Waking Up

Somehow, Molly seems to know when it is a weekend. During the week she sleeps through the night from around 8 pm to nearly 7 pm., and once or twice a week we have to wake her up to so that we can go to work.

Then comes the weekends, with last weekend providing a perfect example. On both Saturday and Sunday Molly woke at 5:00 and 4:50 a.m, respectively. In both cases Trina brought her to our bed with the hopes of Molly going back to sleep there. Not so much. She preferred to play - smacking us on the face, crawling around, and sticking her fingers in our mouth. On Saturday we got up early with her for a full day. On Sunday, after it obvious that Molly wasn't going back to sleep, Molly and I moved to the living room to play at 5:00 while we let Trina catch up on some sleep.

I set her up with a clean diaper, started the coffee maker, and fixed a bottle, which she drained quite quickly. Molly, the dogs, and I played on the living room floor for about an hour. Molly was all smiles and laughter, climbing over me, dumping out the basket of remote controls, crawling to the kitchen, and playing with her toys. After a little more than an hour, she crawled over to me and layed her head on my lap as though she wanted to go to sleep. On that cue I picked her up and settled on the couch with her on my chest. After a few minutes of practicing baby dentistry on my mouth and some squirming to get comfortable, she fell asleep peacefully on my chest.

Oscar and Daisy soon joined us on the couch where I felt and listed to her breathing, smelled her baby shampoo, and admired the little bit of fuzzy hair on her head. For an hour and a half we remain there together. I watched on-demand re-runs of Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge until Trina emerged at 8:00. Molly woke soon after and we prepared for the day ahead - coffee at the Urban Coffee Lounge, lunch at Padria (our neighbor's Greek restaurant), and then to Costco for a few items.


Hopefully she doesn't grow too fast and we can have a few more mornings like that.

Molly the Explorer

Molly is a little explorer.

She has more than mastered crawling and does so with a purpose. One moment she will be happy playing with her toys in the middle of the living room and on a moment's notice will drop what she is holding, take off out of the living room with either the dog's bowls or perhaps her bedroom in mind. This morning she was playing in the living room with the dogs and I, and off she went, down the hallway crawling with the form, coordination, and nearly the speed of an adult, strait to her bedroom door and started banging on it with her hand.

Her awareness and memory is obviously growing. For example, she knows that she is about to get some grub when we get out a bottle to prepare for her and she quickly grows impatient. She also knows where her two boxes of toys are, the basket of magazines, and other fun things around the house, as she seeks them out regularly.

Every day she is harder to distract from something that we don't want her to get into. Frequently she will have the dog bowls on her mind and after she crawls into the kitchen we will pick her up and return her to a toy in the living room. She won't have any interest in the toy and will go strait back to the kitchen. This can happen several times.

It is obvious that she is learning a lot about her environment. She is curious about everything around her and is ever happy and independent. Cuddle time is a rarity. She would rather be on the floor, crawing between the t.v., the coffee table, a chair, the fire place, and standing up next to each of them and trying to grab something. With all this crawling, grabbing on to objects, and standing up next to them, she is getting much stronger, and gaining balance and confidence. It could be next week when she starts standing on her own without holding a chair or leg for stability. Already she is letting go and standing unassisted for a second or two.

Aunt Jessica and the Pumpkin Patch

It is now at the end of week two of three with Aunt Jessica visiting Molly. The time has passed too quickly. Although her body was in shock from the 13 hour time difference, we didn't let her sit and lazily fend of the jet lag. We kept her on the go by starting off with a trip to Bob's Corn Maze and Pumpkin patch. Bob's is a small farm near Monroe and is growing every year. In addition to the pumpkins and corn maze, there are wagon rides, pony rides, jungle gyms, kid's rides in trailers behind a little tractor, and a store with lots of local goods.

It had poured rain the day before, so the place was a muddy mess. Cars were getting stuck on flat ground, tractors were busy pulling people out, and the occasional kid would walk by splattered in mud from going down face first. Trina, Molly, Jess (and the small pumpkin she was smuggling), and I piled in the trailer that hauled us up to the bars.

There isn't a lot for an 8-month old at a muddy farm, unless you are willing to let them get real muddy, and put who knows what in her mouth. We watched some of the older kids and parents having fun, and then plopped Molly in the middle of the pumpkin pile for some pictures.

