In Other News...

Now that I've documented all of our adventures in California, it's time to update my tens of readers on what has happened since then. We're going in no particular order, because it's my blog and that's how I feel like doing it. So, let's start with this little slice of whimsey:



I took a picture of this... erm... we'll say "motorbike" on my phone while I was parked in front of my favorite coffee shop here in town. I was all chicken and took it through the car window (unintentionally including part of my finger) because I didn't want anyone to be like, "Hey! Don't take pictures of my awesome 'motorbike'!"

But the reason I took the picture was because this... thing, this very, very... interesting... thing, totally represents what is awesome about the town I live in.

Here, we are resourceful, tough, and creative. We're quirky but we have a great sense of irony. Most of all we own our quirks. Yep, I doubt you'll find another town in the west with a population more proud of their quirks. So I thought I'd take a moment to point out all of the features of this... I'm still going with "motorbike"... and demonstrate why this should probably be the official city vehicle.

First off, let's address the resourceful part. The three towers of plastic drawers bungeed to the back are a fantastic addition. They're like several miniature trunks in which the rider can keep wrenches, bolts, keys, a spare pair of socks and possibly even important documents folded up really, really small.

Now how about tough? You'll notice there's a yellow poncho on top of the drawers. That's right. This driver scoffs at the rain. Would minor Autumn monsoons stop this guy? Not a chance! Frankly, I would be completely unsurprised to see this thing driving around town in the dead of winter.

Let's move on to creative, shall we? Need I even point out the faux (I assume) lambswool seat? At this elevation the sun really bakes vinyl imitation leather, so it makes sense to upgrade to a more comfortable seat post haste.

Quirky. Yeah. I don't think that one even needs an explanation. Plus, I can't pick just one quirky element.

We have a sense of irony. I don't think you can make it out in the photo, but the name of this particular vehicle, written in very fast looking font, is The Sherpa. Of course it is. Because this thing was obviously purposed specifically to transport ones possessions through perilous mountain passes to dizzying elevations. What else could it possibly be meant to do?

Finally, let's talk about owning your quirks. If you want to communicate loud and clear that you're proud of your quirky... I'm gonna stick with "motorbike"... how would you do that? I submit to you that bright gold rims are definitely the way to go. They add the bling to an otherwise ordinary army green and chrome, lambswool clad, plastic bureau and poncho outfitted high altitude transportation vehicle. They say, "No, I'm not driving The Sherpa because it's all I can afford. I deserve a vehicle as unique as my journey! I am the author of my own epic adventure! I am the Captain of my 'motorbike'!"

It is exactly that spirit that permeates the community in which I live. Whether we express our unique point of view through our commitment to maintaining floor-length dreadlocks, our insistence that hula hooping is both exercise and the highest form of visual art, our crusade to educate society about the psychological benefits of macrame or our desire to do something really crazy like wear a collared shirt to work, we are all, in our own way, the Captain of our "motorbike".

And we wouldn't have it any other way.

California Trip Part 8 - Visit from Great Grandma

Toward the end of our trip Mark's grandma, Aunt Cathie and Uncle Bill came to Mark's parents' house to visit. Here's a few photos of the fun!

Norah greeting Grandma at the door.

Norah and Aunt Cathie.

Penny takes a photo op with Grandma and Daddy.

Uncle Bill reading to Norah and her Mickey balloon (that's the red string).

Playing pattycake with Grandma.

California Trip Part 7 - The Beach!!

We headed out to Carlsbad to visit some friends who just happen to live right on the beach. Norah knew we were going to the beach after we all had lunch together.

                              She was so excited she could barely sit still! 

So she and Daddy passed the time by making silly faces.

And giving hugs.

Once we finally got to the beach, Norah got busy doing all the fun things she knew to do at the beach.

She dug in the sand.

Thanks to the toys that Grandma bought her!

She helped Daddy write her name in the sand.

Uncle Matthew showed her how to find sand crabs!

After a big wave knocked her off her feet...

Norah understood why Daddy wanted
to be with her when she was near the water.

While Big Sister was playing, we put Penny on the towel to observe.

Yeah right... that worked for about five minutes.

She was much happier being in the middle of the action!

So Daddy took her out to see the water.

Then Momma took her out to watch Daddy and sister in the water.

Then Uncle Matthew took a turn entertaining her.

Daddy gave Penny some flying lessons.

Which she enjoyed...

Very, very much!

Finally, we decided to take a family picture. It was a little late in the day and the girls were getting grumpy, so this is the best picture we got.

California Trip Part 6 - Hacked by Penny

Hello Blog People!

I keep trying to hack into Mom's posts because I know you all want to hear from me, but Mom just keeps writing and writing and writing about our trip! Don't get me wrong, it was totally awesome. It's just that she hasn't shared my favorite parts yet. So, in the interest of maintaining my loyal readership, I give you:

The Awesome Things About Our Trip that Mom Forgot!

First of all, Grandma had the coolest thing in her kitchen. I saw her washing my bottles and stuff in it, but she didn't fool me for one second. I knew exactly what its intended purpose was...



It was a baby hot tub!



Here I am, lounging in the hot tub.







Checking out the hardware on the tub.



 


Waving at all the poor people who are too big to fit in my tub.

 

And, of course, preserving my modesty while in the tub.



The day before I hung out in the hot tub, we visited some good friends - they're more like family really - who live by the beach. Big Sister was excited to go to the beach, but I was just as excited to explore their house. The had a fur rug, you guys.

A FUR RUG!!!

