Stuff

Life is Good

2012-02-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

So glad I live in a world filled with spontaneous dance shows performed with feeling by adorable kids.

Clara de Lune

2012-02-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

I was taking out the recycling when I looked up and saw the moon. Called Clara out to take a break from valentine-making (yes, she's that organized that she's working on them already) so we could be lunatics together.I think Debussy must have composed Claire de Lune on a night like tonight...

(Shocked, though, to recently discover the true meaning of an anthem of my childhood, Debussy's "Golliwog's Cakewalk" *sniff*.)

Unseasonable

2012-02-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

We've had a crazy non-winter around here. Hardly a minute of cold or a drop of rain. It's a bit scary to think about what's going on with our little earth and its climate. I worry about receding glaciers and encroaching desertification and evaporating seas and empty reservoirs and melting ice caps and swimming polar bears. I worry and worry. There's no rain in the forecast, and we're outside in t-shirts, frolicking around like it's summer. The problem is, I LOVE IT when it's sunny and warm in the middle of winter. So that explains why I'm plagued with guilt. The planet is falling to pieces, and I can't stop marveling (which overshadows even the worrying) at how gorgeous it is. Inner turmoil galore.

At least some places have snow.....and it's probably cold in polar bear territory at the moment...Right?

Classroom Masterpieces

2012-02-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

I don't make a habit of blogging about school, but the art these kids have been creating just begs to be posted. Plus, I can look back in future years and remind myself of projects I may have forgotten....

Since we learn about one artist a month, and try to emulate those artists' styles (i.e. copy their genius ideas), these masterpieces will all look a bit familiar. One reason I love focusing on abstract pieces is that kids get to discover that art doesn't have to be about skillfully representing reality. And they really get into the process of creating! They constantly amaze me with the way they work, pause, consider, ponder color choices, step back from their work, and make decisions about when they've done enough.

A few big pieces so far this year:

Sonia Delaunay allowed us to overlap, cross the mid line, and blend colors.
Henri Matisse got our scissors moving, and helped us learn about contrast.
Wassily Kandinsky taught us about concentric circles.
Not exactly Jackson Pollock, but our "Primary and Secondary Color Blown Art", as I called it, was splashy (read: messy) and heaps of fun.
And, since we spent a good six weeks or so drawing, painting, and crafting creatures for our ocean mural, I think it deserves masterpiece status:
In the works at the moment: Frida Kahlo-inspired self portraits, Australian Aboriginal dot paintings, and lots and lots of valentines. I love my job. :)

A rainy/lazy Sunday

2012-01-22T22:14:00.001-08:00

The girls rolled out of bed shortly after eight this morning, and we had them all pancaked-up and ready to head home by ten. This party gets an A+. Clara has such lovely friends. Lovely girl, lovely friends, I guess.
Chad went off to do some football watching today, so the kids and I finally wrote our thank-you notes for Christmas gifts, and then we puttered around the house in various ways.

Trev and I disassembled about twelve Lego space vehicles in order to stockpile gray bricks for castle building, and Trev began construction of the portcullis that will restrict entry to said castle. Full disclosure here- I had never heard of a "portcullis" before this little castle project began. Now, I'm a full-fledged portcullist.
And then I decided that it was about time I learned to use the photo stitch program with my camera, so that I can take panoramic shots. I'll need to venture into the great out of doors to actually experiment with this cool feature, but for now here's the kitchen, as panorama'd as I could make it:

Tomorrow's the start of the Chinese New Year, so I'm thinking it might be a good day to squeeze in a long workout, instead of sitting around eating leftover cake.

Slumber Party!

2012-01-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today was the big day. Clara's buddies came for pizza, makeup, dress-up, dancing, fits of giggling, and (ostensibly) slumber. They were flat out adorable with their giddiness and independence. I just sat back, took pictures, and occasionally offered food. Easy peasy.(Yes, there really is that big of a height difference among these girls.)

The cake was pretty easy to manage this year, as well.(Good heavens, do I really look this haggard all the time?)

Dare I say that the girls practically polished off the cake? *snicker*

The Guys

2012-01-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

A sweet little moment...and, as luck would have it, I was holding my camera... :)

Um, still playing with the camera

2012-01-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

It just happened that both kids were wearing their second pair of (previously unphotographed) Christmas jammies today, so I figured I should snap a few pics. Oh darn, oh rats.

Here's sweet Clara and her beloved (albeit fat, stinky, and weird) cat, Flora.Still lots of color experimentation going on. Lucky for me, I have some very willing subjects.Apparently the camera does not think Trevi's hair is at all blue.Trevor, by the way, is gearing up for his big "Famous American" project, and has opted to learn about Thomas Edison. In homage to Edison's interest in all things telegraphic, Trev built a telegraph machine out of (what else?) Lego.

The reason my neck and eyes hurt right now

2012-01-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

Trev and I built a medieval village today. A fair accomplishment for a Sunday afternoon. We make a darn good construction team, actually. And we've got the lingo. "Trevi, can you please hand me four flat brown twos and four light gray threes?" "Sure, Mummy, and can you please hand me six black grids and a black lance?" Experts, I tell you.

Playing with my camera

2012-01-14T14:24:00.001-08:00

I just discovered today that I can do that thing with my camera where you make the whole photo black and white, except for one color. So of course I had to walk around the house taking a million ridiculous pictures of everything. I noticed that black and white makes your house look way cleaner.
And Trevor's hair, according to my camera, is at least partially green.
And, oh! The wide angles on this puppy! It makes me want to photograph kids slurping soup out of a ladle.I wonder what earth-shattering moments will beg to be photographed tomorrow.....

Call the Patent Office

2012-01-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

After school today, Trevor was humming while holding a book (well, a Lego catalog, actually) open in front of him. All of a sudden, he shouted, "Mummy! The book is catching the sound waves from my humming, and my hands can feel the vibrations! I think I just invented something!"
I love this boy's mind.

Eleven!

2012-01-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

Clara, you are so independent these days, so wise, so confident, so responsible, so capable. You amaze us every day with the things you can do, and with all of that growing up you've been doing. Rest assured, though, you will always, ALWAYS be our baby girl. We're so proud of you, and we love you to distant galaxies and back. :)

January 11, 2001
January 11, 2002January 11, 2003A couple of weeks before January 11, 2004 January 11, 2005January 11, 2006January 11, 2007January 11, 2008January 11, 2009January 11, 2010January 11, 2011January 11, 2012
And, before the celebration among the streamers (above), some other moments of today:Happy eleventh birthday, Honeybun!

A footnote: It's harder than you'd think to come up with eleven years' worth of birthday portraits, when your child's first eleven years span three cameras (one film and two digital), four computers, two Shutterfly accounts, one defunct zip drive, one malfunctioning external hard drive, a couple of misplaced thumb drives, and a few half-completed scrapbooks. Argh!

Happy almost birthday

2012-01-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

Since Chad's heading out of town early in the morning, we did the birthday-dinner-at-a-restaurant thing a day early. Clara must really be looking grown up, because instead of bringing us a kiddie sundae for the birthday dessert, the Chili's crew brought some sort of chocolate lava cake. As tasty as it was sophisticated....

Another one biteth the dutht

2012-01-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, how cute does this boy look with a giant gap in the front of his mouth? Trev apparently wiggled the tooth free during class today (good way to avoid doing your math work?), and came running to tell me at recess. And then I ran to tell Clara at her recess. Luckiest mother in the world to work where my kids spend their days....

Should I admit that I took FIFTY pictures of this smile tonight?

Of course, Trevor only stood still for about half of those.
Good thing it's not corn-on-the-cob season.

Snappy!

2012-01-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

This is turning out to be a banner week for documenting memories in our family. My new Canon G12 arrived today!!! Zippity doo dah!

Okay, I just have to gush about this camera for a minute, because I've figured out a few things just from playing around (and taking about 200 pictures tonight). Crisp, clear, beautiful colors, amazing zoom, great pics in low light, quick reaction time, and on and on.....It even knows what you want to focus on! It's a mind-reading camera. Awesomeness and then some.

The camera's image stabilizer is so good that it doesn't even blur shots you take while doing the dance of joy in celebration of its awesomeness.

