Golden State Adventures

California, for all its insanity, is alluringly beautiful. The wild west is the place where I was molded and shaped as a child. You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take the California out of the girl. Maybe growing up so close to these wild and free mountains and shorelines was a factor in making me the way I am. Just a speculation ...

My lovely mom and sister:

 

I think bougainvillea is simply the most gorgeous flowering bush ever. I snapped this out of the car window. It's so prevalent along Pacific Coast Highway.

The best beaches have both tide pools, which the kids loved, and long stretches of sand.  Here we are near Point Dume, in Malibu.

 

 

 

This is Long Beach, the city where I grew up.  It's between Los Angeles and Orange County, and has a population of nearly a half million.  I have fond memories of driving around downtown with my sisters after I got my driver's license and my freedom!  Woo hoo!

 

One of the highlights of the trip was going on a 44 mile long bike ride with Kevin.  I joked that it's probably the fastest way to navigate through L.A. County!  It was so fun!  We rode past all these beautiful little beach communities (and one crazy one--Venice; and another semi-crazy one--Santa Monica pier).  We stopped for lunch, a smoothie, ocean gazing, and general spectating whenever we felt like it.  It was fabulous.  I hope we get to do it again.  It makes me want to make a point of going to other places in the world and taking long bike rides.  Biking is such a great pace at which to see things.  You can cover more ground biking than walking and you can go to places that you can't take a car.  We love it!

Here we are, stopping to watch dolphins swimming in the water (ironically, after eating a lunch of mahimahi tacos) and some kids at a summer surfing camp. 

 

 

 

Riding some dusty, panoramic view trails ...

 

The small, but awesome, Orange County zoo, which features locally found animals.  The mountain lion feeding time was a highlight for the kids. 

 

 

Sophia is at the BEST age for the zoo!  She wanted to know the name of every animal, what it eats, and where it lives (on the map).

Have you ever got to pet a hedgehog?

We had a fun time one night going to see Jaws on the beach.  Here I am with two of my sisters.  Melissa and David got stuck babysitting.  Sorry guys!

Jaws ... tense at times and cheesy enough to be funny too ...

Coffee with the fam afterwards, on 2nd Street in Long Beach.

We always love to go to Crystal Cove State Beach.  Not only is it one of the most fun and beautiful beaches in Southern California, we also love the Beachcombers cafe and the fabulous breakfast-on-the-beach experience.

Walking to the beach ... 

We love this cafe ...

The tide pools at Crystal Cove are fabulous ... 

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa and Meredith spent the afternoon building a detailed sandcastle ... 

A highlight for me was watching Clara skip and dance along the beach and dig for sand crabs.  It was a beautiful portrait of childhood adventure. Her joyful squeals when she dug for crabs reminded me of my experiences as a child.  I loved it just as much!

A flower growing next to my parents' yard.  Love the color!

Bonfire on Bolsa Chica beach with grandpa ...

On our last day we took a spontaneous whale watching trip off Balboa Island in Newport Beach.  I love the harbor here.  It's so colorful and pretty. 

Heading out to sea!

Some sea lions on a buoy. 

We saw tons of dolphins.  There were also lots of baby dolphins swimming next to their mothers.  It was SO cute to watch them jump out of the water, always alongside their mothers. 

It was the last half of the boat ride and we had seen lots of marine life, but not any whales.  I have a wonderful memory of standing at the front of the ship with Meredith, on the lookout, feeling the wind in our hair, with time just standing still.  It was a wonderful moment with her.  

And, guess what?  We finally saw one!  Below is the picture of a fluke of a blue whale, off in the horizon.  I'm glad we saw one because, otherwise, it would have been my first unsuccessful whale watching trip.  I have been on three of them in California and one in Maine.  It doesn't get much better than being out on the open sea, chasing after the largest creatures on the planet.  

The kids love my parents.  I'm so glad because they don't get to see them very often, unfortunately!!  My dad is a big tease and here is Sophia, eating it up.

My grandpa is 92 and he still walks a mile a day, teaches Sunday school, does the bulk of the house cleaning, drives my grandma to her appointments, and takes turns preaching at church on Sunday. His mind is still as sharp as a tack too.  He is an inspiration!

 

 

This is what a little girl looks like at the end of an exciting trip!

The kids are great travelers. 

A trip we will never forget!  I am so glad for this time we had with family and being surrounded by such natural beauty.

