Birthday Party Fun!

We had a very fun weekend celebrating Cal's third birthday party. We had a big picnic with all our friends at a fantastic local park--complete with its own miniature railroad! 

 For starters, at around 9:30am Saturday, we got a knock at the door, and who should be standing on our doorstep but Reed's parents! What a tremendous and wonderful surprise! We were delighted to see them, and Cal felt very special; I could tell that he knew the visit was for him, and that made me happy.

 We spent the first part of the picnic party welcoming arriving friends, playing on the stellar playground (did I mention there's a jet to climb on?), and trying to keep Cal away from the cupcakes. After everyone had eaten, we staged a mass migration to the train station across the park. Here are a few shots of a very excited Cal waiting for the train to arrive:

 Cal insisted on holding on to his ticket the whole time.

Here comes the train!

I love this shot of the kids hanging over the railing.

 So many friends on the train!

 After the ride, the engine goes onto a turntable to flip around. Here are all the little kids watching the process with fascination:

Then it was back to the picnic site to eat cupcakes:

This was taken while we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Cal. He was so proud and excited. I love this picture so much:

After our guests left, we took one more family ride on the train with Grandma and Grandpa:

 Cal has such wonderful grandparents.

 A picture with the conductor.

Happy birthday, Cal! We love you so much!

Visit From "Papa" Olsen

I was in Southern California last month, recovering from pneumonia. While there, Reed's dad called and said he was passing through for business and wanted to come take Cal out for some fun. Cal loves his "Papa" Olsen--and it's easy to see why! Just look at all the fun these two had together:

 Washing Mom's car:

 (The force of the hose knocked him over once or twice, and Richard was deliberately sprayed multiple times.)

Playing in fountains:

 (One of Cal's favorite things to do!)

Eating Ice Cream:

Cal came back absolutely worn out from fun. Days later, when we'd ask him about Richard's visit, he'd giggle and say, "Ice cream, play wa-wa, wash car...papa WET!"

Thank you, Richard, for being such a wonderful grandpa! Cal loves you so much!

"For Such a Time as This"

I know it probably has a lot to do with being sick, but I've had some feelings lately that I can't really put a label on. My heart has just felt heavy, my spirit overwhelmed. I've been keeping a journal of thoughts, and I've been praying and reading a lot of scripture, looking for peace. Today, as I was looking for a blank CD, I stumbled upon a long lost concert choir CD from 2004 -- 8 years ago! Can it be that long? It wasn't our professional one, just an archival CD with several low-quality recordings of live performances. I was honestly curious to see what was on it; I didn't recognize many of the titles listed on the CD skin.

What a wonderful trip down a very forgotten memory lane! I loved listening to each track, gasping as I found myself remembering intricate melodies and words that haven't so much as tickled a neuron in almost a decade. But as I listened to the following song "For Such a Time As This", my feelings changed from nostalgia to reassurance. They are such beautiful, enheartening words, set so naturally to a pensive melody. It fed my soul. The artwork is Brian Kershisnik, and the subject matter was equally as meaningful to me. Do you know what it is?

For such a time as this,

For times of drought and shallowness,

Of wild and dusty wilderness,

Plant us deep in wonder, God,

Humble in thy holy word.

In wonder planted deep,

In marvel at Creation's play,

At starlit night and sunlit day,

Root us well in gratitude,

Awestruck by beatitude.

By thankful wonder fed,

Like oak trees reaching high and broad,

And rooted fast in Thee, oh God,

Grow us in compassion full,

Christ the firstfruit of us all.

Compassion green and bless

Our lives to rampant fruitfulness,

For crying out at wickedness,

May we fruits of justice bear,

Harvest of Thy love and care.

May all our lives bear fruit,

Not from our will but to us due,

But all our fruitfulness from You,

Hearts of justice, hearts of peace,

Just for such a time as this.

~Wayne Watson

Best Sick Day Ever

Cal and I are sick. 

