Little Bit of Kentucky Living in this California Heart

I am the youngest of three Kentucky born and raised kids.  My beautiful sister Jeanette is 9 years my senior and my loving brother Patrick is 6 years my senior.  Patrick and I grew up very close to one another, we basically lived within a stones throw of each other until I left for college and even then he was merely a phone call and about an hour away.  Jeanette and I had a very different relationship. I have some very vivid and wonderful memories of her as a child but for the most part I remember her as my older, cooler big sister who moved away to Maryland when I was a young kid in search of a life all her own. I remember at first flying with my mom to go visit her and then as I got older I was allowed to fly by myself to visit her. Every time I visited my sister I was amazed and impressed at the life she had created for herself in this foreign far away land (to a kid Maryland is a foreign far away place, lol.). I was always welcomed but always felt out of sorts, after all Kentucky was my home not Maryland.

As a kid if someone were to ask me where my sister was from I would say, without hesitation "Maryland".  To me that was her home, Kentucky in my book had never been her home. I know in my heart and head that that is where she was born and where she grew up but was that her "home", not really.  She had made her own home in this foreign land called Maryland.  I truly believe that if it were not for Jeanette moving to Maryland I would likely have never packed up and moved to CA.  I saw that she was able to make a happy life for herself and was more than willing to give it a try for myself.

I left Kentucky almost 11 years ago.  I can honestly say that up until about a year ago if someone were to ask me where I was from I would say Kentucky. Now I say, without hesitation Valley Ford.  Somewhere in my mind a switch flipped from the girl I grew up as to the woman I now am.  Many times Morgan and I have contemplated packing it all up and moving to be closer to my family in KY and his in NJ. But then we realize that the "home" we remember has a different definition and a different meaning as adults. My Kentucky home now lives in my heart, its not a place I could physically live in.  Its a place that lives inside of me. I could never forget my friends, foe and family there, heck they made me who I am today. 

I am about as happy now as any person can be.  I love my friends, I love my community and I even love my job.  I love how my heart warms every time I drop Avrie off at preschool, I love how trick or treating is like a giant block party in Tomales, I love how I can go to the local Grocery Store and run into about 5 people I know.  To me, this is home. Just like Maryland is home to my sister.  Kentucky and Indiana will always live in my heart but for now I will be living in California. 

Running, Laughing & a Slutty Raccoon

Most people think that when they have kids their social life goes completely out the window.  I'm sure we have all heard the childless couples out there using this as an excuse.  For me having kids is what really gave me a social life.  These days without preschool, birthday parties and play dates I probably wouldn't get out of the house much.  I've said it before and I will say it again - we are very lucky to live in a community with such a great group of kids and parents.  Last Friday was Avrie's preschool jogathon.  I remember my friend Missy going to her Avery's jogathon last year and how much fun she said it was, so I decided to take Piper to the school and check it out.  Oh man am I glad I did!

I cant really put into words how ridiculously cute and funny the jogathon was.  It sort of reminded me of one of those nature shows where they've captured wild animals and taken them to a new place to live.  They open the doors and some critters go right, some left, some freeze in terror - well this is pretty much what happened when the jogathon began.  Kids were running in all different directions, with people on the sidelines trying to herd them in like a bunch of sheep, there was a lady with a water hose spraying water on them when they ran past, it was just adorable!  This is where I also had one of those rare mommy moments where I was so overcome with it all that I wanted to cry.  Avrie looked so big, running as fast as she could at a school function. It hit me like a ton of bricks that she was definitely on the uphill race to being a big kid, a proud and sad moment at the same time.  Afterwards the kids were all treated to an ice cream and they even allowed little Piper to sit down with the class and have one too.  It was a very special and fun day!

On Saturday we met up with Morgan's cousin Erin and her family- Brian and baby Graeme at Peter Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma.  We had plans to have a little picnic, taste some local cheese and pick some pumpkins. We started on setting up a really nice picnic complete with smoked salmon, wine, cheese, and even pumpkin ice cream.  Turns out the yellow jackets were extremely hungry and wouldn't leave us alone so the picnic was cut short before it even really began.  We moved on to picking pumpkins and we were doing pretty good until Avrie realized there were worms on some of the pumpkins and then she went from looking for pumpkins to looking for worms.  My sweet little country girl - the worm collector. It was great to spend some time with Erin, Brian and G-Man and we got some really good pictures.

