We had a nice block party last night. It's always stressful getting things ready, with preparing the kids, ourselves and food to bring, but the party itself was great and we had a really nice time.

The boys are now big guys, compared to some of the other kids. Baby Olivia is kind of walking now. Leo liked playing with Kurt, who is only 3 but his Dutch grandparent's genes make him quite tall.

Ilana chatted with two other teenagers in the neighborhood, and Nora walked hand-in-hand with Cara's kids across the street.

Ginny showed us the renovations in her house upstairs; very nice.

Five minutes after we put Leo in bed, he was deep asleep, and he didn't wake up until 7.20 am this morning.

I received beautiful gifts this morning. Leo wrote me a letter, Adrian drew a picture ("als je bent chagrijnig en als je doet gek", haha) and Nora created a board game and a pendant for me.

Leo's letter: "Liev papaa ik viH [bulgaarse N] jou hil lief hieer jij krijgt un kdooe [kado]"