California Days

We had the pleasure of taking a quick trip to San Diego for some R&R/beach time. Hen could not contain himself for the following reasons:
Plane trip
Cousin Norah
San Diego
Beach
Niceh (Nees-ey)
Cousin Norah

For a little tyke, Henry has an incredible memory. Of course he remembers his cousin, but he manages to make the San Diego/beach connection. Well he should as he is a California baby (by birth right-ha ha. He truly IS a beach baby).
Any who, we had a wonderful time. As soon as our tickets were booked I called my acupuncturist Carrie, to get me in for 2 sessions that week. Boy do I need my acupuncture. I so miss it and I haven't gone the extra mile to find someone here in DC. I must admit I do get stuck in the rat race/pace in DC (mental note..don't DO that).
As soon as my body hit that table and the first needle went in, I was relieved. I mean completely relieved. It was pure. It was relaxing and I could breath. All buzzing completely left my body and all my natural rhythms could sync. My body was home.
Having had my acupuncture visits I found that my ability to cope with a roving 3 year was so much EASIER and stable. Wow, what a concept.
After I received my first TREATment at the acupuncturist that Friday, I managed to go with my mom to get a much needed pedicure followed by some shopping.
During my 'free' afternoon of replenishing, Henry had the opportunity to spend time with his old nanny Eunice (aka Niceh) and her son Joshua. It was such a momentous occasion for Hen and I was delighted by his affection towards her. When she arrived that Friday morning, Hen completely shot out like an arrow to throw his arms around her. He was so happy to see her. He also was happy to see Joshua. Their day was filled with playing at park, visiting with her family in Chula Vista and scooters.

Henry with Niceh, Joshua and Norah



During our first visit back to the beach, we anticipated a quick visit to the tide pools in La Jolla (one of my most favorite areas, small beach in the windnsea area of La Jolla). This turned into a 2 hour visit with all clothes off except his skivvies (underwear). He loooovved the water. Loved loved loved it! Wow! This kid has no fear. I don't think he has a full understanding that he can't swim all that well.

Heading for the sea


Norah and Hen playing in the sand


Tidal pool where they find miniature crab


After running in and out from the waves, collecting shells and digging in the sand, we finally rounded up the kids and headed back home to my sisters house.
During that week, the days were full of activity, but I found some much needed relief. I enjoyed walks to the park, the cool crisp breeze, the flowers and the good food!

Hen and I

San Diego Weekend Highlights

Despite my rant about "un-sunny" California, we had a blast! Of course the last two days that we were there the sun came out! YAY for sun. I swear it seems that there is not much sun shining around the states these days. Tons of rain and overcast in Colorado and hear that the upper east coast (including DC) has had loads of rain. Where's our summer? Well, despite my rant, the rain is good. WE NEED IT!
San Diego was great! Dean and I decided that it is a place we enjoy to go on holiday, but can't see ourselves living there again (sorry sissy poo, I still miss you stacks). Our holiday of course consisted of a lot of running around to do various errands for my mom, sister and I. But we also got up to some dinner parties, beach time and visits with friends too! The most important reason we were there was for Norah's special event. I am so happy that we were able to be there to support her at her First Communion which was lovely. All these little people decked out for this special rite of passage. Norah was gorgeous!

Norah was given this rosary by my mom
which had been given to her at her Confirmation.

So sweet!

Henry posing as he eats candy in church
(naughty boy, who gave that to you)!

Posing in the garden

Norah and "girlie" the cat, posing.

After the ceremony, we had lunch reservations over at the Hotel Del. The day was gorgeous, so we were very excited about sitting outside for our lunch. Despite the lack of excellent service, the food was DELICIOUS!

Having eaten all his strawberries, he moved onto
his favorite, grilled cheese (love the bib)!

Norah gives a toothy grin while sipping down her smoothie.

After lunch, we headed down to the beach. Coronado has the most gorgeous beaches. They are clean and quite expansive ( I think they must be man-made). Henry could not get out of his seat quick enough to go see the beach (put an emphasis on the "ch" of beach as this is how Henry pronounces it). "Yay, beach! It's the beach! Going to the beach! Go swim in the beach!" said Henry.

Norah found loads of seaweed. This was particularly
beautiful and she enjoyed dancing with it too!

She pointed out that an urchin was growing on it!

Henry made it into the water pretty quickly. After having
jumped in literally with his clothes on. Thank goodness I brought his swim trunks!

Lots of running in and out of the water. He does not realize that he can't swim. The kid has no fear.

Really liked this pic as it reminds me a bit of
my sister Sarah (her mother).