After the pumpkin patch I met up with my friends Emily and Danielle to go costume shopping.  I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was in Middle School and I had no idea how difficult it would be to pick a costume out.  It amazed me how there seemed to be a regular version and a slutty version of everything.  I saw this really cute raccoon costume that I thought I could wear to Avrie's preschool party.  I asked to try it on and they brought me a slutty version with fishnet stockings and the whole bit.  Really.....a slutty raccoon?  Needless to say I didn't try it on. I also figured out that one of the prerequisites to work at a Spirit Halloween store is that you have to be rude.  I cant get over how rude all the employees there were. 

After trying on a few costumes I finally settled on a Girl Scout - and seeing as how Girl Scouts are all about the buddy system my friend Danielle is going to be one too.  We are really excited to be going out this year.  The girls are going to the sitters and the rest of us are going to the Costume party at Dinuccis.  I know its going to be a blast but I need to remind myself not to have to much fun because I have a lot of baking to do for Avrie's preschool party the next day. Speaking of Dinuccis - Emily and I decided to swing by there on our way back from costume shopping for a drink just because that's what the guys always do - that's fair right?  We stayed for a couple hours, had a few drinks and a lot of laughs. The guys seemed to have had a good time too, at least I'm guessing that by the varmint gun left on the kitchen table.  I can only imagine how/why that got out. 

It was a really fun week and I am so excited for the weeks to come!  Taking Avrie trick or treating for the first time, hitting up a couple more pumpkin patches, preschool parties, birthday parties, play dates - my social calendar is full and its all thanks to two beautiful little girls!  Mommy loves you Avrie and Pipey!

Van Damme It again!

A few weeks ago Morgan, the girls and I went on a camping trip to Van Damme State Park.  Aside from dealing with the difficulties involved with camping with two young girls, I had a great time.  I really enjoyed camping and being outdoors and I told Morgan we needed to start thinking about going back without the girls so we could really relax.  Well, for our Anniversary Morgan surprised me with a weekend adults only getaway back to Van Damme. Much to my surprise he called the girls babysitter and arranged for them to spend the weekend at her house.  I must give my sitter some major THANKS for cancelling her daughters birthday getaway so that we could have ours.  I cant believe she was willing to do that but so thankful she did.

The reason Morgan picked this weekend is because there was a big spearfishing tournament going on in Caspers and he wanted to give it a shot.  We made plans to meet our friends Casey and Emily at the campsite on Friday and see where the weekend took us.  We got a great campsite at Van Damme and we had our tent etc all set up and done by 4:30.  It was so great to sit back and relax and not have to worry about what the girls were into.  Casey and Emily showed up later and we had a nice dinner of lamb stew, beer and these awesome vodka strawberry drinks courtesy of Emily.  Lots of chatting, laughs and drinks were had - it was great!

The boys had to get up around 5 am Saturday to register for the spearfishing tournament.  Casey's cousin, Emily M also made the drive up to join in the tournament.  Once the boys and Emily M were off Emily and I decided to venture to the town of Mendocino to see what it was all about.  Mendocino is a cute little town right on the ocean, in fact the movie "The Goonies" was filmed here.  If I had to pick one word to describe our adventure through Mendocino I would pick "random". Lots of random little shops with quirky, sometimes downright RUDE shop owners and you just never knew what you would find.  There are medical marijuana dispensaries all over out here but this is the first time where I saw one with huge plants in the shop windows, it was, well, random.  It was so nice to walk around with Emily, taking our time checking things out and making casual conversation.  Years ago Emily and I were pretty good friends and I am glad we have found each other again.

The whole time we were in town we were thinking the boys were out spearing lots of fish and were anticipating them returning to camp late with lots of fish to clean.  Much to our surprise they were back at camp very early and hadn't managed to get a single fish.  In fact Morgan spent most of the day laying on the beach asleep, turns out too much fun was had the night before and he wasn't feeling up to being in the water. What I wouldn't give to have walked up to him asleep on the beach.  Good times.  We had an awesome dinner of elk sloppy joes and then went to bed pretty early.We left camp early this morning and were back in Santa Rosa by 10:30. I missed my girls dearly but I am glad I had the opportunity to get out with some friends, have some laughs, make some memories and get reacquainted with the "me" that took a back seat when I became "mommy".  I hope this part of me sticks around for awhile!