And the coolest feature (that I've discovered so far)? You can set it to snap up to ten self-timers in a row! Watch out, folks! I'm going to be a self-timing machine...
Within minutes of turning the camera on for the very first time, and indoors, I managed to capture the kids' exact eye color. No red-eye. No giant pupils. Just take a gander at these gorgeous peepers.Oh, this camera and I are going to have some good times together....

Memory Lane

2012-01-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

When our old Hi-8 video camera died about five years ago, we tucked away 26 cassettes full of memories, vowing to have them transferred to DVD at some point. We now have about 52 hours of home movie DVDs ready for our viewing pleasure. Yippeeeee! This seriously makes me so giddy, just knowing that everything is safe and sound (until DVDs become obsolete.....).

Watching the tiny versions of themselves playing and laughing together made Clara and Trevor appreciate each other an awful lot tonight.Don't worry, we didn't watch it all in one sitting....51 hours to go. :)

Before Sunrise

2012-01-05T19:08:00.001-08:00

If all went well today, the good folks at PG&E have now solved our street's power problems for good. They installed brand spanking new cable, via all of those holes that they started digging before Christmas.
And guess what. We had a full-day power outage in celebration of the new cables! Yay!

I dragged my tired self out of bed extra early, to be sure that I had dry hair and hot coffee before darkness fell at 7am.

The kids didn't seem to want the sun to rise at all, since they'd found such cool light sources.My fully-lit classroom was so boring by comparison.

When pigs fly

2012-01-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

At dinner tonight, we were having a little discussion about the meaning of the expression, "When pigs fly". This morphed (naturally) into speculation about how you could get a pig to fly, if you so desired. Clara suggested a jet pack, although we all agreed it would be tricky to a) acquire a jet pack, and b) get it strapped onto the pig. Trevi's suggestion was a bit less high-tech: "Just get the pig to eat the Tooth Fairy."

On a completely unrelated note, I was looking through old photos on Shutterfly, gearing up for a Clara retrospective on her birthday, and I came upon this one, which I love so much:
Kind of makes me want to chop off all of my hair though, which I would regret, and then I'd curse the day that I stumbled upon this photo....

One last Christmas pic, and a small one at that

2012-01-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

I packed away all of the Christmas stuff tonight, and the house looks cleaner, sure, but kind of bare. Good thing there's only a week until the birthday balloons go up. Because our house isn't colorful enough as it is. ;)

Before the tree got dismantled, though, I had to snap a photo of this year's new ornaments for Clara and Trevor. Clara's nailpolish ornament is the perfect thing for her - it's hot pink, even, (her second favorite color at the moment, after purple) and Trev's is supposed to represent the Titanic (although we know it's an imposter, because it has the wrong number of smokestacks, along with a few other dead giveaways (no pun intended)).
I should mention that Trevor had the Titanic hanging at an angle, in mid-sink, throughout Christmas, but I moved it for this photo. And it wasn't always hanging beside the fragile glass nailpolish bottle. If it had been, I fear the nailpolish would have been used as a stand-in for an iceberg.

The last day of vacation....

2012-01-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

We did manage to get out of pajamas today, and run some errands, and get some fresh air, but not before we'd slept in and played and lounged this one last time before we get back to normal life.

Clara's vacation can be summed up in one word: Laptop.Santa was vehemently opposed to bringing her any kind of handheld electronic device that might lead to overuse and app addiction, but he obviously felt that a laptop would help her with her schoolwork, and allow her to play around with fun camera and video functions as a bonus. Simultaneously practical and awesome. Since we're a Mac family (and Macs are, apparently, too rich for Santa's blood), Clara gets to tackle the added challenge of mastering the PC. (It's not a challenge at all, actually....this girl is a natural with every kind of technology you can throw at her.) We've given her an obscene amount of screen time this week, as she's been getting to know her laptop, but now it's time to bring back time limits and computer tickets. Sorry, Honeybun! Back to reality..... :)

***It was so cool, by the way, to watch Clara's reaction when she spotted the laptop under the tree. She had absolutely no idea it was coming. Hee hee. Moments of absolute surprise are few and far between in life, and it was amazing to witness one.

Trevor's vacation (well, his whole year, really) can be summed up in one word: Lego.He just gets such a kick out of sorting and building and staring at his creations. This year, he's so proud that some of his new Lego kits are geared towards older builders. The Medieval Village that he's working on at the moment is for ages 12+. And he says, "I'm not even 8, but I'm such a good builder that I can do it all by myself". Love it. And I love that he still calls instructions, "ickstructions". Trev's only request is that someone come in and chat with him if he's been building for awhile, so he doesn't get lonely. I'm happy to chat, and to listen to him sing while he works. I hope this love of Lego will last for years and years to come.

Do we really have to go back tomorrow? I don't really miss work yet.....

2012

2012-01-01T16:32:00.001-08:00

I'm not going to make any kinds of resolutions for 2012. My time for starting fresh with new promises to myself is always August, when I meet a new bunch of students, and take off on a new adventure with them. I always vow to keep my plan book up-to-date (never happens), to stay on top of office paperwork (ha!), and to avoid sugary treats in the staff room (as if).
But the new school year really is a fresh start with no mistakes in it. We teachers are so lucky. People in most professions don't get to divide their careers into shiny, one-year-long packages with clear beginnings and endings. And, for me, January 1st just doesn't have that same, clean slate feel to it as the beginning of the school year. Oh, sure, I could decide to work out more, or learn something new, or give up a bad habit, but the timing just feels too arbitrary to me, as someone whose year goes from August to July, instead of January to December.

So, no resolutions will be found here today. But, I did decide that it was ridiculous how far behind I'd fallen in blogging, so I promised myself I'd work my fingers to the bone to get caught up today (and tomorrow, if necessary). And, since I'll be all done with 2011's blogs, I might as well make an effort to blog a bit more consistently in 2012. I'm not resolving, I'm just sayin'.....

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

A few New Year's Eves ago, Chad and I tried to list all of the New Year's Eves that we'd spent together, and figure out how, and with whom, we'd spent each one. It was a challenge, let me tell you. Go ahead, try it. How many New Year's Eves can you account for?

Some of them were easy - like NYE 2000-2001, when we were just days away from becoming parents, and stayed at home waiting for contractions. Some countdowns have been shouted out around bonfires in Nova Scotia (four hours ahead of everyone in California, and an hour ahead of the ball dropping in Times Square), and some years we've been asleep before midnight (regardless of time zone).

Last year, our New Year's Eve was spent laughing hysterically at Marcella and Matt's house, with all of Chad's favorite people from Davis. Not all of the Davis gang was in town this year, but, as luck would have it, Marcella and Matt were available to ring in 2012 with us.
Unbelievably, none of the kids showed any signs of slowing down, and all eight of us screeched and squawked and screamed together as the clock struck twelve. (Or, more accurately, as they started playing Auld Lang Syne on the radio, even though it was still 11:59 according to Matt's phone...)Now that we know the kids can make it to midnight (and beyond), the possibilities for future celebrations are endless!
Bring it on, 2012!

Yay Monterey

2011-12-30T16:24:00.000-08:00

With so much leisure time before school starts up again, we figured that a quick road trip was in order. We took off yesterday for a fab day at the (always incredible) (seriously, everyone should go there) Monterey Bay Aquarium. The kids wanted to pose in this funny little fishy alcove, even though you can't really tell that it has anything to do with the aquarium. But there are definitely fish in that bubbly, planty water behind them. Take my word for it.
This one is obviously an aquarium pic, because who else has glowing blue jellyfish tanks?
The place was nutso crowded though. So glad to not be claustrophobic. If I were, I'd just have to live without close-up aquatic invertebrate experiences like this.

We spent the night at the Otter Inn (which gets Clara's hard-to-win seal of approval), and then hit the beach in the morning. Cue pics of kids running in the sand.....I just can't help myself....
Oh ya, and we dined last night with our CPK gift certificates! Woohoo! Hello, roasted vegetable salad. You complete me.