With all the colors, textures, and sizes of pumpkins in the pile, I thought for sure she would try to climb all over the pile and discover it all. Nope. She thought the stems were worth tasting. We moved her around a bit to see if smaller or different pumpkins would gather more interest from her, and finally we found one that did. She gave it a good rub down; perhaps it felt similar to her rather bald little head.

We let her cawl around on the pumpkins for a while, then mosied on to pick out our pumkins and a few other things. Hopped on the trailer for a ride back to the car.

The Bath

Molly is growing more independent. Since learning to crawl and stand up on her own, although with the assistance of a stool, coffee table, or leg to grab on to, she has become all the more active and independant. She rarely want to be held, except to eat or rarely to go to sleep. If she is in your arms, keep her bouncing, flying, or something to keep her moving. She believes the world is hers to discover and will stop for only a few things that ultimately help this cause - food and unwillingly, sleep.

Now that she is coordinated enough to support herself she takes baths with out us in the tub. We fill the tub with enough water to cover her legs, sit her on a yellow foam pad, and let her splash away.

She is very tollerant of the washing part of the bath and even seems to enjoy that as well.

Even in the bath it is hard to keep her still. The moment she gets bored with trying to eat her red devil rubber duck, she starts crawling around and in an instant is climbing up the wall of the tub to stand up with all the big people in the room.

Avocado

At last! The camera arrived in the mail today after a month long vacation at the repair shop in Portland. No more of that.

First off, I had to get back to photographing my favorite subject, Molly. Trina had started feeding her some whole grain puffs (a.k.a. 'baby crack), which we scatter on her tray where she has fun picking them up and stuffing in her mouth on her own. Next up was the new item for the day, the green, slimy avocado. Initial reactions were mixed, but positive.

Then it started to go down hill. Smiles were present, but not when we put the green slimy stuff in her mouth. Furthermore, the internal/external ratio was shifting to the latter.

Finally, the full-on gag ended the session. Trina cleaned her up and we ate dinner around the kitchen island while she was entertained by out antics. She particularly enjoys the rattling of of the martini shaker. Some green slimy death vegetable made it to her head, so Trina gave her a bath while I did the dishes. A big bottle and off to bed to stand in bed crying for a while before sleep.

A close call

We had our first true close call w/ Molly.

A car drove through the wall of her daycare room yesterday. Thankfully she is fine. Three other babies from her room went to the hospital. The news has reported that they are fine.

See Trina's blog for more.

Wow.

http://venardfamilypost.blogspot.com/2009/08/thankful.html

6 months ago yesterday...

...Molly Claire Venard entered the world. I was immediately blown away by her presence then and a see how incredible she is every day. Only hours after she was born, I was holding her while Trina got her first bit of sleep in 24 hours, and I just kept saying:

"Aren't you something."


Since her birthday she has brought us on an incredible journey. One of my earliest memories is of her sleeping on my chest at night for first two weeks. It seems like yesterday and it seems like ages ago all at the same time.




Since then she has grown in so many ways and is as sweet as ever. I can honestly say that I don't think she could be any easier of a baby. As long as the three essentials are covered (food, sleep, diaper, in that order) she is happy and smiling, and happy and smiling is the best way to describe her. She welcomes all people to hold her an play with her and is a favorite of the ladies that work at the day care. Often, one of the women that does not work in Molly's room will wait out her entire lunch hour waiting for Molly to wake so that she can see Molly, and sometimes the wait is all for naught.

Her 6 month check up with the pediatrician fell directly on her birthday. She is in great health; 26 inches long (75th percentile) and 16 lbs (50th percentile). Dr. Larson was surprised at how quickly she is developing - sitting up on her own, very close to crawling, very vocal, starting to hold a bottle on her own, and many others. To our surprise, Dr. Larson told us Molly had an ear infection in both ears. We had no idea. The previous weekend she had a head cold - snotty, a bit of a cough, but seemed over it. Even through that she was smiling and happy and showed no indication of ear problems. I guess that is why we have the check ups.

She really enjoys her bouncy seat, spending extended times bouncing w/ a bit of a bobble head and a big grin. I am excited to see her every morning when I wake and every evening after work. The changes seem to be coming nearly daily, and so I am curious what tomorrow will bring... Two days ago it was the sitting up on her own for 15 minutes and sucking her lips in after taking a bite of apple sauce.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. More smiles for sure.

