vacation destination: right here

Santa Paula, San Diego, the South Pacific. Yes, our little town attracts visitors who also visit other really amazing places. And sometimes those visitors make SP their first stop of the three. Like these guys:

We were so excited to have some of our best, best, besties come and stay with us for a few days on their California/Cook Islands tour. We hoped to have a good mix of getting out to see what this place is all about, and getting downtime to enjoy being together, and I think we succeeded. All I know for sure is that it went way too fast.

Here are some highlights...

Orange Picking, Santa Paula

Beach/Pier/Playground, Ventura

The Backyard, Santa Paula

Not Pictured:

*Couples date night - Ojai

*Working out & running for the ladies - SP

*Guys night (okay, Jared had to go for Scouts so B went too) at the Marina - Ventura

*Home tour (aka trying to sell them on moving here) - SP

*How great it felt to be with great friends, to watch Bethany & Isaac try to learn some of Lamp's cool skills (like scooting and using her toes), and just to see our 4 kids love each other - right here in my heart

Bethany's real twin?

We've always been suspicious, but this email from my dad confirms it. Bethany has a twin, and it's me.

I always wanted a twin!

Speaking of clothing (see my dad's caption)... don't you think Bethany needs some saddle shoes? Preferably not covered in mud? And speaking of mud... why am I covered in it, with a tear-streaked face? Jared wasn't there but is 100% convinced I got pushed in by my brothers. I can easily believe that.

Now let's see if I can dig up an Isaac vs Jared, to really blow your mind...

the no pants train

While we went to Hawaii, the kids got to go to their own paradise: Grandma and Grandpa's house. And getting there was almost as cool-- we took the train. I rode with them and Jared drove the car down after work to meet us.

It's a 2.5 hour ride, but within literally 5 minutes of departing from the station, I notice that both kids have peed through their diapers and all down their pants. Bethany even soaked her socks!

What?? Through their diapers?! This seriously never happens! (Not during the day, anyway.) And now it had happened to both kids at the same time, on a train... with every kind of toy to keep them busy and snack to keep them happy... but no extra pants.

So they rode the rest of the 2 hours and 25 minutes pantsless.

The end.

Hawaii 11

How has it been 2 months since we went to Hawaii?? I thought I would take this time to finally answer the 11 questions everyone has been asking (or should have been asking) about our Hawaiian vacation.

The Hawaii 11 (aka Hawa11):

1. Why were you in Hawaii? Not that you need a reason to go...

Jared has a work conference every year, and this year it was in Waikiki. Some call this conference the AAO, but it is better known as the dental wives reunion. Especially if it's in a cool spot. Sometimes we even get our non-ortho friends to crash the party, like we did the last couple years in DC and Boston. Sometimes (but always reluctantly) we let our ortho spouses actually attend their classes.

2. You were only there for 3.5 days. Was that even worth it?

Um, yes. Although we did mull over this question a bit too much before booking the trip.

3. Where were the kids while you flittered around in the tropics?

We left them in very good hands. We took them to Jared's parents' house and hired his cousin Jennifer, who was just barely home from college for the summer, to be their full-time babysitter. She is awesome. Jared's dad also works from home now, so, the kids were basically in hog heaven, having their awesome cousin and Grandpa as their constant playmates, and getting to see Grandma every night after work was the cherry on top. I'm not sure we were missed.

4. Did you miss them?

Of course! And this will probably sound weird, but we actually never talked to them during the few days that we were gone. We thought it would be too confusing for them to talk to us, and they are terrible phone conversationalists anyway. We had an amazing time, but on the way home I was glad it was a short trip.

5. I saw your pictures. Did you not bring any other clothes?

Yes, I did bring lots of other clothes. I just didn't wear them, apparently.

6. What was the most fun thing you did in Hawaii?

First, seeing a bunch of great, old friends. Second, the surfing. We literally got off the plane, rented a car, got a bite at a total dive, and drove straight to the North Shore for surfing lessons with the North Shore Surf Girls. Before Hawaii, Jared had surfed a bunch but still thought he could benefit from a lesson, and I had tried several times unsuccessfully. But our surf girl (her actual name was Vai, and she went to high school with Jack Johnson so she is officially my hero) helped me catch every wave I went for. I rode 11 waves! On the North Shore! It was a really incredible intro to Hawaii.

