flying solo

We are finally here in Oregon after a LONG 12 hour drive- just me and the girls! This is the first time I have attempted this trip without help from Paul, my mom, my dad, or one of my siblings. I am happy to report that we all survived with mom flying solo! It really wasn't too bad! We even had a little fun along the way- my mom always made tried to make the trip as fun as the destination, so I tried to keep up that tradition.

After driving 6 1/2 hours or so, we stopped in Corning on Sunday night just to break up the drive. We planned to stay at the same hotel as the Brundage family, who were also headed to Oregon to see family. It was nice to meet up with some familiar, friendly faces along the way. We had dinner together and let the kids run some energy out before going to sleep for the night. After we went to our room and I was getting everything ready for lights out, Finley fell off the bed and hit her head on the night stand. She had a gash and a HUGE black and blue welt on her head to show for it. Fortunately, the hotel was full of firefighters who were fighting the Humbolt County fires. I ran into a few of them in the parking lot and they took a look at Finley's head for me and assured me that it was ok for her to go to sleep that night. I tend to be a little paranoid about things like that. Finley's little accident aside, we all survived the night, got up Monday morning, filled the breakfast area with our combined 7 children, ate, and then went our separate ways!

We took a lunch break in Grants Pass where Grandma Lee and Pa are on vacation for the week. They took us to a park that Paul used to play at when he was a child (as a family they have always spent a few weeks up there in the summer). The girls had a blast swinging (Finley saw the swings as soon as she got out of the car and made a bee line straight for them), they picked daisies, and got soaking wet in the river while they were supposed to be just "looking" at the geese. I think they were just happy to be out of the car for a while. After a couple hours of freedom, we got everyone strapped back in and continued our journey.

We arrived at my dad's house Monday evening to the waiting arms of Poppi, Day-Day, TT, and Logan (Tiffany's fiance) who is home on leave from Iraq. The girls have been in seventh heaven with all the attention and it has only been a few hours! We will be here for a full 2 weeks- I think the girls will have major withdrawls when we leave!

We have already seen a few deer (they are plentiful around here), watered plants, giggled from too many tickles, and stayed up WAY past our bed times since the sun doesn't set here until 9 or so during the summer! We have couple of action packed weeks ahead of us! I am sure there will be lots of stories to tell and tons of pictures to show for our time here.

creatures of habit

Both of my girls have little fetishes with food. They go in spurts where they will eat one thing, and one thing ONLY for weeks on end. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Right now, Avery's food of choice is a pb&j cut into 2 big hearts and 2 baby hearts. I am not even sure how the whole heart thing got started, but my good gracious... what was I thinking indulging that kind of craziness?! Just because it is cut into 4 triangles instead of 2 big hearts and 2 baby hearts, it STILL TASTES THE SAME! But, apparently they taste different to a 3 year old- at least MY 3 year old- because Avery would rather go hungry than eat the triangles.

Finley is on a yogurt kick and has been for as long as I can remember. Not just any yogurt, it HAS to be the little cups of bananas & cream, strawberries & cream, blueberries & cream, or vanilla & cream from Trader Joe's. I do have to admit, it is the best, yummiest, creamiest yogurt I have ever tasted, so I can't really blame her. Finley sometimes eats 3 a day, plus Paul and I love them as well, so we blow through them quickly. The problem is that Trader Joe's only stocks like 4 of the 6 packs on the shelf every day and if you go after 10 in the morning, they are already gone... which is probably because of people like me who clear them out every time I go. I feel like I am CONSTANTLY going to Trader Joes to stock up (or try to at least).

I have NO idea where they get this craziness from. It is most definitely not from me... it is not like I have eaten the same breakfast of yogurt (same kind as Finny) with granola mixed in everyday for the last, oh I don't know, FOREVER or anything?! So, they must get it from their dad.

record highs

in San Luis Obispo this last week....

Wednesday- 100 °
Thursday- 107°
Friday- 113° (116°at the beach)

Saturday- 108°

It was too hot to do anything besides trying to keep cool (without air-conditioning, that can prove to be kind of difficult)! We went swimming and got fried (I lathered the girls in sunscreen, but forgot about me), drove around in our car with the A/C blasting, took refuge in any and every air conditioned store that we could find, slept with wet towels as blankets, took cold showers, sat in front of all the fans we have, and ate popsicles... lots and lots of messy, sticky popsicles. By day 3 of this crazy heat wave, the novelty had worn off completely- we were DONE! Today after 4 absurdly hot days, it FINALLY cooled down to 77, which is more in line with the glorious San Luis Obispo weather that we love!

in memoriam...

A dear friend of ours, Kevin Pryor passed away today, Tuesday, June 17, 2008 of a brain aneurysm. He was just 31 years old.

I met Kevin's fiance Kelly Billingsley in a chemistry class at Cal Poly in 2000, shortly after Paul and I were married. Kelly and I were both Nutritional Science majors. We became fast friends and we started hanging out and doing things together as couples... dinner, movie nights, etc... Our friendship with them continued to grow. They were married in August 2001, almost 1 year to the day after we were married. Kelly, Kevin, and I all graduated from Cal Poly and sat together during the commencement services in June 2002. Kevin was a firefighter for Pismo Beach and one fourth of July, he took Paul and I on a ride in the fire engine up the hill to watch the fireworks. Over the years, we have hung out with them, celebrated with them, stayed with them after they moved away, vacationed with them. We considered them family. Sadly, Kelly and Kevin's marriage dissolved in 2007 and we have not seen Kevin since. Regardless, the news of his passing greatly shocked and saddened us. He was a wonderful guy. He was a shining example of service, kindness, friendship, and love. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and Kelly during this most difficult time.


