Last Year:

Last year I had a plan. Well before December I had ordered Elliot some green-striped pajamas, red booties, got lucky that his favorite toy already happened to be some sleigh bells, bought some fake snow at the nearby craft chain and viola it was the cutest darn Christmas card!


This Year:

This year I had no plan. As Thanksgiving weekend came to a close we picked up our pug from his weekend away (boarding at the vet). When we arrived at his hotel (the vet) there was a photographer in the lobby (the waiting room) offering to take photos Christmas photos of your pet at a nominal fee (totally overpriced). I made the mistake of asking if children could be in the photo and in a moment of desperation (knowing I did not yet have a plan for Christmas cards) I said I'd leave the pug here to have a bath, take the baby home for a nap and come back to take their pictures. So we did. And they were not quite what I imagined they would be in my last-minute overly optimistic state of mind.


Notice the cheesy chaise lounge, the curtain for dramatic flair, the fake presents and the stupid scarf on Thomas (they put these on the dogs after baths and I forgot to take it off!). We didn't decide immediately that we were not going to use this photo as our card, but we didn't go straight home and start assembling either.

Almost two weeks ago we took Elliot to see Santa. While he napped in the morning I brought up the brilliant idea of us taking the photo as a family and that could be our Christmas card. Dale agreed and we got busy trying to find any clean clothes that coordinate but didn't look too matchy-matchy. We decided on gray and though it was matchy-matchy, I do believe it was understated. Unlike last year, the photographer elf was rushing and didn't really give us an opportunity to take a good picture and of the ones they took she gave me all of 5 seconds to decide on 1 pose for a nominal fee (extremely overpriced). And again, they were not quite what I imagined they would be in my last-minute overly optimistic state of mind.


Though I must say this Santa is the real-deal (though his elves were off their game this year!) due to our unseasonably warm weather he was wearing this "interesting" shirt instead of his snugly warm coat. But I don't blame Santa, it just didn't work out. Again, we didn't decide immediately that we were not going to use this photo, but we weren't "pulling the trigger"on making the cards either.

Last weekend we decided to do what we should have done all along, what we did last year, to take our own Christmas photo. We started out thinking we would set-up the tripod and take a overdue family photo in front of the tree. As usual we were/are behind on everything and it was just going to take too much energy we didn't have to pull-off the family photo, so the family part was not going to happen AND the tree wasn't exactly decorated yet (except for the lights) so I quickly looked around and realized the fireplace would work perfectly. And viola, the Christmas card was born.

Though I generally love to write a message in each card and wish all my friends and family happy and healthy holidays, I just could not make anymore time this year for Christmas cards, so we went with a photo card. There's always next year.

Labels: Adventuring, Kid-ing

Last weekend we took our first family trip to Santa Cruz. We actually took Friday off of work and had three almost-full days there. I am a Westside girl, so we found a great little place to stay not far from the Lighthouse. I spent most of my summers and spring-breaks in Santa Cruz as a child. We had a vacation house just steps away from the best beach in the whole wide world (maybe a slight exaggeration), it is known as Natural Bridges to most people.

As a child we really lived in Santa Cruz, so I didn't really get to know the town the way a tourist or a local would. We would spend most of our days lugging our buckets, shovels, boogie boards and other beach accoutrement to the beach, along with a some sort of white bread sandwich and chips that always ended up with sand in them - ick! Occasionally we would roller skate to the 7-11 to buy mounds of sugary candy and a slurpy to wash it down with.

As we prepared for our trip, I started making a list of all the things I wanted to do with baby-bear that I did as a child, and these made the cut for our first trip:

*Natural Bridges (of course)
There is so much to love about Natural Bridges besides the beach. During the fall or winter you must take the easy-breezy Monarch Butterfly walk. When you are not with a baby in a stroller or that needs carrying, you must walk along the tad pools, and if you are so inclined you could crawl around in the bushes and pretend it is a fort. My dad still has a few photos that show the first bridge connected.






