Shoes, Glorious Shoes!

Ever since Erin has had friends come over to play (I truly detest the term "playdate!"), I've for some reason really enjoyed looking at their little shoes lined up together. (OK, so these days, the shoes aren't that little, but I digress...) I can't even begin to explain why. They usually just look so, well, happy, especially at the beginning of the school year when they're clean and new! I wish they could tell stories about all the fun things they've done with their owners... the playtime, school time, girl drama, all of it. Today, Erin had two friends come home with her after school, and when I saw their shoes all lined up on the stairs, I just had to capture them. If only these shoes could talk!

A New Beginning, and New Chuckles

TGIF! When we came downstairs, we were greeted with a stunning sunrise through the tree tops. I love mornings like this, when it's just cloudy enough to make the sunrise interesting. (Or, heck! When there is a sunrise, instead of being socked in by fog.) Anyway, I ran to get my camera, jumped outside, and snapped away trying to catch it's beauty.

After my early morning shutter-bugging, I started dealing with our normal morning breakfast routine, and Jim made his morning oatmeal. I've mentioned this in other posts as well, but our pets get to share in the oatmeal leftovers each morning. Molly gets to lick out the bowl, and Mia gets to enjoy the spoon. This has caused Mia to become quite the begging kitty (she's worse than the dog!), and she'll sit quietly by the table, hoping to get a piece of something yummy. Breakfast remains her favorite meal of the day though, and she puts on quite a show for us while she licks that little spoon clean!

And So It Begins...

Day Two of school means that the year has officially begun, and the first homework starts coming home. Like most kids, Erin's not too fond of it, but I have to give her credit - she's gotten much better in the past year about doing it and getting it over with. Today, for example, she had to write a 5-paragraph essay about one of her favorite memories from the summer, and she attacked it like nobody's business. When she was finished, she proudly stood up by the table and read it to me, even making sure to make eye contact with her audience while she read. I have to admit, I was quite proud of what she'd written, as well as her dedication in getting it done. I can only hope that the rest of the year's assignments go this smoothly.

Leaving a Legacy (con't)

Back in June, I posted about the project that Erin's school did in allowing students to create tiles to be affixed to the walls of the school. Erin was very excited to be there during the year that they did it, and couldn't wait to see the new tiles up on the wall. Yesterday was the big PTA event at school (the day the kids found out who their teachers would be), and we thrilled to see that the new tiles had been put up! It took us a while, but we found Erin's tile, right in the middle of the group. It's great to know that it will be there long after she's moved on to her next schools (which will be next year! Yikes!).

Today, though, was even more exciting... The first day of school! For Erin, this is a big year. She's in fifth grade, so it's her last year in elementary school. Oddly enough, we woke up this morning to, of all things, rain. I couldn't believe it. That's so completely out of character for this time of year here! But it didn't stop Erin from putting on her new clothes (and she even got to wear her new school sweatshirt that we weren't expecting to break out until much later), and we walked to school with umbrellas. My grandmother used to say that rain on a big event was good luck. I'll stick to that thinking, because I think this is going to be a GREAT year!!!

Beach Erosion

For much of the summer, Erin and I have gone down to Salt Creek Beach on Tuesdays and Fridays to meet our friends and have some fun. Today marked what will most likely be our last regular visit of the summer, as next week we'll be away and the week after that, school starts. So we packed up the car this morning and headed down. The first thing we noticed, as we went up over the hill right near our house, was that the ocean area was shrouded in fog. Bummer. But who cares? Even an overcast day at the beach is better than a day at home. When we got there, we schlepped down to the beach (it's a long, downhill walk), to find that the beach was, well, small. It's usually a good distance between the water and the sitting areas (even in high tide), but today, that wasn't the case. The high surf that we've been experiencing this week has definitely taken its toll on the beaches. There was a short beach to sit on, and then a 3-4 foot drop (literally!) down to where the water was. And seeing as it was high tide, we had a few times when the waves splashed against that wall o' sand and up and over it. Interesting... It was odd to look down the beach and see that wall stretch as far as the eye could see. This picture isn't the greatest, but you can definitely get the idea.