Wild Flowers in Paradise

It is wildflower season in the mountains. Having seen some fabulous photos of wildflowers from Mt. Rainier N.P., I really wanted to go up there during the peak in early August. Having just sprained my ankle a few days before on a trail run, I figured that the paved and relatively flat (for mountains) around Paradise would be a great place to go limp around a bit and photograph flowers. In addition, the weather forecast was for wet - which mean that at 5400 feet in elevation, Paradise would be in the clouds and would provide real nice soft and interesting light.

The paved trail would become a factor in an unexpected way...

As soon I set foot out of the parking lot there were flowers all around. I was tempted to start shooting pictures immediately, but resisted and strolled (fast as I could move) down the trail about a 1/4 mile into a meadow. I have been to this meadow previously, but only when it was under the cover of feet of snow and I had boards fastened to my feet.

To my pleasant surprise there were acres of flowers, most of which I'd seen before, but not in this volume. The meadow was filled with mopheads, which created a kind of 'overstory', with daisies and other flowers beneath.



The clouds were coming in and out, changing the photo possibilities by the minute. I could have spent all day doing this, and planned to at least spend a few hours.


After about an hour in the meadow, I thought I'd see what other areas presented and strolled back to the parking lot and made my way up another trail and discovered a field of paint brushes and daisies.


The 'field' of flowers was filled with the paint brushes and subalpine daisies along the fringes. I planned to work my way around first with the telephoto, doing close-ups and other close compositions, then come back around with the wide angle for a different perspective.

Shortly after taking this photo, was strolling down the trail carrying the camera on the the tripod, when I heard a click, and saw my camera with it's 7 lb lens fall to the paved path and land with a thud. I instantly knew the significance of that moment (broken camera = $$$). The camera landed hard and I saw pieces of plastic laying next to it. I stood there stunned and speechless, didn't say a word, picked up the camera, turned it back on to see what worked and didn't (more than did), and strolled back to the car and went home with a sick feeling in my gut.

All I could think about was how I allowed this to happen. The camera disengaged from the tripod. Did I not flip the safety 'bolt' on the cam-lock? After some examination of tripod head I discovered that in the way I was holding the two together it is possible to trip both the safety and the cam-lock with just a bit of pressure by my hand. I am confident that is how it came off the tripod. Ooff. I am still waiting for the repair estimate. Hopefully I can have it back by the time Ben and I do the Selkirk Traverse, ankle permitting.

Solo

For the second consecutive evening it was just the pups and I at the house. Trina and Molly are in Idaho for cousin Dante's wedding. The first night felt really strange. It is usually non-stop action all night from the time we get home to when we get to chill for a few minutes before bed. Between getting home and going to bed it is a flurry of activity for Trina and I, usually in arrangement close to the following: feed Molly, change diaper, play with Molly, pet the dog, pet the other dog, cook dinner, throw the dog's ball, eat dinner while the other entertains Molly (she's usually getting tired and fussy by now), prepare Molly for bed (new diaper and pajamas), do the dishes, read a book or three to Molly, put her down to sleep for the night and help sooth her for about 15 minutes, play with the dog, take care other chores, watch t.v. from 9-10:00. Go to bed. Although it is crazy, it is enjoyable since 70% of it includes Molly, and she is so damn sweet.

But the last two nights there was little of that. The dogs were really weirded out by the lack of action and just moped around, except when I fed them. I had little motivation and just hung out and didn't accomplish anything. This lack of mojo was enhanced by last week's ankle sprain, which seemed to flair up the last two days (much better today) and the fact that I can't take any photos since the camera is in the shop after suffering blunt-force trauma on the paved trail at Paradise last weekend. But as usual, I can only handle that mode of operation for about a day and a half, I was up and out of bed at 5:00 this morning taking care of business - reimbursement checks for the cycling team, working on some photos, blogging...