*Ferrell's Donuts

Elliot had his first donut! And as you can imagine, he loved it! Though I am pretty sure this was not my first donut ever, it is in fact the donuts I have the earliest memory of eating. They don't stick in my mind simply because they are the best donuts ever, but because my Dad would always go out before any of us were awake to get the Sunday paper and Ferrell's donuts. As we made our way to the kitchen for breakfast that pink box with a powdered jelly donut (or two) would be waiting for me and my Dad to share as we read the paper (I read the comics mostly), always put a smile on my face (one that resembles E's above).





*Clam Chowder at Stagnaro's

If you like clam chowder, it's some of the best. I had a brief period from about 12 until my mid-twenties where I wouldn't eat the stuff because I had discovered it had clams in it, go figure!







Sadly there were some places that no longer exist like Lip Smackin' BBQ or The Junker (known to others as Paul's Diner).

I also wanted this trip to be the first of many we have as a family and for us to start new traditions, so we added some new things:





*Tacos Moreno




They call it a corn-quesadilla, but it is really a taco...with Al Pastor, pinto beans, cabbage, salsa, queso - yum! This was baby-bears first meal in Santa Cruz, he had the flour quesadilla which is just like a quesadilla we are used to seeing, it was his first of many fried things he ate during the trip.













*Marianne's Ice Cream

We we certain we needed desert after our dinner at Stagnero's as they are only known for the clam chowder. We wanted ice-cream, did a little web search and came across an ice cream spot that I then recalled a friend mentioning. I don't recall every visiting this fine establishment, though it has been there right on Ocean St for over 50 years. Maybe it is because we always had cartons of ice-cream in the freezer, so who needed to go out! It was truly delicious, though when we got home we learned it is up for sale! Hopefully someone worthy snatches it up and maintains the quality.



*Engfer Pizza









This was Dale's pick because as a good wife I had to let him pick something! It was a yummy new pizza place on the East Side (which I mildly objected to patronizing) but it was well worth it. Great selection of beers on tap, wood-fired pizza and ping-pong. We ordered a pizza with jalapeños because I like almost everything spicy (except ice-cream), but it was a little too spicy for even me. Elliot had his second fried item, his very own giant slice of cheese pizza.











*Westside Farmer's Market









Whenever we stay somewhere with a kitchen I like to hit up local farmer's markets to feel local and have at least one fresh, local-fare meal at "home". Elliot tried his first tamale, love it! OK, just the masa, not the spicy chicken filling.










We are already planning our next trip, but from the looks of real estate we won't be buying our vacation home anytime soon.

Labels: Adventuring, Kid-ing

Saturday: Elliot's First Flight

We awoke at 5 am, Elliot ate breakfast, we got dressed (sans coffee) and the shuttle arrived promptly at 6am to take us to OAK. So far so good. We got some Peet's at the airport (I love airports with good coffee) and we got settled at our gate and waited for our plane to board. I fed Elliot at 5, so he would be wanting to eat again right as we were ready to board the plane and I was happy about this because I heard that nursing your baby during take-off and landing can help with the ear pressure and aid in a happier baby which equals happier passengers traveling near baby. The plane lifted off right on time and we landed in hot and sticky Honolulu five hours later...what about Elliot you ask? He was AMAZING! He ate, played and slept the entire flight! I don't like to brag, but more than one person remarked at what a great baby he was (insert proud mama glow here).



Saturday Evening: The Grocery Store

When we finally arrive in Kauai we dropped Elliot, Grandma and all of our luggage off at the hotel and headed for the grocery store. Thanks to Papa and Grammy we were staying in beautiful two-bedroom condo equipped with a full-kitchen that only lacked some fresh food from the market. Dale and I headed back to Lihue to Star Market. We picked up some salami and cheese for lunch/snacking, yogurt and cereal for breakfast (yummy haupia, liche, papaya and mango flavors), beer, diapers (too big to pack), milk, ice cream, bread and water...all for the low, low price of $165.00 and I did not leave anything off the list! Ouch! A 1/2 gallon of milk was $6.00! Mid-way through our shopping excursion we called Grandma to inquire about flavors of yogurt she would like to eat when we learned Elliot was having his first Hawaiian breakdown...so we grabbed the last few items and jetted back to the hotel. By the time we arrived our sweet boy was fed and fast asleep, whew!




