At the end of September, we took a short trip to San Diego with Bruce Wayne's dad. We left early Friday morning and returned Monday afternoon. We had just enough time for a visit with old friends, two days at Sea World and two visits to the beach, one of which resulted in our most recent family pictures.

It was so nice to get away for a few days. The girls were excited to have so much time with Grandpa. Man Cub was excited to have so much time with mom. The weather was beyond gorgeous... in fact, it was *almost* to hot to be out walking around at an amusement park. The nights cooled off beautifully and we enjoyed spending as much time outside as we possibly could.

Our first day there was super laid back. We browsed the shops at Seaport Village. The girls smooshed some pennies for their collection and rode on a really old wooden carousel. Then we headed to Coronado to have dinner with our great friends, Tony & Nicole. Bruce and Tony went through the police academy together many moons ago. Since that time, Tony has reenlisted with the Navy and we sure do miss having them close by. Luckily, they always have time to visit with us when we are in California and have even made the drive up to Disneyland on more than one occasion so we could see each other. We have both added to our families since the last time we were all together. It was fun to introduce them to Man Cub, and to meet their pretty little lady, Lily.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at Sea World. The wee ones were in heaven. They had such a great time watching all the shows and enjoying all the animals. Man Cub especially loved the tide pool, since it meant he was allowed to splash in the water. One of my favourite parts of the trip was getting to use my new stroller... this thing was a dream come true. Both Man Cub and Beebs took several naps in what has become known as "The Cadillac". It made our days at Sea World so much more enjoyable. No cranky babies as everyone stayed on a pretty good nap schedule!

Saturday night we had dinner at our favourite ocean side restaurant- Anthony's. The food was amazing and the view was to die for. I actually took this photograph from my seat at the table, looking out our window at the breathtaking sunset. Not too shabby, right!?

Sunday night was the infamous family photo shoot. I'm sure we will laugh for years to come about how I handled that entire evening, but I do have to say- I am so glad I stuck to my guns and insisted we wait for the perfect light... these beach photos are some of my absolute favourite photos ever.

Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and decided we needed a bit more time at the beach before heading home. We drove just north of San Diego, to La Jolla, where we found the most perfect little spot to enjoy the sand and water. It was a little inlet, shaded by big rocky cliffs with really coarse sand and deep blue water. And it just so happened that a colony of sea lions were hanging out just north of where we had set up camp. The entire time we were at the beach, we were serenaded with the sounds of sea lions and at one point, we even had a sea lion swim up about 10 feet away from us, barking up a storm. It was so fun to see them out in the wild.

It was a fantastic little getaway and we are all anxious to go back. Hopefully we can make it back soon. I can hear the ocean calling me. Ü

Beebs Feels The Music

Yesterday in church, one of the young men in our ward played a beautiful rendition of "If You Could Hie To Kolob" on the piano. Beebs was restless and by this point in the meeting it was becoming quite difficult to get her to sit quietly. I pulled her up on my lap and asked her to sit quietly and feel the music. I asked her to tell me what she felt. She sat quietly, and after a few moments, she turned to me and whispered, "It feels like something is about to happen!". The music had just gotten a bit louder and dramatic and I was blown away that she had recognized that and then was able to put it into words. Another minute passed and she looked at me and said, "Now it feels like someone is sad!". As the song came to an end, Beebs whispered to me once again, this time telling me, "Now it feels like someone is crying!".

I was so beyond impressed that Beebs was able to sit so quietly and feel the music, then put into words an explanation of what she was feeling. I knew I had to try this with her again.

Tonight, I put on a couple of different pieces of classical music that I love. At first Beebs was just playing around. She wasn't interested in sitting and listening to the music, but when I put on Itzhak Perlman's version of Cinema Paradiso- Love Theme, she sat quietly and began to feel the music.

First, Beebs told me that it felt like someone was lost- that a child was lost. His parents were looking for him, but couldn't find  him because he was lost in the woods. Then she said it felt sad, because he was lost and it felt like they were looking for him but still couldn't find him and they were scared he would get eaten by an animal. As the song ended, Beebs told me she felt like it was sad because he was still lost and everyone was crying.

