Short visit with Grandma

We headed south this past weekend to cheer up my mom and help her out a bit. She was recently in a wreck and has a broken pelvic bone. Thankfully she is doing fine, but will take a little time to heal. We warned the kids that she probably could not hold them like she usually does and that they could not crawl all over her. That lasted for all of about the first two minutes of being there. Mom was as eager to see the kids as they were her!

And when the day comes to an end and it's time for bedtime stories, if there's a grandmother around, then mom and dad can just forget about reading to the kids, in fact we dare not suggest otherwise.

Capturing the moment

Recently I've allowed Claxton to take photos with my camera. I know we've been a little late in the game with this activity, but there's no way Brian's going to let him play with his camera, and my small one is not very old. But, he's been asking so I finally broke down and let him. He walked around the house selecting very specific items to capture in his work. Here's some of his favorites:

Airplane remotes

The coasters

Sweet Julia

Fruit Bowl

Mom pouring milk

My head

That's the Pacific Ocean

We've been wanting to make it out to California for a while now to hang out and visit some family. It's been almost seven years since we've been married and Brian hasn't had the opportunity to visit since 2001 and we've never been together. While I've been to California several times, it's a first to the Santa Barbara area and Paso Robles. When we left home it was predicted to rain five out the of the seven days we were supposed to be there, but it only rained the first day. Otherwise it was gorgeous, just light sweater weather, but lots of sunshine as you would expect. It was a really nice time to catch up with relatives that we just don't get to see very often. We had talked to Claxton about going to the Pacific Ocean, so every time it came into sight, he exclaimed, "that's the Pacific Ocean, right Mom, right Dad?!" What a fun little traveler he has become!

Highlights of the trip according to Claxton: Seeing Sammy the Seal (the elephant seals), going to the Pacific ocean (even though he could only put his toes in), riding on a trolley, riding on the ferris wheel at the pier, splashing in the puddles with Maddy and Aunt Sybil, and riding in the red jeep with Uncle Sal. Julia's list was a little shorter - playing with Maddy and her toys and going to the beach.

For me, it was absolutely wonderful to get away and have a break from our normal routine. Brian's uncle and aunt own a jeep tour business through wine country and they graciously offered to keep the kids for us one day so we could enjoy a tour. It was fantastic! If you make it out to that area, I highly recommend it, check them out at www.ccjeeps.com.

Claxton has been begging me for weeks to play outside in the rain, but this time of year is just too cold. So I have promised him that when spring comes we will definitely play out in the rain sometime. Needless to say, he was thrilled when I told him on our first day of the trip that we could take a rain walk and that his job was to splash in every puddle he saw. And splash he did!

Julia did her fair share of splashing too.

Playing at the fountain in Ojai

Claxton and Maddy getting ready to race to the next big puddle...

Before we made the track back home, we stopped by the local ice cream shop for a special treat. Let me tell you that these three perched up on these window seats were show stoppers in the town of Ojai on this day. There was absolutely nothing more adorable than watching these guys enjoy their treat. Every single person that passed by took a double take, commented amongst themselves on all the cuteness, and there were even a few that came inside to get a closer look at all this cuteness, who didn't even have ice cream on their radar for that day. I am certain we helped boost the ice cream sales that day. The pictures here just do not do justice, between the glare and the reflections from the cars on the street, the moment is not captured as well as it could have been. But, honestly, you'd have to be blind not to oooh and aaahhh just a little.

We finally made it to the ocean on our fourth day of the trip. And this is as close as mommy would let them go. Brrrr, this water is cold! They both practiced much self-control and only got their fingerstips wet.

A little lesson about shadows

God must have known to put these rocks on the beach to occupy those little ones with so much energy, otherwise they certainly would end up wet...and very cold, especially on a chilly, windy day at the beach! We could spend hours climbing on the rocks.

One of our stops was to observe the elephant seals. And they were LOUD!

The kids said this one had to be Sammy!

A few family photos...

This is at one of the wineries in Paso Robles.
Hanging with Uncle Sal

Uncle Sal rocks! He took us for a ride in jeep.

Another beach stop.

We spent one day in Santa Barbara, this is the crew hanging out on State Street.

A must do for Claxton was the trolley. He spotted one in Ojai on our first day and we didn't hear the end of it until we rode this one. I'm not quite sure if it's all he thought it would be or not, but for a quarter, it was worth it. Can check it off his list now.

I have no idea what is being said here, but certainly Dave and Maddy are amused!


I really wanted a cute photo of the three kids in front of the trolley, but herding cats would have been easier. This is the best one of the bunch.

It's my birthday!The last day was packed with activites. We left Ojai mid morning and made our way to the Pacific Coast Highway. We had promised one final stop at the beach before our trip ended. So we worked our way south to Santa Monica and spent a couple of hours at the pier and the beach.

Checking out Santa Monica from the top of the ferris wheel ride
They finally got to put their toes in the water, still cold, but much warmer than the previous days at the other beaches.

Notice Julia in this photo. I have no idea what possessed her to do this, but we just laughed hysterically as did some others who happened to be passing by! She'll just love us when we pull this one out again in about twenty years from now.

We needed to pass a little time before meeting up with some of my family for the evening. My cousin suggested that we check out the Skirball Cultural Center. Specifically they have a Noah's Ark exhibit that is ongoing with a myriad of interactive items and activities. What a fun way to spend a couple of hours.




A fun time was had by all. Now it's back to the grind with normal life and such. Claxton already wants to know when we are going back to the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully we'll make out it there again before another six or seven years pass.