Sunday: Elliot's First Swim

This was our first whole day on the island and we chose to acclimate ourselves at the pool. I slathered my son with chemical free sunscreen, put a hat on him and we headed for the pool. We cannot say that he loved the water...but he didn't hate it.



After a long day at the pool (long day in baby time = about 2 hours) we explored our dinner options and tried Tomkats Grille in Old Koloa town. The food was good, not great. We headed to a more "economical" grocery store after dinner to pick up a few items so we could BBQ our own dinner the next night...BIG SAVE market was another 100 bucks for a few steaks, some PB, sandwich bread and not much else...so it wasn't quite a BIG SAVE.

Monday: Hawaiian Farmers Market

We awoke bright and early I drove Daddy to the golf course (so we could have the car to go out and about), came back to the lovely condo and by the time Elliot ate, Mommy and Grandma had coffee and breakfast, Elliot decided to nap and then eat and then before you new it, it was almost time to pick up Daddy...the space time continuum is quite different with a baby. I read about a Farmers Market in Old Koloa Town and thought it would be great to experience and also to pick-up some produce for the dinner that night. Grandma and I drove over, I put Elliot in the Bjorn and we walked towards the market. Though it was fun to see and buy some of the unique local produce, it left a little something to be desired when you are used to California Farmer's Markets. They had some HUGE (and tasty) avocados, wonderful sweet cucumbers, yummy Apple-bananaas, super-sweet pineapple and fresh cold coconut juice (served in the coconut). We loaded up and then went to meet Daddy for lunch at the golf course. And that night Daddy grilled some mean steaks, we microwaved some potatoes, sliced up the yummy cucumbers and avocados and had a wonderful minimalist dinner (condo's don't come with a spice cabinet).


Tuesday: More Pool Time

We got up, drank our coffee, ate our breakfast, etc., etc. and finally made it to the pool around lunch time. I packed us some PB&J's and some other goodies. We got Elliot back into the pool; we certainly enjoyed it more than he did. I must admit I was feeling a little blue about our trip at this point. I felt like time was moving so quickly and here we were on this beautiful island and most of what I saw up to this point were the walls of the condo and the hotel pool. I had pre-vacation fantasies of putting Elliot in the Bjorn and taking long walks along the beach...not realizing the beach was not very long and babies shouldn't be in the sun (especially tropical sun) for too long. Things were about to look up as we had a special activity planned for Wednesday.

Wednesday: Horseback Riding & Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Oh My!

For the last 14 years I have been dying to go horseback riding with Dale someplace special (Wine Country, Hawaii, you get the idea). So my dear hubby finally made reservations for us. We got up bright and early and headed to the northern side of the island (Princeville). We were on the road about 10 minutes when I realized I forgot my tennis shoes (flip flops are not appropriate attire for horseback riding). This little slip-up put us a bit behind. But thinking quickly on my feet (as I generally do), when I grabbed my shoes I grabbed a bottle and the pump too. My original plan was for us to arrive a 1/2 hour early so I could nurse Elliot and then Grandma would have a happy baby for the 1 1/2 hours we would be riding. Now we would arrive just a few minutes before the ride, so when we were about 20 minutes from the stables I pulled out the pump and got down to milk-making business and by the time we were there I was done and ready for the ride.

Dale rode a really slow horse named Big Blue and I rode a sweet obedient guy named JJ. The ranch was about 2500 acres and was home to some sweet cows as well. We rode to the edge of a cliff with breathtaking views all along the way and altogether had a wonderful time. As we took our final steps back to the stable I heard the faintest sound of my sweet son crying his eyes out. We are not 100% certain, but it seems that he sensed us riding in because he was the happiest little boy until Mommy was within reach. He settled down and had a little nap for the ride home.

After the ride we cleaned up and headed to the Poi Pu Shopping Center to have dinner at Roy's. I was skeptical of this chain-like restaurant, but was so glad I gave it a chance. I had the Short Ribs which were so tender and mouth-watering that I am salivating just writing about them. The Pineapple Upside Down Cake was amazing, it is one of my favorite deserts and I commend Roy's for a job very well done. The cake was a tab bit crispy, the pineapple was sweet and a little caramely (yes, caramely is a word)! Mr. Graham talked and giggle (no crying) during the whole meal and even though we new he was tired (rubbing eyes and ears constantly) he wouldn't sleep out of a fear of missing something and he hung in there like a trooper and let us enjoy our wonderful dinner.