New Toys

2011-12-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

Clara, the entrepreneur, worked all morning setting up an awesome Mini-Market (literally), owned and operated by her two dolls, Gracie and Jenny. The prices were very reasonable, and the store was meticulously organized by food group. The horse wasn't for sale.
Trevor, the amateur geologist, set to work digging for (fool's) gold in his new mining kit. The kit claims that it will take hours or even days to extract all of the nuggets, so Trevor put in about two hours of hammering and chipping and brushing today. No gold yet.

Lego Time

2011-12-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

Trevor now has enough Lego to keep him building all day, every day, until the end of break. Today he got to work on the Black Pearl, the one thing he had hoped for more than anything else. Santa rocks.
Trevor rocks, too. Nice building, Manny!

Merry!

2011-12-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

Santa was here.We had a wonderful day of smiles and coffee and unwrapping and taking new scooters for a spin, and talking to family far away.
We had a wonderful evening of food and laughter and unwrapping, and talking to family close by.
Merry, merry Christmas!

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime

2011-12-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are. Christmas Eve. The kids are nutty with excitement, and we've all had such a magical week of gearing up for the big day. What a happy December this has been. We've had about a month of non-stop (yay!) Christmas tunes, and there was so much time for fun, for taking it all in.

I hit a home run with Christmas Eve jammies this year. I defy you to find more adorable kids anywhere on the planet.
We played a rousing game of Scattergories, got everything all set up for Santa, tracked him on NORAD for a bit, and then it was time for Clara and Trevor to say their goodnights.As a kid, I always wanted to get to bed early on Christmas Eve, so that Santa would come. As an adult, I wish I could stay up all night. Does this really have to end tomorrow?

Green!

2011-12-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Here I go again with the theme of, "Man, am I ever on top of the whole Christmas thing this year!", but how amazing is it that I finished my stocking with more than 36 hours to spare? And now, every Christmas, it will actually look like a family of four lives here.
And speaking of green, we've got enough spritz cookies to keep Santa happy, along with several elves.

Ikea etc

2011-12-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

We got it into our heads that we'd like a round area rug to go in front of the fireplace for cozy floor lounging, and we found the perfect one at (where else?) Ikea. It's really the only place to go if you need a rug, want some new picture frames, or crave lingonberry jam. Or maybe you just want to ride around in a warehouse. So go nuts. Get your farfegnugen on.The rug was put to use right away, in a new hotel that sprung up in our front room.But, sadly, we can't get the thing to sit flat, so we're going to return it. It's defective. :( How do you say, "defective" in Swedish?

But it made a nice hotel rug for a day, and let me just say how thrilled I was that this hotel game kept the kids so occupied that I had time to make some new jammies for the Kevster.
And, wouldn't you know it, my stocking is almost ready to be hung by the chimney with care.
Every single person who celebrates Christmas should have a whole week off beforehand to do silly things like sew pajamas for dolls. It should be the law.

Tons of Holidaying

2011-12-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

It's so super-Christmassy around here that Bing Crosby would write a song about us if he were around.

It was Puppy Chow Day, for one. Making and delivering. Which we did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.
Add to that the fact that we're still in Kevin Heaven. The kids made him a million new finger-knit scarves, and they let him move into the gingerbread house.
And my knitting continues. Last year I finished Chad's stocking, and the kids got theirs two years ago, so I'm happy to finally be working on one for little ol' me! And look at this gorgeous green!
Cap off the night with a trip to Deacon Dave's house of crazy lights and creepy mannequins, and you've got the makings of a perfect day before the day before the day before the day before Christmas.

Kevin!!!!!! (A long story about a short guy)

2011-12-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a HUGE day in our family. GIGANTIC.
KEVIN IS BACK!!!!!!!!!The excitement of this day demands a backstory:

When Trevor was not quite two, he got a Cabbage Patch Newborn for Christmas. See the shiny box under the tree? December 25, 2005. And this is the moment when Trevor and Kevin met:I don't think he was called Kevin right away. But he looked an awful lot like Trevor, and they shared the same birthday (according to the Cabbage Patch birth certificate). Toddler Trevor was excited.

For the next couple of years, Kevin was played with from time to time. His popularity was on par with a bunch of other dolls and stuffed animals that lived in big piles in Trevor's room.
And then, about three years ago, something changed. Kevin developed a personality. A weird voice. A life story. He became a character that could be played by either Trevor or Clara, who also happen to be his dad and aunt. And he started to become part of our everyday life.

He went camping with us.
He joined us on trips to the beach.

He hung out at home.
Some things you might want to know about Kevin:

• His favorite number is 26.
• He is five years old, but he claims to be 26.
• He runs several businesses, including, but not limited to: Kevin Eleven, Air Kevin, Kevin Cruise, and Kevin Cars.
• He loves Katy Perry, and hopes to marry her someday.
• He thinks that the Jonas Brothers are twins, so he's reminded of them any time he sees the word, "twins".
• He once saw a street called "Twin Creeks", so now any water references also make him think of the Jonas Brothers.
• He likes to sing, and has written several songs.
• He has a girlfriend named Kevinina.
• He has a sister named Meredith (pictured above).
• He still wears diapers, even at age 5 (or 26).
• His best friend is Sky Nockels, who was written up in Highlights Magazine for adopting a white rhino named Imara at a zoo in South Dakota.
• He pronounces "magazine", "magazine-uh".
• He's the richest person in the world, and he has "infinity money".
• He thinks his grandpa doesn't like him.

Kevin's hair is a mess, his face and body are dirty, and his voice is rather grating, especially when he's upset, but he is a member of the family. Life wouldn't be the same without him.

So you can imagine how worried we all were when, back in early September, we couldn't find Kevin anywhere. We keep a relatively tidy house, and there are only so many places you can look. We searched all of the toy baskets, the dress-up bin, behind chairs and under blankets, inside cabinets and closets and under couches and beds. No dice. We even started looking in places we knew he could never be. Boxes in the garage, piles of wood scraps, bushes in the backyard. Nothing.

I looked back through photos and found that these were the last pictures I had of Kevin, taken on August 23rd. Trevor was playing some sort of game where Kevin was a prisoner.
We looked and hoped for several weeks, until Chad and I figured there was no hope we'd ever see Kevin again. We had a horrible, sinking feeling that Kevin might have accidentally ended up in a bag of stuff that had gone to the Goodwill. It was painful to imagine it.

Through all of this time, Kevin was kept alive by Clara and Trevor. They still had conversations with Kevin. Clara made him friendship bracelets. Trevor put gifts under the tree from Kevin to "Antie". Kevin kept right on singing, and drawing, and managing his many businesses.

I tried desperately to find a replacement Kevin on ebay, knowing full well that the real Kevin was irreplaceable. I even bought a big Cabbage Patch boy, and tried to convince Trev that we could pretend Kevin had grown up. It didn't go over well. There's only one Kevin.

***Okay, so, as I write this all out, it does seem maybe a bit over the top. A bit wacky. But it is what it is.***

Then, today, I was knitting. Working on my Christmas stocking. And Trev decided that he wanted to do some knitting as well. So he went and took out the little knitting basket that Clara got for Christmas a few years back. And we all heard him scream, "I FOUND KEVIN!!!!!!!!" Three of the best words I've ever heard.
Poor Kev was trapped in a knitting basket for the better part of four months (Trevor thinks perhaps he was using the basket as an aircraft carrier, on which Kevin was a passenger).
And now he's back. Kevin is back.
We love you, Kevin. You are the best Christmas present ever.

PG&EEEK!

2011-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the street, PG&E guys were jackhammering holes in the concrete. (Well, technically it's the asphalt, but "concrete" was such a convenient rhyme...)

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from loading the dishwasher to see what was the matter. The PG&E guys were standing around, while the dump truck dumped piles of dirt on the ground. *Dirt and guys not pictured*P.S. There's even a port-o-potty parked under the plum trees in our side yard. So friends, please drop by anytime! We're a three-bathroom household at the moment.

Lovely Lazy

2011-12-18T15:46:00.000-08:00

My Christmas mailing is the one last thing hanging over my head that needs doing. By yesterday afternoon, I had all of the Christmas cards, packages, and even Thank You notes for my students ready to go in the mail (I know, right? Crazy organized.). Too bad the post office had closed for the day. Fortunately, I'm too relaxed to worry about it. And I'm still way ahead of my usual week-before-Christmas self.

