Xander and Clare

Our friends Heather and Sam came to visit from Iowa and introduced Xander to the world of Webkinz.


Xander asked Heather to read him his current favorite book, "Froggy Eats Out," more than once.


It was so hot this week that we barely left the house in the afternoons. Here's Xander doing some early morning "mowing," while Clare watches from the only-slightly-less-sweltering indoors.


Crazy kid wanted to wear sweatpants on a day that reached 104 degrees.
Made much more bearable by the spray hose, of course.


I somehow lost my speedlight flash (cue teeth-gnashing and tears). I'm not a fan of built-in camera flash, as it produces brighter-than-I-like indoor shots like this one, but I'll try to just get over it and keeping taking photos until I find or can replace my missing one.


(Or make sure the kids always hang out right next to the windows on sunny days.)