Long Beach, Sweet Long Beach

We went to Long Beach to see Erik last Thursday.  It was one of those rare occasions where everything seemed to go smoothly, and everyone had a great time!  What a wonderful blessing!  We picked Erik up at the dock, and Elliot loved seeing all the containers (freight cars to him), and some trains, along with cranes and giant ships.  He saw one big black train and said, "Hey, is that Diesel?  I think it is Deisel!", and got all happy about it.  That's a character from Thomas the Tank Engine for those of you who don't have toddler aged boys.  He said the cranes were "Cranky the Crane, and Rocky", also from Thomas.  We weren't able to see Erik's ship, but there was one pretty close, so it filled our purposes for showing him where dad worked.  He was of course overjoyed to see his dad, and it was wonderful to see the two of them having so much fun together.  We had a brilliant time at The Yard House for dinner.  Elliot was so good!  Then on Friday we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, as you see below.  It's such a great place for little kids because they have lots of touch pools outside where you can pet bat rays, sting rays, and sharks!  Then they also have a Lorikeet aviary where you can purchase nectar, then bring it in with you, and the birds will eat it out of your hand, and maybe even come land on you.  Pretty neat.  Then we had to sadly walk Erik back to the dock.  Elliot was sad and annoyed that he had to go, but I think he understands now that it has to be done.  The last picture is Elliot running through the tunnel on the way back to the car.  We even got to have a nice little visit with Brooke, Darin, and Mikayla afterward, passing some time at their house while the rush hour traffic was going on.  We might make this a regular routine if Erik ends up staying with this, or a similar shipping route.  He is completely loving his job working as an electrician.  It's much more fun, challenging, and interesting to him.  Plus, he is working as his own boss in a sense.  Between ports, he just takes care of whatever he thinks needs to be done, and people call him if they need something fixed.  Sure beats 12 hour shifts in a 130 degree engine room!  Also, he gets a paid day off every four weeks!  Yay for him!  He has worked really hard to get there, and I am, as always, so proud of him and thankful for him.  :)

Ah, so good to see the father and son having fun together!

Thankfully, he's small enough that he could squeeze 

to the front without really being in anyone's way.  

The light was too bright for him, so he made little tunnels for his eyes.

Our Last Month in a Nutshell

It's been a long time, and I have missed blogging so much! Strange how something becomes a part of you once you get used to it. I never used to be into blogs, but now I feel like I have all these pent-up blog entries inside me that are waiting to get out. There will be many more exciting things happening this summer, so I am going to do one giant catching up blog. I hope y'all have the patience to look at the whole thing. :)

So, here's the garden of paradise, which I weeded, mixed in compost and steer manure, and planted about 35 plants in one day.

Here's the finished product! 

We went camping with Mary and Bill, Erik's parents, at Glass Creek.  

Here's one Bill took of me fishing.

Elliot taking a little bath in the sink in their trailer.

We went to the "Laws" museum, which was really a little tiny old town that was set up so people could look through all the buildings.  They had a real steam engine that kids could climb in and ring the bell, and move all the levers and whatnot.  Of course Elliot was in heaven.

Bill on Gull lake.

So, they came and stocked the lake with trout while we were there.  We started catching lots of fish after that!  Felt a little bit like cheating, but it was really fun!

Elliot in the creek at the campground.  The water was ridiculously cold - melted snow, but he still liked playing in it!

Elliot catching a fish with Grandpa.

Here we all are at "Devil's Postpile", a really neat formation of hexagonal columns of rock.

Elliot on the "big, big bridge" on the hike back from Devil's Postpile.

We took our annual birthday trip to the sand spit with my dad and sister.  We had a great time, and a lovely picnic.  The weather was beautiful, and the tide was just right.

Dad and sister getting grounded.  :)

It's kind of hard to see, but this is my dad rowing back with Elliot on his kayak.  

Elliot fell asleep on the way back to the maria!

Elliot wanted to take a picture with Mommy and Elliot and Auntie, so we did!

Chewie is so funny when he sleeps on his back with his legs up in the air, 

and his jowls hanging down.  We couldn't resist taking some pictures.

Photo credit to my sister on this one.

Elliot fell asleep on the floor after we got home from a birthday party.  

His position is so funny, and I actually have one of him as a little baby in the same position! 

 I might have to frame them side by side.

About 20 tiny little baby snails were found crawling around in my kitchen sink after I washed the lettuce from my garden.  My sis was mesmerized by their intricate little tiny bodies.  They are beautiful and delicate when they're this small (in their own way).

