Ross, Rachel, Helen, and Arthur

Helen made the jump to public school today.

Today was Arthur's first full day in the toddler classroom. He has now officially joined the Viking room. I had been a little concerned about his transition since he seemed to be a bit attached to his teachers. However, it seems the presence of a play structure has vaporized all of his old loyalties.

YouTube link

Well, we did it again, we put another body in Google Earth. This time: the Moon (LatLongBlog post)!

We had a lovely 4th of July, which started out with a 4th of July-themed waffle for Helen (it was after Helen had started eating it that Rachel brought out the strawberries and blueberries, maybe next year). We joined our friends the Fortneys and the Burr-Emerys in Los Gatos for general hanging out in the park for the afternoon. Helen expressed disinterest in the loud fireworks, so we skipped them. Again, maybe next year.

The problem is that as physical scientists specializing in our respective fields, we aren't so good at, ah, plant biology. I've managed to keep the plants alive in the atrium (mostly because they are a hardy lot and refuse to die), and Rachel has grown some herbs before with mixed success. We were recommended the Square Foot Gardening method and book, which provided a structured, how-to approach to gardening, one that seemed to make sense to us. So we got our act together and built some planter boxes and mixed up some soil. Arthur helped by mostly playing in his car and staying out of our way, and Helen helped with filling the boxes. Only time will tell if we can consistently grow the vegetables and herbs that we want.

The Ames Child Care center held a graduation ceremony (in the middle of the summer because kids leave the center at different times). They wore cute little gowns, they sang songs, they got diplomas and flowers, and there was cake. What's not to like?

One of the many things I work on is helping the New Horizons Team plan the Pluto Encounter. My colleague, John Spencer, has written an excellent description of our activities over at the Planetary Society.

While I was at some meeting, Rachel, Helen, Arthur, and Rachel's mom went to LA, met up with Gus and Alexis and spent a couple of days at Disneyland. Helen had a 'princess lunch' where a number of princesses visited the table, and otherwise had a good time at Disneyland riding the rides and avoiding the large costumed characters. Arthur was also well behaved and seemed to enjoy himself.