A memorial site for Kevin, with moving testimonals of his exemplary life and more information on his passing, has been set up by his firefighter family at the Newport Beach Fire Department.

EXCUSE ME?!

The girls and I were driving home from our weekend in Carmel and Avery was being so whiny... there are very few things I despise more than whining. I reprimanded her and told her that she needed to shape up or she was going to lose the privilege of watching a show in the car. She quieted down for a minute and then said "Mom, Finny and I don't like your attitude." EXCUSE ME?! I had to try so very hard not to laugh, even though it is really not funny... I think we might be in for BIG trouble if she is already sassing me like this at the tender age of 3! Both of the girls can give the dirtiest looks too... just check out that picture above. If it is possible, Finley's looks are worse- just ask anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of having one of her looks directed at them! Heaven help us!

It's wedding season!

Jen & Rich

June 14, 2008

La Playa Hotel

Carmel, California

We had a great time! It was so much fun to spend time with the Spielman family- most of whom I had not seen since my mom and Larry's wedding in 1996 or had never met before! Once the girls warmed up to all the new faces, they enjoyed making some new friends! They LOVED all the attention and I greatly appreciated all the extra hands and eyes to help keep track of the girls! Avery loved seeing Auntie Jen (Larry's daughter) all dressed up in her beautiful dress. She was so excited that she was able to dance with the "princess"! Both Avery and Finley danced till they dropped- quite literally! Finley passed out on DayDay after awhile, but Avery was the dancing QUEEN! I had to peel her off the dance floor at 10 p.m. so we could head up to our room and finally put Finley in her bed! Avery crashed hard as soon as we got her to her bed. It was a fun weekend of family, friends (we got to pop in for a quick visit with the Nilssons and meet the newest addition to their family, baby Asher, for the first time!), wedding festivities, and beautiful surroundings!

17 Mile Drive

We spent the weekend up in Carmel for Jen & Rich's wedding and took some time to drive around 17 mile Drive and look at the GORGEOUS houses, the beautiful rocky coast line, and the golf courses- including Pebble Beach. Avery enjoyed picking flowers at every stop, Finley loved running and playing in the green, green grass (which made me yearn for the day when we will have some grass in our yard instead of just dry, dusty dirt piles), the boys (Paul and David) were lusting over the golf, and I had fun taking a few pictures!

Fathers and their daughters

Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter.

-Joseph Addison

Looking at this picture, I can instantly feel my dad's arms around me and remember the comfort and confidence I always feel there. I have always known that I can turn to him and he will be there for me. I am so grateful that my girls will have that same assurance. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful father myself (who is also a fantastic "Poppi" to my girls),

and a pretty terrific husband who is an amazing daddy to our children.

Happy Father's Day

preschool graduation (one down, two more to go)

Today marked the end of the 1st year (or in Avery's case, 1st quarter) of preschool at Tiny Tigers. She participated in her first preschool graduation (she will have 2 more before she enters kindergarten)! Even though it did not signify any true advancement for her, Avery still had fun with all of the hoopla, attention, and (of course) the graduation cap that is now the star of the dress up box.

It has only been 3 short months since Avery set Off To Tiny Tigers, but I have already seen dramatic changes in her. It may just be her age, but I think that being around other children on a more regular basis and participating in more structured activities has a part in it too.

1. She is much more comfortable in larger groups of kids and with new adults too.

2. She now interacts and plays WITH other children.

3. She has made a few friends that she enjoys playing with and talks about outside of school.

*This makes me happy. I am so blessed to have friends I grew up with from a very young age (who are still friends 20+ years later). To me, there is nothing better than old friends who are included in your earliest memories and are in at least a few of your childhood photographs.... makes for fun walks down memory lane later. Who knows, these might be the beginning of lifelong friendships for her.

4. She has gotten pretty good at sharing (in theory at least).

5. Her imagination has taken off... she is CONSTANTLY pretending and coming up with elaborate scenarios to act out, most usually involving princesses of some sort (sometimes with a pirate or two thrown in for good measure).

6. Her vocabulary and language skills have improved drastically. Her sentences are much more complete, descriptive, "colorful," and understandable (most of the time). She is a non-stop chatterbox- at home at least!

7. She has added a plethora of the "why," "what," "where," and "how" questions to her repertoire. Oh dear me!

8. She has learned the art of teasing, although it seems that she does not fully enjoy being teased as of yet.

9. Her confidence has soared. She is so proud of her accomplishments at school and at home. She is much more willing to try to do things on her own- to the point that she usually refuses help and wants to do everything herself.

10. She has developed a LOVE of painting, coloring, gluing, and all sorts of creating.

It is soooo much fun to watch her in all of these new avenues of discovery and experience! Preschool has been a wonderful thing for Avery so far! It has also been good for me too- it forces me to get everyone up, moving, showered, dressed, and out the door at a respectable hour (at least 3 days of the week- all bets are off on Mondays and Fridays). I am looking forward to a fun summer, but I think I will welcome back our little 3 day a week routine come September.

gardening with pa

We are so lucky that Paul's dad (a.k.a. "Pa") is planting a garden here at our house again this year (fortunately for us, their new place in Avila doesn't have enough room for a garden). This time around, Avery had the task of tending the tomato starts until the garden soil was ready for them to be planted. She diligently watered them on a daily basis (along with anything else she had enough water for) for the past couple of weeks. Surprisingly enough, they endured her "care" and yesterday the tomato plants went in the ground! The girls LOVE to help Pa plant, water, and just play in the dirt. They have so much fun, they get to hang out with Pa on a daily basis, it is a GREAT learning opportunity for ALL of us, and we will get to enjoy a bounty of fresh vegetables as the season progresses! My mouth is already watering for fresh salsa, tomato and cucumber salad, and Grandma Lee's yummiest zucchini bread! I think we have a good thing going.