Chad's out of town, but the kids and I have been soaking up the loveliness of that very-beginning-of-vacation feel. Lots of reading, card-making, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer watching, and just general lounging.
I have some books that need reading, too, but I'm just too darn busy staring at the tree and feeling calm.

Vacation!!!!!

2011-12-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, we have the best possible vacation window ever. We get eight whole days off before Christmas, and another eight days after. So, here I am, feet up, peppermint mocha in hand, listening to "Christmas Guitar" in the festive front room. Tree has been decorated for weeks, shopping is all but finished, Christmas cards just need addressing, and all of my school responsibilities are completely done. This is awesome. I am possibly going to have the most relaxing week-before-Christmas in the history of humankind.I promise I'll never take Winter Break for granted.

P.S. The kids, understandably, are also excited about vacation. They celebrated after school by building a prison in the living room, and incarcerating "Mr. Moo".

Yay for me

2011-12-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

I am really ridiculously organized at school this year. I've scheduled and planned out and timed eveything perfectly, so there's been no scrambling to finish projects, no nailbiting, no anxiety. Especially during this last week before Winter Break, I'm just so pleased with myself. Most last-week-before-vacations are kind of insane, with just not enough time to get everything done. But this year, wow. Our Ocean Performance (don't know why I feel the need to capitalize that) was yesterday, and it went off without a hitch. We'd had tons of rehearsal time, and the costumes were ready over a week ago. The gifts and cards for the parents have been in the works for the past couple of weeks, and we did the finishing touches today. A day early! And every last scrap of work is graded and ready to go home tomorrow. It is mid-December, and I am completely relaxed. It's a Christmas miracle.

Entertaining

2011-12-11T15:43:00.000-08:00

At long last, we hosted a get-together with our good buddies Brent and Christiane, and their awesome girls. I was super stoked to be able to use all of the Christmas mugs and plates and platters that have really only been used twice before today, so naturally I photographed the food.
What I didn't photograph, however, was the merriment. And there was plenty of that. I'm totally in the Christmas spirit now. Fa la la!

A Lost Tooth

2011-12-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

At around 4:30 in the morning, Trevor woke me up to tell me that his tooth was bleeding (well, technically not the actual tooth, but, you know....). This thing has been loose for weeks and weeks, but was still hanging in there somehow. I helped him get his mouth rinsed out, and took one last pic of the crazy, wiggly snaggletooth, before sending him back to bed. Everyone takes pictures at 4:30 am, don't they?
I knew we'd have a gap-toothed boy soon. And, sure enough, the tooth came out right after school. This is one seriously cute new look for Trevi.
There he goes, growing up again.

Kid Pix

2011-11-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

I've been loosening the reins on the camera a bit lately, because I'm kind of planning on replacing it soon. (We've had some good years, Coolpix, but I just don't love you anymore. You and I want to focus on different things....)
So, the kids have been taking plenty of random shots. Here's a sampling of what I found on the camera today, compliments of Clara and Trevor:I'm looking forward to seeing what they photograph when the old camera becomes theirs for keeps.

My new house!

2011-11-27T15:36:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Chad got me this ornament that I've been (not at all subtly) hinting for since I saw it in the store a few weeks ago. It's a tiny replica of the yellow Fisher Price house that I love so much. It even opens up, and the doorbell rings! I want to shrink down and live in it.

Ahhh

2011-11-25T15:31:00.000-08:00

If I lived in a house that was right on the beach, I don't think I'd get much done. Unless I happened to be a professional photographer. All I want to do all day long is stare, stroll, and take pictures.
Clara spent a good chunk of time reveling in the care of the extreme makeover team of Stevie and Tori.
Our day ended with a great dinner and a pretty view from Val and Stan's new place.

And I got three out of five great-grandkids together to pose with Gomma.
A little bit of everything this week, and lots to be thankful for.

Ventura Sunset

2011-11-24T15:27:00.000-08:00

It was smooth sailing from Yosemite to Ventura, and the kids were thrilled to spend yet another night in a hotel. They just LOVE hotels. Seriously. Add to that a Denny's breakfast (the coffee was actually decent), and hours spent catching up with family, and you've got a great day.
As we toasted at the bench to celebrate another Thanksgiving, the sunset didn't disappoint. And look at this cute Daddy/Daughter pic (sea level clearly agrees with Clara):
Oh, and check out this table: It was even more awesome a few minutes later, when there was food on it. :)

Yosemite. Wow.

2011-11-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

We've purposely avoided coming to Yosemite in the summer, because everyone goes on and on about how ridiculously crowded it is, which doesn't really sound like a whole lot of fun. This turned out to be the perfect time of year to come. We hiked for hours and only saw a handful of people.
It was my first time ever setting foot in the park, and let me tell you, the views are astonishing. It blows your mind imagining glaciers carving out this valley, and leaving massive rocks soaring out of flat ground.On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. I've seen big trees before, but these guys were jawdroppingly big. Astounding. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I just love feeling so small in this amazing world. We must come back soon.

One bummer today was that we discovered, definitively, that Clara is extremely sensitive to altitude. We've had our suspicions for a few years now, since every trip to Tahoe has resulted in a lot of stomach complaints. We were hoping it was just coincidental. But nope. Definitely altitude. She suffered miserably as we walked through the sequoia grove at 5,600 ft, but she was fine beforehand, and afterward. And yesterday, while we were galavanting in the snow, bouts of nausea kept forcing her to sit down for a few minutes to regain her composure. :( Poor thing.

On the road

2011-11-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

Our drive ended up being muuuuch longer than anticipated (insert long and woeful story about the Tioga Pass), but we made it down into the Yosemite Valley in time to be welcomed by the afternoon sun on El Capitan.
Oh, ya, and we saw a Jimmy John's on the way out of Reno!!!! A sight that rivals El Cap! Unfortunately, it was only 9:30 in the morning, or else I totally would have stopped in for a Number 13 Vegetariano. People of Nevada, you are very, very lucky.

Snow day, etc.

2011-11-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

With a whole week off for Thanksgiving, we wanted to squeeze in as much adventure as possible. It all started today, with a drive up to Donner Summit for some snowy fun.
When we ran out of daylight, we got back in the car and headed to Reno, to spend the night at Circus, Circus. Crazy contrast, I know.
We took in a couple of funny circus acts, like this dog show:
And we won a wide variety of stuffed things on the midway. So naturally we had to photograph ourselves in the elevator mirror at the end of the night.
Super fun day. Off to Yosemite in the morning.....

New duds

2011-11-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I caved and ordered Clara a puffy vest from (the dreaded) Abercrombie and Fitch. My hope is that she'll feel so cute in the thing that she'll actually dress warmly on cold days. Fingers crossed.
In other clothing news, Trevor is making a renewed effort to ensure that his dirty clothes make it into his laundry basket.So I guess I need to make a renewed effort to do laundry more often.

Soccer Shots

2011-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

This year has been a much, much mellower soccer year than the last two years. The big difference is that Clara chose to step down from high comp, and play in a much less intense league this season. It's been so nice. Lots of happy days on the soccer field, with a great bunch of girls, and only a tiny fraction of the driving around. Our family life has been so much more balanced, and Clara is having a blast. This was a good decision.

Trevor's soccer season has been a good one, too. He's all smiles on and off the field, and he's managed to keep his cleats on his feet through every game! :)

As each soccer season comes to a close, I'm always a tiny bit relieved that we'll get a bit more time to relax, sleep in, lounge.... But it's bittersweet. Because I love watching these two.
The other good thing about soccer is that it gives you a really good excuse to just sit there in a chair for an hour, doing nothing but drinking coffee and feeling proud.

Happy Halloween from Indy and Phoebe

2011-10-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Store-bought costumes aren't my favorite way to go, but Chad happened upon an Indiana Jones costume at Goodwill one day back in September. Perfect fit for Trevi. It was meant to be, right? And Clara declared months ago that she wanted to be something pretty, instead of something "weird" this year, so that narrowed the field for her a bit. We found a Greek Goddess costume online (definitely pretty), and Clara spent a good couple of hours researching goddesses to decide which one, specifically, she wanted to be. So, I'd like you to meet Mr. Indiana Jones, and Phoebe, Goddess of Intellect:
Close-up of Indy's five o'clock shadow and chest hair (heh heh):We had our usual fun-filled night of trick-or-treating and candy sorting with friends who live around the corner, followed by some brainstorming about next year's costumes.....

