all aboard

The other day the kids and I went for a train ride. The mall kind. I needed to stop at a store in Ventura and the mall had this little gem of a train that circled the top floor.

The nice teenage conductor boy offered to take our picture prior to departure:

The little guy spent the entire ride staring intently out the window, just soaking it up, like this:

Something--I have no idea what--about the situation made the little girl nervous. She spent the entire 5 minutes like this:

These kids! They crack me up!

mercer friends

One of our favorite things about being back in Southern California: Mexican food.

One of our other favorite things: old friends. My job in LA was doing consulting for Mercer (and then I transferred within the company when we moved to NY). We worked hard, but you wouldn't know it by all the fun we had on the side.

Back in late August, on our way home from a weekend in Orange County, we made plans to spend Sunday afternoon in LA with our friends Bryan and Brenda. They have the most adorable boy/girl twins (well, it may be a tie for most adorable), Kent and Kalani, who are 2 years older than ours. What we didn't know was that B & B also invited our other good friends Brian, Kim and Megan. These guys can't help but turn it to a party every time. That's what we love about them.

It was a very busy afternoon...

First item of business: bubble lessons from K & K.

Next up: stroller rides. Hilarious stroller rides.

Then, drum rolls with Brian and Bryan.

A minute of relaxation on the sofa with Kim...

...turned into naptime for Kalani.

Bethany's no dummy. While Sleeping Beauty snoozed, B tried on her princess clothes.

Making her entrance...

Megan, Brenda-on-an-ottoman, and me:

Isaac and our hosts:

Thanks for the welcome back, friends! More good times to come!

something new

This blog needs a facelift. A new banner that doesn't make me homesick for our city life, and a new blog name. Something that wasn't inspired by the Lohans. I think I want to drop our last name from the blog, too. I have a couple ideas for names but wanted to see if anyone has any brilliant suggestions. Send 'em over!

Santa Paula, so far

I'd like to introduce you to our new hometown. Everyone, Santa Paula, Santa Paula, everyone. If all goes to plan, this is our town for the next... forever. This is where our kids will grow up and graduate high school, and come home to on breaks from college. This is where I hope to have a yard nice enough to host their wedding receptions. You get the idea--we're in this for the long haul. It's exciting! And scary. But mostly exciting! (But a little bit scary.)

I've realized that anytime I've talked to anyone about this place it's felt a bit like a sales pitch. Weird, right? But I think that's for 3 reasons: (1) no one knows anything about SP! Some have heard of it, and a small handful of people we know have actually been here. And before Jared discovered it a few months ago, I was in the never-heard-of-it camp. (2) I might still occasionally feel the need to convince myself that it's where I want to spend the next 30 years of my life. (3) I want you to move here and be my friend.

On that note, here is a list of things we love (so far) about Santa Paula!

* Warmest welcome EVER. Everyone we've met has been so kind and friendly and has told us how happy they are that we're here. Wow, thanks.
* The weather. I don't have to tell you how perfect the weather is. I want to tell you. It's perfect.
* Old friends & fam. So good to be just a 1-2 hour drive away. (Have I mentioned that yet? Oh, a million times?)
* The beach. 20 minutes away. Yes.
* It's absolutely gorgeous here. It even smells good! Lemon and avocado groves line the freeway. We live in a valley surrounded by mountains that are foggy in the morning. Blue skies and sometimes ocean views in the afternoon.
* On the other side of those mountains are LA county (to the south) and Santa Barbara and Ojai (to the north). We're in good company.
* Rent for our 3 bedroom house in SP < rent for our 2 bedroom (really, 1 bedroom with the living room cut in half - and made into a cave - to make a 2nd bedroom) apartment in NYC.
* Mexican food. The one cuisine that NYC does not nail. Jared's a pretty big Mexican foodie, and here he's in Mexican food heaven.
* Main Street. There's a really cute downtown that hosts community events all the time, it seems. Jazz & art festival, citrus festival, classic car shows every first Friday, holiday parades, the small-town works.
* And finally, the Santa Paula Library...

I'm still learning/desperately trying to learn about good places to take the kids. The Santa Paula Library is definitely my favorite kid-friendly place in town, so far. The kids & I ride bikes there once a week (at least) for storytelling. There is a huge area for kids with a play house, a puppet stage, and a few sit-and-read spots. We try not to make too much noise, but don't feel icy stares if we do.

Note how Isaac tried out every chair in the house.

