Late March, Early April. The Months are Running Together

Honestly, I'm constantly writing blog posts in my head, but apparently I only write posts monthly in reality.  And these posts consist mainly of pictures.  Look how far I've fallen.

 Alex, Collin, Grace, Alyssa, Camille.  Some of our ward/kindergarten friends all mashed together in the wagon.

 Then we went to Washington DC for spring break.  Here is the carousel on the mall.  Camille and Grace can be seen next to their cousin Caleb, who is riding the dragon horse.

 In front of the Washington Monument.  Caleb has inherited his father's disdain for picture taking.

We had a lot of fun in Virginia- it was so nice to be around Paul's side of the family.  Every time I visit, I feel like I'm missing out, being on the other sunny and pleasant side of the country, and all.

 So then we got to visit with our friends the Tanners and the Oakdens.  Here is "Teacher Oakden", Kendra, who is the girl's much beloved ex-primary teacher (not pictured is "Other Teacher Oakden", her wonderful husband Jared.)

 Glow in the dark Easter Egg Hunt outside.

 We went to the Baltimore Aquarium for Clark's birthday.  If you look closely you can see his reflection looking at the fish.  This is a cool aquarium, and Paul's favorite (which is saying a lot, as he is an independent aquarium connoisseur.)

 We went to the village egg hunt.  After looting the place, the kids stood around watching the Easter Bunny arrive via boat.

 Uncle Brook likes to prove his strength when we get together by doing a push-up with all of the kids.  Clark decided to let him off easy by sliding off his back.  Uncle Brook could have lifted a few more kids, I think.  The man's muscles know no boundaries.

Here is Granddad lighting Clark's candles on his "strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and strawberry candles."  As you can see, we take birthdays very seriously.

 The girls in front of the flowering dogwood tree.  So many beautiful trees!

 By the secret graveyard in the neighborhood.

 Clark's favorite birthday present- thanks Caleb!

Paul and the girls got to go to the White House Easter Egg Roll with Jeff Tanner and his boys.  It was so nice of the to share their tickets with us.

 They had a great time doing a bunch of activities and spotting various celebrities whose names they did not know.  I had a great time hanging out with Mary and going to the museum with our babies.  (hers is 3 months old, mine is 3 years old).

C&G share a smoothie 

I finished a quilt (my first quilt ever!) that I made for my friend's son.  Welcome, Thomas!  We're so happy to have you in the world with us!

Slurpee

When I was walking to pick the girls up from school today, I walked for several blocks behind a woman that was walking so erratically it was impossible to pass her.  As she veered to the left, I made a quick dash to try to pass her.  She turned and sized me up, and through her mutterings stated, "Just say 'excuse me' you stupid slurpee!"  I had to laugh- it was so much fun to be called a slurpee instead of the usual cursings.  Then I continued on my way, content that my erratic behavior was to pick up sticks or dandelions for Clark.  And happy that next time I need to cuss someone out, I have the perfect word in my arsenal.

Crazy Cross-Eyed?

Okay, these are my new glasses.  Vintage frames.  I tried them on at a vintage fashion expo and thought that they looked great.  Now I'm wondering if I was too hasty in my decision.  I need your honest opinion:- do these glasses work on crazy me?  I feel like they make me look cross-eyed.  And... do I really want to look vintage all the time?
Thoughts?

Oldies but Goodies

I've been wasting time tonight looking at old pictures.  Here's a juicy one of me with a double chin.  The girls and I are cuddled up in bed- I'm sure that we have read or are about to read many books in this picture.  It's what we do best.

This is in La Jolla when the girls were 3.  They love climbing on rocks.  Also, they still wear these skirts, which are shorter, but still past their knees.  Who knew that I was such a genius (and you too, mom) in the clothesmaking department?  Just make things way way long!  Of course!



 Baby Clark sleeping on my bed after being fed.

 Baby Clark swinging all by himself at the park.

 Happily modeling clothes made for a friend's baby.  (That's you, Natalie!  I like that you have had 3 babies since I had Clark.  How very industrious of you!)

 Good Mama.

 So sleepy on the couch they couldn't even make it up to bed.

 Slide race- Grace is the winner!

 Camille and Dada, sunset on the beach

 Past favorite toys- Mother Cat and Engines.  Those were the days!

