Joys of Summer: The Beach

Today's joy: The Beach.  Every part of the beach is great, but rolling around in the sand like a sea turtle is the best. 

Vacation Wrap Up

We were lucky enough to have three straight weeks of vacation this summer.  Well, one week of "workcation" followed by one week of "memorialization" before a week of actual vacation.

Our first week was spent in Applegate, CA (near Sacramento) for Joshua's work conference.  The overarching organization that Joshua, through CUNA, works with, People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO), is an international non-profit that encourages the employees to bring their families to the yearly week-long work conference.  I've been wanting to attend for years but this is the first time that the trip didn't interfere with my own employment.  Alma and I spent our days playing with the other 40+ kids in attendance and enjoying the beautiful Jesuit retreat center where the conference was held.  And, at night, Joshua and I would hang out on the patio overlooking the pond and share a crossword puzzle.

Sadly, Joshua's grandmother passed at the beginning of June, so we spent the next week with his family celebrating her life.  While it was a sad event, it was so nice to have some time with the Chisholm clan when we had not been planning a visit with them for this summer.  We were able to spend a day at Santa Monica beach (photo of Alma and me was snapped by Hayden!), some time in the backyard shooting cans with a BB gun, and Alma had plenty of time idolizing her cousin Hayden.

After a wild trip home -- three days of delayed flights, car rides interrupted with me getting sick on the side of the road (yes, that happened more than once), an eventual red-eye flight home with an overly tired toddler -- we were home for 20 hours before leaving for a trip up to the Adirondacks for a week of relaxing with Kate, Neal (a.k.a. Uncle Fun), their pup Rio and our dog Simon.  It was a week composed of all the greatest things: best friends (even Simon had his best friend), delicious food, and an amazing house right on Lake Paradox.  We spent days hiking, napping, watching the dogs swim until near-drowning fatigue and our nights were long games of Kate beating us at Settlers of Catan.

Video of the Day: Why It Was Great to Have Hayden Visit

Having seen me "wear" Alma all week, Hayden decided to make a similar sling for his favorite stuffed animal, Lambie. Side note: The very well loved quilt he is using as a sling is the quilt I made him when he was a baby. This brings me an incredible amount of joy.

(from February 20, 2010)

Cousins!

Alma got to hang out with her Auntie Amy and Cousin Hayden for a week.  It was great to have another little kiddo in the house.  Joshua enjoyed pulling out his Legos and playing with Hayden.  Simon also loved playing with Hayden, although I'm not sure either participant understood what the other was doing.

This Sunday we went to Mass at St. Joseph's Pro-Cathedral in Camden and Alma had the chance to meet more members of our Camden family, Rosa Ramirez and Monseigneur McDermott.

In other news, we made a make-shift entertainment center for Alma using all of the fun hanging toys we have received as gifts and a hula hoop.  She seems to love it.

She has been in a good mood this week.  Much better than last week when she started the week with a doctor's appointment which included a ton of shots.  She weighed in at 13 lbs, 8oz and 22.25 inches.  She is happily in the 97 percentile for weight.  That's what eating every two hours will do for you.

Look at how cute she is in this hat from my fomer boss, Jenelle, of Mapel Boutique. 

Parenting is great fun ...

...but still rather tiring.

Happy Halloween!

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Elk Lake with the Chisholms

We just returned from a week-long adventure-cation with Joshua's family in Central Oregon. We stayed in a cabin along Elk Lake and spent the week hiking, swimming, fishing, eating good foods, watching a campfire every night and enjoying lots of family time. Needless to say, it was great!

Having time with 4 year-old Hayden was great. Here he is hopping around the cabin with a balloon hat Joshua made for him.
The family also threw us a surprise baby shower. Their gifts were so thoughtful and sweet ... although the idea that we will have an actual baby to put inside the clothing is still a little more than overwhelming.
The party decorations included a pinata, which provided an evening of entertainment as we tried to hit it with rocks. We decided that it would be more interesting (and it ended up being more challenging) than stringing it up and beating it with a stick.

We are already planning on doing this trip again ... summer 2012, anyone?!

Summer Vacation: Seattle!

This past week, we have been enjoying the wonderful family, friends and weather of Seattle. We arrived Saturday night and then our week was as follows:

Sunday - Mass and brunch with the Fujimotos and ... the Cavaliers! Amanda and Lou, New Jersey folks, were on their way to an Alaskan cruise and we were fortunate enough to meet up with them. Mental note: Visit friends who live on the east coast.

Monday - Amy, Hayden, Joshua and I drive to Leavenworth and see Jenelle, my former boss and owner of Mapel Boutique, and set up camp at the Johnny Creek Campground next to the river. It was so nice to see Jenelle -- even though just for a short "hello" visit -- and to see how awesome her store is!

Tuesday - Rock climbing along Icicle Creek. While Joshua and Amy were doing a route, Hayden and I played bulldozers in the dirt and then beauty salon. Hayden's final look was stunning.

Wednesday - Hiking around Leavenworth and then driving back to Seattle. Gosh, what a beautiful place!

Thursday - While Joshua had groomsmen duty (golfing, bbqing, baseball-watching, drinking), Amy, Hayden and I went to the Seattle Sculpture Garden. With a great view of the sound and some neat pieces, it made for a fun day!

That night I got to play soccer and go out to eat with the PuddleJumpers. I miss playing with that team so much. What a great group of folks.

Friday - Sailing on Lake Union with Scott, Joshua, Amy and Hayden and then the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

Saturday - Patrick and Ann's wedding = Fun!

Sunday - Big pancake breakfast at the Fujimotos followed by a walk around Fremont, Dad Watson's and a nap along the canal/in front of Google. Joshua and I got on our plane going back to Philly around 8pm and didn't get into Philly around 10am due to flight delays. Joshua went straight to work because today was the first day of work for a new employee at CCOP.

Overall, a super fun week. Best vacation ever!

Recent Email Message from Amy

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Hi everyone,
This is a momentous occasion seeing Hayden do the pink tower, a classic Montessori material. He is officially a Montessori kid starting in Feb. I have done my job!

We went to the library last week and Hayden came up to me saying, "Look mama, a book about engines and rockets" You have to imagine him emphasizing the engines and rockets in his best dramatic voice. In his hands was a Star Wars book with all the ships from every movie. Pretty funny, eh?

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This makes Uncle Josh and Auntie Laura very happy!

Winter Coat Time! And the Death of the 'Stash

Here at Casa de Chisholms, we celebrate the little things. Like the official switching from our fleeces to our winter coats! Doesn't get better. The other day we decorated the house -- ornaments hang from the chandelier and the ceiling fan due to our noticeable lack of tree (next year, next year ...) -- and went out for a drink to celebrate the occasion. May not seem like a big celebration but, for us, it was perfect.

Unfortunately, folks, this is the last photo you will see of Joshua's mustache. It died in a fit of frustration at how much it obstructed the eating process -- "och, that hurt" was a common theme as the mustache tried to be consumed along with dinner. While I loved the 'stache for the first five months, by month six I missed seeing my husbands lovely smile (*ahhhh*).

That mustache first joined us when we were visiting Seattle in July.

It stayed for our first anniversary.

It helped with the house rehab and move.

It stayed for an entire rugby season, a community action, a few tennis matches, a birthday and visit, the creation of four povitisas, a hockey game and a football game.

(Not pictured, a high school reunion, multiple family functions and meeting everyone from the Geography Department ... yup, all those people think that Joshua is a "guy who has a mustache." Pretty funny stuff.)

We went through a lot together, but it was time ... knowing Joshua, I'm sure we are moving into another stage of wonderful hair creation.