Lake Tahoe

From Fallon we traveled to South Lake Tahoe and spent the night there with the J. Lewis clan. I forgot how much I love and miss the mountains, fresh air, and clear water.

"Home means the sage and the pine."

We started our trip 2 weeks ago with the longest drive...to Fallon. Blondie loved getting reacquainted with her cousins and I loved watching her.


We also got to see a lot of family, eat a lot of good food, and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Life in the Volvo

Last Saturday we left the heat of Phoenix on our adventure through Nevada and California. The Man has 2 Weeks paternity leave from work so we are taking advantage of the time off to be with our families.
We traveled 13 hours to Fallon through possibly the most barren part of the west and stopped in Goldfield , NV where they were having "Goldfield Days". Talk about the most pathetic street fair I have ever seen and when Snaggletooth wanted to touch my newborn baby I decided it was time to go. I used to be defensive about the landscape in Nevada, but now I agree with E when he says "barren wasteland". The drive was so long especially with 2 kids under 2. Gratefully Mae slept the whole way and Blondie was pleasant until the last hour or so.

We spent a few days at my parents house in Fallon and Blondie loved getting reaquainted with her cousins. On Wednesday we went to Tahoe with Lindy, Kiersten, my mom and the kids. I don't remember South Tahoe being so beautiful.
We are now in Valencia with E's family enjoying another break from our car.

Pictures will follow when we get home...

caught in the rain

parenting the second time around is so different: i am not a hand-washing nazi, i don't keep track of mae's schedule (feeding and sleeping), and i'm not near as careful about anything.

last weekend when The Man's dad came to visit we decided to take a walk one evening. i am dying to get out of the house so i take every opportunity to do so. we took off with Blondie in the jogger and mae in her stroller. the sky was cloudy enough to cool things off just a little. i always think that the park is about a block away when in actuality it is about a mile. as blondes is swinging, sliding, climbing, and giggling, the sky appears darker and the wind kicks up and so we head home. i feel totally irresponsible to have my little (at the time) 2.5 week old out and to make it worse...in the rain. it starts to pour and mae's stroller doesn't have a full canopy and i only have a little receiving blanket to shield her. by the time we get home we are all drenched me, the man, blondie, papa, and little mae.

poor mae...this would not have happened with a first baby.

Mae: 3 Weeks Today

save the stump!

a few days ago little miss mae's stump of her umbilical cord finally fell off and was replaced with a sweet belly button.

is it totally gross that we saved blondie's stump? e heard somewhere that some culture puts the stump into a doll for whatever reason. probably for longevity, fortune, or health. hmmm, what else could it be for? i planned on making a doll to put blondie's into and never have. so yeah, i still have in little jewelry box a shriveled up little piece of umbilical cord. mae's will soon join it i'm sure.

perhaps though, i will decide to be superstitious and make a couple of freaky looking dolls.

building a fort, tearing it down, and cleaning up the mess

Untitled from gardiner4 and Vimeo.