Thursday: Honeymoon (Round Two)

The day started out early with me driving Daddy to golf up in Lihue. I got a little lost on my way back so luckily Grandma had a bottle for Elliot. Time once again got the best of us and right as we were into Old Koloa Daddy called and needed to be picked-up. We headed back up to Lihue, came back to home base to so Daddy could rinse off, we had a snack and then finally made it to Old Koloa town. A cute touristy town with Shaved Ice, a candle shop, a few restaurants and plenty of "Hawaiian attire" for sale. We then headed back to get ready for our special dinner. Roughly 2 1/2 years ago Dale and I honeymooned on Kauai and had a very special sunset dinner at The Beach House. When Grandma offered to baby-sit so we could have dinner out, we decided to re-visit The Beach House. The first time we ate there the dinner was just okay...but we think they got a new chef in the meantime because not only was the sunset amazing, so was the food! I know it doesn't sound very tropical but we had the best blueberry tart for desert!










Friday: Our Day Out

Our last full day, so we decided that some site seeing was in order. I know my dear husband sensed that I really needed to get out so he planned a lovely little day for us. We headed northwest to see Spouting Horn. I saw it as a child and though it is not that big of a deal it was still fun to experience with hubby, grandma and baby. Next we headed to Hanapepe which has a ton of galleries that were ALL closed (typical Kaiser-Federighi luck). But we did make our own fun...we happened into a bookstore where I found they had a wonderful selection of used cook books. I bought a wonderful 1940 copy of The American Woman's Cook Book and I kick myself for not buying Island Recipes for your Microwave Oven. I seem to remember having a cookbook like this when I was growing up, I will have to do some research. I know have a new hobby...collecting old cookbooks! Dale and I also played on the swinging bridge which seemed like a cheesy thing to mention as a tourist attraction but when we got there it seemed to entertain us well enough. It does swing quite a bit when you walk on it, so much so that neither of us were brave enough to walk all the way over. We ended the day by picking up pizza at a spot recommended by locals - Brick Oven. For Kauai I am sure this was great pizza, for how hungry I was it was decent pizza. I judge a pizza by its mushrooms and if they are canned...no good. The rest of the pizza was pretty darn tasty so I won't take as many points away this time.

Saturday: Almost Home

Don't fly ATA! I have never had so little leg room on a flight, not to mention it felt like the temperature was set to 80 degrees! I was sweaty, my baby was sweaty and even though we arrived 30 minutes early we spent 40 minutes waiting for a gate (though this was more of a fog issue than an ATA issue). Not to mention the only seat with 2 oxygen masks (necessary for person who holds the baby) was the window which meant every time I need to change his diaper I had to have Dale and Grandma get up. It then took the baggage another 1/2 hour to arrive. We should have been home around 12 and we didn't get home until almost 1:30 in the morning. I have to give props to our shuttle company for being on-time when we departed and waiting for us when we came home. Elliot was the least cranky of us all - another successful flight with my happy baby!

Mahalo Mucho if you actually read this whole damn thing!

Labels: Adventuring, Kid-ing

On Thursday my 'check engine' light came on while driving home from music class. I have a very loooong history of issues with my car that I will not go into today. When I got home I realized that Elliot and I were housebound until the car was examined. Normally I would not mind a day at home if it were a choice I made but because my car was trying to prohibit me from leaving the house my urge to go somewhere was so strong. The grocery store where I usually shop is right by the Starbucks featured in a previous post "A Short Walk" so I decided that since I survived it once it would be healthy to do it again (5 miles roundtrip) only this time I would bring lots of water and wear appropriate footwear. After all, those pesky pregnancy pounds are not melting off by themselves!