Can you even imagine how excited I was? Well fortunately you don't have to.



Mom laid me down on the rug and I was all smiles.



Then she decided to take my clothes off and get some pictures. After all, as she put it, "What could be cuter than a mostly naked baby on a fur rug?"



I got really excited then! I never miss an opportunity for a cute photo!




What could be cuter than a mostly naked baby on a fur rug?





I'm sure I couldn't tell you!



Anyway, those are just a couple of my highlights from our trip. I really loved the beach too, but I'm sure that Mom will tell you more about that soon.

Until then, I'll leave you with a picture of me performing my new favorite trick:

Did you know that if you slam your hands together really hard, they make a super cool sound!?! Well they do! Also, if you do it while flashing your cutest smile, everyone around you says, "Yaaayyyyy!" It's a really great trick. You guys should totally try it.

California Trip Part 5 - Disneyland!!

We didn't tell Norah about where we were going until the morning of the trip. She had no concept of what Disneyland was so she didn't really get excited until I told her about all the characters who "lived" there. I told her we'd see all the people she loved from movies she liked to watch.

We knew that she'd only really get excited once she got there. Boy oh boy, were we right! She took one look at Sleeping Beauty's castle and went crazy! We were trying to get her to smile by asking her to say, "Princess castle". This is the first picture that Mark got.

This one is a much better representation of how excited she was. 

After a tour of the castle it was on to the rides!

A Norah's-eye-view of Dumbo.

Our whole family on the ride. Mark couldn't get in the picture and take it at the same time, but he's there! Penny is behind the fabric under my chin in the Ergo carrier. This is probably the last time we'll all fit in one elephant.

Looking out the porthole on Nemo.

Gazing on in rapt attention on It's a Small World.

Saying hi to Buzz Lightyear.

We rode tons more rides, since school had already started and the park was fairly empty. It's a bit tough to get any really good pictures on the rides (as you can see from above). Norah still talks about her favorite ride. She absolutely loved riding in a seashell to see Ariel.

She also got to meet Mickey! Later in the day she told us, "That wasn't really Mickey. That was a person in a costume. But that's still okay with me." All I could think was, Holy cow! What three year old figures that out!?!

She also danced with Chip and Dale. This was the best picture we could get of her awesome moves.

I didn't manage to get a photo, but there was one experience that stood out above the rest for Norah. On the way to get in line for The Little Mermaid, we stumbled upon a street parade featuring Phineas and Ferb. Judging by Norah's reaction, you would have thought it was Justin Beiber*. Her dad put her up on his shoulders so that she could see the characters dance with the Fireside Girls. 

*(if you're over 30, 40, 50 or 60, read that name as Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Rob Lowe, David Cassidy and Tom Jones respectively)

After the parade, we went on Little Mermaid and Norah was finally ready to head home. We sat down for a minute so that Daddy could go get Norah one last thing. We promised Norah that since she'd been so good (and since we didn't have to rent a stroller because she'd walked all day) we'd get her a balloon  as a souvenir.

Let me just say, those suckers last forever! The special Mickey balloon traveled from sea level to my house at 9,000 feet and it's still in my basement playroom weeks later. It was worth it though. Not only did Norah make up a song about it, she still talks to her balloon about how much fun she had at Disneyland.

California Trip Part 4 - Grandma's House

After our visit with my extended family, we said goodbye and headed to Mark's parents house in Southern California. It was a bit warmer there and Mark's mom had the fans on in the house. Norah decided to "take a drink of air".

She thought it was pretty fun.



We played at a couple of different parks during our time at Grandma's. The one pictured below happened to be near the town where I grew up. We hung out there for a couple of hours so that Norah could play while some old friends stopped by to chat. Norah was so very, very busy at the parks I didn't get many good photos of her at all. Most of the pictures turned out like this one...


She sure did have fun though! Even the heat (which we are completely not used to any more) didn't slow her down, although she did remark a few times, "Mom, I'm really sweaty."


After our time at this particular park, we drove waaaaayyyy down to south Orange County to meet up with some other friends for dinner. I didn't manage to get any photos of that either - what with juggling two tired, formerly sweaty girls - but we had a great time. All things considered (car naps, heat, lots of expended energy) I was actually really impressed that Norah held out until dinner was over to have a meltdown for the day! She did a great job letting Mommy and Daddy have great conversation with our friends before we were forced to load up our exhausted, crying, snotty mess of a three-year-old into the car and hightail it for bed.

Stay tuned... next up is Disneyland!

California Trip Part 3 - More Northern California Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from our time with my grandma in Northern California:

Norah on our first visit to Susie. She ran right up to her and said, "I remember the last time I visited you, even though I was little. Also, we have a picture of you at my Grammy's house!" Susie responded right on cue, "Well I am just so pleased that you remember me!"

We went outside for a little walk (unfortunately none of those pictures turned out). Susie showed Norah a big tray of birdseed that they keep on the deck of her home so that the residents can watch the birds eat. Norah had so much fun scooping the birdseed up and feeling it run through her fingers. She still talks about it. I love that she got to share that first experience with Susie.

My grandmother is struggling with dementia. There are times when she doesn't recognize members of her family - even her children and grandchildren. When she was around Norah and Penny, though, she just lit up. I can't even put into words how precious it was to see her connect with my sweet three-year-old on such an in-the-moment and un-selfconcious level. She and Norah were immediate buddies and stayed that way the whole weekend!

On another note, Penny had her first bite of watermelon at Susie's party.

She was not about to let that thing go!