amusement

Our weekend (last weekend that is) didn't just include a wedding. It also included a third birthday of a very special and important girl in our world, my best friend's little girl L. They decided to have a day at Six Flags amusement park and since we were headed back from the Bay Area anyway, we made the stop in Vallejo on Sunday.

The day started out cool and foggy (perfect actually), but warmed up nicely by the afternoon. The kids went on a ton of rides, ate ice cream, and watched the dolphins. Both O and L haven't stopped talking about the dolphins and whales. I love it.

It was such a sweet day, but boy did we wear out the kids. O actually asked when we were going home because he was tired. We hardly got them buckled into their seats before both of them were totally asleep for the rest of the ride back to Reno.

Thanks for being such an amazing little girl L and for including us in your life and special day!

Post processing...

Here are some photos of my best friend's little girl. I took them while we were camping in Santa Cruz the other weekend and they are just too sweet to not post. L is a shy, adorable and goofy little girl (or boof-ball as she likes to call herself). She and O are good friends and play well together-it helps that they spend all week at daycare together so they get lots of hang out time on a regular basis. Fifi is already pretty smitten with her, as are we.

Getting to watch the three of these kids grow is such an honor.

The afternoon sun in our camp ground was so perfect, filtered by the big trees and reflecting up from the ocean, which was just over the cliff were we camped. Even with that great light, I wanted to mess around with these shots a little once I had gotten home. Sometimes I wish I could just leave this step out, but I feel like it is part of the creative process for me and I love watching an image go form,
"I like it" to "I LOVE IT".
For these shots, I used actions from the Coffee Shop blog, this is a great resource full of tutorials and freebies. I am a little bit in love with her actions right now- I especially like the Barista for a nice, clean, simple edit as seen above in the photo with all three kids, as well as the Irish Cream from the Coffee Shop bar set. That one is fun to adjust the saturation in and move the photo back to color from black and white. I don't really like the 'softening' part of the actions, but I do love the tones and the depth these give my shots. It is what I feel my images have been lacking and it makes me ridiculously happy to see the images in a way that I have been striving to get. 

I have been learning so much lately just from using these actions/presets. It makes me want to take the leap and purchase a newer version of PS Elements and maybe PS Lightroom . (I have been using my work computer that has CS on it to do the edits and it's really hard to go back to my very old version of PS Elements when I want to process my photos!) Do you post process? What software do you use and do you have any favorite presets/actions that you utilize?

Fun no? I have to get these printed out for her mama!

Beach Camping

Beach camping, it's really the best kind.

The sound of waves lulling you to sleep at night, the moist air making it unnecessary to use moisturizer and the green, oh the green that is everywhere.

We usually go camping in Santa Cruz over the Nevada Day/Halloween weekend, but this year Fifi was just a little too young for us to head out on our first camping trip. We had been talking about going back and then my best friend scored us a sweet cliff-side campsite at New Brighton State Beach. We had a fantastic time.

Over the next couple of days I am going to be posting about our four day trip.

We headed out of town on Thursday morning and were able to pull into camp just after lunch time. We ate, set up camp and rolled around in the grass (tick check!).

Daddy-O had arranged for the us girls to get a massage, so we headed into Santa Cruz to be pampered. That story needs a blog post all it's own... what an adventure.

I haven't giggle like that in I don't know how long.

When we got back to camp we headed down the hill to the ocean.

O and L played in the wet sand and built 'castles'. O screamed when I got to close to the water. (He has some real issues with waves and wind that I haven't figured out yet).

He kept telling me to not get 'muddy' and didn't approve of the fact that we were getting his sister's feet wet in the water.
Fifi, on the other hand, had no issues with the waves.

I love this entire series! The best part, O dipped his toes in the ocean for the first time at the same exact beach.

 She also found the sand to be most delectable.

It felt awesome to sit in the sun and let the sand wiggle between our toes. It had been entirely too long since I had been to the edge of the continent.

127:365

Earlier, he gave her a turn on the tricyle

and 'made' her waffles

in the play kitchen.

Watching them together melts my heart.

I'm so glad they have each other.

fort-head, static

More scenes from this weekend...


static-y fort hair

The fort

king and queen of the couch

BOO!