The Great Pumpkin

2011-10-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

We have our regular-sized pumpkins, this year:
But we also have Jumbo. This bad boy is related to some of the giant, award-winning Half Moon Bay pumpkins.
Jumbo has some serious guts:
And ENORMOUS seeds (note reg-sized seed for comparison):
Last year's Giants pumpkin was fruitnapped during the night, but hopefully Jumbo is too heavy for your average teenage hooligan to hoist. We'll see....

Corny

2011-10-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

When we found out that the really big and awesome local corn maze was going to cost us forty bucks to walk through, we opted for the cheap and cheesy local corn maze. Cheap and cheesy was actually just the ticket, though. We got in lots of "Children of the Corn" jokes, while Clara pretended to be lost, Chad pretended to be a scarecrow, and Trevor, miraculously, and just in the nick of time, overcame his paralyzing fear of weeds.Bring it on, Halloween! We're ready!

Invasion?

2011-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know what this army of Lego guys is up to, but I'm going to keep an eye on them....

Boo!

2011-10-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Our neighborhood has been hit by the annoying, chain-letterish craze of "Booing". The doorbell rings one night, and you open the door to find that no one is there. There is, however, a bucket of Halloween goodies on your doormat, and a note explaining that you've been "Booed". So, you have to make a Target run to buy a bunch of Halloween junk, and then you go and Boo a couple of your neighbors who haven't yet had the pleasure. Lucky for me, Clara loves this kind of thing, so she took care of organizing the Boo baskets. Then we did the doorbell ditch routine, which was actually kind of fun and giggly. Think I'll try it some night without the Boo baskets, just for kicks.

Half Cat

2011-10-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

Trevor has long maintained that he is half cat. Some days I think he may be right.

Lip Sniffer

2011-10-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

Clara shares my lip balm addiction, but she has taken hers to a new level. Upon application, and randomly thereafter, she curls up her lip to smell the lip balm. Don't know if we'd call this a tic, a fidget, or a sign that the girl is underfed/suffering from a beeswax and eucalyptus deficiency. Whatever the case, she agreed to be photographed in this attractive lip-sniffing pose.

Fun! Fun! It's Homework Time with Trevor!

2011-10-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

I think my body language about says it all.

Canadian Thanksgiving!

2011-10-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Being Canadian comes in extremely handy when you really love pumpkin pie. Do they celebrate Thanksgiving (or any other pie holidays) in any other countries with which I can become affiliated?

Also took this opportunity to make the children pose for some cute kid shots. One of Trevor's two front teeth is showing signs of looseness, so I'm thinking his smile is going to be changing dramatically in the near future.

The Furious Narwhals

2011-10-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

I love, love, LOVE the name of Trevor's soccer team this year. The boys themselves came up with, "The Furious Narwhals." Awesome. The woman who painted the team banner said it was a challenge to make the narwhal look "furious", since they tend to be peaceful creatures..... :)

Russian River Getaway

2011-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

Since we never did celebrate our anniversary this year (aside from buying toilets), Chad and I decided to slip away for a night out and a day of canoeing up in Guerneville, while the kids hung out with Grammy and Grampy (Thanks, G&G!). Cue the obligatory Golden Gate Bridge shot: We stayed at a funny little place that didn't exactly, um, share our decorating taste.............. but the place was comfy and the continental breakfast was fab. Give me a good, no-extra-charge breakfast and I'm happy.

Our canoeing day was perfect. Gorgeous, sunny, warm, peaceful. We were practically the only people on the river, except for a few inept paddlers we flew by, allowing us to laugh and feel superior. :) Don't we look pleased with ourselves here?
Batteries officially recharged.

Blackout!

2011-09-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently our neighborhood hasn't been rewired since the late sixties, and things are not going well underground. Every couple of months, the power goes out unexpectedly, and PG&E scrambles to fix the problem quickly. Then, a few days later, they'll have a "Scheduled Blackout", so they can try to fix things properly. When the power went out yesterday before dawn, I kind of figured that everything would be up and running by the time the sun set.
Not So.
Clara was at a sleepover, and Chad was out of town, so Trev and I made the best of it. Camp coffee, take-out, and a gorgeous walk around a dark and silent neighborhood. Trevi even invented a new reflector, using his petzl and the lid of his Tinkertoys bin. Good times. And a little gem for the out-of-the-mouths-of-babes file:
"Mummy, I've never really thought about electricity before, but I'm going to really appreciate it from now on."

The power flickered back on around 9pm, but then went out again for the rest of the night. Don't know how much of what's in the fridge and freezer is still edible.

I have to pause here and give myself a little pat on the back for awesomeness. Even though the washer and dryer were out of commission, did both of my children have clean soccer uniforms for their games? Yes, they did.
Ma Ingalls, you've got competition.

Mickeys

2011-09-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

Clara had her shirt first, and I was the copycat. But I've been a fan of the Mouse a lot longer than she has.

Back to School

2011-08-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Look at these cute first-day-of-schoolers! Fifth Grade and Second Grade. Crazy. After a fabulous summer full of fun and adventure, we're all ready to get back to some semblance of a routine. And we actually love school. Well, Clara and I do, anyway. Trev will learn to love it.
The biggest, most exciting part of this first day of school is that, after two years of being bounced around the district, I finally get to go back to school with my favorite two kids in the world. My commute is, once again, a four-minute walk. And I get to be teacher and parent in the same community. I'm so happy. Elated.

I've been working my tuckus off getting my classroom ready, and I loved finally meeting my new class. They're awesome. It's going to be an amazing year.

Bye, Sis

2011-08-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

It always kind of amazes me that our campsite can look like this:
And then, a mere hour or so later, every last bit of our stuff is tetrissed into our car, and we're hitting the road.
A four-hour drive home can be kind of a good thing, when the end of summer is waiting for you at home.

The Camp Box

2011-08-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

Central to all of our camping adventures is THE CAMP BOX, and yet somehow I've neglected to blog about it.
The camp box is a big wooden box with a place for every single camping thing that you might ever need (aside from the big ticket items). It sits gracefully on the edge of the picnic table, and opens at the front, so you can easily grab whatever you need.
But let me start with a little bit of background info:

The original camp box was part of Chad's childhood camping life. His mom built it, and it was indestructible. According to legend, a bear tossed the thing around one night, and the box came out unscathed. Chad and I actually camped with it for a couple of years when we were first married. Most notably, we took it on a month-long camping road trip up the coast, during the summer before Clara was born. To be perfectly honest, we went a few rounds over the thing. It weighed about 4000 pounds empty, and it filled up almost the entire back of the Civic hatchback we were driving back then. The camp box was a nostalgic thing inextricably linked to childhood camping memories for Chad, but for me, well, I thought that a big plastic bin would hold all of our camping knick-knacks just fine.

I also must mention, because I want to be sure that Chad never, EVER, lives this one down, that I suffered horrible food poisoning from eating rancid peanut butter that was in the camp box (apparently left over from Chad's aforementioned childhood camping days, circa 1978), that Chad insisted would be just fine to eat. "Peanut butter is loaded with preservatives. It never goes bad." (Even though I was concerned by the fact that the price tag on the peanut butter said 78¢ or something, and even though we had packed a brand new jar of peanut butter (price: $4.95 or something), and even though I was pregnant. Pregnant! Would you feed quarter-century-old peanut butter to your pregnant wife? I'm just saying.....)

I made it through the Peanut Butter incident without permanent damage, but it left, shall we say, a bad taste in my mouth when it came to the good old camp box, and I was less enamored than ever with the wooden monstrosity after that trip. I think we possibly had some issues with the car overheating on that trip as well, which I'm sure was partly the camp box's fault.