I am anxious for Trina and Molly to return. Molly changing very fast and suspect I'll see a difference after just a few days. She is getting more active, trying to move around, and ever more interactive while her personality is coming out. She has been on a growth spurt, indicated first by an exploding appetite. She suddenly started devouring the baby chow, whether it be breast milk, formula, or baby food. She really enjoys the baby food, especially the fruits and has been downing formula like a college freshman at a kegger. Then, one day she was crying, so I went in her room and picked her up out of her crib to sooth her like I had many times before and I was surprised by what I had picked up. She was no longer an infant. She felt not only much bigger, but strong, and able to support her body. The change seemed to occur over night.


The ankle is feeling (and looking) more normal, so tonight Robert is coming over and we are going to replace a GFI outlet, load some branches into his truck, and probably just have a beer and shoot the bull for a while. Anyway, off to work

Summer, for real.

Nothing like 104-degree heat to get the Seattlites to quit squawking about 83 degrees.

For the first time since I moved to the Seattle on the day after Christmas in 2001, I have never felt like I have experienced a proper summer or winter. Growing up in Idaho there was always a week or two in the middle of summer when you would get roasted in temperatures approaching the triple digits, and usually a bit of time with a few feet of snow on the ground. Spring and fall are reasonably similar, but summer and winter pass and something biologically never clicked with me that summer or winter actually happened. This week may have done the trick on the summer problem. We've been above 90 all week and an all-time record was set at 103 degrees measured at the SeaTac airport (the official recording location).

A little further east and inland the temperatures were a few degrees higher yet, reaching 106 degrees in Bellevue where I work. Just to experience it I went out for a mellow ride around a familiar loop at lunch. When I started it was 96 degrees and 65% humidity, but I didn't know the numbers at the time; I just knew it was hot. It was tolerable if you were moving at a steady pace, but going up hill (reduced breeze) the feeling was beyond uncomfortable to "I've got to get out of this". It was still fun and as I often tell myself when the conditions are rough (usually cold and/or windy), you know you are alive when you are out in it.

Today cooled down substantially to a rather comfortable 94 degrees. A week ago everyone around would walk to lunch when it was 85 degrees out and return reporting on how "hot" it was and that it was too much for them. Today the streets were busy w/ people walking around and commenting on the comfortable the 90 degrees felt.

Meanwhile, we've kept cool in our basement, which stayed in the mid-70s. I also heard on the elevator that PSE set a new summer peak load record yesterday. This summer peak is a relatively new phenomenon for the company, due to all the air conditioning that everyone has in their houses. I am curious how many people that cry to conserve for the sake of global warming and point at this event as further evidence for it are making these statements while sitting comfortable at home with their houses cooled by air conditioning units powered by fossil fuel generated electricity...even here in the hydropower dominated Pacific Northwest.

Looking forward

It least I, spend much of our lives 'looking forward' to what comes next and not enough enjoying what is happening at the moment. Since about this very day last year when the Tour de France ended I was anxious for the start of it again in early July, and only a couple of weeks later my sister left our house to begin their school year at an international school in Kazakhstan. With all the anticipation, both came and past with incredible quickness.

Jess and Dan left yesterday for Idaho. For about a year we had been anticipating their return from Kazakhstan to visit. They arrived at our house on July 8 and stayed with us for 2.5 weeks. How quickly it flew. There were so many things to fit in this time that we can't share the rest of the year - farmer's market, Indian food, thai food, watching the Tour de France together, friday night races at the bike track, long bike rides in the sun (largely derailed by a summer time cold for me), and most importantly Molly.


I think that I have come to a time in my life that I have realized that I could climb a mountain, travel to a distant paradise, catch fish in the tropics, or any other magnificent activity; but it is experiencing life with those I love that really makes it wonderful. For this, I spent the time between the snowy February 26th when Molly was born and July 8 anxious for Jess and Dan's arrival to to share what is the biggest thing in my life. In the two and a half weeks they were here we shared watching her grow and change, see her tired and screaming, happy and giggling, trying to shove both fists in her mouth, grabbing her feet, and all the cute things babies do. When they arrived, Molly was just starting to get the hang of eating baby food and starting to show some interest; now she is grabbing the spoon and helping shove it in her mouth and nearly holding a bottle on her own. Her first 'rollover' was shortly before they got here; now rolling over is old hat and she is showing signs that crawling isn't that far away. Those are the measurable achievements, and there were countless other moments throughout.