PS can I get a little feed back on the wya I have been processing photos lately?

fort building

forts are a perfect, long weekend activity.

plus, thet create the best hair-dos, like, ever.

42:365, my favorite

I got a call from the front desk at work today- My niece and nephew (with the help of their mom) had dropped off some of my favorite flowers as a sweet and very unexpected Valentine's Day surprise.
It totally made me smile ear to ear. Not only do I love tulips, but purple. Those kids know me so well!

Turkeys

I got pictures of these turkeys,

this pretty turkey,

and this turkey too.

But I some how managed to not take a picture of the actual bird. But trust me when I tell you that it was big and juicy (and done much faster than we had expected). We had a really nice thanksgiving. The kids had a blast running around together and the icebox cake that O helped me make was yummy, as always.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out around the house, a little bit of thrifting and fabric shopping. Some time in the sewing room and some time brewing a new batch of beer. It was cold and a bit snowy, so we really just hunkered down and enjoyed one another. And isn't that what it is all about this time of year?

History

These two, they have history that goes back further than they even know. It goes back 32 years plus a few if you count their grandma's time laughing and living before their mamas were born.



You see, that little girl is my best friend's baby (er, toddler). My best friend and I have known each other since we were born and I remember telling a checker at the local Safeway, "I have a twin sister, only she has a different mommy and daddy then I do, and she has brown eyes not blue and she is lots taller than me." Yep, that little girl's mama and I are know as the giggle twins and we go waaaay back.

And when she found out she was pregnant with that little girl I was so full of joy and when we found out just two weeks later that we were pregnant with that little boy, well to say that I was excited couldn't even sum it up. We were going to not only be mothers together but have our babies so close in age that it was silly.



Over the weekend we were at their house for dinner and beer bottling (the daddies home brew). The kids were being so cute and it was the first time we really watched them interact and play together, talking and babbling in their own little worlds and language. Giving kisses and bouncing balls off each others noggins. Yep, these two have some history, and I have a feeling they will make some of their own as well.

Knitting Update

Hey! Guess what? I got some knitting done in the last month or so. I have been fun getting my needles and yarn back out again and doing some little projects here and there.
We have had a few new babies born in the first couple weeks of May and it is my duty to make sure they have a hand knit thing or two. For my new niece, a pink Milo.



And for the baby that came from this pretty belly, the Baby Squash Hat- adorable right- that baby girl has the prettyiest kissy lips ever.


Both were easy and fun knits. The sweater will fit baby B. this fall I am sure and keep her toasty warn since it is wool. And the hat for baby H. should be just the right weight for those cooler nights (and days) we are still having around here (what the heck it is almost 80 on Saturday and snowing the next).

Details for both of these projects can be found on my Ravelry, here and here. Next time I do the Milo I will use bigger needles if I use the same bulky yarn or switch up my yarn. I would like to make one in gray for MrO to wear for the summer evenings when we are up in the mountains- I really like that this vest can be worn by either boy or girl. That hat was silly easy and fun to knit. I think I could jump the gauge of needles and yarn and make it a bigger size (or do some math and increase the stitches)- might even be really fun for an adult!

I would really like to make myself something and jump out of my comfort zone of knitting things that are either really small or for the littles in my life. Go big, ya know. The Tea Leaves cardigan is so pretty and I like the February Lady Sweater too. Both have the buttons at the top with an open lower half that will be perfect for my growing belly and for nursing later on this fall when things get chilly but I need easy access to the "girls".

What do you have on your needles these days?