Chad really loved that thing, though, and he got tired of hearing me complain about it, so a few years ago he did some compromise woodworking. He crafted a box with all of the same storage space, but using thinner, lighter plywood. The new box weighs a fraction of what the old one did, and it still holds all of the dishes, dishpans, flashlights, batteries, clothespins, lantern, bug spray, Uno, ponchos, duct tape, matches, etcetera (but no peanut butter or food products of any kind). A place for everything and everything in its place. And, wouldn't you know it, I've actually grown to love the camp box. It really is convenient to have all of your stuff centrally located, easy to find, and quite possibly bear-proof. The camp box is A-O.K with me these days. ***The contents are very disorganized in the above photo, but rest-assured the camp box is usually a tidy place.***

Oh, and speaking of tidy, Clara brings her love of symmetry and organization with her when she comes camping. Check out their tent:
As our trip comes to a close, we're making the most of being away from the distractions of civilization. Mille Bornes is our new (old) favorite card game. Coup Fourré! It will go in the camp box, next to the Uno....
And the last of the marshmallows have been roasted to perfection.....

Another tough day on the lake

2011-08-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

The kayak rentals were calling us today. It was scorchy hot, and we had a few hours of gorgeous paddling around a pretty darn quiet lake. P.S. I live in slight fear of dropping the camera as we pass it between kayaks to pose for these silly shots. (I also have moments when I fear I might intentionally fling the camera into the water. One of my many (lovable?) quirks....)

And I'd be remiss if I failed to document the morning rituals of every camping trip. The hot chocolate:
And the junk food cereal:We try to take two camping trips every summer, but I'm thinking we might have to go for three next year. This is niiiice.

Forty-Two!

2011-08-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Chad's birthday has coincided with our camping trips on more than one occasion. And while this might not be the wildest or most glamorous way to spend your birthday, I'd say it easily falls into the "not too shabby" category.Happy Birthday, Hun! That blaze beats candles on a cake any day.....

Back at Lake Siskiyou

2011-08-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Especially since we had a failed camping trip earlier in the summer, we've really been counting the moments until our big trip to Lake Siskiyou. Last year, we tried out a new camping place, and it was wonderful, but we decided to return to our old favorite haunt this year.We can set up our campsite in about 10 minutes flat these days, which leaves more time for stuff like eating campy food.Ah, the lake. The mountain. We've got four days of this view ahead of us.
Being the sugar-control-freak mother that I am, I actually counted out and packed only the number of marshmallows we'd need for four s'mores each night. (And I tucked away a few extras to allow for the odd accidental incineration.) Look at these cute people enjoying the great outdoors (and sugar):Four marshmallows down, twelve to go.Oh, how I love camping.

The Canadian Tooth Fairy

2011-08-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

As we got ready for bed in the hotel last night, Clara lost yet another tooth. Thankfully, the Tooth Fairy found us and left behind a couple of loonies. Not enough to buy anything in the airport, but nice nonetheless.... :)

Titanic!

2011-08-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

We've got the leaving-Nova-Scotia routine down to a science. Our flight always leaves at some ridiculously early hour, so we drive into Halifax the day before, have dinner with Uncle Kenny and Eric, and then spend the night in a hotel by the airport.

Before we leave for Halifax, we try to squeeze in one last boat ride (No, this isn't the Titanic here...that comes later.):
We do a bit of posing:
Then we hit the road.

Today, though, we had a new pre-dinner destination. We headed to the Maritime Museum to feed Trevi's latest obsession, the Titanic. It was a super cool exhibit, which I remember visiting years ago, before the kids were around. We got to see an actual lounge chair that was on the Titanic.
And we got to test out a reproduction. Clara made herself at home.
Trev was fascinated by the model of the lifeboats.
And, the piece de resistance.....a scale model of the Titanic herself.
Nana treated us to some goodies in the gift shop, and then we were off to Kenny's gourmet kitchen, where, unfortunately, my camera never made it out of my purse.

It was quite an adventurous ride to the airport after dinner. A sudden, torrential downpour flooded the street, and zero visibility forced us to stop in a parking lot for a few minutes, but we made it to the hotel eventually.

Uncle Bryan, the kids and I said goodbye to Nana and Papa, and then hunkered down for the night. Another lovely trip comes to an end...

Post-Luau

2011-08-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

One of the awesome things about the luau is that a bunch of people stay overnight. This corner of the province is a bit of a trek for some folks, so they come and make a weekend of it. So, we get a bonus day of frolicking with all of the extra people around. Our morning was mostly dedicated to eating, swimming (30 minutes after the eating, of course), and boat rides a la Steve and Papa.
Eventually, we had to say our goodbyes to the extended family, but the fun continued with more board games and tons of leftovers.Aloha until next year!

The 3rd Annual Lochaber Mines Luau

2011-07-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

What a day for a luau! We had glorious sunshine, and folks came from near and far to enjoy the day with us. The big event, of course, was the 3rd Annual Luau Scavenger Hunt, and it did not disappoint. Papa outdid himself with the hiding spots this year, and even the adults were at a loss to find a few of the items. Here you see the kids setting off on their quest:There was lots of time spent in and around the water, as always.
Ty and Trevor, in grass skirts, declared themselves Mayan Warriors, and ran around in the woods, letting every mosquito in town have at their ancient Mayan blood.
Late at night, the kids drifted off to the sound of horseshoes clinking and laughter around the campfire. Ahhh, Summer.

Rainy Day Games

2011-07-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be Luau day, but we postponed it because rain was in the forecast. Good thing we chose to believe the meteorologists. By all accounts this would have been a tough day to entertain a pile of people. Nonstop downpour.

Lucky for us, Uncle Bryan arrived today and was ready to play. There was a Mille Bornes marathon (belated Christmas gift from Uncle B), some Chinese Checkers, and a lot of Survive:
As the rain kept falling, Chess made an appearance:Endless games and plenty of coffee. A perfect rainy day.

The Mini-Beach

2011-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just down the road from Nana and Papa's place is a cool little spot where the locals come for swimming lessons. A few truckloads of sand were brought in to create a nice little beach for sandcastle-building and whatnot. We met up with Tracy and her gang for a relaxing afternoon of sand and swim.
Getting there and back (with the help of a teeny, tiny bike) was half the fun.

Out came the sun

2011-07-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today was full of coffee, catching up, walking through our favorite woods to see the old sights, and staring out at the lake. Oh, ya, and swimming. Lots of swimming.
The sun rose, shone, and set beautifully today.After the sun sets in Nova Scotia, the Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble always come out.

Hello, Nova Scotia!

2011-07-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

We're all over North America this summer, let me tell you. :) Yesterday, the kids and I hopped on a plane to visit Nana and Papa in Nova Scotia. And now, here we are! Cloudy but warm, the kids hit the water right away, and Clara got to hang with her NS buddy, Jenny.
We're all going to have webbed feet by the time school starts.....

Not a Box

2011-07-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

You've got to love big boxes that become homes and vehicles. Like this one:
Even more lovable are the kids that inhabit those box creations:Box love also gives one a good excuse to buy things that come in big boxes..... :)

Haircut!

2011-07-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

I normally wouldn't blog about a haircut (Seriously, have I ever blogged about a haircut? I don't think so), but this particular haircut is so completely awesome and perfect, and not only will I never get this good of a haircut ever again, but it won't even look like this tomorrow, when the gifted hand of a stylist has not placed each strand of hair just so.

So, here it is, One Night Only, Exclusive Engagement, my excellent haircut:
You were beautiful while you lasted, sweet coiffure....

Earthquakes!

2011-07-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

We've lived here for 12ish years, but somehow hadn't ever made it to an Earthquakes game until today. It was very cool to be so close to the action, and the Quakes were playing the Vancouver Whitecaps, so I got to sing along with the Canadian National Anthem. Yay.There were some crazy loud fans, a funny mascot, and caramel corn. Everything you want in a sporting event. We'll have to do this again.

Showtime

2011-07-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

After so many days spent outdoors and on the go in Mexico, we're all kind of doing the homebody thing at the moment. The kids decided to treat us (and all of their stuffed animals) to a show.
There were tickets, there were snacks, and there were souvenirs. Full service.
And don't our new floors look super awesome???? They smell better, too. Just take my word for it.