Of course, the girls certainly didn't mind the inconvenience of having to climb up a cliff face to get back to their towels. They spent much of the time building "steps" in it to make it easier, and doing other things that we couldn't quite see from our perch up above. But in this pic, you can see how much lower they were down there than we were up top! They were STANDING UP! Yikes!

Call to Order

Looking around, it's obvious that the new school year is almost upon us. There are back-to-school sales going on everywhere, and kids are starting to get that moping look they get when they know the fun and games is about to end. Another way to tell is that the PTA organizations start gearing up for the new year as well. Today was the first PTA executive board meeting of the new year at Erin's school. Our new (and awesome!) president pounded the gavel to officially get the year underway, and many of the committee chairs had a chance to give their updates or (like me, for the yearbook) get things approved. It was great to get together with this wonderful group of parents and hear some of the exciting things that that are planned for this year at the school!

Bubble Power

I've been a long-time wearer (and lover) of contact lenses, going back to when I was in high school. I much prefer wearing them to my glasses, especially when it's really sunny out and I need sunglasses. For the last few months, I've been having a problem with my left eye, so I've been wearing my glasses more and more, but with our vacation fast approaching (5 days!), I wanted to make sure I'm able to comfortably wear my beloved contacts. Yesterday, I called my optometrist's office and asked what they recommend these days for cleaning soft lenses, seeing as I've done the same thing for as long as I can remember. The assistant told me that they recommend something called Clear Care, and told me to come by and get a box. As soon as I saw it, it brought back memories of Aosept, which I'd used for years. Well, I read the instructions (including some pretty bold and red warnings about not getting the solution in your eyes before it's had time to neutralize - point taken!), and gave it a whirl last night. WOW! This morning, it was like the lenses were brand new. I successfully and comfortably wore them all day, taking them out just now to take a picture of them bubbling away in their case. Clear Care, where have you been all my life?

The Quest

I'm originally from the east coast, from the Philadelphia area. What that means is that I can drive in snow, I believe football games should be played when it's cold outside, and I know that soft pretzels taste best when you've bought them from a guy on the side of the road. It also means that I grew up eating really good bagels. My family are such bagel fans that even now, my father regularly drives 45 minutes to stock up on what my parents consider to be the best bagels in their area, storing them in the freezer so he doesn't have to schlep out there too often. (For anyone in that area who's interested, their place of choice is Fill A Bagel in Jenkintown.) Now, that's dedication to a good bagel. When we moved back out to California last year, my quest to find a decent bagel commenced. Notice I didn't say a good bagel. After the first few I'd tried, I would have been perfectly happy settling on "decent." Thankfully, the search only took a few months (and more than a few really icky bagels), and I finally found OC Bagels. They're as close as I can come to the perfect bagel out here. They have a nice skin on them, but the inside isn't cake-like. It's bagel-like. It's delicious! Like my father, I tend to stock up, taking advantage of the specials they run on Mondays. But there's nothing better than a nice, fresh, and GOOD bagel to start your day!!!

Shock and Awe

It's that time of year again... Time to assess what in Erin's drawers and closet still fit (ha! wishful thinking!) and what needs to be replaced or purchased anew for the upcoming school year's wardrobe. Erin has always been rather opinionated when it comes to her clothes, and I wasn't expecting this year to be any different. I have to say, she has a great sense of style, and I love most of what she picks out. In the jeans department, though, I knew we were going to have to replace a lot of what she has, as towards the end of last year, they were getting kind of short. Jeans are tough to buy for Erin. She's at that stage where pants that fit her in the hips are usually swimming around her waist, but we've usually had good luck at Children's Place, so we went there first. Erin has a pair of skinny jeans from there, in a size 10, that we bought a few months ago that still fit, so I grabbed a pair in that size and we happily dashed to the changing room to try them on. They were too tight! Poor Erin's belly was squished like no fashion maven would like. Could it be that my baby is needs a size 12?  Yikes. I went out and got a pair, and they actually fit her perfectly.  Hmmm... How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday I was shopping at the back of that store, where the adorable little bootie outfits are, in sizes that end with an M for months, and now she's almost outgrown the store! This will not do. I have to find a way to slow down time! Any ideas on how to do that would be greatly appreciated!

