Back to Work

I just completed my first week back from vacation, and as much as I love my job, I love vacation, too. It was really hard for me to get back into the work routine because none of my kiddos are around AND because Travis and Adaline are still at home.
I spent the entire week in the office doing research and reviewing cases for the upcoming year. It's so hard for me to sit at a desk all day everyday. During the school year, I'm all over the place: at one of my school sites, doing assessments, on the floor with the kids, joining in at recess or circle time...It's not until after school hours that I sit down at a desk to write my reports, check my email, create trainings or collaborate with my co-workers. So, as you can understand, I get antsy when I sit in front of my computer or my files for 40 hours. Ugh. My muscles even hurt from being in the same position allllllll day.
Travis tried to help lighten up my first week back by bringing in Adaline- and it worked! They only stayed a few minutes, but just holding Adaline and taking her around to say hi to my current office-mates put a smile on my face.
Speaking of Miss Adaline, she had quite the busy day! She went out to Travis's school for a quick informal meeting with his department, came out to visit me, went to the bike store, the post office, the grocery store AND played with Grandpa Walsh! What a day! Travis said Grandpa and Adaline had a great visit; Grandpa came in and said hi to her, but then spent some time talking to Travis so Adaline could warm up to him and warm up to him she did! After a couple of minutes, she was talking and playing and generally showing off for Grandpa. How exciting :) Wish I could have been there to see it!
Next week will be better, now that I'm back in the work-mode, I'm ready to go. I have quite a few upcoming projects to do and I'm ready to do them! Until then, I'm going to enjoy my weekend with my family...
Happy weekend to you!

My Definition of SuperDad:

The ability to multi-task: Live, Love, Laugh, Comfort, Clean, and Create.

aka: Travis

YUM!

Travis's tomatoes are in! 

Good thing his basil plants are healthy, too...

Who Wants Sum Beer?

And what kind do you want???

As much as I hate the smell of beer brewing, I love the results.

Typical Sunday Morning...

Next thing you know, she'll be asking us to pass her the business section.

Stan Co. Fair 2011

Thanks to my dad, we were able to go to the fair on opening day as the gates were opening, without waiting in line for our tickets. I LOVE that we were able to take Adaline to the petting zoo while it was still clean, the staff were still happy, the animals weren't too stressed, and there wasn't an overwhelming amount of people milling around. Perfect for us! 

 

We quickly searched for our entered items and discovered that we did well for first timers! Travis took first place for his fish stamp (pictured below) and was awarded two honorable mentions for his home-brews (California Common and a pale ale).

I picked up honorable mentions for all three of the photos that I entered! Pretty good for my first time entering photos, if I do say so myself!

I knew my pictures weren't great photography-wise when I entered them and I didn't expect to win anything, but all three of them are special to me and represent touching moments in my packed life. I love how the photos turned out and I love that the one of Adaline and Maddie was displayed at the entry to the photography area. Within minutes, I overheard three different people point to it and say something along the lines of "Awwwww, how cute!"  I know I'm tooting my own horn, but it IS a photo of my baby, and I LOVE IT. Warmed my heart to overhear others commenting on it, too. I also love that I can hear Clint Black playing live at the fair from the couch in my living room as I write this post. Who doesn't love the fair?!
*Thanks again, Dad, for making it easier for us to experience the fair while the weather was cool!

7.4.11

This year, we spent July 4th doing almost the exact same thing as last year (when you think about it, doesn't everyone?)

We tortured ourselves with a hot, dusty, strenuous 5K in Murphy's at Twisted Oak's Hernia Hill. The actual winery/tasting room is at the top of a pothole-filled drive. There are multiple courses (5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathon) but we stick to the the short course. It's *only* two laps, which means we crawl up Hernia Hill not once, but twice, which gives us even more time to ponder why we willingly signed up for this course when we already knew what was in store. Oh boy. How the heck did I run this last year just months after giving birth?! I don't remember what my actual time was last year, but I think I did better back then than I did this year. Of course I had Tanner running with me this year. Oh yes, my usual running mate Tanner decided he didn't want to stay in the truck bed with Belle like he did last year. As I started the second lap, I passed by our truck and waved at the dogs. Next thing I know,  the dogs in a truck in front of me are being restrained by their owner as I near him. Strange, they didn't seem bothered by the runner in front of me going by, so I look back and sure enough here comes Tanner, high-tailing it (hahaha) after me looking so proud of himself. I had two choices- 1) stop and back track, struggle with the tailgate, try and convince Tanner to jump back in the truck because it's way more fun in there, struggle to close it, then rejoin the race, or 2) keep going. After a moment's thought, I realized Tanner would be experiencing his own punishment by continuing the run with me. So off we went. He did pretty well, too! He kept trying to run up to the guy in front of me- I think he thought it was Travis, because as soon as the guy would look down and smile, Tanner would totally slow down and keep pace with me. I kept laughing (which must be the real reason for my slow time, yeah, that's it!) and kept trying to keep him by me as we passed the cheering crowds. It was all worth it when we rounded the last corner and saw Travis with a look of surprise on his face. I wish we had a picture of Tanner crossing the finish line...

