Howdy, Cowpokes!
It bothers me knowing that I’ve got a slew of pictures and anecdotes that I haven’t had a chance to sit down and process. Life has gone on and I’m just going to have to let some of those moments go because we’ve got new moments happening right before our eyes. We finally got a chance to meet up with Thomas and Lara to visit, we’ve missed them both so much so it was really nice to finally be able to see each other in person. Lara and I dressed the kiddos up in their respective cowboy costumes and let them wander around outside.
It was quite hilarious because they both wandered around without any obvious plan, but they were interested in each other just enough to stay in close proximity. Tons of babbling and demanding yells from both little cowpokes…and both nearly got distracted by the swing, but that was sure to create chaos with their cowboy hats. I taught Thomas how to bellow “Yeeee-HAW!” and I’m sure that Marc and Lara are both glad for that. What else are friends for??
Back home on the ranch, at HBHQ, the Merks stopped by to see our new rock wall and give Syd a few pets. Cameron was especially proud to understand what HBHQ means, it was really cute. Beyond that, he was a great friend to Maggie because she’s got an infatuation with walking on the wall in a dangerous way….but we’ve been through that before, remember? He chatted, she listened and Charlyn, Connor and I watched.
Holiday Cheer @ HBHQ
We invested in some lights and have been working to set them up at our house, first testing them out on a tree out side. Side note: we’re not afraid of setting up lights in the dark…..but doing it in the daylight is easier. Plus, we’ve started sipping on hot chocolate almost daily. I haven’t abandoned my tea, but we treat hot chocolate like a new BFF every year and right now we’re in the getting-to-know-you stage. Last weekend we went down to the Edmonds waterfront and used a Groupon at a little coffee shop. Maggie really, really enjoyed my marshmallow flavored hot chocolate. Sounds gross, I know, but it was good.
We’re headed to Camp Janet to eat some turkey and that has meant that we’re busy making our contribution to the yummy meal….and washing dishes……naked.
Strike that.
I’m baking, but MAGGIE is busy washing dishes naked, with her apron on. She has really been into serving us ‘tea’ from her tea kettle and taking big, fake gulps herself. The girl has a sense of humor and a huge imagination, I love it. I’m working with her to wear clothes on a more regular basis….
That’s all folks!
friends , Mags & Papa , Merks , MMM , Thomas
Sweet Dreams
The Little Miss wasn’t interested in sleeping last night, but she was oh-so-tired. Instead she wanted to sing to her babies, hug them, kiss them, and hold them tight. I totally understood every single move because I want to hug, kiss and hold Maggie tight most nights.
After seeing her tuck her babies in for the millionth time, while I fake slept next to her, I suggested to Maggie that maybe we get up and go find Papa. Two seconds later, the girl was sprinting down the hall towards her dad, leaving her babies safely tucked in bed.
It was a reunion like no other, with hugs and smooches all around, as if they hadn’t said night-night 30 minutes before. So they sat and cuddled and Maggie put on her very best show of acting like she wasn’t exhausted.
Within mere minutes, she was leaned back in Barry’s arms and trying not to let her eyes close. But alas they did close. And stay closed.
I can think of nothing sweeter than that. My girl and her papa….
BAM , Mags & Papa , MMM
A few weeks before we left for Carmel, Barry signed up for a swimming race in San Francisco that was called The Shark Swim or something scary like that. Barry loves water and loves training for races and we were going to be so close to SF at the time, so it seemed like a perfect fit. Plus, who doesn’t want to swim with the sharks that live in San Francisco Bay? The weeks leading up to our departure we’d have different people joke with us about Barry REALLY swimming with the sharks and we’d laugh it off because of course he wasn’t REALLY going to be doing crawl stroke next to a shark….or at least we both nervously hoped he wouldn’t.
But like I said, the man loves to train and he equally loves the water and so he happily went along with swimming a few days a week and talking about his times and worrying about the water temperatures in San Franscisco compared to his swims in the pool and Martha Lake at home. It was all a perfect plan, until we actually got to Carmel. Our car ride down was a bit traumatic (with all the puke and screaming) and the idea of trying to manuever around the city, which was actually a couple hours away, just didn’t seem like such a perfect plan. Ultimately, we decided to abandon the Shark Swim for more low-key activities and fewer hours in the car.
One of those activities included Barry renting a SUP board and paddling around Monterey Bay. We had a bit of confusion about where exactly he was paddling to and I had a a few freak-out moments when I couldn’t find him ANYWHERE on the horizon. Apparently he found out where the boundary was and paddled to the edge of it, a couple miles away from our quaint little beach. I should have guessed that he’d paddle to the boundary…..why not, right?
But it turned out that Barry did indeed swim with the sharks because not two days after we got home did we hear in the news (well actually first from my dad) that a surfer’s arm and board had been bitten by a shark EXACTLY WHERE BARRY HAD BEEN PADDLING. Click HERE for the scary details.
Training for a race and a love for water aside, I am just glad that Barry had some safe water time that didn’t involve a shark.
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