El Salvador!

We just got back from an amazing vacation with our friends to El Salvador.  It was warm & sunny, the ocean was warm too, and there were good waves to boot.  We had wonderful women who cooked & cleaned for us, a house on the beach with a pool, delicious food, and lots of yummy beverages.  Seriously?  Can you ask for a more restful & relaxing vacation?

We headed down there with our friends Samadhy, Kyle & Kyrie & were joined by our friends Tina & Aukai who came over from Kauai.  The first stop was at Samadhy's Abuela's house in Apaneca, in the beautiful coffee-growing mountains.  We were stuffed full of delicious food and wine and sent to bed happy & immediatly in love with the country.  The next day we did a big food shopping & headed to the beach house on the Barra de Santiago (a skinny little strip of beach between the ocean & the estuary) at the END of the road - dirt road to rock road to 4 wheel drive on the beach - end of the road...

And then we exhaled, put on bathing suits, and stayed that way for a week before one more night in Apaneca (and the world's best paella) before sadly heading to the airport.

Seriously, Tina and I were talking about how much we overpacked.  We brought silly things like clothes, and underwear, and other very non-essential things.  We'd wake up & drink our coffee in our bikinis.  Then we'd spend the day between the pool & the ocean & end up eating dinner & having drinks in our bikinis. Sometimes with a cover-up.  Awesome - my idea of perfect weather.  I often joke with people that my idea of a perfect vacation involves not washing my hair or wearing make up the whole time.  Well, I did that.  I was swimming so much (and I love how my hair feels straight out of the ocean) that silly shampoo was unnecessary.  Makeup?  Never thought about it.  Want to see me in my most relaxed, natural state?  Just add salt water, fresh coconuts, and hammocks (yes, multiple hammocks - 3 to be exact).

We built sand castles, Koben jumped off the side of the pool 3,729 times (not that we were counting), we devised new delicious tropical drinks, we drank LOTS of coconut water, I took a nap in a hammock, we went for lots of walks & it was all so enjoyed. We've been wanting to go to El Salvador for years - we've thrown around the idea a lot - and we finally thought Koben was at the perfect age that it would work well - and we were right. Now we can't wait to go back again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa Santa Santa!

Oh boy. This year he got it.  He really got it.  He got excited, he told Santa what he wanted, and he got what he asked Santa for.  And his eyes lit up.  And he was filled with wonder.  And he made me cry.
Okay, so he wanted a Zurg.  Zurg is one of the characters from Toy Story 2 which Koben has been into recently.  And he got a little plastic Zurg from Santa.  And it was like magic happened.  I struggle with the Santa thing sometimes, but I think the ideas of magic & wishes & things like that are okay to pass on.
Santa came to Koben's school during a reading of the Night Before Christmas - his teacher Kelsey put on an amazing night for all the kiddos.  Then we had a visit from my parents starting on Christmas Eve.  That excitement never faded & Koben just soaked it all up.  The day after Christmas we headed to the PCPA Theater in Santa Maria to see "The Wizard of Oz."  I was a little bit skeptical - this is a kid who's never been to the movie theater, let alone the actual theater - but he did great.  He chimed in when they said "Lion & Tigers & Bears" but other than that, sat in his seat or on my lap & soaked it all in - we're hoping to make that a new family tradition!
The only thing that would've made the holidays better was if Josh had been home on Christmas. With his new Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday schedule, he was gone for most of the time, but we had a big family dinner at our house on Thursday, complete with a visit from Aunt Katy & Koben's little cousin Garrett. It was a few weeks full of family, friends, and lots of celebrations!

Santa!  The real Santa!!!

Sitting on Santa's lap, asking for a Zurg.

 

Oooh - what could it be?

"Cheese" with Zurg!

Just what I wanted!

Another new family tradition - watching "The Polar Express" in our jammies with lots of popcorn & hot cocoa!
(with his friends Madeline & Timothy)

And a fire.

There's a pirate on the beach!

Splashing in the puddles at Aunt Syndi & Uncle Frank's house a few days after Christmas.

A pirate costume from Auntie Tegan & Uncle Greg!!!

Being a boy.

We went and saw the beautiful lights at Cambria Pines Lodge.

Salmon Creek was flowing hard after lots of December rain.

Sharing a chocolate milk shake with PopPop at Ragged Point!

The mustache to prove it!

 

 

 

 

Round 2 without daddy!

You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have...the facts of life.
Well, there's been a lot of good heading our way recently - things like promotions & a permanent position (the be all end all in Josh's job) and that is amazing.   The down side is that means more time away.  Josh had a 6 week Company Officer Academy in May-June, and now there's another academy looming on the horizon starting on January 7th.  Six weeks is a LONG time for daddy to be away. Thankfully things like FaceTime & Skype exist & it makes it easier for Koben to see him since he still hasn't mastered the art of talking on the phone.  But it's hard, and it's stressful.  Thank goodness for grandparents.  My goal is to take better care of myself (massages & yoga are top on the list!) and we have a visit from my mom to look forward to which will help immensely!  2 1/2 weeks of having another set of hands around here will make it way easier.  Add to that a few major things to look forward to - a 3-day yoga retreat at Treebones resort in Big Sur with my girl Nina, my friend Adele's wedding in Arizona (unfortunately the same time as Josh finishes up so I'll have to miss his graduation this time around!) - and a family trip to El Salvador at the end of February when the craziness is finally over!  Yippee!

Yosemite!

So, this was the first time anyone in our family went to Yosemite.  What, really?  We only live about 3 or 3 1/2 hours away but never made the journey - we'll be going back again & again though.  We had an awesome few days of warmth & sunshine in mid-October (it can go either way & it could've been snowing - or raining - or nice like it was!)  We brought our bikes & explored (Koben loved riding in the kiddie seat on the back), did a bunch of hikes, saw some waterfalls.
We usually celebrate our anniversary once - but we were lucky enough to get a weekend away together locally at the Sycamore Mineral Springs in Avila, and then did our family trip over our actual anniversary (the 14th).

Beatiful view of Half Dome from up top.

Sooooo big!

Cheers!

Milk for Koben, whiskey for mama.

Koben's first marshmallow experience.  He doesn't like them.

"Helping" daddy cook dinner.

Snuggling with daddy.

Yosemite Valley - it made me cry the first time I saw it!

Another view from the top.

Christmas card photo!