Yeah, right. But the shared delight on their faces in this picture from Great America earlier today was awesome! That’s Jocelyn doing most of the driving in the Kiddie Bumper Car ride.

For fun, we took a similar picture in 2005. Felicia skipped the ride in the Summer of 2006, perhaps fearing for her safety with her sister behind the wheel. But not this year … they both had a great time! Jocelyn also got her first ride on “Delirium” with me, and she vows to ride with her eyes open next time.

Although we’re frequent visitors, this was out first time on a weekend. Crossbow’s company picnic had drawn us to the theme park for the day.

We could tell you the full story … or you could just look at this picture, which was taken about 30 minutes after we’d thought Felicia had fallen asleep.

She did finally call out to us, which is when I discovered the fun she’d been having … but I think she only yelled because she had essentially run out of lotion.

BTW … Anyone familiar with Web 2.0 social blogs knows that “creamy goodness” is an overused phrase. In the same way that we probably should have scolded her for her bedtime antics, I probably shouldn’t use this headline. But we couldn’t really bring ourselves to be mad about the lost bottle of Cetaphil, and the cheesy headline was too good to pass up, too.

Say what you want about Pig Racing, but Felicia certainly likes it … especially after our visit to the Placer County Fair on Friday in Roseville with Grandee & Grandpa.

We did lots of fun things at this kid-sized fair, including a train ride, a tiger show, a pretend farm, lots of cows and pigs, rabbits, and pony rides. The girls even learned what to do in a fire, courtesy of the Roseville Fire Department. But pig racing was the only thing we did twice. And both times, Felicia’s pig won. Actually, we watched four races, and she picked the winning pig three times (yellow-yellow-red). Jocelyn earned a ribbon too, but only once (the green pig).

We should also note that this was Grandpa’s triumphant return to the fairgrounds he frequented when he was a teenager, showing dairy cows.

Jocelyn spent her first free week of the summer with her good friend Kaitlyn at a half-day horse camp in southern Almaden Valley. She rode “Dylan” all week, and got to know the “pretty boy” horse pretty well. As part of the camp, the girls did chores (food, grooming, shoveling …), and took care of their horses for the week.

Following just a few weeks after our Acrostic Mother’s Day, Jocelyn gave me my acrostic Father’s Day card. It was equally cool:

F – Forgiving
A – Awsome
T – Talented (so was Mommy! )
H – Helpful
E – Exciting
R – Rare

Plus, I got some extra artwork, including a “#1 Dad” certificate and an awesome computer drawing of Jocelyn snowboarding with me!

After the last bell on the last day of school on Thursday, we headed for the beach!

Since the last day of school ended at 11:32 (?), we grabbed our friend Annie and her mom and went to Harbor Beach in Santa Cruz. All three girls enjoyed the waves and some major sandcastle building, too!

Of course, it seems like it was just yesterday that we started Second Grade … Although it ended today, we had a great time in our second grade class at Booksin Elementary School this year!

We were very lucky to be in Mr. Martinez’s class! Today was our last day of school this year, and it was another awesome day of community building and common sense. That’s what we have really loved about being in his class! Mr. Martinez always emphasizes community spirit and civic involvement. His students get a great start toward good citizenship and learn to work together as a team very well. As a result of this basic approach, Jocelyn has strengthened her sense of community and her natural academic skills have been allowed to express themselves in a classroom with respect and cooperation between all of her peers.

Am I gushing? I’ve just been so pleased with his style! …

It may not be our family’s first appearance in our weekly neighborhood newspaper, and it may not even be the first this month … but it is the first time Jocelyn, Karen, and Kiana have all been in the newspaper together!

Although taken in March, the pictures didn’t get published until just this week. You can read this week’s news online, but the pictures aren’t easily accessible. Naturally, we’ve made it easy for you to read the important parts:

March 8: When the Children’s Discovery Museum held a gala to honor Dr. Berry Brazelton with the Legacy for Children Award, the atmosphere was a little like a children’s birthday bash. The evening at the Fairmont San Jose featured an audience sing-along led by Colleen Wilcox, Santa Clara County superintendent of schools. There was also a performance by a troupe of Aztec dancers and 8-year-old opera singer Gwyn MacKenzie. High level donors and Silicon Valley CEOs were honored. …

16. From left: Kianu Martin, 4, Karen Martin-Keller, and Jocelyn Keller, 8.

Too bad the photographer got Kiana’s name wrong. She’s very cute and photogenic, nonetheless!

Karen and Jocelyn played their first game of Scrabble earlier tonight. We acquired our first edition of the game this morning, while shopping for a birthday present for a friend. Guess what she got, too!?

Anyway, here’s a picture of the finished game board. Karen did technically win, mostly because she played ruthlessly. As proof, she’s the one who played the words “poo” … “wart” … “beer” … and “sex” … The complete list of words used in the game is reproduced below …

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