My first day of Preschool

Around this time last year Morgan and I started talking about putting Avrie in preschool.  I really thought alot about where to send her. Should I send her to a place that is convenient for me at work? Should I send her to the place where her daycare friends go?  Should I send her to the place close to home?  Each place had its own pros and cons.  I was a bit apprehensive about sending her to the school near our house because of it being a co-op.  Each parent was required to participate in classroom time and help the teacher as needed. Well, the town we live in is a small town (in a good way I think) and also the town where my husband has been essentially his entire life.  Most people here know him or at least know of him.  I was so scared that either myself or Avrie would do something to upset a parent and it would forever change the way the community looked at us. I love this community and I just couldn't handle that.  Sort of like the reason why you don't do business with family, this community really is a family to me.  I just didn't know if I was willing to risk that. 

After much thought and consideration we ended up deciding on the close to home preschool option.  It worked out nice to because several of our play date friends were either going here already or starting this year.  At least the kids would all see some familiar faces at school and maybe make it a little more fun.  When I picked Avrie up after her first day of school, I learned that I would be the teachers assistant on her next - and only second, day of school.  Honestly I was not very happy about that.  I really wanted her to get to see what school was like before adding me to the mix.  I wanted her to feel like school was something for her alone, something she didn't need me for.  But alas, it is what it is and so on her second day I would be there.

So, today was my first day of preschool.  I don't know why I was so nervous or scared but I have seriously been dreading today all week.  The fear of not knowing what to do or how to help or how the kids would be.... Ugh! I tried to gather as much advice as I could from other more seasoned moms - thank you Missy, Mary & Jessica - and hoped for the best.  Turns out all my worries were unfounded.  The kids were ALL great, the teacher is awesome and Avrie was just the right amount of clingy.  I had the best day and I cant wait until I get the opportunity to do it again. It was so cute watching the kids interact with each other and seeing the small differences in each child's personality. I also found watching the teacher - Mrs Furlong - interact with the kids was sort of like a parenting lesson. 

I think maybe the best part of today was watching and learning as Mrs Furlong tried to keep the attention of ten 3-4 year olds.  Her tone of voice, the things she said, when she said them - all things I hope to replicate.  I expected today to be very stressful and to come home exhausted and drained.  Turns out I came home happy and pretty relaxed.  Who knew dealing with that amount of toddlers could be relaxing!  I'm sure if I had to be there every day it might be a different story but for now I cant wait for my next day in the classroom and I feel so lucky to live in such a great community.  After all - it really does take a village to raise a child and I feel pretty darn lucky to be in this village.


Avrie and I on her first day of school



The day we signed her up for preschool, wearing her preschool shirt. She was so excited

Van Damm-It!

There aren't a whole lot of "firsts" that the girls and I get to conquer together.  This weekend we managed to find one - camping!  Some friends of ours invited us to camp overnight with them in the Van Damme State Park in Mendocino County. I had never been camping before, that I can remember anyway.  I felt sort of embarrassed admitting this fact cause every good Kentucky born,bred and raised girl should know about camping.  Originally the plan was for us to get a sitter for the girls and enjoy some grown up time but alas babysitting plans fell through and so it was a family affair. 

I spent a good part of the day Friday packing and prepping for our big adventure and we ended up hauling an entire pick up truck load of stuff with us for a one night stay.  The weather out here can be so fickle that you just never know if you will need shorts or your winter jacket.  I packed alot of things we didn't need and forgot to pack a lot of things we could have used but at least I know for next time.

One of the main reasons this particular camp site was chosen was for the prime ocean diving right in front of it.  Part of our gang went out spearfishing/diving and came home with some really nice fish and Emily M got a really nice abalone.  While the fisher folk were out doing their thing Emily H and I stayed at camp and managed to keep the girls entertained, fed and most importantly kept the fire going.  I really wish I would have been able to find the camera early in to our adventure so that I could have captured Avrie refusing the marshmallows that Emily kept making for her.  5th times a charm I guess! 

