The 4th

See, here’s the thing about film, every event in your life is delayed in your blog post by several weeks. Which is okay, because I’m still behind in posting about several years. So it helps take the pressure off.

But here are the photos from our 4^th of July weekend. As you can tell, it was awesome. I didn’t even take photos of half of it. I mean, Scott and I hosted another calzone, movie night with my family the Saturday before, and we didn’t get one picture. Even though it was really fun, and I had striped swizzle straws. And I didn’t take any photos of the breakfast I made after our parade. It was pretty good too. I made a pea dip, which sounds really funny and naughty, but tastes really good. And of course, there are no photos of me, and sadly, none of Scott. I was wondering why, and then I remembered he stayed back most of the parade to redo the muffins I made that morning. It was actually pretty tragic. After staying up until 2 AM to make homemade cinnamon rolls, I decided I should make muffins as well. So, I got up at 6AM to make those. And then I turned the oven 100 degrees too high and burned them. I may have said a bad word. Or two. And the muffins I made had fresh cherries, which I had pitted with a knife. For the record, this isn’t the most practical way to do things (I'm buying a Cherry Stoner next season.)

Anyway, to back up, for our 4^th of July, we had my family over for the local parade and then back to our house for a breakfast. A couple of words about the parade, when I say local, I mean small. I’m not saying Murray is the most awesome parade I have ever been too, but it is our own little quirky neighborhood parade, and I love it. It doesn’t hurt that I basically have to walk out my front door to see it. A good example of the quirkiness is the little girl walking around, holding a stuffed prairie dog, and crying, “SAVE THE PRAIRIE DOGS! THEY NEED OUR HELP!” And everyone watching was muttering, “we hate prairie dogs!” Scott and I are included in this group. They dig up our lawn and leave big holes. Also, the candy was all gone by the time the parade reached us. We tried using Lucy as bait, but it didn’t really work, and Whitney and I caught several cheerleaders giving us crusty’s. "What?!" We have a 2-year-old! We aren’t cheaters."

Later, for dinner we headed to the Stewart’s for a wonderful barbeque, where the kids stripped down and swam, even though it was pretty cool.

And then Dan, Tara, Spencer and Evie joined us at our place for fireworks. Another great thing about our house, we can watch the fireworks from our front lawn. And since the big fireworks are now legal, we had a 360 degree pre-show from all our neighbors. I have to give a shout out to Alex and Carly, whose personal firework display lasted longer than the actual fireworks.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend the holiday, with all of our family. 

And the next day, I slept in! Happy Delayed Holidays everyone!

 Colby is super excited about the parade

 The mayor

Whitney and Jake, in town from Buffalo

 I'm not sure what this is a float of. A rest home, maybe?

 We want candy!!

 Rambo beads. Manly, yet well accessorized.

 The damage

Priceless!

We Went On A Bike Ride...

And ate fresh veggies from our CSA,
And made Italian style burgers (roasted garlic, tomato sauce, and mozzarella)
and then saw Harry Potter at the Drive-Inn.

This summer I decided to take a couple of weekends off. If I don't, then I work every Friday and Saturday, and that's no bueno. This particular Friday, I thought I had off, and then I scheduled a last minute sitting (I have a hard time saying no), and then the sitting fell through. So, we treated the day as a gift, and put together a last minute adventure. We biked, we ate, we wrestled Lucy at the Drive-Inn. Actually, the move was a rather fortuitous thought of Scott's. It was opening day of Harry Potter, tickets were all sold out, and in the midst of us trying to figure out how to get tickets, Scott remembered our favorite movie spot. We bought some yummy chocolate and soda's, stocked Lucy up on popcorn...and made it through 75% of the movie with no tears. Success!

And if this seems a little idyllic, it's because it was. My normal life consists of working until 1AM, not eating, and bursting into tears at the weirdest moments. I'm not pregnant, I'm overwhelmed. Lucy comforted me the other day, with hugs, and, "you okay Mommy?" Sweet, family filled days like this are joyous and much needed. I love my two loves.

I Love You Much

Some random stories about Lucy...

-The other day when I was leaving to go somewhere, she ran down the street with Scott, crying, "no buh bye mama, no buh bye." If that isn't the saddest thing, I don't know what is.