Model Citizen

Last night, Erin and another Girl Scout from her troop, Eliana, had the privilege of going to our town's City Council meeting to present the council with some supermarket gift cards that they'd earned for local Marine families that the city sponsors. The girls had earned the cards over the holidays, when they worked with a local Cadette troop manning the gift wrap booth at the mall,(wow... those were some crazy days! LOL!) but this was the first chance we'd had to get them into the right hands. Instead of having the adults address the Council, we decided to let the girls do it themselves. Eliana said why they were there, and then Erin said how they'd earned the cards. They were nervous, but did a fabulous job! After they did their speech, Councilman Ming came down to collect the cards, and was kind enough to pose for pictures with the girls. As we were leaving, Erin said that she was very proud to be able to do the things she's been doing as a Girl Scout. And I'm so proud of her!

Erin Behind the Lens

In an attempt to not have to help me unpack and put away the groceries this morning, Erin grabbed my camera and started shooting away at the pets. It really amazes me how good she is with my big honkin' 20D, and she doesn't shoot in Auto mode, either! She knows to check her shutter speed (the camera's usually on shutter priority - if it's too dark or light and she can't fix it herself she asks me for help with other settings), and even knows when it would be better to focus manually. Smart kid! Considering I didn't know that stuff until this year, she's light years ahead of me. Anyway, once again I was thrilled to see her results - nice and clear and good pictures to boot! Way to go, Erin!!!  So without further ado, here are her shots!

First up is Mia, hamming it up as always by climbing into the empty grocery bag.

Next is Molly, looking like her regular, sweet self. Anyone out there remember when her nose used to be black?

And finally, one more of our Mia.  And yes, I swear that it's all Erin! I didn't even crop it!

The Sweet Sound of... Sound

Most of the people who know me know that I'm a geek. And I'm married to a geek. Sure, we hide it well to the outside world, but come into our home once, and you can see it immediately. There are "toys" everywhere. Black boxes with buttons and lights that do who-knows-what. The best example of this is in our living room, where it takes five remotes to make the TV and all its little friends work.  The piece de resistance, though, is the PC that runs all of the audio processing for the TV. In layman's terms, it's makes the sound from our TV (which only comes out of two speakers in the front of the room, by the way) kick butt. It's software that Jim's company has been working on, and I'm actually quite proud of it (when I can figure out how to make it work). Anyway, the whole thing's been running off one of the oldest PCs in existence... until today! Today we upgraded that PC to a new one, which will mean that the room will be quieter (the fan on the old one was LOUD!) and that the fish screensaver on the PC will no longer swim in herky-jerky motions. Oh, and it'll sound fantastic. But that's also due to this bugger, the top-of-the-line sound card that Jim uses. (Jim thought I should make a contest with a prize to whoever could identify what it was without me saying it. Isn't he funny?) 

Mmmm...

Not much smells better than fresh baked bread! My friend September introduced me to bread-baking when we lived in New Jersey, and since then, we've purchased very little of it from stores. (My one exception is sourdough... I just don't have the patience for it.) I've made lots of different types, including sandwich breads, pizza dough, even challah. Lately my two favorites are these Italian or French recipes. I make the full recipe, but bake them into four mini-loaves; each one is the perfect size for one dinner. I keep them frozen until I need them, and then defrost them and warm them up in the oven. Just like fresh-baked! The last few times I've made it, I've done the Italian, and this afternoon, Erin asked me to do the French instead. Now the question is simply if all four loaves will still be intact by the time Jim gets home...

She Really Did It!

Today we make a long-awaited visit back to Sea World in San Diego. (Long-awaited for Erin, anyway. She's been asking and asking and asking about going back since, well, since the last time we went!) Amazingly, we made it there this morning with absolutely no traffic. We spent our first half hour getting completely soaked on the Shipwreck Rapids ride, and then enjoyed the Blue Horizons dolphin show. (No pictures from that today as Erin insisted we sit in the aptly-named "soak zone." And yes, we got SOAKED!) It was a fabulous, fun, and sunny day! Towards the end, Erin went on a feed-the-animals kick, feeding the sea lions, flamingos, and yes, the bat rays. That last one shocked me. For one thing, the last time she was near the rays, she refused to touch them. But for another, they eat squid. Erin hates squid. Not in the "I won't eat that" way, but she doesn't even like to touch the stuff. So the fact that she willingly touched both the raw squid AND the rays in the same year was amazing. And she loved it... would have bought a second tray of squid if I'd let her. Will wonders never cease!?!