Bedtime was less than great, Piper who is usually out by 7 did not want anything to do with sleeping in a tent and well, she didn't seem real happy with the camping experience all together.  She was up most of the night, crying in our tent and I'm sure annoying fellow campers but oh well that's the way it goes I guess.  Looking back on it I think maybe 16 months might be just a little to young for camping.  Either way I'm glad to be able to say that my girls and I had our first camping adventure EVER together.  Just wish I would have been able to find the camera....

Morgan and I are already talking about finding a sitter for the girls for a weekend so we can go back and just sit back, relax and enjoy.  It was so great to fall asleep listening to the waves crashing and the "church bells"  ringing, in between the cries of Piper anyway.  I hope we are able to get back there soon but for now I'm just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight! 

Yay! We finished a project...for once!

If you have kids around the ages of my girls, you will probably agree that it is much easier to stay at home than to pack up all their crap and plan your schedule around possible meltdowns and nap times to venture out.  It just so much easier to stay home where you know all the neccessary child proofing is in place, you have plenty of the fav snacks and most importantly you know exactly where the time out chair is.  Only problem with staying home all the time is it gets pretty boring.  Our yard has been such a mess that I even hide from embarrassement when the PG & E guy comes to read our electric meter.  There was absolutley no way I would have friends over. 

In my heart I knew that the only way we would get any yard work done was if I invited some people over - this way we would be forced with a deadline to get it all done. Last weekend the work began.  Morgan borrowed a small excavator and had a transfer load of baserock delivered to the house. Last Sunday he had managed to pull out the existing vegetation and put a layer of baserock down but due to flat seas and salmon fishing thats about as far as it got. 

Today we went into town, picked up some plants, a fire pit and a pressure washer and managed to get the rest done.  It all turned out pretty nice, not perfect by any standards but it is definatley good enough to have some friends over, make some smores, have a few cocktails and a few laughs.  Good thing too cause we are having friends over next Saturday.  We rented a jumpy house for the kiddos and are looking forward to a good time with good friends.  Hopefully Morgan and I will be responsible "yard owners" this time and wont let it get overrun with weeds, leaves and garbage.  If we do, well then I guess I will need to invite one of you over so we can start this whole process again!

Avrie's Princess gloves

Excavator and Baserock delivered - no going back now



Before





Avrie riding with Daddy getting started





Helping me plant the flowers





My first time using a weed eater





All done



Mermaid I picked out to remind me of my sister



So much better! 



Mental Health Day

A few years ago I had the wonderful pleasure to work with a kind, warm hearted woman named Linda.  Linda is the person that first introduced me to the term "Mental Health Day".  A mental health day is where you take a break from whatever is stressing you, usually work, and just concentrate on being happy and improving your mental health.  I think this is how most of us probably spend our sick days at work.  I, like most moms have two jobs - one that pays with money and the other that pays with hugs and kisses.  I am really fortunate that the job which pays me money doesn't really stress me out that much, probably because I am only there three days a week.  The other job - the one that pays with love is a little more stressful.  Morgan is a Superintendent for a construction company.  It pretty much goes without saying that he gets pretty stressed at work.  Today, Morgan and I decided to have a mental health day. 

Morgan called in sick to his job, felt guilty about it but he did it, and I called in sick to motherhood and took the girls to daycare for the morning.  Morgan loves the ocean, I do too.  The ocean has been flat calm like a lake and so we decided to spend the day out on the water in hopes of catching a salmon or a halibut.  The morning started out great, we managed to launch the boat without anybody having to swim.  Unlike the last time we went out together and Morgan forgot to tie the bow line onto the boat and ended up going for a swim after the boat.  This was many years ago but I still think its funny.  On our way out of the bay into the ocean we saw lots of Tule Elk on Tomales Point, something I had never seen before.  Apparently back in the 70's 17 elk were planted out there in an effort to bring back a dying breed.  In 2009 they counted 440 elk making this one of the largest Tule Elk populations in CA.  I thought it was pretty neat and I definitely didn't expect to see elk on our fishing adventure.  There were all kinds of birds around and we even watched a coyote running down the beach. 