I packed all the necessities in the bottom of the stroller (water, diapers, extra blanket, wipes, cell phone, etc.), I strapped in Mr. Graham and we were on our way. It was a gorgeous fall day, sunny and warm but not hot. We were breathing in the fresh air and admiring the changing colors of the trees in our neighborhood (yes, we have real autumn in California - a rant for another day). So over the hills (freeway overpasses) and through the woods (overgrown bushes that required special stroller moves to avoid getting branches in Elliot’s face) we went on our merry way to the grocery store. Once we were over the hills (out of the housing area and into the shopping area) the air was not quite so fresh and as we approached the first major stop light I realized that there were no other people walking - we were alone. Well, that is not entirely true...we did pass an old woman walking to the bus stop and when we got to the parking lot of the grocery store there was a disabled homeless man in a wheelchair. Other than that, walkers were absent from the streets. You could tell that the drivers were not used to seeing walkers either because when the red hand was solid folks were hesitating to turn in front of me and when the white walking android was signaling for Elliot and I to walk people were carelessly turning in front of us - yikes this was dangerous! Keep in mind I was actually hit by a car once (in a crosswalk!).

I remember when Dale and I lived in San Francisco (where I was hit by a car) I made the argument that people in cities were probably "healthier" on average because of the amount of walking they do. One of the things I miss most about The City is our inability to conveniently walk to most places (dinner, to get groceries, pick-up dry cleaning, etc.) Walking to the grocery store in the suburbs is a 2-hour mission filled with smoggy air (yes the city has that too), inconsiderate drivers (ok, city has these too) and an overall landscape that pretends to be walker friendly (bushes overgrowing sidewalks, sidewalks missing where you need them most - the city doesn’t pretend). Have you ever noticed that the sidewalk ends where the driveway begins at shopping center? How is a walker supposed to enter the shopping center safely? I was forced to walk in the same driveway that cars use and then bolt to the nearest shopping center sidewalk to avoid getting smeared. Figured I should end on a dramatic note. Oh, and I guess I should mention we got home safely :)

Labels: Adventuring

When I wrote "Ode to some wise Mama's I know" Elliot was just 2 months old and we were still in the midst of a feeding frenzy trying to get his weight up. Leaving the house was pretty tough and even if we did go out we couldn't stray too far. Elliot is 3 months old now and just over 13 lbs! We go out quite a bit these days and have some wonderful adventures.

About a week ago Elliot and I were supposed to have lunch with a friend when I awoke in the morning to the sound of our street being repaved. There was no way to get my car out of the garage, so I asked if my friend and her son would meet at our house and we could walk to the nearby pizza place. According to my yellow pages search the pizza place was only 3/10 of a mile from home, so while I was at it I checked how much further it would be to the nearest Starbucks and was thrilled to discover it was only 1/2 mile further than the pizza place. When they arrived we headed for the pizza place and asked if she and her son would be up for the walk to Starbucks afterwards. It was a beautiful day for a walk, so of course she said yes (something she surely regretted later).

After lunch we walked and walked and walked and walked...45 minutes later we finally arrived at the Starbucks. We were dripping with sweat and Elliot was overdue for a feeding. We ordered coffee (and H2O) and I proceeded to feed (which took an hour because I had not learned yet the art of shortening feedings which I learned a day too late at 'Mommy & Me'). So with two kids and two strollers a cab was out of the picture so we headed back and after another 45 minutes we arrived home. Somehow even with the giant blisters on my feet the walk home did seem shorter. I guess it wasn't the best day to break in a new pair of shoes.

I know I just had a baby and am not in the best shape of my life but that walk really did seem longer than 8/10 of a mile. I decided to go back to the yellow pages and it did indeed say 8/10 of a mile (with Mommy brain you can never be too sure you read something correctly). So I clicked on the map link and proceeded to create driving directions to see which route the 8/10 was taking. And according the driving directions it was actually 2.5 miles one way or 5 miles round-trip! 5 miles is a long trip when you are pushing ~25lbs. But what went wrong? Why were the two distances so different? My husband and I put our brains together and figured out that the yp distance is based on an imaginary straight line between two points/locations. So even though one would NEVER be able to actually travel the imaginary straight line, the nice people at yp still thought we'd care to know that distance! The difference between the two might not always be so large, but since where we live there is a HUGE nature preserve blocking our ability to travel the imaginary straight line it was very significant.

Labels: Adventuring