Porcelain Anniversary :)

2011-07-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

Today makes 13 laughter-filled years of marriage, so we celebrated by purchasing two new (much-needed) toilets. I'll refrain from making some crude joke about marriage and crap. ;)I really do love the new toilets, though. And, according to the info on the box, they are "Virtually Unpluggable!". Again, refraining from a crap comment......

I'm flushed with excitement! Happy anniversary to the least crappy husband imaginable! xoxo

Adios

2011-07-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Since our flight didn't leave until early afternoon, we did some pool lounging and drank it all in until it was time to head to the airport.
Clara and Trevor took one last look from their own little balcony.
Other than the fact that the van driver neglected to close the back door properly, and our luggage almost ended up scattered across the Mexican highway, it was a smooth trip home. Trevor's homemade sundial kept track of the time during the long flight.Sad to leave, but good to be home. Although this trip really did kick up some serious wanderlust for me.... Thank you, Grammy, for a fabulous time!

Mar y Sol

2011-07-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

These little beach palapas are a thing of beauty. I spend half of every waking moment in the summer trying to keep everyone shielded from UV rays, so I really appreciate shade. You wouldn't know from Clara's brown little body that I attack her with sunscreen every day, but I do. Just ask her.
We did venture out of the shade to snorkel a bit. Look closely for a bald head and a blond one:
Later on, we did a little souvenir-making.
We toasted to a great vacation, and had our farewell dinner at the biggest palapa of them all:

Also in the farewell department:
After discovering that we couldn't pack them and take them home, Manny had to say a sad, sad goodbye to Dr. and Mr. Coconut. He put on a brave smile for this parting photo....
Heading home tomorrow.....

Si'an Kaan

2011-07-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Now this, this was a day to go down in the annals as one of the coolest days EVER. We spent the day in and around the Si'an Kaan Biosphere.

It started with a boat ride across this marvel of color:
Chad and I took turns riding the bow. Ahhhh...
We rode through channels between the mangroves and grasses, and came upon this dock:
Which led to this mini-ruin (a lookout post, apparently):(We would have made very tall Mayas.)

Then the most incredible part of the day (of which I have no photographic proof, but you'll just have to believe me...). We donned our life jackets diaper-style (weird, but effective), and floated down the river/channel. Wow. One of the most peaceful ways I've ever spent an hour.

The next phase of the journey was a walk through the forest, and a chance to get up close and personal with a ruin or two. Now this is the way to see Mayan ruins. Quiet, empty, and tucked in among the trees (along with the odd mosquito).The guide told us that this site is soon to be touristed up into a Tulum-style destination, so I'm really glad that we got to experience it in its present state. Darn tourists always wreck everything. ;) (Thanks for the tip and the trip, Grammy!)

After our forest walk, we drove into town for a giant lunch, and then we hit the last stop on our day of adventure. It was a gorgeous, clear cenote with a very high jumping spot. We all did the diaper-style thing again (photographic proof this time around), and took the plunge....
What a day. It would be hard to squeeze more awesomeness into eight hours. Wow.

Tulum (aka The Best Laid Plans...)

2011-07-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Since Trev has been obsessed with the whole "Mayan Ruins" concept from the minute we touched down in Cancun, we couldn't wait to head to Tulum to see some of the biggest ruins around.

Today didn't quite turn out to be the showstopper we'd imagined, though.....

I guess it started with the stinkin' hotness of the day. The rental car was all nice and air conditioned and everything, but everything from the parking lot on was about as sweaty as you can imagine. Trev's sweaty feet, in his nasty old crocs, led to some pretty gnarly looking blisters. And when you've been looking forward to something, and then you're trying to enjoy it, but your feet really hurt, well, it doesn't make you happy.

So you take off your shoes and try to walk on the grass....
You definitely aren't amused by your mother when she tries to tell you that it's probably more Mayan to be walking barefoot anyway....

And you're not really in the mood to pose for pictures.
Although, as luck would have it, the aforementioned mother happens to have a very high tolerance for heat, and she is willing to carry your 50-pound, burning-hot self around, through throngs of sweaty tourists, to spare your little feet further distress.
Cold coconut milk proves to be less tasty than imagined, but it was worth a try.
And the car is still cool on the way home.

Xcaret

2011-07-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Other than the fact that I was temporarily separated from the rest of the family, in a giant theme park, with no way of getting in touch with them, and all I could do was wait in one spot and hope they'd find me, we had a great day at Xcaret.

It started with some floating down an underground river, continued with a great lunch....then the Oops part where I sat waiting on one side of the park, and they sat waiting on the other....followed by a happy reunion, some great rides and attractions, and lots of awesome ruins.We wrapped up the day by eating a delicious dinner while watching a spectacular show that chronicled the history of Mexico's people.Leading us through the time of the Maya, the Spanish conquest, and then featuring a ton of regional dances, the show was dramatic, beautiful, and full of color. Trev said his favorite part was "When the Spanish came and there was all of that fighting, and they smashed the Mayan temples." Ya. Perhaps he figures that his beloved ruins wouldn't have become ruins without the arrival of the Spanish......

Yep, more beach

2011-07-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

We've been promising and promising Manny that eventually he'd have a day to build Mayan ruin sandcastles. Today was the day.Sun, sand, sunscreen, snacks, smiles.... all the good esses.....

And I figured we could just throw the kids in the jacuzzi with some bubblebath to clean them off. I might have put in more bubblebath than necessary...

Playa del Carmen

2011-07-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Cancun today, and drove down to Playa del Carmen, where we'll stay for the remainder of our trip. The place is just gorgeous. There are piña coladas. And our balcony has a jacuzzi. Nice.Dr. and Mr. Coconut made the journey with us. But they did not join us in the jacuzzi.

Water, water everywhere

2011-07-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

As we walked along the beach after breakfast this morning, the sky was heavy with fat, gorgeous thunderclouds, so who could blame me for taking a photo every three steps or so.
The ocean was a bit angry today, though, so we did our swimming in the pool.
And Mr. Coconut has a new friend. His name is Dr. Coconut.

Isla Mujeres

2011-07-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

We didn't waste any time heading out to see the sights. Despite some serious rain (and doubtful glances at one another) en route, Isla Mujeres was a perfect place to spend the day.

We got some cheap ponchos.
Chad got us a limo.
And we tooled around the island in style. Golf carts are super fun, I tell you. I might have to take up golfing...
Along the way, we visited a turtle hatchery.
And Manny finally got to see his first ever, much anticipated, Mayan ruins. (You have to walk past the ultra-modern sculptures to get to the ancient ruins.) :)
Great little island.
Oh, yeah, and besides Mayan ruins, Trev is also currently obsessed with collecting coconuts. This one is named, "Mr. Coconut".

Hola Cancun!

2011-07-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cancun this afternoon, and man, does the humidity ever feel good. Reminds me of our overseas days. The kids couldn't wait to hit the (enormous and beautiful) pool.I think we'll be seeing a lot of these goggle-faced smiles while we're here...

New floors!!!!

2011-07-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Due to the, ahem, transgressions of our feline friends, we came to the conclusion that our carpets needed to go. Fast. We did a lot of research, and got a bunch of quotes, and decided to have laminate floors installed in our front room, hallway, and kitchen. No, we didn't have soiled carpet in the kitchen, but we did have a really ugly floor.

Anyway, it looks FANTASTIC. See for yourself:

View from the front door then:And now:View from the living room into the kitchen then:And now:View from the kitchen into the hallway then: And now:Ugly kitchen floor, in all its glory:And that kitchen now:Still more yuck:And now:Stinky front room carpet, with nice view of the (previously) hotdog-colored fireplace:And a couple more NOW views of the hallway and kitchen, just because:
Ahhhhhh. Better. Not only does the place look like a million bucks, it smells much more respectable. The routine for the past several months, upon walking into the house, has been kind of a sniff, sniff, stress sort of thing. Now, we are all smiles. And I can even laugh about the fact that the guilty parties managed to sneak their way into so many of these pics, like it was some kind of photo shoot in homage of their urinary abilities....

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

We were invited to a block party today to celebrate the 4th of July. The main event was a red, white and blue bike parade. Conveniently, Trev happens to have a red bike, and Clara has a blue one. A trip to the dollar store provided the red, white and blue embellishments. Bunting and flags galore....

After all of the burgers and potato salad and cupcakes, it's a wonder we could ride home...