Dean took this pic of Hen and I. It is one of very few pics that I remotely like of
myself (perhaps maybe because henry is covering half my face). Having little sleep, the stress, that I've got going on these days does not make for a photogenic Kate.

After a delayed flight on Monday night we got home around midnight. Since we've been home, we've been sleeping, sleeping and recovering from PINK EYE! Yikes, not sure how Henry contracted that, but am thinking it must have been from the plane? Airport? Poor baba, woke this morning with his eyes glued shut. He was a very brave boy and managed to sit still while I put a warm washcloth on both eyes. Icky goop! He is resting up and on antibiotics. He'll be contagious free when we get back on the plane. Next stop Friday, we head to New Jersey to visit our friends in Princeton, then onto to DC. Very excited about this upcoming trip as it will be very defining for us. Will be sure to tell you more as things progress. For now, I keep quiet!

Glad to be back in blogging land. Hope I can get two more posts in before we go! Check back, ok.
xxoo

Un-sunny California

Well, it has been possibly a week since I last blogged. Been gearing up for family engagements in San Diego and Washington DC. So much going on and I can barely keep up with all the activity at the moment (Henry too, is keeping me on my toes as well, where does all this energy come from)?

We are in un-sunny San Diego til Monday night for my niece Norah's First Communion. Since we arrived on Tuesday, it has been NON STOP doing! And I'm exhausted! Not complaining, but at the moment I am doing whatever I can to hold my eyelids up!
Will be back on schedule this coming week, if not before, as I might be able to squeeze a few more sessions on the computer here before we head home. Hoping the sun will come out as well as this overcast weather makes me very sleepy.
Stay Tuned blogger buddies!

It's Raining, it's pouring....

Well it's not quite pouring or at least for now. But it has been raining off and on for what seems like weeks. It's been chilly and at times really quite cold, enough to want to put the HEAT on.


I've been drinking cup loads of THIS.











So with this funny weather, comes outdoor play with our frog boots on as well as more indoor play. We have been keeping busy with baking, art projects and running laps in the basement. Thank GOD for our basement. We turn up the tunes, throw balls and jump off my Pilates equipment. SO fun! I must admit, I am exhausted.

BROWNIES- Yum!
(I hesitated this, but then I thought..what the hell)

Mouth Full of batter.

Park-time in our Froggy Wellies

Art Time-painting a box for Daddy (an egg carton)
Note Elmo sitting with Hen. He is all sorted with his "smock" and paint brush too!
Henry is wearing his gorgeous little handmade smock from our Aussie friend Jodi, it 's from
www.chickpea.com.au

More Painting (I'm loving the color! Too
bad my digital is broken..resorting to the blackberry)

Opps! We somehow got a hold of "King" from Cars

So all in all. We've been having fun despite the bizarro weather. But I must add that at least our water levels are up around here..(Colorado is known for droughts and fires).
Next week, we will be in San Diego. Can't wait! Norah, my niece is having her first Communion. After the ceremony (not sure what it's called as I wasn't raised Catholic, even though I was baptized one), we are going to the Hotel Del for Lunch!




Will be a week of some fun festivities, wrapped with a little biz with Commandos, too!

Bring it ON!

Alrighty! Am back to the blogging program here! We had a BLAST in SD, it was too short and a bit of a whirlwind. Here are a few more pics of Henry and Norah hamming it up at the beach in La Jolla, one of my fave places.


Posing for the camera!


A little bit model and a little bit 'cheese!'

Once we arrived to the beach, Henry could not get out of the car fast enough..."Beach, beach" he cried out loud. "BEACH!" We scurried down the sand dune and quickly threw our stuff down. Henry nearly threw himself right into the ocean. Had I not been holding his arm with my death grip, my child would have been adopted by a family of dolphins. Did I mention he doesn't swim? He surely thinks he can! Not only is he fearless of the water, but he doesn't mind the ice cold freezing temps of the pacific ocean. I'm really amazed his lips didn't turn the color purple!
It was a warm gorgeous sunny day and we had fun fun fun!
We are looking forward to our return trip in June when Norah has her first communion. Which I am hoping for like a two week adventure.
Had Dean daddy been there with us, I am sure we would have figured out a way to stay for a few more days but we were missing him! I managed to do as much of the 'to see' and 'to do's' but we backed out of Sea World. A bit bummed about that for Hen's sake as I know he would have loved it. We boarded the plane and called Dean to let him know that we were on the plane. He mentioned that we might not want to get on it as the weather in Denver was ICKY! Yes, snow, rain and slosh. Oh I nearly got off. Despite the plock weather we were having in Colorado, it only lasted 48 hours and my grass is now a beautiful green. Sunday was a stunning warm day! As I sipped on strawberry lemonade vodka's on the deck of my friends house, it was hard to believe that the day before we were cold and bundled in our coats! Silly weather we have here in Colorado. Forecast for this week, GORG...bring it on!

