CA Summer Trip 2015

I love California. Maybe I've elevated it after having lived elsewhere for the last 12 years, but once I step out of the airport and breathe in that distinct Bay Area air, I'm home. It's like I can finally take a deep breath. More than any other place I've lived, Wichita suffocates me. The hot, humid summers can be debilitating. Everyone is always looking at everyone else with a nose in your business. It's a small town.

But in California, I just feel free. Sure, you might be stuck in traffic part of the time, but you can either look at the Bay or the mountains while you're waiting. Who needs a big house with a yard when you can be outside all year long? And the diversity! People, food, fashion, language...

I will never ever take our visits home for granted. I feel so grateful that I can regularly expose my children to life outside our midwest island. So when we go to CA, we hit it hard.

Even if it means getting up at 4 AM to catch a flight to paradise.

Can I just take a second to mention how much easier it is to travel with my kids this year? It's remarkable. The last two hurdles to a completely easy travel life are the boosters and Maia's unwillingness to try new foods. Once we've gotten over those, we're traveling internationally!

We spent some time with Aleks' dad in Oakland. We ate a bagel that actually tasted like a bagel. Not those powdery, light things you get in a grocery store in Kansas. A proper dense, chewy, flavorful bagel.

We experienced the Alameda county fair, where Aleks enjoyed a turkey leg. Unlike a good bagel, you can get those in Kansas.

These girls love their Gramps. Especially since he gave them Barbies. *cough, cough* Thanks Gramps.

We drove through the Caldecott tunnel quite often and Aleks told the girls if they could hold their breaths from one end to the other, a wish would come true. When David gave the girls their Barbies, Ruby said with wide eyes "my wish came true!"

We spent the 4th in Alameda and went to the Alameda parade, which was delightful and fun and everything a parade should be. Aleks' aunt and uncle drove up from LA to see us and it was really nice to have our girls get to know them better.

Maia has got some pretty funky moves.

My brother's band, Vinyl Station is the opener for the opener on the Rob Thomas national tour this summer. As they travelled through the Bay Area, my mother-in-law graciously agreed to house them for a couple of nights. We unexpectedly and happily ended up sharing the house, giving us some quality time with my brother and his band. We all grilled together on the evening of the 4th and were able to see the fireworks from Danni's backyard. It was a really fun night and I'm so so grateful to have had that time.

The next morning we went to brunch with my grandma and aunt and uncle who are all delightful and happy and healthy and whom we don't get to see nearly enough.

The older I get, the more and more I resemble this lovely lady.

We had a few hours to kill so Aleks and I decided to swing by the winery where we got married. It was still there! And looked smaller than we remembered. What is it about things like that? Maybe the largeness of the event grows the memory or perception of the reality. We left with two bottles of wine  and happy memories.

Then we jetted over to see my grandfather who let the girls swim in his gorgeous pool while we sat and talked.

He also amazed them with his trumpet. We might have a future trumpeter on our hands.

We slept for a little bit and the next day, when we woke up, Danni took us to the Boardwalk! I think the last time I went to the Boardwalk was in middle school with a church group and I couldn't decide who I had a crush on, James or his friend. And I laughed so hard on one of the rides that I peed a little. Ah, memories.

I had forgotten about the rings on the carousel. I could have ridden that thing all day trying to get the rings in the clown's mouth. I did manage to grab two rings on one pass several times. I felt like a teenager again.

We ended the day on the beach. As we were leaving Maia said "can we go to the beach everyday? but let's find one that doesn't get sand everywhere."

Our final big adventure we had was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on bikes. We did this last year and all agreed it was one of the best days of our lives.

This year was different, of course. It was still a wonderful day. There was fog and mist and less sun. Not that we minded one bit.

Both girls rode tagalongs, which meant no one had to drag a trailer behind them.

But then I decided that we should bike all the way to Tiburon. It was only lunchtime and when do we get to enjoy the Bay like this?

I should have doubled checked the mileage. We ended up biking 22 miles without sunscreen or water. We all had sore sit bones the next day and I ended up with a nasty sunburn on my back and hands.

It was still a magical day that was topped off by Maia pulling out a tooth!

We had a busy, marvelous time and yet didn't get to see a fraction of the family and friends that we would have liked to visit. I could have spent a few more days at the beach too.

Now we're back in Kansas, where the sky is big, the houses are affordable, and the traffic is non-existent. I'll be dreaming about our California adventures for the rest of the summer.

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It's all the food and family and warm fuzzies without the expectations and marketing. This holiday I'm particularly thankful for the little things that add up to a big, extraordinarily wonderful life.

Homemade place cards with 4 year old handwriting.

Puppies who find just the perfect spot to sun bathe.

5 year olds who wear makeup and let you know they want "turquoise on the right eye and pink on the left."

Husbands who know how and like to cook.

Little helpers in the kitchen and passing on the tradition of holiday roll making.

Pre-dinner music.

Delicious food. And I'm just going to say it. I'm grateful for carbs.

This group of goobers. My people who make life colorful, interesting, and full of purpose.

As we went around the table, I jotted down what my family is thankful for:

Aleks: Family, an amazing wife, a job that he enjoys, friends, and health

Maia: God, Jesus, family, Isabelle, and "I hope the bird who died is... I hope they have a new one, the family that lost it"

Ruby: The bird who is dead, my microphone

(The girls found a dead baby bird outside yesterday. It made a pretty big impression.)

David: All of his granddaughters, children, people who helped make his granddaughters, sisters, and a mother and father whole cared for him.

From all of us here in Kansas to you, Happy Thanksgiving!

Oaktown

Oakland gets the short end of the stick.

Just because a few neighborhoods are errant doesn't necessarily mean the whole town is dangerous and gang ridden.

Gramps took us to a beach in Alameda.

Not only were we able to check off something from our bucket list, but also take pictures.

(By the way, if anyone has some lenses they'd like to donate, holla atcha girl)

This bucket is soooo heavy!

Collecting rocks.

Don't drop them.

Oops! Almost tripped, but was saved due to the cross body arm maneuver.

Putting all those rocks to good use.

Gramps always knows how to make a day fun. Especially when it ends with french fries.

Piedmont is lovely too. Its streets are lined with small businesses offering flowers, eyewear, Thai food, baby clothes, yoga studios, anything your little heart could want.

The fact that my gorgeous grandmother lives there just adds to its charm.

A short walk through her building and up the street led us to an ice cream mecca.

I don't know which is sweeter, that chocolate milkshake or my grandma.

We definitely share DNA.

Grandma was so sweet with the girls. Attentive, interested in what they had to say, eager to include them in her world and learn about theirs.

This place is so magical. The weather likes to show off, perfect sunny days with slight breezes, cotton candy clouds, and sunshine showering vitamin D down on its worshipers. It kind of gets annoying. 

Ok, no it doesn't. 

The scenery is astounding, the food fresh and clean, people are interesting and diverse, there is always something to do. As I get older and am raising my kids in the midwest, I am deeply grateful to be able to call this place home.

Sure all those superficial things make leaving the Bay Area difficult, but it's the family here that makes it heartbreaking.

So, while we're here we'll be soaking up the sunshine and wine, but also the hugs, conversation, and familiar faces so that we're filled to the brim with home and can last until the next visit.