back on the train

Last week we had a bout of weather, and by "weather" I mean nearly 2 days straight of rain, so we gave that indoor mall train another go. Last time, Bethany did her heartbreakingly adorable nervous face the whole ride. That was actually the first time I'd seen the nervous face. She has since done it on occasion, like when she's watching a scene in a show that makes her anxious or a new person gets a little too in her face.

This time the train ride was a different story.

The kids had their pick of cars and immediately agreed on blue. The conductor handed them each a yellow ticket and they scrambled in. Both were all smiles for the whole ride. Bethany's been saying all aboard! (sounds more like ahhboard!) ever since, and if you say it to her, she smiles and nods approvingly.

Seems like many (most? all?) kids go through a trains phase. I know my nephew Carter was ob-sessed with Thomas the Train for a good while. My kids love watching Thomas (which I'm sure is why they chose the blue car) and playing with their little train set. I'm just very pleased with the timing, since we'll be taking a very big deal kind of train trip-- not the mall kind this time-- in a couple weeks! Kids, hold onto your hats!

T.G.I. trash day!

Friday is a special day at our house, but not for the normal reasons Friday is special-- these kids couldn't care less about work days or weekends (Jared's schedule is a bit random), and "sleeping in" means 7:10 instead of 6:50 whether it's Saturday or not. We love Friday because it's trash day.

The garbage truck comes 3 times to get the trash, recycling, and trimmings, so we usually catch at least one of the trips. And since we live near the end of the street and a little intersection, we get to see a lot of backing up action. The kids always run to the window to watch, and if they happen to be wearing pants, we enjoy from the driveway.

The drivers always get a wave from the kids, and if it's not too early, the kids get a honk from the truck. One of the drivers will even stop and pull out two pre-packaged Rice Krispie treats from his lunch to give to the twins. So sweet!

Waving at the truck or possibly Isaac, who usually tries to

run along the sidewalk as the truck goes down the street.

Perhaps because of all the garbage truck excitement, the kids-- the boy in particular-- have been really into helping with the trash, especially if it means taking things out to the big cans outside. He gets most excited about the blue can, which makes me happy because that's for recycling.

NY side note: Did you know that in New York City, they don't use city-issued trash cans but just pile up bags along the sidewalk? Therefore, the trucks don't have those automatic pick up forks, so real live actual garbage men (and women) get out to pick up the bags. But, the cars are still parked along all the streets, so the garbage personnel toss the trash bags over the cars and into the streets, where other garbage personnel throw the bags into the back of the truck! Not just once, but twice a week! It's kind of crazy! I mean, when you think about it. And yes, it smells. Especially in the hot and humid summer. Especially if you're pregnant. But man, my kids would have loved the show.

And that is the end of my post about trash.

PS I miss New York.

an Ojai morning

One day last week, Jared was supposed to be working from home but I convinced him to do something fun with us instead. So, we took a little morning trip to Ojai. It's only about 20 minutes away, but I had never been. I fell in love!

We drove until we found a park, played until the kids started to wander, wandered until we found an ice cream shop, and went home in time for naps. I'm already making my list of things to do next time.

I also saw this poster for a jewelry line, that at first glance I thought was a picture of me, haha...

The only disappointment of the day was that I didn't see Reese Witherspoon. Another reason to go back!

guess who's 2? guess who else?

We celebrated Isaac & Bethany's 2nd birthday with a party fit for a princess... and pirate! 

We didn't want to go overboard (really, we didn't, and I think we were fairly successful), so we invited just a few local friends and the grandparents, and held it in the morning so as to not interrupt the royal naptime. We kept it to just two simple activities: decorating crowns or pirate hats, and a treasure hunt. We had bandanas and sparkly headbands made from fabric scraps for parents who tried to not come in costume. Jared made pasta with sauce and meatballs for lunch. We had pink and chocolate cupcakes. And that was pretty much it. We just let the kids play and eat and play and play. The little planning we did was almost entirely by google and blogger.

Grandma & Grandpa won the Best Dressed, Most Spirited, and Coolest Grandparents in California awards. They showed up early to help out, and when they rang the doorbell the kids started yelling Grandma! Grandpa! We opened the door to find them in FULL pirate and princess attire, and then we looked back to see Bethany and Isaac in complete silence with their jaws on the floor. Grandpa's outfit had knee-high pirate boots and a floor length cape-- amazing-- and Grandma was wearing a renaissance princess gown and a gold crown-- amazing! It made me feel like the ultimate hostess with my hired entertainment, and like nothing could go wrong because they were there. It was very Cowboy Gil. Amazing!