Surfer Girl

It's hard to believe that when we first moved here, Erin was greatly intimidated by the ocean. Granted, the extent of her ocean experience was in the Caribbean waters, which are warm and calm, rather than the SoCal Pacific, which is just the opposite. But in the middle of last summer, she declared that she wanted a boogie board, and she set out with a determination to learn to use it. Looking at her this summer, it's hard to believe that this is the same kid. She now sails over the waves and rides them in like a pro. This summer (at least when we've been home) we've been going to the beach a few times a week with some of our friends, and today was one of those days. The girls were in the water for almost 3 straight hours, and, as usual, had a great time!

Oink Oink!

Today we had plans to have lunch with some friends, and the kids decided that the perfect place to go would be Farrell's. We waited patiently for our table (it's incredible how popular this place is!) and enjoyed our meal. When it was time for dessert, the girls decided to order the infamous Pig's Tough. For those of you who did not grow up with Farrell's, the Pig's Trough is basically a double-sized banana split. Those who are able to finish it are "rewarded" by having their accomplishment announced to the entire restaurant and ordered to stand on their chairs and oink like pigs, before being given ribbons to commemorate the event. Sounds like fun, no? Well, our girls didn't let us down! They dug into the thing like there was no tomorrow, and after a break or two, managed to finish it off. If only they'd eat their veggies with such gusto!

Getting Ready!

For a few weeks now, Erin's been chomping at the bit to go shopping for school supplies, and she was thrilled when I heard this morning from a teacher-friend at her school that the supply lists were posted. She insisted that our first stop this morning be the school so she could make a copy of the list, and then we could hit the stores. It's incredible how long these lists were (I don't remember needing all this stuff when I was in 5th grade, and I'm not even sure we needed a binder then, let alone a 3-INCH one!), but we actually managed to get most of it in one stop this afternoon. What a stash! I'm glad we still have a few weeks to enjoy before she has to lug all this to school! That'll give us time to get everything else she'll need, including clothes, shoes, yada-yada-yada. Yikes.

And of course, as I was setting up the shot, Mia just had to get in on the action. Some things never change!

Long Time... No Post

Wow... It has definitely been a long time since I posted a Picture of the Day. That's what a summer vacation full of travel and houseguests can do, I guess. My mother actually emailed me last night to ask about it. How embarrassing. So I'm going to try to be better about taking and posting my pictures each day, starting with today!

Today, Erin and I visited the San Diego Natural History Museum for the first time. I had been warned that it is a smaller museum (we're used to the museum in New York, which is the gold standard), but it was quite a fantastic place to visit! Erin loved the floor that was devoted to dinosaurs and fossils, and especially liked this activity, where she had to put the picture blocks in the correct order, and then was rewarded by the computer narrating the entire story for her, one picture set at a time. It was very unique, and she got each set right! 

Eventually, Erin got hungry, and we headed down to the cafe to get some lunch. While we were waiting for her hotdog, I figured I'd play around with the camera, and wound up getting this fantastic shot of Erin's eye!  When I got home and looked at it on the computer, I couldn't believe how clear it came out! Take a look at her gorgeous lashes! And it's so clear you can even see the outline of her contact lens. Wow!

The Fairy Ring

Yesterday was a glorious day for us on our trip. In the morning, we visited Winterthur, the country estate built by Henry Francis DuPont to be a museum. The 175-room house (!) and 1,000 acres of land surrounding is makes it the largest of the DuPont estates, and it really is quite a site to be seen. We first enjoyed a family-focused tour of the 5th floor, which included rooms decorated in the Federal style and one that was completely lined with 18th-century Chinese wallpaper. It was fascinating to hear our tour guide talk about what it was like for DuPont's two daughters to grow up in this enormous museum of a house. After the inside tour, we walked around the grounds some, with our goal being the recently-added Enchanted Woods, which was set up to be a children's garden. One of the areas was a circle of what looked like toadstools. The sign next to it warned visitors, "Never, ever step inside a fairy ring." Erin not only stepped inside the ring, but sat on one of the toadstools, and immediately, the ring filled with a cool mist. It was incredible - cool, refreshing, and totally magical. Certainly not something that will be forgotten any time soon.