I had to agree! Though my version doesn't involve a boy being lost in the woods, that is a song that has always felt sad to me. Itzhak Perlman makes that violin cry and it tugs at my heart strings each time I hear it.
I loved spending that time with Beebs tonight and hearing how the music touched her. I can't wait to find even more songs to listen to together. I love hearing Beebs explain to me what she feels when she listens to music!

Tuesday Ten | November 5th

Ten things I want to remember about life right now, that might not get blogged otherwise.Ü

1. Happy Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night! Remember, remember the 5th of November. Bruce is working swing shift tonight, so we celebrated yesterday with a fire pit and s'mores. I also had the girls draw pictures of "a bad guy" (Guy Fawkes), which we threw in the fire. I love my British heritage!

2. Man Cub learned how to shake his head "no" on Saturday. Luckily, he hasn't realized he can do it all the time, but the few times he has done it, it makes me a little bit sad. The beginning of the end. I'm sure he'll tell me "no" many more times in the years to come. 

3. I am 90% done with my Christmas shopping. All I have left is buying Bruce's stocking stuffers and ordering the traditional Disney Precious Moments figures for each of the wee ones. I've chosen which ones to order, just haven't placed the order yet. It is the BEST feeling in the world to already be done and know that I can spend my holiday season creating memories and enjoying traditions instead of battling the shopping crowds. 

4. Bruce and I have gotten sucked back into Once Upon A Time and I am ticked that Peter Pan a villain. My brain is coming up with every possible scenario to make him turn good, but I'm losing hope. This is why I hate TV!!

5. I am 4.5 weeks Facebook free and in those 4.5 weeks, I have been a better wife and mother and more productive homemaker than I was before. I don't know why it has taken me so long to ditch Facebook, but I have no intentions of going back!

6. Bruce and I started "Operation Curb Appeal" last week. The front of our house has been desperately in need of a makeover since the day we bought our house (which will be three years on the 16th). Some of the planned projects for Operation Curb Appeal will have to wait until funding becomes available, but I hope our first steps will make an impact. I'm tired of having the ugliest house on the block! 

7. Our next door neighbours are getting baptized on Saturday. I'm so excited for them!!! We have the world's best neighbours, hands down. We just adore them and we are so excited that they will be apart of our church family now, too!

8. I made homemade bread today, for the first time in over a year. I really should make it more often. Somehow, I've built it up in my mind to be this super messy, time consuming activity, but it's not!! And fresh baked bread is so darn good.

9. I took the wee ones "garage sale-ing" this weekend while Bruce was sleeping. We scored some awesome things, but by far, our favourite are the old school Polly Pockets that we got for a quarter a piece. Why did I not buy them all!? We only brought home six of the two dozen or so the lady was selling and now I'm kicking myself for not getting more. The girls love them just as much as I did as a child.

10. We also went through the car wash and vacuumed out the car to kill time while Bruce slept. I was so proud of my handy work {especially since I despise going through those automated car washes} and already the back of the Jolly Roger is a crumb filled mess. Sigh. Well at least we have something to occupy us next time we need to leave the house and let Bruce get some rest!

Man Cub's ACTUAL Birthday

Well, my goal to be completely caught up on blogging by the end of October did not happen. But, I am close! Darn close. And this is the VERY LAST post about Man Cub's first birthday. Promise. No more birthday posts until Beebs turns 4 in January

Man Cub's actual birthday was a pretty low key day. Bruce worked, I taught preschool in the morning and since his birthday was sandwiched between two very busy weekends, it was nice to just keep the day simple.

We did try to make the day special by singing Happy Birthday and helping him blow out the candle as often as possible throughout the day. We also spoiled him with pressies, which he loved. Other than that, we just enjoyed the chance to spend time with him. Man Cub is such a special little guy and we are so blessed to have him in our family. He sure does keep us on our toes, but we absolutely love that about him.  There is never a dull moment with Man Cub around, which he reminded us of when he attempted to grab the flame on his birthday candle. Ü He keeps life fun, for sure!