On Hiatus! Vacation time.

Dear blogger friends and family,
Sorry for the slack, but we are off to see the wizard...
Hope you all had a lovely holiday. Will return to my full fledged entries upon return this Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy my few blackberry photos!

 
Norah my niece who just turned 8!


 
Best cousins Norah and Henry!



 
Splish splashing about!


 
mama and henry on the dolphin! Mission Bay

3 more sleeps!

Just got off the phone with my sister. I can't wait to see her! In 3 more sleeps, little Henry and I are getting on the plane to go see her and my niece Norah in San Diego. YAY! We are going to celebrate Norah's 8th birthday!! Yikes, time is flying fast I can't believe she is nearing 10!! Her birthday is on the 12th which happens to be Easter Sunday. I'm sad that my honey husband will be staying behind here in Boulder this go round.:( But perhaps he'll get up to some good cycling with his buddies this weekend as well as work on some of the various projects that are hanging over his head (hint hint..well he doesn't read my blog much so I'm sure no offense will be taken, hee hee).
We moved from San Diego back in September and I haven't been back since. So I am excited to see my ol stomping grounds as well as meet up with some friends too. We'll see how much I can actually jam pack in 5 days (will fly fast I'm sure). My mommy will be there too! She is flying in from Washington DC to be with us girls and her grandkids (too bad my bro Rob can't make it too then she'd have all her kittens with her).
On my list to go, see and do are:
Jimmy Carter's Cafe (one of the best Mexican restaurants in SD)- Their tortilla soup is OH SO GOOD!
Cafe Chloe- mmmmmmmmmmm, delicious french decadence. I wish my house looked like this place.
Bread & Cie,-yet another decadent spot for cafe and the best biscotti (too bad I've cut gluten out)
hmm so far most of these have been food institutions...yes, I like food. Lots.
Trader Joe's- tis a shame they don't have this grocery store here in Colorado. I love it and will do a big shop to ship back to Boulder (yes I do that).
Water's Fine Catering- Besides the fact that my friend Andrew is the executive director and chef of this scrumptuous establishment, the FOOD IS DIVINE. I get so many ideas from their daily menu's especially now that I can't coast down the road to their market to pick up dinner. His wife, my good friend Heidi is the graphic designer of this beautiful website! (note: As I write out my blog, I'm chilling out the music that plays on the Water's website, groovy chill jazz).
Rustic Rooster, the cutest cottage interior design shop up in Encinitas.
India Ink, a fantastic stationery store with the best paper and pens as I collect em. (Yes, sister I have admitted this fact. I am a penaholic as well as a pencilaholic. And I love the smell of paper too)
Seaside Papery- ok, yes another paper store. I am addicted. Need to see whats on show.
Hillside Artisans (when it first opened I thought it was a craft store)- is such a great kids clothing and toy store right in my old neighborhood. The owner, Karen has managed to fill her shop with such excellent must have's. Most of Henry's shoes came from there as well as some of his cute wooden toys.
SeaWorld- oh yes, I am embarressed to say that in the FIVE years we lived in San Diego, I never went to Sea World. Very excited although I am a bit worried about seeing such a LARGE whale in such a small body of water. As much as it is so wonderful for kids to learn about animals through places like the ZOO (San Diego Zoo is the best in the world) and SeaWorld, I can't get over that these animals are held captive and behind gates and walls. However, I do realize these are also great places to help build in numbers those animals that are going extinct.
The La Jolla Tide Pools- Oh this is such a great stretch of beach in San Diego. It is a quite area nestled amongst some of the best houses in SD (most of them are cottages that remind me of Hansel and Gretal...although there are a handful of ugly as sin mcmansions that are built of cheap drywall and plastic framed window-ICK)!

Any who, I do realize I've got some busy days ahead. Bring it on, I am looking forward to it! Do I realize that I even have some work engagements to go to? You won't have to pull my leg to go, as I love my boss! Am meeting with Jo, the creator and owner of Commandos, the company I do marketing and sales for. Looking forward to our girl pow wow!
As I look over my list, I realize this is a mini 'What to see in San Diego.' So for you travelers out there who plan on a visit to San Diego, please check out these sites! I will always enjoy going back to San Diego for a visit, but must admit am glad that I am not living there (excluding the fact that I wish I was closer to my sissy again, I miss her to bits).

Have a wonderful rest of your week!
*note: Tide Pools image is from San Diego Coast Life

Fleurs de san diego