is June 5). Ariella is wearing an award she just got for being the "Duchess of Drawing and Maven of All Things Jewish." Andi was especially kvelling.
Here's a still photo Rick took from a movie he took with his new video camera, by Flip Video. It's a great video camera - look it up!
Here's a video of Jonah I took with it - very easy to upload, unlike our other bulky tape-videocam, which we never like taking anywhere.
That's it probably for a while!