Anyway, after the eventful morning, we spend the day relaxing at my parents' cabin; my dad barbecued some delicious ribs and my mom created some mouth-watering side dishes. We filled up then headed out to the Twaine Hart Concert in the Park.

Adaline had fun showing her patriotism...

 We had some tasty wine, thanks to Les!

 After sufficient time spent waving the flag, Adaline curled up for some chair-dancing.

 This last picture was taken at last year's July 4th concert- I still can't believe it's only been a year.

It was another great holiday! I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as we did.

P.S. Travis placed second in his age division! Congrats to him!

Happy (Belated) Anniversary to Us!

*I know I'm jumping all over the calendar with my posts, but we've packed so much into the last four weeks that I'm having trouble documenting it all in an understandable way! The July 4th post is still waiting in the wings- but for now, I want to back up to mid-June to revisit a special day...

June 19, 2004 was the day Travis and I publicly admitted what we have known since March 1999. 

We are meant for each other.

Look how young we were!

Our anniversary fell on Father's Day this year, so we celebrated Father's Day all day. We actually spent the whole week celebrating our family, and honored our day of marriage one evening with this amazing wine from our secret stash.

As much as I love spending our time and attention on our little family, I still really enjoy making time for just Travis and myself. We both work so hard to make other people happy that it feels like such a treasure to spend one night on ourselves.

Here's to 12.5 years of TravisandMargo, eight years of schooling, seven years of marriage, one year of pregnancy, 16 months of Beautiful Adaline, and the last 4 weeks of vacation. I love you, Travis, and I look forward to the next 60+ years of our lives.

Fair Season

We met up with Aunt Sara in Sonora for her birthday yesterday. There's not much to do in Sonora, so we decided to take Adaline to the fair. She went with us last year to the Stanislaus County Fair, but she was so little we didn't really get a reaction from her. Sonora was perfect for this year! It was big enough to have all the fair "must-haves"but small enough that all the FFA kids were willing to share their animals with Adaline for a few moments.
Here are a few pics Travis took with his cell phone camera-
Adaline and the "kitties" (what she calls all bunnies in our books)...

 Adaline, my hat, and the one goat that wanted to visit.

 Birthday Girl Sara, Adaline, and the goat...

It was such a great experience~ the perfect size to introduce Adaline to livestock. I can't wait to take her back to the Stanislaus County Fair next week and see what she thinks of the Big Fair.
Again, Happy Birthday Sara! We were so happy you were able to share your day with us!

7.9.11

Not only is it a mathematically beautiful day (so I'm told by my husband), but it's my favorite sister-in-law's birthday!
Happy Birthday, Sara; thank you for spending your afternoon with us!

Avila Beach, Continued....

The one request I had for vacation was beach time. I didn't care how long or how many days we spent at the beach, I just wanted to sink my toes in the sand and soak up the warm sun. I was a little worried that Adaline wouldn't like the sand, but she was all for it! 

True to form, she spent a few minutes assessing her situation.

 Then she started waving at everyone passing by.

 Daddy sat down next to her and confirmed that that they both have the fairest skin of all.

 Adaline dove right into the sand with her new toys. I didn't even have to show her how to use them!

 She let Daddy play with her, but notice who has the big shovel and who has the little one...(we all know who's in charge here!)

 Venturing away from the towels...

 ...yep, more sand.

 This is what happened when I said we were going to go soon. She dramatically threw her toys and dropped down on the blanket with a wail of protest.

Turns out she really does like the beach :)

Avila Beach

On Friday afternoons, Avila Beach hosts a charming little farmer's market. It starts at four and is filled with fruits, veggies, sweets and meats. We met up with our friends, the Phares and their darling little girls. The live band was great, but the real entertainment were the dancing girls :) After a few days alone with us, Adaline was thrilled to play with other kids- and we were thrilled with the adult time!

 Makenna is just one month younger than Adaline, and Maddie is two years older. They had so much fun talking and dancing...

 Michelle and Makenna~ the crowd and band loved her moves!

 Travis and Mike~ friends since 1993

 Snack time at stroller corral

Thank you, Phares Family! We had a blast...hope to see you again soon!

Summer Vacation 2011

This year Travis and I picked Los Osos as our vacation destination. We knew next to nothing about it...just that it was minutes away from Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, and backed up to Montana de Oro State Park. We didn't know much, but we knew enough about the surrounding areas to be confident that we would find plenty of places to visit if our vacation rental was less than enjoyable. We were happy with the rental, but we still found plenty of time to explore the surrounding areas. We took the whole family (almost, we had to leave Dotti at home) in the truck with Travis's new self-built lumber rack to carry all our stuff, baby stuff, dog stuff, and surf boards.

Adaline quickly claimed "her" chair at the house.

We stopped at Morro Bay a couple of times to play on the beach and so Travis could surf.

We even found a couple of baby sand dollars.

Still more to come!