Wouldn't you know it, after about an hour on the water and very little time to even attempt to fish the wind picked up, white caps were in excess and we were turning around heading back in.  Figures, the weather had been beautiful the last few days.  Just yesterday Morgan was out fishing until like 2 pm.  He thinks the weather picked up as part of his bad juju for calling in sick.  Oh well, at least I got to see some elk and finally got my ride on his boat.

After we got the boat all cleaned up we decided to go to our local Estero Cafe for a bite to eat.  This Cafe is in the spot where my diner used to be about 6 years ago. I never really wanted to go in there after I stopped running it because it just felt weird.  The locals that took over the Diner a few months ago put alot of work into it and I really wanted to see what it was all about.  All I can say is they did a GREAT job.  The place looks fantastic.  It looks nothing like it did in my day and the way its set up with the great wooden floors and warm colors on the walls its just so inviting and the food was good too.  I am so happy to have a place close by that makes a club sandwich.  Such a simple thing but I crave it often and they are really only good if someone else makes it. Morgan had the chicken fried steak and it was good too.  Not like the uber breaded greasy deal you would expect.  Just a little amount of breading and not greasy at all. If there is a such thing as a healthy version of this dish I think we found it.  If you are ever in Valley Ford and want a little bite to eat - check it out.  I think you will be happy you did!

By 1:30 Morgan and I were home from our big adventure, I began to miss my girls and I headed to town to pick them up.  The minute we got home the quiet, clean house became much louder and littered with toys, books and clothes.  Morgan and I looked at each other and smiled.  I think we both enjoyed our day together even though it wasn't very eventful, I think we both realized how much we needed it and I think we both began to count down the days in our head until our next mental health day.

Leaving the dock near Nick's Cove

Off we go

Morgan humoring my need to always constantly take pictures

TV take me back

There are two things that I absolutely must have in order to get a good nights sleep - a fan running and some classic TV.  Morgan teases me about the shows I like to watch.  Its either cooking shows or some old rerun of a sitcom.  He doesn't understand how I can watch the same "Golden Girls" episode four times in one week.  Old TV shows take me on a trip down memory lane.  These old shows were the shows I watched as a kid and just by watching them I feel instantly connected to my childhood and the people in it.  These shows take me back to a happy time and I think we could all use a little more happy times.

If I had to come up with one show that reminded me of my mom I couldn't.  I come up with three.  As a kid we watched "Little House on the Prairie" every week.  I was a very sensitive kid back then and every single episode would make me cry.  Each week my mom would ask me what was wrong and every week I told her I was crying because I was bored and wanted to go somewhere.  Who was I kidding, I was to embarrassed to admit a dumb TV show was making me cry.  Then there's "Roseanne".  I remember us watching it all the time and it still to this day makes me laugh.  Yes I own every season on DVD and yes I watch them often, especially when I'm missing Mom.  Lastly there's "The Wonder Years".  My huge crush on Kevin Arnold - mom wont let me forget that one.

One of my first childhood crush's - Kevin Arnold

My dad was big time into cooking.  Every single morning I woke up to a full breakfast with bacon, fried potatoes, biscuits and eggs.  I really don't know how I stayed so skinny.  Even if he had to get up early and go to work he still cooked me this breakfast and left it for me to heat up in the microwave.  Sunday's were especially good.  He and I would cook breakfast together and then sit down to eat and watch reruns of the original "Star Trek".  We did this every week.  Still cant get enough Star Trek! 

My brother Patrick had a big hand in raising me.  He definitely felt a responsibility for me and not because he HAD to, but because he wanted to.  He absolutely refused to let me watch "In Living Color".  He said the Fly Girls were inappropriate for me to watch.  He caught me watching it once, gave me a good talking to and well, he never caught me watching it again.  Whenever I see it on TV I watch at least 5 minutes of it, think if him and get a good laugh and a warmer heart.

The Fly Girls - the reason I was banned from watching

My sis lived in Maryland most of my life.  When I was in college she moved back to Louisville with my young niece Ella for a bit. I used to go over and hang out with them and babysit Ella.  Money was always tight and cable was never a priority.  Ella had one VHS tape of Nickelodeon's "Rugrats".  We must have watched that tape thousands of times.  Cant watch Rugrats without thinking of my sis and sweet little niece.

