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Activities for Kids, Aptos, Family

Sunset walks on Fridays

Well, it’s been 3 months now since we’ve moved back to California. For some reason it feels like longer than that, but still 3 months, all the same. Although this gorgeous weather has been making it easy to remember the good things about living the coastal life, I think we’ve had a hard time adjusting. I’m working from home now and Rob is home with the kids all day. Temporary I know, but still hard when I have to be “on” at work to get projects done and sit in on conference calls, etc. and the kids are crying or screaming or the TV is blaring. It’s been hard for me to turn Mom off and work on. But, bless Rob’s heart, he’s doing the best he can to keep the kiddos occupied and engaged, and every morning we have our morning meeting upstairs in the office to talk about the day’s schedule so he knows when to get the boys out of the house. At the same time, Jace is very clingy to Rob and desperate for friends again, so we’re anxious for him to start preschool around here to get back into some kind of routine where he can build up his independence again. And Mr. Walker is in that delicious baby stage where he’s more alert and awake and wants to be active with Jace, so even more to think about, on both Rob and I’s part (especially with all the bite-size toys and legos around here!). This work home life is truly a blessing, we just need to get better at it. And I know Rob will eventually go back to work once he finds something that suites him, but for now, we’ll just have to juggle the every day and support each other in getting balance and some alone time, where we can turn the attention back to ourselves and hit the gym, or the mani salon, or just wind down together on a Friday night after the long work week with a sunset walk on the beach. Nothing is more enjoyable than skipping rocks into calm waves, smelling that ocean air and seeing Jace run up and down the beach with the sunset in back view. That little one has so much energy, which is part of the reason we’re so spent by the end of every day! We do thank God for this chance right now to keep the boys home and not in daycare, and need to remember to simply enjoy it before schedules kick in again and late night movie loft nights aren’t an every day thing. For now, I’m going to enjoy the craziness because it lets me have lunch with my family every day and snuggle Walker when he wakes up from his naps. I also think these sunsets walks need to officially become a weekly ritual, to help us reflect on the week and the gift of each day we’re given.

Activities for Kids, Halloween, Santa Cruz

At the pumpkin patch

Happy fall, friends. You could definitely say we’re falling in over here. My kiddos are still too young for scary movies and most other Halloween things, but picking out and carving pumpkins is finally fun! Last weekend we went up to Rodoni Farms .. [remember our first trip there with baby Jace? :**(( ..] and picked out our pumpkins. Jace took it very seriously and was on a mission to the find the biggest one possible. And Rodoni doesn’t disappoint. They’re located on a massive hill overlooking the ocean, with rows and rows of every kind of pumpkin imaginable, and size! They also have a fun corn maze, face painting and other kid-friendly obstacles.

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Aptos, Cher Joy, weekend

About today

So, about this day .. it was perfect. Borderline heavenly (queue some Russell Dickerson). There was so much happiness flowing through our veins this day we almost couldn’t stand it. It was a Saturday and the weather was gorgeous. The beach was glowing. And the whales jumping! After all the stress of moving and putting our house up for rent, and the long nights with a newborn, and the trials with a toddler .. we needed a day just like today. To remember that life is good, and we are together as a family. That things feel slow again; not yet easy, but slow. We packed a cooler for the day with some delicious snacks and a bottle of the American Summer Chandon (thanks to our Heather!) .. we put Tom Petty on the blue tooth and just beached out all day. Jace is officially obsessed with the beach. And how on point is his beach outfit? Including his new shades from Grandma and Papa. Humpback whales are migrating to Alaska right now and are all up and down our coastline eating anchovies, so all day we stared into the waters to see whales jumping up and their fins splashing. Whale watching is so awesome when it’s free! The smell of the ocean air, the warm sun .. it really doesn’t get better than this. At times I get these rushes of guilt, like I don’t deserve this expensive California life we’re living and the relaxing beach days, but then I remember that it all happened for a reason. We wouldn’t be here if things weren’t set in motion to bring us here. I love seeing Jace run up and down the beach, and Walker’s little chubby baby feet in the sand. So for now, I’m going to keep soaking in these summer beach days as we have them and not feel too guilty that this is where we live again. It’s real, I just need to enjoy it!

Activities for Kids, Cher Joy

Around here lately

Oh, hi. Coming back to share a few things that brought me joy last week. One being Mother’s Day. Although the day was spent running around celebrating our Moms around town, I was still fortunate enough to enjoy all the travel time with my boys.  Here are some blurry shots of me with my sweethearts!

I’ve also been enjoying Walker’s chubby thighs. I just want to bite them! Instead I kiss them all day long. So deilcious. 

Rob and I had our first date night last week, too. We went to a Rours and Pours event at the Phoenix Zoo .. it was such a beautiful night and my first time just strolling the zoo without having to run after Jace face. I think Rob and I are going to need more regularly planned date nights, now that we have two kiddos to wrestle. It’s so important! 

We have a hummingbird nest in our backyard that Rob has been obsessing over – Mr. birdwatcher that one – and he even captured some up close pictures of the Momma and babies. Too cute. We definitely can’t go without documenting this fun day, staring at the hummingbirds one Sunday.

I always love doing little art projects with Jace, to keep his mind exercised in some way! This one lasted like 5 minutes, but it was fun all the while! Jace gets pretty excited about any activity or project we give him, which just melts my heart. I’m also loving Jace’s new Daddy-style hair cut .. !

The Arizona heat is here just about so we’re trying to prep ourselves with pool time and early day plans. Then we walk into our cooled house where we keep it at around 73 degrees >D Hope you’re having a nice week in your parts!

Family, Giving Joy

April’s Gift for a Friend: Goodbye & Good Luck Sister!

My sister is moving to California next month so I thought I’d do something extra special for her to get her in the Cali groove, including some new shades I know she’s been eyeing for quite some time now and a new girl-power tank to get her pysched out for her new work territory. Just a couple things to make her feel excited and uber-confident about her new job and adventure. Love you, Pam! I will miss you but know you’re going to love that ocean air, and more quality time with your honey! ;) See you soon. (I can’t believe I used “uber” in a sentence!)