Kelp to Toe

As expected I took a zillion photos and about half a zillion are of Addie looking down. She is a very intent and serious beach-goer focusing on the job at hand whether it's transfering sand from one bucket to the next or introducing her toes to a nice slimy kelp bulb.

I'm going through family withdrawal and so is Miss A. I must say I rather enjoyed a 5:1 Adult to Addie ratio over thanksgiving weekend. My mom, brother and sister were so wonderful with Addie and she adored them - after she got reacquainted with a little help from a stuffed walrus and chex mix bribery. We wish we had brought crayons with us because Gran taught her a new trick. Addie now insists that we draw her pictures that she can color in. All of us took turns drawing fish, bees, and owls so she could scribble on their eyes. This came in very handy at the fancy bistro we went to for my Mom's 60th birthday. Addie miraculously sat through 3 courses happily chomping on ice and coloring in my two dimensional fish and bubbles drawn on the paper tablecloth. Turns out she loves port-cured grapes and pumpkin cheesecake, and could take or leave pannecotta with an apricot puree. I've been practicing my drawings since we've been home adding an octopus, a duck and a Christmas tree with presents to my repertoire.

I've added the final shots from our trip to the slideshow or just head to our flickr account and peruse on your own. I'm game to renting a house in Cambria anytime - anyone interested?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Addie and all of us wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving from Cambria!


Gran, Cap, Addie, Uncle Brother and Auntie "Snorg" Jennifer.


The best brined turkey, hot off the bird.

We drove 4 hours with a 21.5 lb brined turkey in the trunk, cooked it for 6 hours and finally feasted a little later than expected after Miss A went to bed. We did sneak her a sliver before she turned in for the night and gave it the "All done." What a good vegetarian. The rest of us gobbled it up along with Cap's always yummy homemade apple pie.

Hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. Here are a few more photos from our trip. I sure have lots to give thanks for!

learning experience

We went to a one year old's birthday party and of course I had my camera with the plans to document the party and then be able to send them a cd of the images. I took 179 shots and I'm pretty sure the birthday girl was blurry in all of them. It was like she had some sort of anti-focusing shield around her. If this was a paying gig I would have been fired. Thankfully this isn't. After this event and then taking another zillion fuzzy shots with my zoom lens of Grandpa Mit that were also pretty much blurry, I bought myself a nice new prime lens (non zoom) which I'm hoping will help solve the camera shake problem. These two photos are my favorites from the party, but then again, I might be biased.

Friday Night

This is why we leave nice tips.

Addie's Dinner: Two bowls of salsa (resembles tomato stew more than pico de gallo), side of guacamole and black beans. 

Adult's Dinner: Cheese enchiladas, 2 margaritas each, and in bed by 8:45.

Mama's Lil Helper

I was inspired to make Halloween cupcakes 2 weeks back and thought I'd recruit Miss A to help. She excelled at putting the cupcake linings into the tray, but she also excelled at taking them all back out and stacking them together in a tower.  

She also thought the mixing bowls might just make a perfect perch for which to sort your measuring cups.  Thankfully they were still sans batter.  I noticed that she has two different shirts on in these pictures, but I can promise I've only made cupcakes once so I think I must have misjudged the day's weather somewhere in the baking process.  

The Checklist

Pail. Check
Shovel. Check
Ice cube. Check
Bellybutton. Check

And in other news, Didi is back from the Kitty Hospital tonight after 2 nights away from home for, um, blockage issues. Addie went bonkers with excitement when they brought Didi out into the waiting room at the vet. She was frantic though that Didi was in her carrier and wasn't allowed out until we got home. We do love our Deeds.

(and thanks Gran for her adorable dress)

Everything is "Mine"

At the park, Addie borrowed a little boy's caterpillar toy. His mom kindly shared but the little boy didn't agree shouting "Mine Mine Mine" from the confines of his swing defenseless to protect his property. Addie decided it was "mine" too when she objected to us returning the caterpillar to the little boy when it was time to go. She's big on "mine." Everything is "mine" even if she already has "mine." She'll be eating a cheese stick. I'll be eating a cheese stick. Her cheese stick is "mine" and, according to the rules of Addie, my cheese stick is also "mine." When is "mine," mine? Sigh.

Our household also has a few new traditions. Because of our work schedules, we don't all eat dinner together. However, I think the idea of a family dinner is important. It took me a loooooong time to realize the art of Somewhere in Between. So, while we can't eat together every night, we can eat together at least once a week. Introducing Friday Night Family Dinners. Asking me to cook something isn't in the cards, so we all troop off for a dinner out. We've had hummus at a Greek restaurant and Addie sucked on a lemon wedge. weirdo. Last night we went to Swingers and dined on sauteed tofu, veggie chili and veggie BLTs listening to punk rock. Addie drank water from Cap's glass with a spoon. again, weirdo. I love these nights. Then on Saturdays we get a babysitter, I put on mascara, and Cap and I go on Date Night. Ah date night - sushi, a movie and cocktails. I guess Saturday nights are mine.