Random Photos

January has been a bit colder than what we are generally used to in our neck of the woods. Thus we've been inside more and everybody, and I do mean everybody has cabin fever. So, I've tried to keep them busy as best as possible with inside activities.

Playing with moon sand. They both loved it and would play with it every day if I let them. I, however, have decided that this is an outdoor activity from now on. I personally wish I could ban all other similar activities as this too, ie playdough, play foam, but the kids absolutely love these activities. So I endure.

Painting with water

Julia really got into the painting.

Sneaking a few moments at Claxton's workbench, but more importantly was the feat of getting the hat!

It's just second nature

The weather was wonderful here on Friday and we spent three hours at the park with our playgroup. There are five little boys who are all 3-years old plus Julia. We were the only ones at the park for about the first hour, then another mom with a 3-year boy came on scene. It only took a few moments until he joined in playing with the other boys. At one point things suddenly got really, really loud and all of us mom's turned to see what was going on. Words that came to my mind were primitive, savage, barbaric. Six little boys running, chanting, screaming, some beating their chests, some had swords (aka sticks), just being boys, just having the time of their lives. We moms just stood and stared, when at last the one mom that we did not know said, "we really don't teach this at home, I don't know how or where he learned this from." The rest of laughed and told her not to worry. A few of us mom's with boys have finally gotten that our little boys are by nature going to do things that we never even imagined doing. Julia was not part of this tribal community, why of course she was strolling her babies. And once or twice I saw her stop and stare, I'm quite certain she was thinking that these boys must be from another planet. Who on earth would behave like this?

Being a great big brother

We have a system of putting our things away when we get home from being out and about. The routine is very simple - go inside, take off your shoes, put shoes, jackets, etc in your locker. Claxton has adapted to this system well and on his own has become Julia's helper. While he's putting his things away, Julia gets in place on the floor waits patiently on him for assistance. I finally captured a photo of their little routine and had to share it.

New Year, New Look

Happy New Year! We have a new look for the year and hopefully we'll be posting on a regular basis this year - it's one of my goals. Please keep checking back with us to see what's going on in our world.

Conversation during dinner

Me to Claxton: "Tell me about class today."
Claxton: "We played and went to art."
Me: "Did you have a story today?"
Claxton: "Yes."
Me: "What was it about?"
Claxton: "A baby."
Me: "Really, who was it? And was there anyone else around?"
Claxton: "Baby Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph too. Baby Jesus was sleeping on hay. And there were animals there and they liked the hay too."
Me: "Good memory. "
Claxton: "Yeah, and there were two Joseph's."
Me (looking puzzled now): "Are you sure there were two?"
Claxton: "Yes, I'm sure. He had a rainbow coat, his brothers threw him in a hole and ripped his coat. He was very sad."
Me (remembering that he had learned that story a month or so ago): "You are right. There are two different Joseph's, but each has a different story. So, what happened to Joseph after his brothers threw him in the hole?
Claxton: "They sold him as a slave." (at least that's what I thought I heard)
Me: "Do you know what a slave is?"
Claxton: "No, Mom, not a slave. It's a sleeve."
Brian (piping in with laughter): "No, not a sleeve, that's silly. This is a sleeve. (pointing to his shirt sleeve).
Claxton (0bviously over this discussion): "Oh, that is a sleeve. Can I please be excused now?"

O'dark thirty

I admit that I have never been a morning person. I think my mom always tried to make me into one, but the truth is I'm just not wired that way. Never will be. Last week I had to make a trip to Athens and left the house at 5:45 a.m. Yikes, that was hard for me. Today, to ensure I'd be able to vote (because I was not about to take a 3 year old and a 20 month old with me and Brian had to catch an early afternoon flight, plus not knowing how long the wait would be I had to go early) the alarm went off much earlier than I ever desire. So I left the house with coffee and magazine in hand at 6:30 a.m. and was done by 8:40 a.m., plenty of time for Brian to still be able to do everything he needed to before heading to the airport. And go figure, when I left the polls there was hardly a line, so I didn't need to get up at o'dark thirty this morning after all. On the drive home I just kept telling myself how wonderful it was to stand there with all those other folks who all came out to exercise the priviledge to vote. Yep, that's what I kept telling myself. I did notice that most were dressed quite differently than me today. I in my sweats and sneakers; they in their office attire. Made me reminisce a little from what was my life just a few short years ago when I got up at o'dark thirty five days a week, just like the majority of those I know do. And I know I only have another couple of years to enjoy not having to rise so early in the morning. Being a sahm to preschoolers certainly has its perks, doesn't pay much at least monetarily speaking, but yeah for the perks!

Halloween Recap

When I was growing up we always waited until dark to go trick or treating. I guess with this thing about pushing day lights saving time until first Sunday of November has changed things a little. Anyway, we waited until it was almost dark so we didn't get started until about 7 pm. The kids were beside themselves excited. It took Julia all of about two houses for her to catch on to the program. Between Claxton's charm and her sweet innocence, the two together made out like bandits.

Ready for Top Gun

Cute as can bee!

Waiting patiently on Mom to take more pictures...

Got our lights, let's go


Oh brave one...

Julia's two favorite things are puppies and babies and can spot either of them a mile away, so when we arrived here she really thought she hit the jackpot!

Checking out the goods

Yummy!

After all the trick or treating fun was over, we called Grammy and Grandpa so they could see the kids in their costumes. Claxton confidently informed them that we would be going trick or treating again the next night!