 Hiking by the river

Trying to cool off under the "teepee".  One of our favorite newish things to do is hike together.  Paul's great at finding local hikes.  Now we just need to get out and do them more often. 

Lessons learned:

1.  My girls look better when I fix their hair.  Must start bribing them to let me do so.

2.  It seems like forever ago that we had the girls and Clark, but then it seems so short.  It's weird being a parent.

3.  My kids are gorgeous.  I feel so blessed to look at their beautiful smiling faces each day.  The frowny faces, not so much.  :)

4.  Paul:  Look what we've done!

Our Town

After seeing the above signs plastered all over the blue Santa Monica buses, Sarah and I decided to attend a performance of Our Town at a local theater a couple of weeks ago.  This version, directed by David Cromer, had been showing previously in New York and got rave reviews for being a highly imaginative staging of the work.  Having seen and read the play a couple of times before, as well as having watched a pretty good movie version, I was kind of curious to see what could possibly be done differently that would earn such accolades.

The play did not disappoint.  The dialogue, setting, etc. were true to the play as originally written, but a few key adjustments made all the difference.  Helen Hunt had the stage manager role, almost always given to a male and often played in a kind of folksy way, which she handled more matter-of-factly and pulled off nicely. So in addition to being a good citizen, thumbs up to Helen for her stage acting. The handling of the hymns and other music, which feature prominently in the play, was also pretty interesting.

However, without spoiling it, I will say that I was absolutely floored by the staging of the final act, which is   formulated in a way that conveys the key themes of the play in a manner that has far more impact and resonance than the traditional staging.  It was one of those situations where I would never have thought to do it David Cromer's way, but now, having seen it, I can't imagine why anyone would want to perform the play otherwise.

So if you ever have an opportunity to see David Cromer's version of Our Town, definitely take advantage of it.

A Tale of Two Bunny Boys

 Grace has a special stuffed animal named Bunny Boy.  It was made by my mom for Clark, but taken over by Grace.  It's her very special pet and she sleeps with it every night.  She calls him "bun-bo".

 This is big bunny boy.  Clark and I went to the fabric district with our friend Sarah and he picked out this piece of white furry fabric.  When I was sorting through my stuff (yes, every time I go there I buy a lot of fabric!) I saw this piece and was inspired to make a huge bunny boy.

Encouraged by Paul, I took it one step further.  I constructed big bunny boy while the kids were in bed.  Then I removed regular bunny boy from Grace's arms and replaced it with big bunny boy.  I should have been prepared for what happened a few hours later:  At 2:30 a.m., Grace came into our room.  "Bunny Boy grew!!!" she declared through sleepy tears.  You can't joke about things like that with a sad, sleepy six-year-old.  So, we gave her back regular bunny boy and tried to get some sleep.  Now, big bunny boy is much fought over between Grace and Camille.  And Clark, who discovered bunny boy the next morning pointed to his hippo and said, "now we need a BIG hippo!"

Moral:  Do not play jokes on your kids.

Monterey Vacation

During Christmas break we went to Monterey.  The main purpose of our visit was to see the aquarium.  I do not have pictures of this.  Here are some of the other things that we did:

 We went to Andersen's Pea Soup in Solvang.  My family used to go to Solvang every year and it was fun to go back.  Although, I must say that pea soup is a strange attraction and odd road trip food. 

 We went to a butterfly sanctuary.  I've always wanted to see these clusters of migrating monarch butterflies.  There was only one tree full, but it was still a lot of fun to see.

 We went on 17 mile drive and got to see some pretty coast

 Southern California ain't got nuthin' on Northern California rocks and vistas.

 We went to Pfeiffer beach in Big Sur.  

 It has purple sand under the layer of normal sand.  The beach is pretty remote- about 2 miles off this unmarked road.  But, it's also a state park.  So, you get to drive close in, pay the guy at the little booth, and then get to see this pristine beach.  It's pretty neat.  Big Sur is amazing, and I think that I would love living there.  But, it's also very remote, and I think driving the PCH for several hours on windy but gorgeous roads to get anywhere would wear on me.

You tell me, past or present mountain dwellers (or remote area dwellers)- does it get annoying?  Or do you learn to just like staying close to home?

We had a great time!  Good work, Paul- your planning expertise has done us good!