There isn't anyone that I want to share the joy of Molly with more than my sister. It was wonderful to share these events and milestones the last couple of weeks. I'll continue to do my best to bridge the half-a-world distance between us for the next year with all the media available. It will be fun to watch them experience all this on on our heels. I only wish they were an easily traveled distance away so that we could regularly share these experiences.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The last 2 months have been the driest in recorded history in Seattle with 0.18 inches of rain. That is essentially nill.

As I sit here at 8:30 it is 83 degrees and 50% humidity. Not over the top, but definitely sticky. However, this week is supposed to be stupid hot as indicated by the NOAA forecast below. Cliff Mass, the weather expert from UW reported on his blog (link provided to the right) that these hot spells are common, but only lasting a day or two. This one is expected to last about a week. Atypical for sure.

I will be curious to see if PSE sets a new summer peak load effort due to all the people turning on their incredibly inefficient air conditioners powered by CO2 emitting power sources. I recall two summers ago that PSE shut down the power in the buildings to help save everything they could to preserve 'the grid' which was on it's limit. That heat wave was about 3 days long and represented a new phenomenon to NW power production - the summer peak - all due to air conditioners.

Perhaps you'll find us down at Juanita Beach one of the next few nights.

NWS Seattle, WA Point Forecast: Kirkland WA 47.68°N 122.22°W (Elev. 16 ft)

Mobile Weather Information | En Español Last Update: 5:02 pm PDT Jul 26, 2009 Forecast Valid: 9pm PDT Jul 26, 2009-6pm PDT Aug 2, 2009

Tonight Mostly Clear Lo 65 °F

Monday Sunny Hi 93 °F

Monday Night Mostly Clear Lo 65 °F

Tuesday Sunny Hi 94 °F

Tuesday Night Clear Lo 67 °F

Wednesday Hot Hi 98 °F

Wednesday Night Clear Lo 66 °F

Thursday Hot Hi 96 °F

Thursday Night Mostly Clear Lo 61 °F

Hazardous weather condition(s):

Heat Advisory
Air Stagnation Advisory

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. North wind between 4 and 7 mph becoming calm.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 5 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 65. North northeast wind between 3 and 8 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 94. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 6 mph.

Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 67. North wind between 3 and 6 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 98.

Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 66.

Thursday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 96.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Chowin' Down

We've started giving Molly some solid food - rice cereal mixed with baby pears or apple sauce.

She hasn't quite got the hand of it yet.

If in doubt, stick it in your mouth!!!

That's right. If you are not sure what something is, Molly recommends testing it with your mouth.

On Thursday, Molly turned four months old. We have entered the time of counting her age in months rather than weeks. Tell someone that she is 17 weeks and there is a little pause as they are calculating in their heads: "Hmmm, 17 divided by 4 weeks is about 4 months." Much easier to do months.

She is starting to act and feel more like a person or a baby than an infant. Infants have no body control or strength, their heads flop around, and interactions occur sparingly (if you don't count feeding, soothing crying, and diaper changes).


She is ever more aware of her surroundings and it is apparent that every day is a whole new world to her. When we take her for a walk, she is watching everything go by. The television is ever captivating and is now a tool for us to free all four adult hands for a few minutes around the house. Music and sounds are great positive stimuli for her and she loves it when we talk to her and make funny sounds. We can call to her from across the room and she will turn to look at us.


And furthermore, the mobility has begun. This week she rolled over in both directions (back-to-belly and belly-to-back). This was an entertaining event for all three of us. I was in the kitchen grilling up some dinner and I could hear Trina encouraging Molly to roll towards her, as well as Trina requesting me to 'come look' every couple of minutes. Then all the sudden there was great celebration when she did it. I drank another beer to celebrate.

In addition to all this she is gaining much strength. We still swaddle her to put her to sleep, but she busts out of that if she wants. Last night I had swaddled and bounced her on the balance ball until she fell asleep, then laid her in her crib 'for the night'. A half an hour later she was awake and crying. There she was, completely unwrapped and uncovered and turned 90 degrees in her crib. That was a first. Perhaps I'll try the sleeping sack tonight.

Food? Diaper? Sleep?

Food? Diaper? Sleep?

Those are the questions. As long as she has those, she is happy. I guess that goes for all of us, except the diaper part, although that could be handy, especially a couple beers into a Mariners game at Safeco Field.