Bon Voyage!

2011-07-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

By some stroke of luck, four of our favorite people from El Salvador ended up settling in the same corner of California as we did. Come to think of it, since Chad and I came here first, I guess the other two couples just moved here to be near us.... :)

Over ten years or so, even though we haven't gotten together nearly as often as we would have liked, we've played, talked incessantly (we're all teachers, after all...), and laughed a lot. Our collective gang of kids is pretty awesome, too. I love these people.

From time to time, each one of us talks about the desire to go back overseas....to live that adventure again, but with our kids in tow this time. We've all got that overseas thing in our blood....

It was Rachel and Andy who finally decided to take the plunge. So we all got together to say goodbye, before they head off for a new chapter in Kuala Lumpur. There was a lot of food, conversation, and capture the flag.

Kids plotted.And posed.Happy trails, to you, wonderful friends. We'll miss you.

Happy Canada Day and Bonfante Blackout

2011-07-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Remember how, earlier this week, we embarked on a failed camping trip? Retreated due to rain? Well, apparently this just isn't our week. Today it was Bonfante Gardens that defeated us. Old faithful Bonfante, the place that normally guarantees us a fun-filled day of family togetherness, lost its power. Literally. Power outage. Seriously.
We drove to the park, rode on two rides, and then made our way over to our favorite roller coaster. But as we were waiting for our coaster to leave the station, someone came on the loudspeaker to announce that the power had gone out in the entire park, and all rides would be closed indefinitely. Not sure what power was running the loudspeaker, now that I think of it....
Anyway, we hung out for a little while, and went in the Misty Maze (even though it wasn't misting because, apparently, while the loudspeakers require no power, the misting apparatus, apparently, does). We posed in the maze, as we pretty much always do:Then, because it was stinking hot and even the ice cream and lemonade vendors and water-squirting thingies were closed, we bailed. Went home to celebrate the rest of Canada Day without roller coasters and unmisty mazes. Celebrated instead with pancakes and maple syrup, under the maple tree, decked out in fancy Canadian gear (our 6th? annual package of Canada Day shwag) from my awesome cousin.
We should probably just not try to go anywhere else for awhile......

Another day, another tooth

2011-06-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

So, tooth number two came out today. Just fell on out to join its fallen comrade in Tooth Fairy land. Here's Trev's new smile right after it happened:
Since this important event begs to be over-photographed, here he is just before bed:Oh, and that shirt? Well, some time back, Chad cut the sleeves off one of Trevi's old, white t-shirts, so that he'd have something to wear to bed on super hot nights. I'm not quite sure why Chad decided to add the happy face, but Trev loved it, and became very attached to it. The original shirt was recently outgrown, so the one pictured here is Happy Face Shirt #2. I guess the look is perfect for guy who's missing a couple of teeth......

More painting, and Kevin's birthday

2011-06-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

Since we aren't in the great outdoors today, as planned (and it's still raining, BTW), I've been cranking out some more home-improvement projects. The living room ceiling, like the kitchen, has been annoying me with its two shades of white (p.s. I really think white should be an absolute), ever since the roof leaked and the bozos didn't fix it properly. So I'm taking on one more day of neck torture and getting that sucker monochromatic at long last.
Also, the fireplace has been the color of raw hotdogs since we moved in. Now it's brown. But not gross brown. Much better.
Thankfully, the kids were busy celebrating Kevin's birthday while I was covered in paint.
Kevin is five, by the way, even though he claims to be 26. Long story.

Big Basin - The shortest camping trip in history

2011-06-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

It's not supposed to rain here in the summer. It really isn't. It usually doesn't. So, when every meteorologist in the Bay Area seemed to agree that we were in for a rare summer storm, on the exact same day that our camping trip was due to start, we had no choice but to assume they were wrong. Or, that maybe they were exaggerating a bit about the downpour, the thunderstorms, and the 100% chance of precipitation. Well, I'm here to tell you that they weren't wrong. And they were not exaggerating. But we gave camping a go anyway. Sort of.

It wasn't raining when we packed up the car and left home. If it had been, we probably would have walked right back inside and made s'mores in the microwave. But we didn't. We hit the road, ready for some adventure.
I think we were about an hour away from the campground when the storm hit. Chad and I chuckled, and wondered aloud how we would go about setting up camp if it was still coming down like that when we arrived....
As it turned out, it was still coming down like that when we arrived, and we wondered some more and chuckled even louder (although you could barely hear our chuckling over the thundering deluge). We figured we'd just hang out until the rain let up enough for us to set up the tents.

Lucky thing #1: There happened to be a giant tree cave in our very campsite. Dry kids.
Lucky thing #2: Chad had happened to grab a couple of umbrellas as we left home, just in case.
Lucky thing #3: The Cookie Crisp (the official junk cereal choice for this trip), milk, bowls, and spoons were easily accessible.
Lucky thing #4: So were the hotdogs (and Smart Dog).
Lucky thing #5: The fire-sheltering umbrella did not burst into flames, even though it steamed ferociously and was burning hot to the touch.
Lucky thing #6: Trees big enough to shelter people inside their trunks are just one of the most amazing things on the planet, and we got to spend time with them.
Lucky thing #7: These days, Chad and I are adventurous enough to have a camping picnic in the pouring rain, but wise enough to cut our losses and bail...instead of spending the next 48 hours being soggy and cold.
Lucky thing #8: We were only a couple of hours from home this time, and our long camping trip is still coming up in August. It will definitely be longer than this one....... :)

Pool and Ceiling

2011-06-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

So, when Chad took the cover off the pool a couple of weeks ago, to get it all ph balanced and ready for triple digit days, he was a teensy bit shocked to discover that it was completely empty. Zero water. Slow leak all winter, apparently. So, we took the plunge (har har), and got a new pool. It was hot enough today (and the kids were excited enough) that they were willing to splash around a bit in the freezingness of hose water, even as the thing was still filling up.

When they started to turn shades of purple and blue, they switched to playing a lifeguard game, in which the goal was mainly to look good. I think they succeeded.
And, while all of this was going on outside, I was happily turning our three-tone kitchen ceiling into a one-tone wonder. I realize it sounds kind of pathetic to be painting a ceiling, but, seriously, this is what it has looked like for years:
I'll spare you the dazzling "after" shot of a ceiling that matches itself.

I Heart Monday Mamas

2011-06-24T23:09:00.000-07:00

Somehow (um, due to procrastination, lagging, and I-have-no-real-excuse) I didn't blog about the amazing Monday Mamas 10th Anniversary party back in April.

Who are the Monday Mamas, you ask? Well, way, way back when Clara was born, I fell in with a fabulous group of new mothers who met once a week at Kaiser to commiserate and celebrate one another during those crazy, wonderful, newborn days. There were 25 women altogether, and the group evolved over time, becoming a network of support, excursions, activities, and friendship. Monday Mamas is the stuff that chick lit is made of. There actually are a couple of novelists in the group....maybe they could put something together....

Anyway, my involvement has been practically nil over the past few years, what with work, and living a bit further away from Mama Central, but I really, really must make time this year to join in the fun. Serious fun to be had with these women (oh, and the kids aren't so bad, either). :)

Today's MM event was bittersweet, as it was a farewell party for my lovely friend, Cindy, who is en route to Phoenix(ish) as we speak.Good thing you're so cool Cindy!

A Good Day for a Parfait

2011-06-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

I wasn't kidding when I said that I might eat a fruit and yoghurt parfait every single day this summer. And I'm bringing Clara and Trevi along for the ride....

Magnet House

2011-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

I suppose at some point I'll stop taking pictures of, and blogging about, the various structures that show up practically daily on every surface in the house...
But, for now, these things give me such a glimpse into how their little minds work. This house (and garage) was a collaborative sibling effort (a fact which, in itself, merits documentation), and the beauty is in the details. Zoom and enjoy.
The other driving factor for all of this gratuitous structure blogging is that only after I photograph something, are they willing to dismantle it.

I can't handle the tooth!

2011-06-21T23:17:00.000-07:00

Trev is quite pleased with the big, giant tooth that's growing in, but it's freaking me out a bit!
Can you see it?? Where is that thing going to go?