7. Favorite beach?

Lanikai, just south of Kailua on the eastern side of the island. The sand was as soft as flour and the water was crystal clear.

8. Favorite food?

We ate a good range of food, from hole-in-the-wall BBQ (awesome) to very "authentic" Hawaiian (meh) to fancy luau sushi (mmm), but I think my favorite meal was the breakfast and dessert crepes we had at Crepes No Ka 'Oi in Kailua. Soooo delicious. 

9. Why did you post pictures of your beat up feet? Some people are really grossed out by feet. Especially beat up ones.

I know, too much huh?

Lil bit.

Sorry. At least the worst cuts were covered. They were small but really deep. We had to cancel some of our more active plans and I wore Toms on the beach instead of sandals for the next day and a half. Sad face. (I know, no one really feels sorry for me.)

10. What did you leave for the next trip to Hawaii?

So much! So much. We still want to see the other islands, the PCC, the LDS temple, Pearl Harbor, and these Japanese gardens I read about called Valley of the Temples. There was just not enough time to do all we wanted, but it's not so bad having reasons to go back.

11. Alright alright, so where are the pictures?

I thought you'd never ask!

Pic of the trip!!!

- what Jared yelled as he snapped it. :)

father's day (and other stuff)

   

We definitely love this daddy.

Watching the relationships unfold between my kids and their dad has been such an amazing part of this journey called parenthood.

Bethany has been Daddy's Little Girl since day one. Jared says he didn't know love at first sight existed until he saw Bethany Brynn enter this world! (I try not to get offended, haha.) She has always reciprocated, often preferring him over me. (What I said before.) I've actually always been very okay with this-- maybe having another baby simultaneously didn't give me any time to feel left out, and/or maybe because I had plenty of time with her on my own, it was always okay, great in fact, for her to want him when he was home. Either way, I wasn't about to get in the way of that daddy-daughter bond that came so naturally.

Isaac has also always loved his daddy, but for the past couple of weeks he has wanted absolutely nothing to do with anyone else while Dada is around. Only at the end of the weekend has he finally been ready to acknowledge me again. (Okay, those may be slight exaggerations, but only slight.) I miss my boy during those times, but the upside is that only Dad can change his diapers. And of course I am still not left empty-handed-- as a result Bethany has been my little buddy/shadow (No boys, just the girls! she says), and I am loving it. 

It's pretty funny to hear them argue while each grabbing a leg: "That's my dada." "That's MY dada!" Repeat 10 times.

I am so appreciative of Jared and all that he does for this family. Through all of his schooling (and there was a lot of it, mostly pre-kids), even through the worst weeks of midterms, or finals, or board exams, or applications (and there were a lot, of all of the above), he still made it his mission in life to make me laugh. He was always able to leave that heavy feeling of stress at school, and I felt so thankful that his way of dealing with those burdens was mostly to put them down for a while when his back needed a break.

Never did I expect that almost a year out of school, we could have times that were just about as stressful as those it's-the-week-before-our-33-ortho-residency-applications-are-due-and-we-both-haven't-slept-in-4-days days. Jared has been working harder than ever to get his private practice established-- the culmination of all of that other stuff for all those years, and so it feels like the stakes are much higher, and the setbacks seem so much scarier. In these last two months a lot of things had come to a head and we didn't know if we would be able to move forward with the progress we've made or have to start over from scratch again. (Oh, and we moved houses. And went on vacation. Good things, terrible terrible terrible timing!) But, Jared's good looks and charm-- and some other amazing qualities-- have totally saved the day super-hero style, and it looks like we will be moving forward. We don't feel ready to celebrate quiiiiite yet, but soon. I think. I'll let you know.

In the meantime we are looking forward to a great summer, starting with a visit from some really good NYC friends that arrive tomorrow! Santa Paula holla!!