Thursday, August 30, 2012

an update from Phillis the iPhone

August life has been a lot of routine. Up, run, ready, naps. And all that routine revolves around Liam. He, very much so, is the center of our universe. This little sample of iPhone photos basically proves such.

so I let a couple scenic/house photos sneak in... :)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Yosemite National Park!

Every three years husband's mom's family, the Macdonals, get together somewhere in the country and do a reunion. It was my second showing at the Mac family tradition and this time I got to bring a little nugget along! (I have a feeling [hope] we will have a second nugget for the next reunion). We landed (by car) in Yosemite National Park this year and it was beautiful. 

Here is a little traveler's guide to Yosemite, according to our experience at least:


These pics were taken on the edge of this rock that was actually 30 yards from the edge of the cliff, but it looks like I am a bad mom and let Clint pull a Lion King on us all. At one point he held Liam up like Simba (and I was freaking out so I didn't get a picture) and a lady behind us screamed at Clint. Awesome. So first {1} thing on our Yosemite guide is to drive to the views. They will not disappoint.
Second {2} thing to do, plan on seeing mostly trees on windy roads until you get to your location. Unlike Yellowstone (which I have never been to but I hear good things) the drives through Yosemite are not super scenic (unless you like a lot of trees). We spent a lot of our time disoriented while driving for hours to "see" the sights. And by "we" I mean "I" was disoriented.  But when we got where we were going, it was a blast.
Third {3} go here. Big trees. Really really big trees!

Fourth {4} spend time in good company. These here are three of my adorable nephews. And that is giant tree poop.

I think Clint instructed the cousins to act like trees. Pretty great rendition I think. The best part is little Nugget's hat head!
Nephew Damon. He and Liam will be in the same grade. Can't wait for the two little nuggets to be buddies.
Fifth {5} did I mention to go see the big trees?

And sixth {6} take lots of photos. Going through the pics reminds me of how much fun we had.

A few things that weren't pictured that were fun: 
- Swimming in Yosemite valley
- Lots of cute cousins and second cousins (I should have taken more pics of them dang it)
- Camp

And Phillis the iPhone captured breakfast as we left the park on our last day. Best. Hot. Chocolate. Ever. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

WalMart Dialogues

It happened today whilst browsing the fanciful isles of Wally world. I officially became one of those parents who uses their children as an excuse to have conversations with themselves in public. There I stood debating, out loud, which sunblock to buy.

"Should I buy the baby stuff or the sports stuff, Liam?"
(You like how I did that? I added "Liam" to the end so as to not look like a lunatic talking to myself...no not this mom...I am clearly having a discussion about sunblock with my 5-month-old...no crazy people here)

"Which one do you think, Liam?"
He gurgled, smiled, and then poked himself in the eye with my pen (bad mom).

After picking out sun block we scooted to the pet isle, picked up some dog poop bags, and witnessed the quintessential cat lady purchasing 15 cans of soft cat food and a cat bell. So my Tuesday couldn't get any better really.

The best part of WalMart in the fall is by far, hands down, the back-to-school section. I miss grade school. Its been 5 years since I graduated high school and I don't really miss the people, the drama, the homework, adolescence. But I freakin miss the lined notebook paper, the day planners, new sharpies all lined up in a row. I miss buying magic markers and organizing them in a pencil box. They even have tacky cat-covered folders for young aspiring cat ladies! If only my adorable little sister could look to the future and see that someday she will miss buying calculators and erasers. sigh.





Saturday, August 18, 2012

husband clint

husband is a pretty great guy. well more than pretty...he is a REALLY great guy.
and this weekend he has left me to hunt wild beasts down south.
and by wild beasts i mean deer and by down south i mean monticello.
so off he went, the dedicated hunter, and here i am missing him.
husband works so hard for our family and i couldn't be more grateful.
but i could tell him more just how grateful i am.
here is a few of my grateful things...
...1. i am grateful for his patience. all encompassing patience with me and life in general.
...2. i am grateful for his love for me and nugget.
...3. i am grateful for his time that he dedicates to spending with me.
...4. i am grateful that he is so capable.
...5. i am grateful for his total commitment to enjoy life.
...6. i am grateful he is confident.
...7. i am grateful he is religious.
...8. i am grateful he likes vacations and dessert.
sure do miss him.

Friday, August 17, 2012

our 4th at Lake Tahoe


My husband is full of ideas and most of them are good ones. It was a great idea of his that we spend the 4th of July at Lake Tahoe. Neither he nor I had witnessed the majesticness of Lake Tahoe and I am sure glad we did. Finding Lake Tahoe is a bit of a bizarre experience. Somewhere in Nevada our Maps app told us we were 10 miles away from the lake but when we looked out the window we were surrounded by farms. I was convinced we had made a mistake and the cows we drove by seemed to mock me. Then Mr. Map app led us straight up a sheer mountain that seemed too large to divide a farm from a lake by less than 10 miles but there that mountain stood. We drove up and up and when we reached the top, what do you know there was a massive lake! It seemed a bit claustrophobic that this massive body of water was rimmed by sheer mountains and if those mountains were removed all the farms and cows would be at the bottom of a lake. Claustrophobia aside, we had a good time anyways!

Our day started out at the beach. Lots of sunblock and sand. Very 4th-of-July-ish. Some of Clint's family joined us including Michelle's (Clint's sister) family and Davey's (Clint's brother) family. But nugget was my favorite part (of life really).





The family also enjoyed a craft show (which was my good idea) and it was a definite hit. But the best part for all was the amazing firework show over the lake. I wish you could have all seen Nugget Liam's fascination with fireworks. His little eyes light up and he starts air swimming (waving his little arms and chubby legs like he's treading imaginary water).