Little Visitors

My parents have done a lovely job of decorating the outside of their house, and one of the areas that I just adore is the collection of bird feeders hanging near the deck in the back of the house. They have four of them: two for hummingbirds, one "sock" feeder, and one more regular type. Sitting at the kitchen table, it's wonderful to watch the birds come and get their fill of seeds (when the mourning doves don't scare the rest of them away). Last night, I was able to creep out onto the deck (no easy feat, seeing as I had to open and close both the slider and the screen door to get out there) and got some shots of a Goldfinch that was enjoying an upside-down snack at the sock feeder. I'm hoping to get more shots of him and his friends in the sunshine before we leave, but for now, this will do!

Reunited!

Today was a joyful reunion, as I picked up my beloved (and recently lost) Kindle at the Philadelphia airport. Even though I was pretty sure that the one they had was mine (I mean, how much of a coincidence would it have been if there had been two Kindles left on my flight?), I still almost held my breath as Dad and I drove to the airport this morning. When I asked at the ticket counter about it, as I'd been instructed to do, they smiled and handed my precious electronic travel partner back to me. I hugged it all the way home. And I'm fairly certain I'll never repeat THAT mistake again!

So Lonely

I am usually a very organized person, and it's very rare for me to lose something, especially something important. So when I couldn't find my Kindle yesterday morning, it was very strange. I looked everywhere (and my parents' house isn't really that big - there were a limited number of places it could have been hiding), and then started to despair. The last time I knew for a fact that I'd had it was on the plane from Newark to Philadelphia on Wednesday morning. Rut-roh. I immediately went into "oh crap" mode. I filled out a form online with the airline, but didn't really think anything would come of it. Then Dad and I decided to go to the airport and talk to the lost baggage office to see if, by chance, someone had found it. The woman in the office, Suzette, was incredibly helpful and nice. She made a few calls, and the people on the other end checked in a few safes. Finally, she spoke to someone who said that yes, a Kindle had been found on the Newark inbound flight on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, it's currently locked in the office of a woman who won't be back until Monday. But I'm thinking it it's probably mine, so we'll be going back on Monday, hopefully to reunite me with my electronic friend. In the mean time, though, its charger remains alone, so alone. Hopefully not for long!

That's Hot

We seem to have a problem. We seem not to be able to visit my parents when we're not doomed to experience extremes in the weather in one direction or another. In December, we froze our bippies off (when we left to return to the airport, it was a chill-inspiring 14 degrees). Erin and I arrived here this morning for what is destined to be an incredible two-week visit, only to encounter record temps in the other direction.  Hmmm... Thankfully, the house is nicely air conditioned, and we have plenty of indoors activities to choose from (including just enjoying each other's company!). And daily visits to the community pool are also in the forecast. Now we just have to hope that we don't all melt!

Almost Time!

It seems like we've been counting down forever (since February!), but tomorrow is the day that Erin and I leave to spend two weeks with my parents in Pennsylvania! I don't like being away from Jim that long (and I'm really not looking forward to my reunion with my two least favorite friends, Heat and Humidity), but I am really looking forward to spending that much time with Mom and Dad. We're planning to see a lot of relatives that I haven't seen in a very long time, some of which Erin's never met at all (!), and I'm even going to get to go to one of my Dad's camera club meetings (woo-hoo!), but what I'm looking forward to most is all the laughter that I know this trip will include. So anyway, after all this waiting, the packing fun has begun. My father taught me very well when it comes to packing, and although Jim laughs at me almost every time we have to do it, it's something that he knows to leave to me to make sure that everything both fits and doesn't get overly wrinkled. Today we started with Erin's things (which are traveling in her very own pink suitcase!). As if the color of the luggage didn't give it away, you can definitely tell she's a girl - just look at all those SHOES!

Inactivity at Its Best

This week's 2Peas photography challenge theme was "activity." I actually took a picture today that is a great demonstration of the exact opposite of that. This is probably Mia's all-time favorite perch. When the shutters are open, she will literally lay on top of this chair, staring out the window (or curled up in a snooze) for hours. She loves that she can see out the front walk, and it's a nice spot to catch a little warm sunshine (after the fog burns off, that is). Ah... It's a cat's life!

