Thank You, Mimi!

Most of my local friends with kids live here because their families live here. Many have lived elsewhere -- New York, Portland, San Francisco -- until the first baby was born. Then the need to be close to family becomes more important than whatever it was that was so important where you were living. Because once you have kids, you don't remember much about what happened before that.

Kelly and I were in a little different situation than most. In order for me to stay home with our babies, we had to move away from our families. It was very difficult but we both feel that it was the best choice. So, unlike most people I know, we don't have the grandparents across town to take care of the kids for the afternoon, or the weekend, or the week.

But we have something that none of our friends have. We have Mimi.

Mimi will drop everything to babysit for as long as we need her. This summer she spent 4 weeks here so Kelly and I could go to our close friends' wedding, renovate the kids playroom, and take care of several other orders of business while she was here.

She took the kids to school, classes, play dates and birthday parties. She took them to the dairy farm to see the cows and chase the chickens. She took them to eat cupcakes. And she took them on picnics. She baked with them, she painted with them, and she gardened with them. The kids had the time of their lives.

I know my parents would have loved to be here, playing with and caring for Lola and Locke. They've definitely done it before. They teamed up with Mimi a year ago to babysit so that Kelly and I could go to Beijing for the Olympics. That was the trip of a lifetime and I'll always be grateful for it. So, for a family living so far from family, we are very lucky.

This summer Mimi went beyond the call of duty. Thank you, Mimi.

Ultimate Sandbox

There's nothing like seeing a child's face when they first see the ocean. They don't notice the tranquility of the waves as they roll into the shore. They don't see the other families setting up camp with their umbrellas and blankets. They don't even care there are thousands of beautiful shells scattered along the beach. All they see is one gigantic sand box.

Woo hoo! Shovels and margarita buckets in hand, they storm the beach and start digging. Thanks to a bit of help from Mimi, Locke and Lola built several sand castles that rivaled the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Beautiful, temporary works of art.

We collected shells, swam, ate fresh fish and homemade ice cream. I can hardly wait for our next beach adventure.

Sweet Carolina

We just returned from a wonderful trip to North Carolina. Kelly and I both have family there, and neither of us had seen our relatives in too many years to admit. Most had never seen Lola and Locke in person. So, it was a chance to get away, catch up, relax, and enjoy the people we're lucky enough to have as family.

We also spent several days on the beach. The kids had never seen the ocean so it was such fun living this new experience through their eyes.

Lola and Locke had a blast on every part of the trip. Swinging on the porch with Aunt Jean, building sandcastles with Mimi, splashing around the pool with cousin Andy, listening to the ocean in seashells, feeding seagulls crackers on the ferry (check out the just-snatched cracker in the seagull's beak) — they loved every minute.

Marching On

It's been a long, long, long, lllaawwwwwnnngg winter, with the possibility of more winter weather to come. But, by gosh, it's SPRING! We actually went to the park yesterday for the first time this year. And there are green leaves and grass peeking out from the newly thawed soil. A family of woodpeckers has made a home in a tree in our backyard. And Lola and Locke are growing like the weeds we're soon to battle in the lawn. Things are looking bright indeed.

But to catch you up on our winter, here are a few highlights:

We took a road trip to Texas over the holidays (much more fun than we ever imagined). Lola and Locke have are still attending playgroup once a week with their bestest buddies. And we're still doing "school" (Mom's Day Out) once a week. They've begun a "creative movement" class (which I believe was begun purely for the parents' entertainment value). Other days are spent at the cool new downtown library, playing with friends, the occasional museum trip, or just playing at home.

Lola is quite the artist, drawing, painting, and cutting her way toward gallery shows. She also loves to dance and shows a little talent in the gymnastics area. Locke is still very much a Thomas fan, but has branched out into trucks, construction machines, and airplanes. Both of the kids love books and are big fans of words and letters. Lola can even write her name now. And, at times, Locke speaks better English than I do.

Here are a few pics from our holidays, with the promise of more pictures and posts soon...


Locke and Lola Christmas 2007




















Chef Power!























Quick stop at the Clinton library (look close and you can see Locke making a break for it)

California Dreamin'

What's not to love about California? It's got perfect weather, lots of coastline, delicious food, and lucky for us, family. We took a late summer vacation to spend some time with Kelly's family in Northern California. Two fabulous weeks of fun, family, playing, swimming, shopping, and resting up just enough to do it all some more.

Lola and Locke got to spend a lot of quality time with their adorable cousin Ryder, who's a mere 6 months younger than L+L. They exhausted themselves every day, running around the house, playing at the playground, swimming at the hotel, or having fun on any number of our excursions. We all enjoyed it immensely and look forward to getting together again.

We're Two!!!

Presents! Yea!!!












Is this really for me?













Locke enjoys his new train and tunnel.












Lola and Locke are now two whole fun-filled, action-packed, mind-boggling, thrilling, chilling, hilarious, wondrous years old. We celebrated the big event(s) with a 3-city party tour, kicking things off with a little playgroup birthday party. Then we took the celebration on the road (we actually flew) to Texas where we gathered my family for a pancake and real cake brunch party. And then it was off to Kelly's mom's house for the final leg of the tour -- a 4-day picnicking, hiking, Mexican food-eating extravaganza. Lola and Locke took all the fuss over them in stride. They appreciated all their new toys and clothes but their egos stayed intact and they're still the same sweethearts they always were.

Thanks to all of Lola's and Locke's family and friends for a wonderful birthday!