Begin photo dump:

Isaac is very curious about what is (or isn't) under that patch.

Princesses!

More princesses!

Dread Pirate Jared and his lady.

Shiver me timbers!

The captain and the first mate.

The pirate shamelessly plundering the princess.

Her royal highness.

All the princesses and pirates (almost).

Cute lil matey.

Princess party animals.

Little ladies.

Hooray for pre-made flags that made cupcake decorating easy.

The twins went to blow out the candles, but were
beaten to it by a 3-year-old Snow White.
Better luck next year.

Remember last year? Isaac and Bethany couldn't have been more opposite in their approach to birthday cupcake demolishing/eating:

Well, not much has changed...

This went on for several minutes. The more he tried to lick the frosting off his sleeve, the messier he got. Meanwhile, Bethany stayed clean as a whistle as she carefully savored her cupcake.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a happy birthday!

new year's eve, y'all

Jared & I have been thinking back on our previous New Year's Eves, since we've had a few (10+) together, and this year ranked among the best. We went country line dancing! (Have we been fully converted or what? I mean really... it was only 6 months ago that we left New York City, and now look at us. Farms, ranches, and holiday parties at Carriage houses are all I ever talk about anymore.)

We went to a place in Thousand Oaks called Borderline, after a family-style dinner at Buca di Beppo. No one in our group really knew the line dances, but we danced our boots off anyway. They also played a bunch of non-country music that was fun to dance to. Jared & I love getting out there and being goofballs, and it was great to learn that our new friends get goofy too. Plus, when you look up and see a bedazzled saddle hanging from the middle of a gigantic metal/ropelight cowboy hat, it just makes you want to giddy up.

Elvis came out to do a few numbers just before the countdown to 2012. He went on so long that our countdown was only 5 seconds instead of 10. At first I thought it was kinda dumb to have him there, but then we got to take our picture with Elvis, and suddenly it felt like a great idea after all.

Happy New Year!

more December goodness

A lot happened in December 2011.

There were holiday parties. Since Jared has multiple jobs, he had multiple holiday parties to attend, and they were at opposite ends of the spectrum. There was the hoedown at the Carriage Museum in Santa Barbara...

Probably the funnest part about this was figuring out what we were going to wear. We did a lot of borrowing. I'm quite pleased with my choice of denim on denim. Yeehaw!

And then there was the evening of cocktails/dinner/dancing at the Ventura Beach Marriott...

Jared's new golf buddy (and boss), his wife, me feeling realllllly tall, and my handsome guy. 

I love being tall, except sometimes in pictures.

Dontcha wish your boyfriend was hot like mine?

There were old friends. Some of our favorite friends from UCLA were home for the holidays, and so they spent an afternoon at our house. It's crazy how much their kids have grown in the 3+ years since dental school. We're glad they have ties to Ventura and we expect to be stealing them from their families often in the future.

There was a pony tail. Just one, just barely. Bethany had found one of my hairbands and asked me to put it in, but only gave me about 3.5 wiggle-free seconds to do it. More to come, and this mama is excited. I just have to learn how to do hair, and quickly.

There was a day trip to Solvang. Ever since Stacie's bachelorette party in Santa Ynez valley 6 years ago, I have wanted to go back to Solvang. We finally did. It's this super cute Danish town just over an hour from us. Maybe because most of Jared's and my ancestry is from Denmark, we felt right at home. Especially in the chocolate shop.

There were new toys. Not a ton, just the right amount. Jared & I tend to not do a lot of toy shopping for the kids (I'm trying to remember if we've even bought more than a handful of toys ever-- they were given a bunch though). I had a good idea of what they would like to have, and was pretty specific when the grandparents asked what the kids wanted for Christmas. Those things, plus a couple things from aunts, uncles, friends, and us, turned out to be the perfect mix. Every toy has been played with (sometimes all at once), every book has been read. Maybe toys do bring joy? Just a little?

Isaac in the baby doll crib with Woody, Jessie, Bullseye...

...and Bethany.

She did eventually climb in. He wasn't wild about the invasion, but he went with it.

There was the black & white Crown Vic. Our friend, who's in the county Sheriff's department, came by one Saturday morning with his police car. We stood out there talking to him for a while, and when neighbors looked over, I felt like yelling, It's okay! We're friends. For those who have never been in a cop car before, like me, let me tell you: it's not comfortable. Just a ride in the back is your first punishment for looking guilty. The seat is made of hard plastic, however, there are slots in the hard plastic for your handcuffed arms. So that's nice.