Category Archives: photos

Road Trip Part 2 – California

We got up bright and early to leave Colorado Springs to head towards California, but first we had a stop in Winslow, Arizona to spend the night and get to see family I haven’t seen in far too many years.  Alas… somehow we didn’t get any photos, so you’ll have to imagine it.  We got a picture of lunch, though…

So glad we had AC for the desert portion of our drive.  We definitely aren’t used to 100 degree temperatures coming out of a cool winter and we would have been miserable. However, for the most part, we were quite comfortable.

At around the Route 95 point in California, however, the smiles ended and Phoebe became carsick and extremely unhappy and vocal about all of the dips in the road.  She cried, she kicked, she yelled, and then finally she passed out.  We will never drive on that road again.  She asks almost every time we get in the car if there are going to be dips.

Eventually, the kids had to go pee again and we figured we would check out Joshua Tree National Park for a bit.  Alas, we really only checked out the bathrooms because a pass was more than we wanted to spend considering we only had so much time in the area.

The kids were tired and a little cranky, so they stayed in the car while I got out here and there to explore and look at flowers and use the little Sony a bit more.  There were so many pretty plants and after living in a very different climate for so long, it was nice to see new things.

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Photo Dump – Room Switch Up and Random

I always end up with random photos that don’t get used in blog posts for whatever reason.  For instance the “before” and “in progress” photos of the kids’ room switch up.  I still need to take photos of everything all finished… if only they would keep both rooms clean long enough for me to do so.  Haha!  Here are the messy during photos, though…

Eventually we’ll get a real bunk bed if they decide they like this arrangement for a while.  Either way, a bunk bed is always nice for sleepovers or if you were me – a fabulous stage for doll plays.

I think the biggest struggle is how to mix their different tastes and styles… Phoebe is all about pink and purple and princesses and unicorns and ponies and Enzo is very much a typical boy who likes super heroes and Skylanders.  We’ll get there.

This was Phoebe’s room during the switch. Her day bed is now downstairs in my office and makes a great King-Sized bed for guests.  I suppose I’ll need to post photos of my office too once I get that organized.

In their finished play room in their new sleeping bags!  They wanted to try them out before our road trip and they’ll be nice for camping too.

Really the only way to eat raspberries.

She’s like a cat… any weird position will do.  I wish I could be comfortable sprawled out however I pleased.

Goobers.

Ha ha, our two mini-me’s.  He’s playing a video game, she’s reading a book.

Yep.

 

Day In The Life – Spring Edition

It’s time for another Day In The Life post!  I decided to use the new camera again, but I’m still getting used to it (which explains some of the graininess and whatnot).

Cast:

Josh – 37 years old

Heather – 34 years old

Enzo – 4 years old (for 2 more weeks)

Phoebe – 3 years old

Ziggy – 14, Uzi, 12, Vega 1

In typical fashion our Saturday started early.  Enzo and Josh were up first because Enzo is not a fan of sleeping in, and I stayed snuggled up in bed with Phoebe for a while longer until she woke up wanting to know where Daddy was.  She then dramatically whined that she wanted Enzo and Daddy to go back to bed, cuddled with me and then started talking about how she wanted a pink house with pink duckies and penguins to snuggle.  Then she asked if I would get up and play with her.

So, I crawled out of bed and our day began.

I don’t know how kids just wake up and go go go.  As soon as we walked into the playroom, she started pulling out ponies and I just kind of sat waiting for the sleep to leave my eyes.

Vega soon wandered into the room as well, probably wanting breakfast.

At some point I talked Phoebe into letting me go get some coffee and check out the sunrise.  I knew it was going to be a beautiful day and the birds were happily chirping outside.

Coffee and a book.  Someday, Someday, Maybe is one of those easy reads I figured I’d try out since I like Lauren Graham.

I went and snuggled up on the couch with Enzo while Phoebe played… somewhere and Josh I think was with her.

He doesn’t snuggle that often anymore, so I’m all over these moments when he out of the blue comes and sits as close to me as possible. Alas, I had to get up at some point, so he sat with his Dad and they both played video games for a while.

I checked on Phoebe who was in our bed and asked if she still wanted to go to Costco with me (she did), so I figured I’d better get things moving so we could get there earlier rather than later.

Time to feed the kitties!

And myself… blurry, but yummy and satisfying.

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Currently…

Reading… Written in My Own Heart’s Blood

Watching (on TV)… Game of Thrones, Girls, Call the Midwife (its back!!!)

Watching (movies)… Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Light Between Oceans

Listening to… A little bit of everything in order to put together some mixes for our road trip.  A road trip goes so much better with good tunes.

Drinking… Smoothies, Coffee, Tea, not as much wine

Eating… Too many April Fools Cupcakes. I’m kind of glad they’re all gone now. Ha!

Planning… Warm weather projects, both inside and out.

Feeling… Excited and happy!

Organizing… Not much really. I have things I need to organize, but I’ll wait until we get home.

Thankful… That it is almost vacation time!  We didn’t go anywhere last year, so this vacation is long overdue!

Loving… How much better I feel when I take my Super B12 B Complex. I have more energy and I feel like my mood is improved a lot as well.

Smiling… At the massive amounts of art the kids bring home each day.  For a while, Phoebe was the artist, but Enzo has started drawing a lot lately (people especially) and creates fantastic stories to go with them like the one about a potato and two mad guys.

Thoroughly enjoying… That it is spring!  We’ve been opening the windows and enjoying some amazing sunrises.

Through Their Eyes

Children are always watching and listening, which can be both good and bad. Definitely bad if by chance you happen to whack your head really hard and accidentally let slip something you don’t want them to repeat and they, of course, repeat it.  Granted, they have pretty selective hearing, but I digress.  There are days when they surprise me by just how much they really pay attention to what’s around them and see things rather than just looking.  Some days it’s a very good reminder to myself to slow down and SEE because there’s a difference.  Unfortunately I haven’t been very good about it lately, either.  Perhaps our upcoming trip will be a good opportunity to change that.  I’ve also been having fun trying to help the kids learn how to use a camera.  Their hands are so little they sometimes have a hard time, though.  Haha!  Time for more practice!  In the meantime, I haven’t done a post with pictures by Enzo, though I do have a lot more to scan.

We all have our favorite seats on the couch.  This is the view from his.

Hey Dad (and messy kitchen/dinning area).  I kind of wish that wall was an actual wall rather than a banister so you don’t have to view the backside of everything and cords and whatnot.

Some day all too soon this bag is going to be filled with actual schoolwork rather than just fun little projects from preschool.  I admit that sometimes I worry about him going to Kindergarten this fall…. will it be too soon?  Is he ready?  Do all parents stress this much over these kinds of things or do I just have extreme anxiety when it comes to this sort of thing?  All the more reason to spend more time teaching myself to breath and let the worry go.  I’ve been too “busy” or too “tired” or too “insert excuse here” lately, and self care isn’t something you should put off or ignore.