Really, the only problems I have with the library are my own 2 kids! Their favorite activities are to pull books off the shelves by the armful, climb the bleacher seats during story time and hide in the house when it's time to go. They're not obnoxious, just active. Oh, and 1 1/2. (Or is that what I just want to believe?) Regardless, we'll keep going and eventually they'll get it.

Things about Santa Paula that I'm still getting used to:

* Small town. I think I like it, but I'm not completely sure since I don't really know what it means.
* Spiders. Actually, I will never get used to spiders. Never.

Hope to share more about what we love about our new hometown. As soon as I find out what it is.

LA, San Diego

We spent Labor Day weekend with family and friends down south. We first dropped in on our good old UCLA friends Chad, Kimber, Abe, and their newest addition, River. They treated us to a BBQ feast in the University Village gazebo, where we used to live (in the Village, not the gazebo).

Isaac really liked the grilled corn.

Bethany and Isaac are just a few months younger than Abe, but my little sweethearts turned into total bullies as soon as we got there--tag-teaming to sneak off with as much of Abe's stuff as possible. With some encouragement from Kimber, Abe stood up for himself and then all the kids got along fine with their newfound mutual respect.

Abraham and Isaac had slight a rough patch, but it was all good in the end.

(As the story goes.)

Next stop was to see Great-grandma Dot (Jared's grandmother) in San Diego. Jared's family typically gathers at her place on most holidays, so we got to see a bit of the fam while we were there. We even went to a movie (The Help) with Grandma, Dave and Kathy while cousins Emma and Grace babysat.

The kids, of course, were most fascinated by Ginger, Grandma's new rat terrier. They both took turns walking the dog. I love this pic of Grandma Dot with Bethany.

Funny story--during nap time, Grandma's house phone rang and I remembered that there was a cordless phone left in the babies' room. I went in to get it and found Isaac like this:

Look closely, he had lined his pack n play with labels, folders, papers, and a thick hard cover book. His shins were covered in labels. I looked at the bookshelf that was within reach and he had completely cleared off two shelves. I could hardly control my laughing as I cleared out the crib and ended up with a stack about 6 inches thick. Moving him to clean it out wasn't a problem--this kid was OUT. I'm not sure how much of this action Bethany caught--she was sleeping peacefully about a foot away. This was some fun he had before drifting off!

Last but not least, we got to spend all day Tuesday with Stacie, my BFF (heart necklace and all) since first grade, and her cute 2 year old daughter Cameron and husband Jeff. They live in San Diego too and I'm so happy to live near them again. Stace is expecting another little girl #2 in January, yay!

After naps and admiring Cam's incredible post-nap hair, the hot + humid conditions made it a perfect time to toss the kids in the inflatable pool. Jeff's parents were also there, adding hilarious grandparent commentary. No wait--they came all the way from Massachusetts for the week, so yeah, it was me and my brood that were "also there."

Stacie and I stuck our feet in as well--best idea ever. And then, I caught Cameron's adorableness on video--new best idea ever. Watch and don't miss the end!

The day ended perfectly with a picnic dinner on the beach at Coronado Island. The sand was sooo soft, I didn't even mind that a little got on my sandwich. Jared had to leave earlier in the day, but with everyone's help with watching the kids, it was a really peaceful end to a great weekend.

And then I paid $4.29 and 9/10 for gas.

The end.

new set of wheels

To ease our transition from subway to suburbia, we really needed a new set of wheels. Ever since, oh, pregnancy, Jared & I had been talking about buying something that would allow enough room for the kiddos so we could all enjoy rides together. Last week I happened to hear a commercial on the radio about a massive sale going on in nearby Camarillo, and we headed there that very Saturday to get ourselves... a bike trailer!

We were giddy with excitement about this purchase. Right now we only have one car, so on days that Jared drives to work, these wheels are how the kids and I get around. It's more fun than driving, yes, but I'm also really counting on this situation to keep me from getting too squishy in my new, much more sedentary life.

At this time I would like to highlight the bike trailer accessories that are now my #1 absolute favorite twin purchase EVER...

These helmets! Matching flames?! One helmet with flames might not have done much for me, but seeing the two of them together absolutely blew my mind and brought the giddiness up to Level Out of Control.

BONUS: the kids love wearing their helmets... they usually ask to keep them on after they get out of the bike, and then I get to sit back and let them do whatever they want because hey, they're wearing helmets.

Okay fine, here are more pics of kids in matching flames helmets. Something about that chin strap makes those cheeks even more irresistible...

PS did you think our "new wheels" would be a minivan? Because we got one of those, too.

PPS as far as mom cars go, the minivan really is boss. I'm sorry, but it's true.