My step dad, who I affectionately call "The Mike" is a big fan of MASH.  Personally I hate the show but I do watch it whenever I see it on because I know he cant.  After all, my mom hates MASH more than I do and I doubt he's allowed to watch it while she is awake.

When I think of my aunt Linda I think of two shows - "The A Team" - because they had a dog named Murdock and "The Shirt Tales".  Remember "The Shirt Tales" - the cute little cartoon critters.  I remember for my birthday one year Aunt Linda gave me a Digger Shirt Tale character.  It was such an unexpected gift I still remember it vividly.  I remember going over to her house in Milton when she gave it to me.  I remember going into Cousin Mike and Greg's rooms and all the cool posters on the walls.  I'm pretty sure one of them had a Lost Boys poster - which happens to be one of my favorite movies.

The Shirt Tales!

My Aunt Suzanne is the reason I have to sleep with a fan on.  I spent many nights at their place as a kid and there were always fans running.  On particularly hot nights my cousins Mandy, Karla, Hannah, Kristy and I would sleep down stairs on the living room floor with the fans.  Pretty much every night we were scolded for talking to much to late.  The sound of a fan has always reminded me of home and I get that from the Sachleben side. 


For awhile I stayed with my Aunt Vicki and Cousins Aaron, Kevin and Elizabeth (Uncle Dale was away with the Navy).  My mom worked nights and she would drop me off there every evening, I would sleep over, go to school in the morning and then mom would pick me up after school. I remember every day after school sitting down with my little Cousin Elizabeth - she was probably in 2nd grade, me in 8th and watching "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego".  Elizabeth knew every answer to every question on that show.  Even as a kid I could tell Elizabeth was super smart special girl - she still is!  Every morning my Aunt Vicki would make us breakfast and take us to wait for the bus if it was raining or cold.  One rainy morning as we were all piled into her car waiting for the bus to come I had an epiphany - I will drive my kids to school every day, no matter what.  It meant that much.

MacGyver is one of my favorite shows ever.  It sucks that it is not currently on any network - that I know of.  Its pretty much the best show of all time.  I remember many nights at my Aunt Judy's house, laying on the floor in the living room in front of the TV with my Cousin Jennifer.  I think we probably both had a secret crush on MacGyver but that's another story. If I find myself in a sticky situation I do think "What would MacGyver do?"  and then I envision Jennifer and I flaring our nostrils - yes, good times.

Sexy Stud - Just look at that hair

Lastly - Can't watch Hee Haw without thinking of and missing my Grandpa Woody and I cant hear the word "Nickelodeon" without thinking of and missing my Grandma Juanita.  I remember spending the night with them one night and I wanted to watch that show on Nickelodeon called "Salute your Shorts."  In the opening song they say "fart".  Well,  fart was not an acceptable word at my Maw Maw and Paw Paws and Nickelodeon was forever banned.  Makes me wonder what they would think about Spongebob?

"Camp Anawanna I hold you in my heart, and when I think about you, it makes me wanna fart"

Morgan may not understand why I like to watch old shows, I really don't expect him to.  For me its not about the shows its about the people I watched them with.  Its about going back in time and feeling like I'm "home" whether home is 3,000 miles away or a lifetime away - I feel better, my heart is happy and that's really all that matters anyway.

Starbucks, Cars and the demise of Beetlejuice

Tuesday of last week started off pretty rough for me.  I woke up with the chills, all over body ache and a back that was killing me.  I thought maybe it was just a little payback for having such a good weekend but after 3 days of that I realized it was more than a one night thing and I had definitely caught some kind of bug.  Good news - I was feeling great by Saturday and ready to enjoy the weekend.  Unfortunately for Morgan Saturday was the day this dreaded bug would catch up with him and he was pretty miserable all night.  He woke up this morning feeling better, but not great.  He decided to spend the day resting at home and I decided to take advantage of him being home and use his babysitting services.

Piper spent the day at home with daddy and Avrie and I ventured out for a little fun.  Avrie is almost 4 years old and she never had a haircut.  Poor things hair barely grows and I have been hesitant to take any of it off, she doesn't have much to spare.  What little hair she has is always a mess - I compare her to Nick Nolte, Morgan says Beetlejuice.  Today was the day to get her first haircut.  My hopes were that cutting it would help it to grow faster...hopefully.  I couldn't see paying big bucks to trim her little amount of hair so I went to the local Super Cuts hoping for a quick, cute, cheap haircut. 