Well, that about sums it up.  Now you can look forward to regular postings and more witty commentary!  I have so much more to share, but you will just have to wait.  :)

Coming Soon ...

I'm bursting with wonderful blogging material, but you will have to wait. When I got home from camping, my iphoto had decided not to work. Now all it does is tell me "loading" for ever and ever (I even tried waiting over night). So, the time has come to upgrade, and I should be installing iLife '08 in the next few days, at which time I will dazzle you with all the camping pictures, as well as the nearly-complete garden of paradise! Yay!

Trippy

We took a little trip down to Anaheim for a church conference. They decided to make the annual Vineyard Pastor's conference open to everyone, and had kids activities and childcare, so I figured it was too great to pass up! It was a great conference, and since there were sections of the day that didn't have kid's activites, I was lucky enough to get in some time with my good friend, Brooke, and her daughter Mikayla (just turned 1!). They drove up from San Clemente two of the days we were there and we had fun with the kids together. These pictures are of the day we went to Irvine Park. It was great because they had a zoo, a train, and pony rides! We did it all, of course.

The pony rides were really exciting, because Elliot chose to ride the "trot pony" rather than the little ponies where they just walk in a circle. So he rode on a pretty big pony/horse and the girl rode on another horse in front of him. His pony followed the other one. At first I thought he was going to cry because they were trotting, and he was really flopping around quite a bit, but when they came around the track, he had a huge smile on his face! I was proud. The next picture is of him telling how he rode on the big pony.

Then there was the train. Elliot loved it, but Mikayla was scared by the loud narration of the conductor, so she kept trying to get away from the speaker by coming back with me. It didn't really help, and she cried most of the way. Poor thing.

It was a really fun trip. Good conference, and good to see friends! Elliot overall did really well with the travelling and had a great time with the kids activities. He never wanted to leave. Although the week was a success, it always feels great to be.... Home Sweet Home. :)

Sweet and Sour

Life is sometimes like a rhubarb pie. Sweet, sour, and tangy-delicious. To me it seems like life comes in spurts. One day you feel like everything is great, and you can't even remember the last time there was any drama. Next thing you know, you step on a nail, your husband will only be home for about two weeks of the remaining year, family gets all in a swirl, etc. The part that helps is the sweet moments that keep coming along. Predictable blessings, like Elliot coming in to snuggle with me in the morning. New roses blooming, berries, rhubarb, and squash, and peas ripening. The combination of the sweet and the sour is what gives our lives their unique flavor, and from this we gain wisdom, and learn better how to love.


Some choice quotes from "Sweet Old World" by Lucinda Williams:


The breath from your own lips, the touch of fingertips
A sweet and tender kiss
The sound of a midnight train, wearing someone's ring
Someone calling your name
Somebody so warm cradled in your arm


Millions of us in love, promises made good
Your own flesh and blood
Looking for some truth, dancing with no shoes
The beat, the rhythm, the blues

Independence Day

Now, that's pretty independent for a three year old, don't you think? All the kids at the fourth of July party had a great time in this little power tractor. They thought they were the coolest for getting to drive, even though they were crashing quite a bit. Luckily it didn't get up much speed, or someone could have been run over, as was a very unfortunate tomato plant. I love these little guys. They run around like at little pack of wild animals, and have a great time together.

Just Reviewing

These two boys just happened to both be taking swimming lessons last week, so when they got together, they had a great time in the pool and on the slip and slide in the back yard, as well as in the bath! Elliot's second week of swimming lessons was much more productive than the first week. Although he made it through week one of Skippers with no mom in the pool, he didn't like it much, and didn't learn to do much except be in the pool without crying. So for the second week, I decided to join him in the pool with the parent child class, which I found much more appropriate for him. The other kids were closer in age and abilities, and he was able to branch our much more having me there with him. Though it was still quite a process, he was able to blow bubbles in the water, learn to kick, learn to jump in, and finally on the last day, he figured out how to hold his breath. Before that, he was so stressed, he would always gasp under water and breath in water. But he had been practicing out of the water all morning, and he finally was able to do it. His favorite part of the week was getting in the spa after swimming lessons. He never wanted to get out of that one! But his friend, Gideon, has a much more adventurous personality, and Elliot was inspired by him. They ended up doing back floats in the bathtub. Sounds like no big deal, but this is something Elliot had NEVER done in swimming lessons, and had NEVER done in the bath. Normally he hates even getting his hair wet. It was so great to see him being motivated by his friend, and he was so proud of himself that he did it for about 2 hours till the water got cold. And, he has done it every bath since!