mental snapshots

I love my friends.  I love being surrounded by their presence and listening to the noise their kids make while they play with Izzy.  I love the abundance of food and drink that flows through the kitchen and fills us to we are too full and then we go back for more.  I was born to entertain.  To host gatherings on a whim and to feed the masses.  I love every second of it.

However,  I learned today that I love it even more when it is just the three of us.  The 80 degree weather in October keeps luring us out of the house and down to the ocean's edge.  We met there today on the rocky sand shore of Carmel beach further south where the locals go to play and the tourist know nothing about.  I freed myself from the weight of my camera this trip so that I could enjoy both my loves in this moment.  Fortunately, this event did not go undocumented because I took lots and lots of mental snapshots.   Snapshots of Chris and Izzy playing on the rocks.  Examining sea creatures.  Letting the very cold water rush up their toes and onto their legs as they played in small pools of ocean water.  As I sat there blinking my eyes to click my mental camera I am amazed at my daughter.  How brave she is standing next to that big ole ocean but also how timid she is as she keeps either Chris or I at arms length just in case the next wave might scoop her out to sea.  She is always running 10 steps ahead but always looking behind to make sure we are following and paying attention.  I know these days are limited and 10 feet will turn in to miles between us and arms length will be for hugs and less frequent intimate moments.  I am loving this time with both of them.  It's very quite and calm but so much fun.

:: Lynda and Darrell


Chris's cousin, Darrell and his wife, Lynda take a trip every October.  This year for their 3rd wedding anniversary they traveled west to take in the sights of Monterey and of course, to see us.  Our week would not be complete without trekking our stuff down to Carmel beach, south of 10th ave, to build a bonfire, grill hotdogs and roast marshmallows.  And once again, our car has the distinct smell of a burning campfire and our house is littered with sand.  And once again, I am happy.




 ::  Halloween


Halloween is in full swing this year.  Mom has made Izzy's costume, decorations hang from our walls, candy is bought, spice pumpkins were made (and eaten), candy corn fills our candy dishes and pumpkins have been carved.  Izzy and I have practiced the trick-o-treating routine.  Mostly she just mimics everything I do.  She will get it though.  Once she watches her friends ring the doorbell, scream trick or treat, and run away with candy... she will get it.  Maybe this year I will sit back and watch her go to the doors with her friends........ or maybe not.  :)  




HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!! 

whale waiting

There are so many pictures and too many thoughts rushing through my head to explain what has been going on at our house these past two weeks.  As some of you know, our oldest daughter was here visiting from Germany.  You might be thinking.... oldest?!? Yes, she biologically isn't mine but she might as well be.  She fits into our family as if she was always meant to be here.  She has her own life now and her own way of doing things but when she is with us... she weaves into our lives and goes with the flow.  She gets us.  She doesn't question what we do, how we do it or why we do it.  She does it right along with us.

Lina's visit brought days of laughs, shopping, love, hair brushing, tons of pictures, food, cash prizes and so many moments I had to sit back and soak up because I knew she would be gone faster then when she got here.  We don't have pictures of EVERYTHING we did but I have a few hundred or so of the things we wanted to capture the most: pumpkin carving and whale watching.

:: Gizdich Farms

We traveled north with a group of our friends, of course, to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  The pumpkin patch really wasn't a patch but a small spot in their fields with already picked pumpkins.  It was perfect enough for a distracted two year old.  Izzy really didn't pick out her pumpkin... I did while she played in the dirt and threw rotten apples in the ditch.  Lina picked the biggest pumpkin we have ever carved.  We ended the afternoon with a picnic and homemade apple pie with ice cream made right there in the cafe of Gizdich Farm.



A few days later we laid out the table cloth, opened our pumpkin carving kit and got to work.  Izzy wouldn't stick her hand in the pumpkin to clean it out but she did enjoy drawing the face on the pumpkin and then carving it with the really small knife.  A few hours later we had two masterpieces.  (Currently the pumpkins are rotted out because of the rain and heat we got but they were awesome for the few days they were lit.)





 :: Whale Watching Waiting

I think my expectations for the whale watching trip were a little too high.  This is what I envisioned.... We would pull up and a whale would swim right up next to the boat.  Then it would dive down and shoot out of the water and hold a pose in the air so I could capture it all on my camera.  Free Willy would be playing in the background while the whale wore a sequenced glove and Michael Jackson would be riding on his back.  Not really about the last two things... just making sure you were paying attention. 

So this is not exactly what happened.  What had happened was.... we Lina saw some whale spouts shooting off in the distance.  The boat would race in that the direction but by the time we got there the whales had already dived down into the depths of the oceans, then 15 minutes later when they came back up they were on the other side of the ocean.  We did a lot of whale waiting.  Not so much whale watching.  However, we did get to see some and it was my first time ever in a boat in the ocean so it wasn't a total waste.  We also saw a ton of fish, jellyfish and dolphins.  It was fun but would have been much cooler if we would have been able to get closer.


 


So this is just a small glimpse into our lives these past two weeks.  We are missing Lina again but know she will be back soon.  Izzy wander's the house sometimes and ask where is sissy or nana (aka Lina).  As for now, we are counting down the days until we fly home for Christmas.  We will enjoy Thanksgiving with our neighbors and keep busy during the other days with more bonfires, walks to Starbucks, and playing.

fall

I read a ton of blogs.  I don't like to read but there is something about reading someone else's life.  It's not reality TV, it's real life.  This week each of my blogs have brought on the joys of fall.  Fall has entered our home too and we are loving every minute of it.  While other bloggers comment on how much they are enjoying the cooler weather, we are actually enjoying warmer weather.  Weather that has hit the 80's at least once this week.  Our fall is the opposite of others.... it doesn't confine us to our houses with warm blankets and pumpkin spice latte.  It has gotten us outdoors.  We are playing outside with our neighbors.  We are having frequent bonfires that fill our bellies with chard hotdogs and toasted marshmallows.  It brings a beautiful orange hue to the sky that sets on the ocean just begging you to dip your toes in the water.  (However, the water is still freezing.)
























This is our family.... this is our family away from family.  I love them.  I love how we laugh and joke around and how we look out for each other's kids as if they were our own.  I love I never have worry about Izzy being ignored, pushed or mistreated because she too little.  The other kids treat her as if she was her sister.  We have each other's backs.  We have formed a tight knit group that only outsiders wish they could be a part of.  It's more then just a group of families bonded together by a common thread, military.  We somehow have made life long friends who know our ins and outs and just about everything about our families.  We trust each other.  I love it!!



Another thing I love.... getting to spend time with Lina.  We have done a lot of eating and laughing since she arrived.  She is amazing with Izzy and Izzy adores her.  It melts my heart when she calls her "sissy".  Lina has taught her ballet and sword fighting.  Izzy also calls her Nana since she cannot pronounce Lina.  It's still cute when she says "come on nana" when she wants Lina to play with her.  We still have one week left with Lina before she heads back to Germany.  We have lots of things

planned!