2,000 miles from here

We started homeschooling yesterday and though the photos look idyllic, it was a crazy day that, if I'm honest with you, ended with most of us in tears.  I know a large part of the frustration was due to how much I had worked up "the first day", to make it an extra-fun-packed-wonderful-day.  And a large part is due to the fact that I had to assert my authority as "the teacher" for the first time...which didn't go over well with "the student".

Anyway, today was a little better, and included Luke's first day of piano lessons which he says he enjoyed (rather unusual for him to admit on the first try!).  And to really ice the cake, this afternoon I got to sit and edit photos.  Oh boy, there is such a backlog of photos!  And the ones I really really wanted to share with you are the ones that made me smile so big, like remembering something that happened ages ago...but which are really from 9 days ago.  9 days ago we were in California celebrating my sister's marriage to Stephen.  Here are a few highlights of that trip.

According to some (short) people, the whole reason for our trip was to see this "Sweet Ginger-Peachy" girl.

Everyone pitched in to help set up.

And people who work hard, play hard.

 

 

This is pretty much all anyone saw of Seamus all night: a wet blur, and a squirt in the face.  He ran around shooting complete strangers with his water gun, laughing and giggling to burst.  Thankfully it was hot and nobody really minded getting wet.

The beautiful Sabrina lights.  Can you believe my parents live here?!  Like, every day.  They wake up and this is where they live.  Man, some days I am so jealous.

Even Grandpa Walter got out on the dance floor!

The bride didn't sit out a single dance.  It was an unforgettable party.

 

California So Far...

We are one week into our California trip and I have just had four rolls of film developed!  This trip is totally digital-camera-free.  It is somehow freeing to know film is all I've got, I do my best, I catch the moments I can, and I let the rest of the moments live on simply in memory. 

My cousin's wedding (the excuse for the trip), was the first wedding I've attended in a long time where I wasn't working, so I took what I considered a bit of a risk and brought only the Pentax K1000.  What fun I had!  And the anticipation of getting film developed only increased my delight when I discovered I had done a pretty great job even without the reassurance of an instant-view LCD screen.  So fun.

We're having a good time, although Seamus is having some trouble adjusting to the time difference (especially since we keep waking him up and hauling him off to do fun stuff!).  And in our remaining week, we have plenty more fun stuff, so perhaps by the time he gets adjusted to the time change it'll be time to go home again.  Poor kid. 

So far on this trip we've gotten to see Aunt Carol and Uncle Phil (Seamus and Aunt Carol share a birthday among other things like their appreciation for dark chocolate), we've attended a wedding, visited Plain Ol' Grammy, seen tons of family, made the wedding programs, went to Bravo Farms, Simonian Farms, played in the water in Grammy and Grandpa's backyard, finished shingling the roof of the shop, listened to a thunderstorm and rain on the patio's tin roof, played with innumerable dogs (each of whom Luke claims to love the best in the world), and eaten lots of great food.  I'm not sure what could be better than eating great food with people you love...except maybe having ALL the people you love in one place at one time.  

We miss you Derek!

 

Bouquet For My Dad

Dear Dad,
         I can't be near you today, when I'd really like to be.  I know you don't need me as much as you need skilled surgeons.  And since that is who is with you instead of me, I am somewhat comforted.  Perhaps you would find my presence comforting; the way I would be comforted knowing you were just behind those Operating Room doors, instead of 2,000 miles away.  I am sorry I am not nearer.  All my thoughts are on you this afternoon and I can't sit still.  I keep calling Mom, Sarah, Melissa, Derek, on the phone.  Listening, waiting, talking, talking and saying nothing important, and waiting to hear the words I'd give anything to hear, which are, "All's well.  He's doing great."  You have been incredibly patient these last few weeks, and now it's our turn to carry on the waiting game.
         While we wait to hear those magic words, I took these photos in my yard.  It's a lovely time of year here.  You would like it.  It's like April in Shafter!  June in Winkler.  My largest tomato plant has set two fruits.  My strawberries are pushing out green fruit.  The lilacs are at their peak, wafting scent up through the kitchen window.  This is my first poppy.  The hawthorne is attracting lots of bees.  I have a tiny "Prairie Joy" rose bud (not pictured).  And daisies and lavender and flax and honeysuckle and chives and irises and lily of the valley and pansies and spinach, spinach galore!  This is my bouquet to you, Dad.  I hope it cheers you.  It has done it's work on this end: reminding me of color, brightness, giving me fresh hope, and getting me out of my house and into the warm growing places you helped and inspired me to make.
          I love you so much, Dad.  So much.  So.  Much.

                                              laura

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.