Last weekend took us on another road trip. This time to Vancouver, WA for Trina's grandmother's 90th birthday party. There was plenty of anxiety for both of us after the screamer of a trip to those parts just 2 weeks ago. Since then, she has been taking the bottle quite well, thanks to day care (either that or nothing honey). That enabled Trina to feed her while on the road, even sitting in the back seat pumping up a new batch of baby chow, an feeding here right there. This seemed to help her, rather both Molly and Trina, a lot. There was not nearly the crying. Had this been the case on the trip to the Oregon Coast we would not only have enjoyed the driving more, but saw more of it. I guess that leaves us an excuse to go back.

The birthday party went well. Lots of food (could have used some hollow-legged teenage boys there to clean up). We'd all be surprise if grandma remembers it today. Oh well.


"Since you was up, you wanna fetch me a bottle?"

Last night was a reminder that keeping a baby happy is like fishing: just because it worked yesterday don't mean it will work today. She has been sleeping like a champ - goes to sleep easily and doesn't wake except for the 4 a.m.-ish feeding, then back to sleep. However, she didn't fall asleep until midnight, for which Trina was up with her, then woke at 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Not sure what the deal is. If her feeding patterns are an indication of anything, I'd think she's either in a growth spurt or trying to catch up with her buddy Rowen and get up near the 100th percentile for weight.

Next weekend takes me to Lansing, Michigan for Ty's wedding. Thursday Ty, his dad, and I are going small mouth fishing for the day with a guide. It was that or spend the day watching coeds. We chose fishing, naturally. I think Friday is rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and a full mass Catholic wedding on Saturday. I hope I am not the guy that passes out from standing in one spot too long.

Question: How do you like being a dad?



Answer: It's the coolist shit in the world.

My Bear and I

How she grows! Molly is now 12 weeks old, and growing quickly. She slept in her crib in her own room the last two nights. The first night was a bit rough, although mostly for Trina, and last night she slept from 11:00 to 5:00 without waking, had some baby chow (breast milk) and went back to sleep until some time after 7:00 when I headed out the door for a short ride. That makes for riding my bike two days in a row! Haven't done that in a while.



Trina is currently giving her the first diaper change of the day, which is incredibly one of the best parts of the day. She is super happy, smiling and cooing all the way through it. As long as the diapers are filled with dijon-like excrement, diaper changing will be no big deal.

Next up for the day is pastries at aunt Jeanne's and a Mariners game against the San Fran Giants.

Home Again

I am writing this with a new found freedom. It is 9:15 p.m. I am not on a balance ball bouncing Molly until she falls asleep. In the last couple of nights she has started falling asleep a whole lot easier and has even slept through the night with out even feeding once. There have been a few developments in the last few weeks: she has discovered her hands and is playing with them, she's falling asleep on her own, and can actually be set down for 15-20 minutes. These things may sound small...

She is becoming all the more aware and responsive, which makes the experience all the greater. It is wonderful when she smiles back at me, which is guaranteed at the first diaper change of the day - she is extra happy then.



We had a great trip down part of the Oregon Coast. We spent two nights in Seaside, two nights in Lincoln City, and Portland book-ending the trip. We enjoyed our time when ever we were at our destination for the moment - Molly hates riding in the car. She screamed for 3/4 or our driving. That was the main thing we would have changed for the trip. We would have selected one place and hung out there, or at least quite close. For example, the 30-mile drive from Lincoln City felt like 2 hours each way since she was wailing at the top of her lungs the whole way, and there was nothing we could do about it. She would be fine in her car seat being pushed around in the stroller, would be fine when we set her in the car, but within minutes of the car moving, she screamed. Wow.

This is one of my favorite sites - looking over at Trina feeding molly and all I see is little feet sticking out from under a blanket. So sweet.


Although I've lived near saltwater for 7.5 years now, this was the first time I've spent any significant time at the ocean. It is very interesting for the in-lander raised Idahoan that I am. There were many beautiful spots along the way, but everything was in a glimpse. I'd like to go back at various times of year and see it in all its shades of the season - waves crashing in the winter storms, surfers enjoying the summer warmth (still in wetsuits of course), the tide pools at low tide, autumn colors and the fog.

One could sit an watch the waves crash for hours and see all the patterns and currents that are formed. Maybe next time.