As in, I've had a fever for 60 hours now. We're over the worst of it--feeling better, but not better. My coughing fits sound like an old engine trying to turn over, and I can safely ascribe about 99% of my "recovery" so far to Tylenol, Unisom, and diet coke.

I've felt emotionally sick the past day or so, too. Discouraged, I think. Regardless, in the midst of our sick week, I decided that even though we could not be around people for fear of spreading our own personal plague, we could have a better kind of sick day.

Thirty minutes later, we were a mile or so up Hwy 1 from Davenport.

There's a reason this is one of my favorite beaches. It was 75 degrees there today. Not a soul in sight.

"Cow deeg!" (Cal dig!)

 I love big bubble wands. After a few minutes of letting the wind blow the bubbles while I sat there, I noticed that the bubbles were floating all the way over that far hill. Wouldn't it be fun to be on the other side, seeing a bunch of jumbo bubbles float randomly over the top? :)

 Cal had his rash guard on, but we weren't planning on swimming today. He just stared at the waves for minutes at a time, totally hypnotized.

 And what's not hypnotizing about this? (Cal took this photo on our camera. He loves to take "peekchas".)

 We found a little eddy a ways down the beach and decided to explore a bit.

 The only footprints on the beach today.

Splashing around in a tiny current flowing out to the ocean.

A few things we thought were interesting:

We had a quick picnic lunch while Cal warmed up from so much splashing. On California's coast, the Pacific Ocean is cold!

 Look at Cal's little red nose.

After that, we packed up our sand toys and drove just down the road to another of my favorite places:

 Swanton Organic U-Pick Berry Farm! 

 (And yes, they really are that red. No color adjustments here! Just Mother Nature.)

 With his green outfit and bright red pail, Cal fit right in with the berries.

 Don't you just want to sink your teeth into those beauties?

Cal was very proud of his harvest. He found the pick surprisingly hard, yelling out "Mama, tuck!" (stuck) every time he tried to pluck a berry off its stem. I'm not sure he got the concept that our produce originally comes attached to a plant...

 Back at the store, we weighed Cal's cache: .35 pounds, not including the bucket. 

 That'll be $1.23, please.

We rounded out our purchase (in a store that is run on a hippie-ish honor code system) with baked goods, and headed to our warm, sandy car to start the drive home.

The coastline makes for good medicine.

Jr. Preschool!

Guess who's going to preschool this fall!

Anyone who has spent 5 minutes in our presence has learned what Reed and I have known for some time now: Cal is a busy toddler. Not hyperactive, and not obnoxious, just super, super busy. My mom has been urging me to get Cal into a preschool (in response to a string of exhausted phone calls from me), and last month, life slowed down enough for me to finally start researching facilities in the area. I narrowed it down to a place that also does a summer program called Jr. Preschool.

This morning, I left Cal at home with Reed (we're all still feeling sick), and I went to tour the facilities. It did not take long for me to determine that Cal will LOVE the place: it has tubs of beans to scoop and sort, a book nook, a playground, art tables, tons of toys, and a bunch of fun little toddlers to make friends with! As the head teacher took me around to each area, I could totally picture Cal doing the activity. I can't wait to get his curious mind and busy little fingers and wiggly little legs into this environment. I just hope that, once he experiences preschool, he won't be mad at us for having held him prisoner for so long in such a boring apartment! 

Adventures at the Asian Market

One interesting thing about where we live is that there are a lot of Asian markets. We have one just down the street from us, but I had never been before today. What piqued my interest was its reputation for inexpensive, high-quality produce. I was not disappointed!

 Cal and I bought 2 shells of strawberries, oranges, fuji apples, asparagus, broccoli, sugar snap peas, bananas, bell peppers, cilantro, kiwis, kale, and spinach for $17!  Just look at all this healthy spread:

I'm excited to try adding a little kale to our green smoothies. Hopefully it turns me into a superhuman.

Oh, and one other fun thing about the Market: the tanks of live sea creatures! Cal was mesmerized!

I'm glad I took the time to check the place out -- we'll definitely be frequenting the produce section.