Lions and tigers and bears

… several of whom were sleeping during our visit to the San Diego Zoo yesterday, but we were still able to see an amazing variety of animals in action.  The bus tour is highly recommended.  M was very taken with the monkeys, not so much with the flamingos and C loved seeing the baby hippo and the elephants.  While on the bus tour just after the lunch hour, and apparently nap time for quite a few animals, C repeatedly offered to try and wake them up.  M waved and said “hi” to each animal too: “Hi, giraffe!  Hi, elephant!”  Both girls were troopers during the longer than usual day – they must have known there would be ice cream.

San Clemente Pier

Grandma and Grandpa arrived last Thursday from KC for a week-long visit.  We headed down to San Clemente Pier on Saturday morning, to amazing waves and darn good eats.  The pigeons at lunch were some of the bravest (and most irritating) I’ve ever seen and quite successfully scared the ever-loving life out of M and C.  I even feared for my toes under the table a few times.

Fridays of Few Words: Thank you, Stevie

Sundress, bare shoulders, flip flops and 80 degrees.

And a little Stevie Wonder (heard randomly while shopping this morning) to make it all that much more perfect.  Doesn’t it just sound like sunshine?

A close second

Our days of take-out for dinner multiple nights each week have declined dramatically since we’ve been out here, thankfully.  Having all four of us under one roof again has rekindled my desire to cook (which is quite relaxing for me actually), inspired more creativity with morphing leftovers into something we’ll actually eat again, and motivated me to get us all around the table for a family meal.  And let’s be honest: it’s friggin’ expensive to live out here so however I can stretch a dollar, I’m game.

BUT, there is the once in a blue moon evening where the Hubs gives me “the look”, and I look back at him and practically in unison the cooking plan in scrapped and we opt for burgers after the munchkins are in bed.  I went 13 years of not eating red meat before I got pregnant with the girls (yes, 13) and once I gave in to the cravings I’ve never turned back.  The anti-red meat spell was happily broken back in the spring of ’09 at none other than Five Guys.  We even took a picture to honor that day (sigh).  The Hubs practically danced on the table at the prospect of FINALLY getting to show off his manly grilling skills with an honest-to-god steak, as it had no place on our grill prior to then.  Really, who wants to grill a lonely little steak all by itself next to some veggie burger?  That poor steak would be offended. So from that point forward Five Guys has held a very special place in my heart and stands on a pedestal high above any other burger contender.  There really wasn’t ever a close second.  Until now:

Ah yes, the In-N-Out burger, Cali native and also the first drive-thru hamburger stand in the state back in 1948.  Burger history lesson of the day… check.  Quite a different concoction than the Guys’, but in my humble opinion, officially giving them a run for the money in this house and hereby added to the list of Cali love.

C is for cookie

C and I made cookies together after nap time one afternoon this week.  M decided to go for a longer nap so I took advantage of some one on one time with C.  I opted for an all-natural mix that requires measuring, adding water and stirring.  Easy peasy and perfect for my short attention span child.

After we got the first batch in the oven C had fun transferring dough from one bowl to another, and smashing the heck out of it.

Yes, this is C. The pursed lips make her look JUST like M here.

She was quietly narrating her actions as she went along, one of her most endearing traits, intently focused on the task at hand.  As I sat back and observed, the very clear memory surfaced of doing almost the exact same thing with my grandmother when I was a wee one.  My grandmother was an amazing cook and baker, from oven fried chicken and the BEST mashed potatoes to melt-in-your-mouth Slovak pastries and yeast breads.  When she would babysit me from time to time she would make up a batch of raisin bread dough and pull off a chunk for me to play with.  I would balance on an old metal chair to reach the kitchen counter, where I would happily spend what seemed like forever pulling, kneading and pounding that dough until it was likely overworked and destined for a flat, tough result.  But miraculously whatever Grandma H. did to that bread it always turned out.  Thirty plus years later and I still vividly remember those days with her.

Once M woke up the girls enjoyed the fruits of our labor, complete with cold milk of course (a nod to Papa’s firm belief that “there’s nothing better than a cold glass of milk”).  Most definitely an activity to be enjoyed again soon.

