Lucky

My friend's dad works for a woman who has a beautiful home

i have never been inside the home but I have been lucky enough

to be able to go there and swim

and that is a treat.

today was beautiful and hot and the perfect day for such a pool.

and as if that wasn't enough, she has fruit trees
peaches, purple plums, green plums, nectarines and a mulberry tree
yummy and we got to pick some and bring it home.

 and for that day i feel lucky.
 a couple days later
me and the girl went to the beach with some friends
the sun stayed under most of the day
but that didn't matter one bit
except when I had to go into the ocean which was very very cold
to pee.
but other than that it didn't matter
the littles stayed close digging in the sand

the big girls did a little bit of everything.
they loved the rock with the seaweed still attached

they loved the snacks
they loved the ocean and were thankful that the sand was warm to come lay on.
dakota came home with half the sand from the beach in her suit.

today more friends
a pool in the backyard
a sunshining day
just dance for a break from the sunshine.

when i think of the things I am lucky for it is all the above
but also
running water
that i can make hot or cold
a toilet that flushes
food
a bed that is soft with covers that keeps me warm
and a fan if i get too warm
the list goes on and on for all these everyday things that
don't really matter to me
but really do
To know when you have enough is to be rich beyond measure.  lao tzu



 

Not too long ago

me and my friend andi would go on all these fun outings with your girls (this back when we each had one little lady).  Andi and I both have a love of good food and while we love a good baked good any good food will put a smile on our face.  

So in our adventures food is always involved.

We are now a group of six but the fun and the food are just the same.

Today we went to some old favorites starting with a little eatery called Clementines

So yummy.

The last time we went it was national grilled cheese month this time it was not but that is okay I got one anyway.

It had sharp cheddar and a sweet tomato chutney on country white and it was tasty.

Andi got a watercress, cucumber, cream cheese and watercress that was awesome as well.

And for dessert there was a cupcake, a brownie, a blondie, a chocolate peanut butter bar, and a German chocolate cookie.  I tasted them all and was very very full and very very happy.

Next stop was LACMA 

The last time we went we just went to the boone children's gallery, 

this time we didn't even make it there but the girls enjoyed everything we saw.

Which included korean art,

 tube art, 

an exhibit called common place, 

metropolis II

 and a huge rock.

I am totally perplexed by the rock but I am sure it makes sense to some. 

Our final destination was another oldie but goodie

sweet lady janes

fruit tart 

key lime tart

princess torte

berry trifle

if i were alone in my house they would all be gone by me

i would eat them all and happily grumble over the tummy ache

but I am not home alone i have to practice some self control

otherwise people will get mad at me and say things like "hey that was supposed to be mine"

i try to teach sharing and sometimes it is harder than others to practice what I preach.  

A great great day.  Thanks Andi, cant wait to do it again.
as a side note I did blog about our first trip there and it was my second blog post, the now big girls were so cute.

what a great day

I take for granted that I live in a beach town

I know some people who go often

and I get it once you are there it is wonderful

the sound of the waves

the area my girls can cover without me hovering

the warmth of the sun 

total joy.

 

When we first arrived today it was cloudy but warm 

but as the day went on the sun broke through and it was just great.

 

I am working on giving dakota some room to roam

but at the same time keeping her safe.

so today she wanted to go wander the beach

she was with her friends so we moms gave them a pretty good distance

because it one direction there were very few people 

the rule was though if there were going to go they could only go into the water up to 

their ankles.  

All the girls can swim but the ocean is a whole other swimming ability.

So off they went to find sand dollars and practice their independence.

Of course not long after their outing ankles turned into knees and I couldn't the mom in me had to go and reign them in.  

Then miss dakota who was now in front of us went out to her waist and again I had that feeling of 

ahhhhh no not comfortable.

So after today I realized I need to get dakota into real swimming lessons so she can

be the girl swimming in the ocean that she wants to be

not that I will ever totally relax with her in the water but at least if I know she 

is a strong swimmer I will have a teensy tiny bit of calm.

Leela on the other hand was happy to stay and play in the sand.

She had a couple kiddos her age and they were having their own set of fun.

That is what I love about the beach it is an open place to play and there was something for both of my girls

and we were there for a long time and they were both happy the whole time.

looking back and today

I haven't been on here in a very long to and it was so nice sitting down 

last night and going through my old posts and old pictures.

for me blogging really made me quite the creative photographer 

and really what a great way to keep a scrapbook.

But also there is my dad, his thoughts meant the world to me then and 

now mean just that much more.  

I value this and want to share it with the girls someday

but in order to do that I have to post.  

So today we went to a very fun birthday party.

Randy stayed home to scrape the ceilings (fun) so it was just dakota leela and I.

 It was super fun.  we swam and then there was a good old fashioned sack race.

 

And even an egg on a spoon race, a very good time.

 

And these two loves mean the world to me and I am thankful for the life I have.

 

wish me luck

because I am going to give this another go.  not tonight of course that would be silly but i am, watch me.

butterflies alive

We went to a place in Santa Barbara today called Harry's Plaza Cafe

on the menu was a banana split for $25 and if you ate it all it was free.

I was so so so tempted but decided that I needed to plan for it so instead I ate lunch and ordered this

the cookie monster

and I am sad to say with the help of everyone we still didn't finish it.

We were up in Santa Barbara at the natural history museum

checking at the butterflies.

I was amazed at the patience dakota had,

one landed on her dress for a half a second and then it became her goal to have another one do the same.

So she sat for more than ten minutes waiting and waiting and waiting

it didn't happen again but it was so neat for me just to watch her.

We also ventured to the museum's back yard where anyone can push boats down a stream,

make mud pies, dig in compost it is awesome.

Little miss Leela loved it all, especially the hall with the birds

she was a little bit nervous in with the mammals too big for her.

We will be heading back soon.

too much

Do I even remember how to do this.

Just talk and post some pictures right.

Well summer is in full swing for the more girls

dakota is learning how to swim

leela is learning everything

and i am still learning

patience.

We started off the summer with a camping trip with some good friends

up at lake san antonio.

dakota went tubing for the first time and loved it

leela loved jumping off the boat into the water

the long lasting story of the trip though

(along with good memories)

is the song Party Rock by lmafo?

something like that

every time the kids went in the tube that was the song they wanted

the kids were on the tube a lot

we listened to that song

A L O T

and then being the brainy mom I am asked my friend to make us a cd of some of the

music we listened to including but not limited to "party rock"

to make a short story that could be longer shorter

leela is now singing

"pary rock in house too nye eweryone have good tine"

pretty darn cute

and in some ways so not okay.

That is all for now but I really miss this

so hopefully I will be back soon.

in the mean time here are some random pictures.