Here It Comes...

June Gloom is still sticking around, although it does seem to be burning off a little earlier each day. Tonight, though, we saw it once again rolling over the hill at the end of our street again, like a blanket coming in to cover us all.  I actually love when it does this. One of these days, I'll grab Erin's Flip video camera and take some video of it. You can literally see it gliding over the hill. It's quite something to see!  Jim likes to call it "nature's air conditioning," and if that's not a positive spin on our nightly cocoon of coolness, I don't know what is!

June Gloom - In July

I was not naive enough to expect a miraculous and instant end to the so-called "June Goom" just because we turned the calendar to July, but this morning's fog was particularly thick. Looking out our bedroom window this morning, we could barely make out the houses across the street behind our house. The good news is that it burned off before noon today, and we're now enjoying sunny skies and warm breezes. Now THAT feels like summer!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The last few days have truly been something of a blur, and I've fallen a bit behind in doing my daily pictures. Let's see... What's been happening?

Wednesday was the last day of school. Technically, it was only a half day, as the kids got out a little before noon. To celebrate, Erin and I went to Farrell's with some friends for lunch and (of course!) ice cream! The girls were so excited to be ending their respective grades (Erin and Lauren ended 4th, Katie ended 2nd), and our waitress announced it to the entire restaurant, only adding to their giddiness.

On Thursday, Erin's Girl Scout troop had their final awards ceremony of the year, followed by a pool party. Erin was so excited to get her hard-earned awards, including her Junior Aide award!

On Thursday night, Jim's sister Ann arrived for a visit from Toronto, and yesterday (Friday) we decided to go down to Sea World for the day. What a fantastic time! We saw the Pets Rule show, finally saw the Shamu "Believe" show (which was awesome!), and rode both of the water rides, getting completely soaked in the process. It was all such fun! Erin was especially happy to have someone go on the Journey to Atlantis flume ride with her (Jim wasn't too keen on that one - LOL!), and I'm sure if we'd had the time, she and Ann would have ridden it over and over again.

Tread on This

A month or so ago, as I pulling out of the garage, Jim bent down and looked at my front tires with a look of concern on his face. I hadn't noticed it before (duh, I'm a woman!), but they were really worn. Very surprising, seeing as my car at the time had less than 9,000 miles on it. Hmmm... Well, things like that tend not to get better, and this weekend, we got my little hot hatch new tires. Now, that might seem like a silly thing to take a picture of, but it's so nice to look at those front tires now and not see the wear markers!

No More Pencils, No More Books

Around here, school starts relatively early (right after Labor Day), but goes really late. It's the price we pay for having a full week off for Thanksgiving and two full weeks off around the winter holidays. Erin's last day of school is actually this Wednesday (and they get out at 11:50am that day), but today was the last day that she had to schlep her backpack to school. It came home weighing about a ton, and I'm almost afraid to open it and see what's in there. But I do know this... We're both very excited about the summer being so close that we can just about taste it!

Lap It Up

Today was the last Friday assembly of the school year at Erin's school, and I stuck around to see what would happen. One of the topics covered was the awards for this year's Running Club. Each of the kids that participated was wearing their bibs, showing off the number of laps run on one side, and the "medals" (stickers) earned on the other.  Erin was very proud of herself, earning a gold medal sticker for running 45 laps in the five weeks of the event. When I got a close look at her bib, I loved seeing the words of encouragement that the coordinators had written on it. What a fantastic idea to motivate the kids to get moving!

Remote Farm

I've heard quite a few people saying that remote controls are just too confusing. Ha! They should try to get OUR living room set-up to work! We literally have five, yes, FIVE! remote controls that make the various black boxes do what they're supposed to do. From left to right, #1 controls the BluRay/DVD player; #2 is for the TV, but is usually only used to switch components; #3 is the all-holy DirecTV remote; #4 controls the PC that runs the audio software (written by Jim!) that controls the (duh) audio, and is used to control the system's volume; and last but not least, #5 is for the AppleTV. Wow... I guess this is what happens when you marry an audio-geek. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I want to watch something in the living room and I can actually make it all work right. But most of the time, when left to my own devices, I'm perfectly happy watching in our bedroom, which thankfully runs on just one remote. Oy!