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