Wouldn't you know it the only person available to cut her hair was this big tall dude with piercings everywhere. I don't mind the piercings and all that but I was worried Avrie would.  I convinced her to get in the barber chair and she sat there still as could be - I don't know if she was scared stiff of the hair stylist or what, but she never moved for the 2 minutes it took to trim her hair.  I swear it really only took 2 minutes.  Apparently a 2 minute childrens haircut at Super Cuts cost $16.  I can't see how they can justify that but whatever, at least we got another first out of the way and she didn't have a bad experience.  She looks pretty cute too!

After Beetlejuice was destroyed forever we met up with my friend Stephanie and her 3 year old Isabella to see the new Cars movie.  I have to admit I was a little disappointed with it.  It also couldn't keep the attention of either of the kids.  About a half hour in Avrie asked to leave, she wanted to play with daddy instead.  I think the girls enjoyed playing together during a bathroom break than at any point during the movie. We suffered through the whole thing, Avrie told me not to buy that one on DVD and that was that. 

Once we got out of the movie I wanted to treat Avrie to one more thing before we headed home so I introduced her to the most wonderful thing called a Strawberries 'n' Cream frappuchino from Starbucks.  It was love at first sip - she definitely takes after me on this one.  We headed home to see what kind of day daddy and Piper had.  It was sweet to see how Avrie and Piper greeted each other, it was pretty obvious they had missed each other.  That made the day away seem so much sweeter and I had a pretty good time too!

New haircut

New haircut back view - she did have a little more of a mullet thing going

I can tell they missed each other by how well they are playing together



Still enjoying each others company, not many screams and crys this afternoon



Honeymoon -vs- Not a Wedding Reception

When Morgan and I decided to get married, it didn't take much discussion between the two of us to decide against the traditional big wedding/reception/honeymoon.  For me, the main reason I did not want a big wedding was because I just knew there was no way all of my family would be able to fly to California for it.  Even if they would have been able to I would never have been able to plan a huge celebration knowing that my brother couldn't attend.  It just wouldn't be right.

So we flew to Vegas where we met up with my sister from Maryland and had a quick, simple ceremony at a cute little chapel.  And that's all she wrote.  Flew home, broke the news to everyone and basically continued on with our lives.  Yeah we missed out on having a honeymoon, getting all the gifts, the big party with our friends.  But honestly the only way I feel like I missed out was getting to wear the big beautiful dress and all that goes with it. 

We are preparing to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary this year.  I am still quite shocked at how fast the time went by, but I guess its a good thing that we continue to enjoy each others company and we havent made each other nuts yet.  (Anybody who knows Morgan will understand what a big deal that last part is!)  I know that in the blink of an eye it will be our 10 year anniversary and I really want to do something special to commemorate.  Here's my dilemma.  The way I see it we have two options for our 10 year anniversary- either have that honeymoon or have a late "not a wedding" reception. 

Taking a trip together, alone for a week sounds really great.  Maybe a cruise, maybe just rent a house in Tahoe, whatever.  But then there is the matter of who will take care of the girls?  Who will take care of the critters?  Who will take care of me when I start missing said girls and critters?  We so seldom get any alone time this might be the thing to do. Or not....

Then theres the "Not A Wedding Reception"  idea.  Rent a nice dining hall - I have always loved Wedgewood in Rohnert Park and throw the reception we would have thrown if we would have had a wedding.  I could go get myself that big beautiful dress, granted it wouldn't be white and couldn't be to "wedding-ish" but same concept.  We could celebrate with all our friends, enjoy all the festivities and then be home with our girls the next day. 

With just over a year until our 10th anniversary, we really need to decide what we are going to do and start planning accordingly.  Part of thinks a nice quiet break alone is what we need the other part wants to celebrate this great accomplishment with my friends and family.  We still have a little time to decide and well, I guess what we don't do for the 10th we can do for the 15th or 20th.  Yes Morgan - I said 15th or 20th that's right your stuck with me!