Anne Party

We decided to read Anne of Green Gables at the beginning of the summer and invited some neighbors to join in with us. We had so much fun with an Anne party at the end of summer! There are so many fun ideas that can be taken from the book! Our party involved pick-your-own-fancy-name for the day, liniment cake and raspberry cordial, and a friend who dyed her hair green. Oh, and we watched the movie too. We thought about doing a "Pin the E on the Anne" game but the movie is really long, you know ...

We want to do more of these book/movie parties in the future. So much fun!

 

 

 

 

Surprise Anniversary

40 years of marriage is a big deal and we decided that we shouldn't let this momentous occasion for Kevin's parents just slip by, without celebrating in style. So Meredith made a poster (with rubies, which is the symbol of the 40th anniversary). And Shannon did some flowers and dug out her mom's dress and veil and some pictures from the attic. And the aunts and some other kind people helped make some goodies. And it all came together nicely! We had a great evening celebrating Dale and Laura's marriage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ariel Never Gets Old

Some days I can never decide who is more popular in our house, Ariel or Rapunzel. I never planned to let my girls be crazy over Disney Princesses but sometimes these things seem simply unavoidable! I had fun shaping the fondant for this cake. It's great to feel like a kid again, playing with something that is like Play Dough but so much cooler and better tasting.

 

 

 

 

Camp Out Birthday

The Tween stage has snuck up on us! We allowed Meredith to have her first sleepover birthday party and she wanted a backyard camp out theme. This one was a fun one to plan ...

 

 

 

 

 

And I'm the lucky duck who got to sleep with these two adorable Wanna Be Tweens. I slept all night with no air mattress and I must be getting old because I kept waking up every hour or so thinking, "I am SO uncomfortable!" but I was too tired to do anything about it!!

 

About a boy ...

This afternoon I laid on the carpet next to Carson to play with him for a few minutes. It's a Friday, and the pace of my life is more relaxed on Fridays. On Mondays, I run around like a lunatic. On Fridays, I have more room to breathe. And play with my boy.

Today, Carson kept crawling over to me, patting me and giving me open-mouthed kisses on my cheek. He also freely gave opened-mouth kisses to Sophia's dolly. He is a happy, playful, expressive and enthusiastic (read: loud and easily excitable) baby boy, who soon will no longer be a baby anymore! (Slow down, time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carson has a pretty sweet life, being doted on, and carried around all day, by three big sisters. I love these four ...

 

I want to ride my bicycle ...

A while ago a cute squeaky voice answered back when I picked up my phone. It was a sweet little boy who lives a few blocks away who gets along well with my girls and wanted them (all three) to come play with him and his little sister.  

Soon I found myself alone in the house with Carson who was getting sleepy. The thought occurred to me that I could strap him in the bike trailer for his nap and set off for a little adventure, biking to places where my five year old can't keep up and would get too tired-out to go. 

So we rode about 12 minutes on the trail that goes behind our house, and over a few blocks, to Zionsville's quaint Main Street. I would have stopped for coffee but didn't want to interrupt the baby's nap! 

We love biking as a family here, to the farmer's market, to other events, to get a doughnut, to the park in town, etc. 

Clara acts like a queen sitting on top of the world riding behind Kevin on the tag along bike. Meredith can hold her own on her little bike. And the two little kids are pulled in the trailer. We love it. 

Here is Carson sleeping in his trailer ... And my new bike Kevin got me for my birthday. 

Here are the kids, after a bike ride. I have also been making them ride once a week to the library (about 2.5 miles away). And also sometimes to the grocery store (about the same). Mostly they enjoy it. When they complain I just tell them that it's good for them and hopefully it will make them stronger!  I want to model an active lifestyle because I think it will help them have a better quality life. 

     

In other bike news ... Kevin and I had the most fun biking experience I can imagine a few weeks ago when we did the Indianapolis NITE ride. It was an 18 mile ride starting at 11:00 p.m. in downtown Indy. We rode past monument circle and the state house and the children's museum and then gave a bunch of people in the 'hood some high fives and ended up stopping at Butler University for a quick snack.  Then we rode back, past the art museum and through some neighborhoods, ending up back at IUPUI. And then there was a pasta dinner at 1:30 a.m. It was awesome. 

The whole city was lit up and beautiful and so peaceful at night. It made my city seem smaller, too, riding my bike past all these places I normally drive. We want to do it every year! So fun!

We rode with some of Kevin's office mates. A coworker of his made shirts for everyone. 

Can't wait until NITE ride 2014!!!