sigh*

O meets Lo and Scooter for the first time, 09-0708

I am a little teary eyed today. Not sure if it is because I had a hard time sleeping last night or if it is because I met my new niece for the first time (if you are family and wanting to know more, you will have to wait for Lo to share the news, it is not my place to do so...) I saw baby B. thru the glass windows in the nursery last night. She was only hours old- Freshly bathed, sprawled out with her arms above her head like she was taking in the best sunny day, every. Ironically she was born on one of the most rainy days we have had in a long time here in the high desert.
She is BEAUTIFUL and it makes me scared and excited to have a new little bundle of my own in only a few short months. I can't believe I am going to be in that place again. All that newness, all that potential, all that getting to know one another- it's sort of overwhelming and crazy, ya know?
We brought O into the hospital with us, he smiled when he saw his new cousin chilling out in her 'sun bath'. He looked at me and said, "Rock?" I asked him if he thought that baby needed to be rocked and he nodded his head yes. I think he will be a good older brother...
The photo in this post is of the new parents- not holding their new baby, but holding O when he was only a day old- look at that little, tiny thing that he was! That blanket he was swaddled in barely covers him from shoulder to foot now.
Have a beautiful weekend friends. I promise to not stay teary-eyed all weekend.... That is until I get to hold that new little bundle and smell her sweet baby smell. But those will be totally tears of joy should they fall.
xo

Death Valley- Day Three

I hope you aren't sick of my camping re-cap. I use this space not only to share with all of you, but as a journal of sorts and it is so important to me to get these memories down before they fade off into the mommy-brain ether....

On Saturday we had a mellow breakfast and got out early to check out the sand dunes.

The wind was still around that day though so they weren't quite as fun as I remember them being from last time- sand in your eyes and in your waiste band aren't all that great.

Poor O. decided that it was a good time to fill up his diaper and had an epic 'field change' to beat all field changes on the top of a windy, windy sand dune. Sand shouldn't be part of any diaper change but it was nearly a blowout and had to be done.
We did get in some kite flying though (perfect weather for that!) and football with Grandpa back in the parking lot. "TOUCH DOWN"!

It was again agreed that a dunk in the pool was necessary so we brought all the lunch stuff , plopped down on a big blanket and had a picnic. We then jumped in the pool to clean up and cool down-though Saturday was not nearly as hot as the other days, so we didn't stick around as long as we had before.
After a quick splash, we headed back to camp for nap time. That is when the funniest part of our trip began. Daddy-O's sister R. headed out for a run (she is training for a marathon and despite the heat, needed to get her miles in for the day). It was Daddy-day care time....
O. fought his nap at first, but finally went down. However, E and N were another story all together. Putting two kids in a hot tent with bouncy air mattresses for a bed and expecting them to doze off quietly to sleep is just plain crazy.
N (the 18mo) figured out the zipper on the tent. We watched, with stifled laughter, as one little, pudgy toddler foot popped out the tent door and then another. I wish I would have had my camera out, especially when, at one point E (the 3.5yr) opened this little 'escape hatch'/"doggie door" on the tent and shoved N right on out and onto the ground. We were trying so hard to just ignore the silliness and continue playing our game of Uno, but the cocktails that the boys were enjoying were not helping the giggles and made keeping quite extremely hard to do.
Finally, T. decided that it was futile and let the kids just skip nap time for the day. He got out the bubbles for them to play with. For some crazy reason or another the wash buckets of water were filled and dumped, making the most spectacular "chocolatte-chocolatte" you have every seen.

I was sort of sad, yet totally relieved that O was still fast asleep for his nap during all of this desert latte making... hee hee.


There was an easy dinner of wieners and burgers that night.

Then off to the play ground for cookies, face painting, swinging, basketball and glow sticks. It was a prefect last night to our awesome camp trip.

On Sunday we packed up camp and headed out for the 7hr drive home. One last group shot of all of us was snapped before we hit the road. Daddy-O and I (and O.) also did a quick visit in the museum and gift shop. We purchased a couple of t-shirts and a new book about deserts for O. (Something we always like to do to support the parks is get a t-shirt or book.) O was amazing on the long ride and slept, sang, read his books and spotted "moo-cows" and "neigh-neighs" along the way.

I am was so glad to have had a little break from work and reality. And even more happy that I have such an awesome set of in-laws to join us on our trip. We had a great time exploring. I think I laughed more laughs then I have in a long, long time. I never had cousins in the same town (or side on this side of the country for that mattere) while growing up, so getting to do this sort of thing with O, and his cousins E and N is a total treat and an only child's dream come true for her kid.
Thanks Death Valley for being a warm sunny spot in our late winter early spring days. It was well worth the drive to get to your intense landscape and beautiful scenery.