Ever-so-slightly belated

I’m very, probably too familiar with the concept of belated.  I do belated quite frequently, but I like to think I do it well or at least okay.  Not exactly my most glowing attribute but I’m trying to be more on top of things, really I am.  Anyhoo… a belated Happy Easter to all.

This was our first Easter on our own and not spent as part of a large family gathering.  The Hubs is one of six and my in-laws lived about five minutes from us in STL, so provided we were in town we’ve always spent holidays enjoying the company of many family members, and often in a very loud house.  I was ecstatic to be marrying into such a large and loving family nearly eight years ago, and that’s the one thing I always look forward to at the family gatherings – the noise factor.  The louder the better and the more the merrier.  There’s always so much going on that if you want to you can sit back off to the side, say very little and just observe and still be fully engaged in all that is going on.  I miss it.  A lot.  But now it’s time for us to start some of our own traditions.

We colored eggs on Saturday morning, a first for the girls.

Since we haven’t quite figured out the church thing here yet we opted for a family bike ride in Newport Beach along the Back Bay Loop.  A 10-mile bike ride at that (i.e., my arse hurts today but totally worth it).  The girls did fantastic in the Chariot trailer for two hours and I’m in awe of the Hubs for hauling the 70+ pounds.

Post bike ride we hit the beach for a little picnic.  M is afraid to walk in the sand, either in shoes or barefoot.  Odd, but she’s sticking to her guns on this one for now.  C seems to be quite comfortable at the beach so far, but doesn’t want “the water to get too close to us”.  She’s also terrified of birds – all birds, even near the house.  The only variety that she will tolerate are the many hummingbirds we have near our house.  Tiny enough to be cute, I guess.

In continued tradition, the Hubs got his golf fix via The Masters during nap time.  Breaking from tradition, I didn’t make the girls Easter dresses this year.  They didn’t even wear dresses, and I was mostly okay with that.  Having never had to plan for a full Easter dinner before, I vetoed the ham (we’d never eat it all just the four of us, not even leftovers) and opted for a bacon-wrapped meatloaf instead.  Because everything’s better with bacon.  The recipe came from this blog and it rocked, as all of their recipes do.

All in all a great day, and I surprisingly didn’t pressure myself to make it into too much or worry about it not being “enough”.  Shocking, I know.  A bit of the make-it-up-as-you-go-with-the-flow sort of day, and one that we may very well repeat on other Easters to come.

Three miles of sensory overload

I finally dusted off my kicks for a legitimate run.  I had hit the treadmill a few times late at night or early in the morning but it just doesn’t compare.

Yet another gorgeous day here evoked sensory overload during my run.  I was so overwhelmed with the beauty of it all that I hardly noticed the serious hills I tackled, about which my quads are whining today.

Blue skies and sun, mild temps (mid-60s, NO humidity – hallelujah!) and breezy, and yes, palm trees, but mixed in with the likes of what I’d see back in the ‘Lou.

I hopped over about a half dozen small lizards skittering about and was repeatedly buzzed by various flying insects, drawn out by the gorgeous flowers and plants.  Every once in a while I’d inhale something delicious – rosemary bushes, maybe some gardenia sprinkled in – but having no clue about plants, I couldn’t tell you what it was.  The visual and olfactory stimulation was downright calming.  I think I even had a slight smile/smirk on my face as I was hoofing it up and down the hills.  Just being here may make me a better runner.

I even paid homage to my former locale… and got a lot of interesting looks and a couple of comments too – “St. Louis, eh?”, translation: “you’re a long way from home”.  Yes, yes I am, but happily redefining home on a daily basis.

Naked dog

I ordered a new ID tag for Jenna-dog, updated with our Cali contact info.  As I took off her collar this afternoon to switch out old tag for new:

C:  Mom, what are you doing?

Me:  Putting a new tag on Jenna’s collar.

C:  (short pause)  She’s kind of naked now.

Me:  Um yes, I guess she is.

C:  Yeah.  She’s naked.

I lose track on a daily basis of how many times these girls completely floor me with their observations and skillful communication.  Here’s to hoping both M and C continue to be so free and without hesitation in their thoughts and speech, and maybe even want to write someday.  They will, without a doubt, have a lot to say.