"Hit the beaches!"

A perfect Friday morning: sun, water, Megan and Margo.

This little guy fussed about the coolness of the water for a while, and clung to Megan like a drowning kitten, which we found endearing.  Eventually he calmed down enough to exercise his curiosity and make a few tentative splashes with his palms.

Dyck tradition insists you shout at the top of your lungs as you race towards the water, "HIT THE BEACHES!!!"

The best of the best.  A snuggly warm baby in the lap of a mother-to-all: Seamus and Margo

On a drifty day

With snowflakes as big as my thumb falling and a soft downy cover over my garden, I remember California.  People have been asking me excitedly, "SO.  How was your trip to California?!"  You'd think I'd have a lot to say.  We were there for an entire month!  We did so many fun things, visited interesting places, saw people we don't see very often.  But mostly my answer is, "It was good."  And somehow I feel like I should apologize for that brief answer.  So as an explanation . . .

We were in California long enough to get into a groove of our own; long enough to feel comfortable enough that we could daydream about living there.  We did fun things, and saw people we don't normally see, but mostly we just pretended like we lived there.  We took advantage of having my parents at our fingertips.  Dad made salads and BBQd, Mom went to work and we took evening trips to Bakersfield, I went out to the grocery store and left the baby with his grandpa, Luke and grandpa flew balsa wood airplanes and grandpa told the story of putting together a plane with his Dad and just when they tossed it into the air for the first time, a dust devil came by and the plane went up and up and up . . . and they never saw it again.  We held starfish and jumped rope with seaweed and painted our faces with wet stones and walked among the giant sequoias and fed the giraffes and played blocks and dinosaurs and marbles at great-grandma Judy's house.  We walked in the almond orchard and fed the neighbor's calf malva weeds through the fence.  We had a fire in the grotto, photographed old junk in the yard, mowed the lawn and ate cold chicken while sitting in the grass after a morning's yard work.  We picked cotton and got an ice cream cone and wrote words in the leaves piled on the grass and picked lemons and threw the rotten lemons at the pampas grass to see the birds shoot into the air. We had a slumber party with Auntie Lissa and danced to her rap music at Brookside over biscuits and gravy.  We walked to the park and walked to the museum and walked around the block to visit an old friend and walked around town to look at Christmas lights and when we heard the sheep braying down the way, we walked to find them.  We happened upon people we knew and met up with the old men at the donut shop.  We sang songs in the car and did yoga before bed and watched funny sitcoms in between conversations about theology and Life.  It was home again, for a while.  

And that is why I say "It was good."  Because there's not much more to say.  It was. So. Good.

Here are my favorite photos from our trip - sorry if it takes a long time to load; I didn't skimp out!  It's so hard for me to choose favorites from a file full of photos of my favorite people and places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Derek,

      The boys and I are missing you.  Especially at bedtime when you would normally read stories, help bathe and dress Luke, and give hugs and kisses before tucking him in.  Seamus seems to know you're missing too and keeps saying, "Da da da da da da", which we are pretty sure means, "Where the heck did my Dad go and how come he didn't take me with him?!" 
       Today we went to the beach with my parents.  We all squeezed into Mom's corolla and hit the road around 9am, which I thought was quite an achievement considering we were only out of bed and blinking around 7:45.  Well, except for Dad, who was up earlier to go to Shafter and help Phil and Carol with an alternator thing...I don't know what all.  We managed to make it to Tobin James in Paso Robles before we needed a stop.  Bad timing I know, to need a bathroom break just when we get to Tobin James.  But we decided to make the best of the situation and taste some wines.  Look up the wine Barberra.  That's the one I'm coming home with.  The merlot I also purchased will not make it home I'm afraid.
        We made it to Pismo just in time for a bread bowl of chowder from Splash and a walk on a very windy and sandy beach.  Poor Seamus, I set him down on the blanket on the sand for about TWO seconds and the blowing sand got all over him.  We'll be finding sand in his crevices for weeks (and my camera's crevices!  ick.).  He was brave though, no tears, even though that had to be strange and uncomfortable.  We had stellar weather.  We were all peeling off layers of sweaters, and long sleeves.  Luke decided to streak while we were trying to get his swim trunks on...I have some pretty funny pictures of that to show you.  If not for the wind, it would have been a perfect day to play in the water.

         Anyway, we ended up in Arroyo Grande Village to have ice cream at Doc Bernstein's and then at a wonderful antique store just up the way and when we left the antique store it was 4pm!  We had planned on driving up the coast towards Ragged Point to let the boys get a nap, but we only got as far as Morro Bay before the sun set and it was dinner time.  So we watched the sun set over the bay, enjoyed a spectacular show put on by some hungry pelicans (they were truly amazing circling and then DIVING into the water with a mighty sploosh!  Luke laughed out loud and shouted, pointing.  He would have jumped up and down but we were already buckled back in the car when we noticed them), and drove up to the rock to watch some waves crash against the breakwater.. 

         Then, in true California fashion, we had supper at Taco Temple where we met Santa Claus and Luke got his photo taken with Santa next to his plate of half-eaten burrito, and Grandpa told Luke all about the poor forgotten shiny-tailed reindeer George, who is the reason car's tail lights are red, and who everybody ignored once Rudolph turned up with his glowing red nose to steal all the glory.  And we drove home in the dark, whispering over the warm, sleeping heads of our two wonderful sons.

           I sigh when I think of today because it was such a splendid, beautiful, warm, sunny day after four?  five? days of dark cold fog.  And I sigh when I think of today because it was so incredibly wonderful to share our boys with my parents, and see them together, and think sadly of all the time we don't get to spend with them (an unhelpful exercise, I know, but I can't help it).  And I sigh when I think of today because it was so close to perfect, if only you had been here.

xoxox,

laura