-When I picked her up from the gym daycare yesterday, she had "borrowed" the workers hair scrunchies, and pulled them up her arm Rambo style.

-When Peter Pan is on, she goes, "Fly! Fly! Fly!"

-I was doing a shoot for a cousin yesterday, and while normally she isn't very clingy, she was very needy then. No matter how many times I picked her up and hugged her, she just wasn't happy. Finally, when we were getting ready to leave, she held my face, gave me kisses on both cheeks, and said, "I love you much."

-Also yesterday, Scott went with her to pick up some pizza. The waiting area, also sells Gelato, and Lucy looks at Scott, and said, "Daddy, mmmmmm, yummy!" and proceeded to mooch 20 spoonfuls of gelato from the ice cream workers. Every time she said, "thank you," they gave her more. Every time she said, "more," and held up her spoon they gave her more. She was in her glory.

She likes to watch movies sitting in a tupperware container. We really need to get her a chair.

Her favorite thing to do is play, and if you will play with her, she will be your best friend. She is very affectionate and loving and she makes us laugh every day. We love her very, very much!

Cousins!

Lucy sure loves her cousins. They are all so sweet to her, and she has a special relationship with each of them.

Evie, she is completely fascinated by. If I can't find Lucy and Evie is around, it's pretty much a guarantee she is sitting by her, trying to play. She wants to sit in Evie's chair, and play with Evie's toys, and touch Evie's hair (who can blame her?)

Spencer and Lucy are buddies, with very different interests. Spencer likes to play trains and Lucy likes to stand right in the middle of his train tracks, or pulls the cars off the tracks. Spencer says "Lucy" so cute, and gives her hugs and smiles.

Sammy and Lucy are best friends. They may fight sometimes and Lucy often gets a good case of the mine's around Sammy, but she also wakes up 50% of the mornings saying, "Sammy! Sammy dance! Sammy play!" Lucy loves Sammy very, very much.

Jamesie is also so loving to Lucy. Lucy often says, Sammy!James! in one quick sentence, like they are the same person. Jamesie gives Lucy lots of hugs, and says, "Lucy is so cute!" We love James! P.S. James also said Lucy looked like Rapunzel today (the part after her hair was cut!)

Jacob looks out for Lucy, and helps her. He is like the big brother she doesn't have. Jacob never seems to get frustrated with her spicy ways, and is very kind. Jacob is also a VERY impressive dancer. The kid has moves I never had. He leads all of our dance parties.

We love that Lucy gets to have all these sweet cousins to play with, since it is so quiet over at our house.

Fashionista

My Last Hawaii Post :( or Haleiwa!

Ah, Haleiwa. Home to some of the best food we had on our trip. I'm fondly thinking of you, Matsumoto's, Wailua Bakery, and Kua 'Aina Burgers. This particular trip was smack in the middle of Waimea Bay and the Birthstones. Maybe our full day with no nap explains Lucy's meltdown at the stones.

See the photo below where Lucy is looking down, most intently? Yeah, there is a gecko down there, that terrified and fascinated her. His little tongue was licking all the food she threw down. At least someone liked it. I, personally, liked the coconut sticky bun. Or the homemade ice cream sandwiches. Or the delicious veggie and hummus sandwich on homemade wheat bread. A welcome, healthy respite after our constant diet of burgers and fries and pie.

Ummm, why don't we live in Hawaii again?

The Birthstones

Just off of a main highway, that runs through the central valley of Oahu, down from the Dole Plantation, lies the Kukaniloko Birthstones Monument. It's easy to miss, just a small marker, and a red dirt road in the middle of the plantation points you in the right direction. But although initially inconspicuous, the Birthstones were easily one of our favorite things we did. I'm not sure why exactly, but Scott and I make it a point to visit sacred places. There is something about going to a spot that has been sacred for hundreds of years, and standing where others have stood that's pretty cool. I'm looking at you, Temple Church, Westminster and Stonehenge. I'm not sure if it is just because these spots are old, or because there is so much history associated with them, or if it is just because we are nerds, but it is one of our favorite things to do when traveling. Ok, it's probably because we are nerds. Anyway, this spot was peaceful (ignore the screaming baby in a diaper), and amazingly beautiful. If based on beauty alone, we could see why it was so special.