Perfectly Perfect Weekend

If I had to pick one word to describe this weekend I think I would pick perfect.  Friday was spent at home with the girls, where they spent most of the day fighting over my lap.  Lately my lap has been prime real estate and they aren't happy sharing.  Pushing, shoving, screaming you name it - whatever it takes to get the spot.  The instant that one would get up to do something the other would come over as fast as possible to steal their spot.  It was like watching two race horses jockey for first place but the first place was my lap.  It was a rough day full of screaming and tantrums but my patience was rewarded with both the girls being asleep in their beds by 5:30.  AWESOME!  Only problem was Morgan and I stayed up WAY to late and well, kids that go to bed early wake up early.  Wish we would have remembered that Friday night!

Saturday started rough with the lack of sleep on our part and more than enough on the girls part.  Morgan took Avrie with him to the dumps so Piper and I could go grocery shopping alone.  It took some pretty good talking to convince Avrie it would be fun to go to the dumps with daddy.  She did come home really excited about the big tractors she saw moving all the garbage around.  She also found one of Pipey's toys in the garbage and felt like Superman for saving it for her.  Wonder what she would have thought about the dumps in Guerneville where there are tons of peacocks hanging out?  Those peacocks always seemed so out of place to me - here in the midst of all this garbage are these big beautiful birds.  I'm sure there is some kind of philosophical message there somewhere but that's all too deep for me these days.

Pipey and I had a good time grocery shopping just the two of us - its nice to get a little one on one time with the girls whenever possible.  We came back home and started getting things ready for the fireworks in Bodega Bay.  We loaded the spare futon mattress in the back of Morgan's truck, threw in lots of blankets, pillows and a cooler packed with goodies and we were on our way.  The fireworks weren't supposed to start until 9, we got there at 7 in hopes of getting a good spot and it was already almost full.  I cant believe how many people were there, it was nuts!  It was so easy to tell the locals from non-locals.  Locals were comfortably dressed in sweaters, hats, scarves, and Uggs and the non locals were freezing their butts off in shorts and t-shirts.  Guess they don't realize how cold Bodega Bay gets at night.  We were comfy and cozy in the back of the truck, it was pretty great.

All day Avrie kept asking "How much longer till the fireworks?"  Once the fireworks started it was "How much longer till the fireworks are over?"  Gotta love kids, they want what they want now and once they get it they are over it.  Wait - I know some adults like that too!  It took Pipey a bit to get over the sound of the fireworks but once the shock of it was over she seemed to enjoy it.  It was a long drive home - what should have taken 10 minutes took about an hour.  For me it felt like about 3 hours - I had to pee so bad I could hardly stand it, lol! Overall the fireworks in Bodega Bay were awesome as usual, I even heard some folks commenting that they were better than the ones in Santa Rosa.

Today, Sunday there was  the first annual "Party in the Park"  at the Tomales Community Park.  This is the best little park and close to our house.  The girls and I spend a lot of time in this park alone and with play dates and it was nice to get the whole family there.  It was fun for the most part - very crowded and I only ran into one person I knew (Hi Danielle!)  Seems like there weren't alot of locals there but proceeds all went to the park so that's all that matters really. Avrie decided she wanted to get her face painted - she picked hearts.  She was sitting on my lap getting it done and the lady asked her"  Should we paint one on your mommy's face too?"  The lady then looked at me and said "Are you her mom. sorry?'"  I didn't really know how to take that but we both got hearts painted anyway.  We had some decent paella from Bros BBQ in Petaluma - but I must admit it was no wear close to as good as Dan Bells.  Like, not even in the same ballpark.

 After the party we headed to town so Morgan could pick up a part for his boat and then took Avrie and Pipey for some ice cream.  Pretty awesome day, pretty awesome weekend.  Tomorrow Morgan is taking the boat out fishing with a buddy and the girls are planning our usual quiet Monday.  Probably wont get out of our pj's, watch some movies, play with the goats.  Great ending to a great weekend.  I feel so lucky to have been able to spend the weekend with my hubby and girls, laughing, learning and making memories.  Really makes me wish every weekend could be a three day weekend!

Waiting for the fireworks to start

All bundled up for the Bodega Bay cold

Our view of the bay for the fireworks

Avrie sitting on the recycled deer at the party in the park.  Made of all recycled and found objects - and it can move on its own!

Face painting - I have a matching set