We just got back from a week in California. We flew out on Thursday, the day after my newest nephew, Elias (Eli) Jack Wiedlocher was born. Eden did very well on the plane (for which some credit must definitely be given to the creators of Wall-E and Smarties). Since we had seen that the weather was about to get a little chilly and rainy (for almost the exact duration of our stay) we took advantage of the sunshine on Friday morning and headed to the beach. As you already know, Eden has been talking about the beach since before Christmas. I'm happy to report that reality seemed to live up to her expectations - to say that she had a good time would be an incredible understatement. She loved every second of it. We dug holes in the sand and buried ourselves, we built castles, we found sea shells, and Eden and Pete even took on the freezing cold Pacific Ocean and spent time playing in the waves. She cried when we left. She asked to go back almost every day after that. Unfortunately, the weather forecast turned out to be pretty accurate so we weren't able to return. But I'm glad she had so much fun. It was definitely a great morning and probably my favorite memory of the whole trip. It was also great to see many of our friends. We spent almost every moment of the rest of our week hanging out with friends and eating. Seriously. Luz and Patrick's wedding was awesome - Pete did a great job officiating his first wedding ceremony, and Eden did a great job looking cute and getting covered in dirt. The wedding reception was catered by some delicious taco place, and we got to pig out on carneasada and rice and beans and guacamole and horchata and holy moly do I love Mexican food. Luz was beautiful, the newlyweds were adorable, and we were so glad to get to celebrate with them. We hung out with many more friends over the next several days, and continued to eat our way through Southern California, making stops for In-N-Out, sushi, Starbucks (multiple times), Intelligentsia, Jamba Juice, Baja Fresh, and afternoon tea at The Chado Tea Room. Sadly, I never made it to Rubios for my favorite fish taco, but I guess that just means we'll have to plan a return trip soon.
Thank you so much to all of our friends who hosted us and took us out for dinner and cooked us meals and made time in your schedules to come see us and let us borrow your vehicles, etc. We were so glad to see all of you and spend a little time in the city where Eden was born and where we spent eight years of our lives. At one point, as we were driving home from a restaurant after a great dinner with friends, we pulled up to an intersection just a few blocks from our old apartment - and intersection I've probably sat at a hundred times - and for a fleeting second I had the feeling of, "oh good, we're almost home." But we weren't of course - home is in a new place now: in a house instead of an apartment, in a small town instead of a major city, in a region of green grass and spring thunderstorms instead of desert and mountains and ocean. I love our new home, and I was so very glad to come back to it yesterday, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Pasadena and Southern California. I wish I could somehow live in both places at once, and I most definitely wish that we could always live surrounded by all of our friends. But I'm so thankful for the memories we made on this trip.
And I'm so, so thankful that I get to be with these two, wherever they are:
We went on a 10th anniversary trip to San Diego. Then I forgot to tell you all about it.
The End.
Kidding! I guess I really did completely forget to post about it though, which is surprising because we had an incredibly fun time. I think, perhaps, that we had so much fun that I just forgot about everything else entirely, and then it was back to work and laundry and last minute trips and it just slipped completely off my radar.
I was actually downloading pictures off my camera in preparation for an entirely different post when I saw all the photos from our anniversary shindig, and it crossed my mind that maybe I had never actually done anything with those pictures or told anyone about our Great Adventure.
Well, for a short time many months ago we were planning a trip to Hawaii to celebrate the big event, but then the earthquake in Haiti happened just as I was beginning my exploration of what it could mean to live a non-consumeristic life - a life that was about giving, not taking. And I knew that if I wanted to even begin living a life like that there was no way I could spend a chunk of money just to go to Hawaii for a few days while one of the worst disasters in modern history was playing out right in front of my eyes. It really was an important decision for me personally at that moment. Sort of an are-you-really-serious-about-this-or-just-full-of-hot-air moment. Honestly, I knew that for my own sake I needed to put my money where my mouth is (er, was).
So, we donated the money we would have spent on/in Hawaii to the relief efforts in Haiti and that was that.**
Except that we have awesome friends. Friends who decided that 10th anniversaries should be celebrated in special ways, regardless of whether or not they are celebrated in Hawaii.
Thus in early April, at the end of Pete's spring break, we got to spend a night (just the two of us!) in a really nice hotel in Pasadena, and then the next day we got to pick up Eden and drive her down to San Diego where we spent another night in a hotel right by the harbor AND got to go to the San Diego Zoo (one of my favorite places) the next morning before driving home.
It was so much fun! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip and will we remember it for a long time.
And now for pictures!! I actually don't have any from the hotel that we stayed at on the first night, which is too bad because it was really beautiful. But I have a ton from our time in San Diego - so many in fact, that I might actually split this post up in two.
So, without further ado, here are photos from the first day we arrived (with photos of our trip to the Zoo coming tomorrow):
This is what our hotel looked like from the back. Isn't it pretty? It was right on a canal (or some sort of waterway) that led into San Diego Harbor. There were a lot of hotels in a row along this canal and there was a very pretty running/walking/bicycling path that ran in between all the hotels and the water. Gorgeous!
Looking left from the back of the hotel.
Looking right from the back of the hotel. It's very hard to see when the photo is this small, but can you spot the tiny bit of red next to the building in the very back, directly above the boat?
That is this - the tail of a cruise ship departing from San Diego Harbor!
The walking/bicycling path in front of our hotel also ran along the harbor, so we went for a little walk that evening before dinner.
Eden loved the boats and the water. Being a child, and just herself, she also greatly enjoyed throwing things.
Here she is looking for something good to throw.
Found some leaves - back to the water!
Good times.
But little did Eden know that heaven-on-earth was just around the corner...
Here I present to you A Playground. On a Beach. Next to Water with Big Boats. And (although you can't see it) within view of a freeway with Big Trucks and even the occasional Big Bus. Meanwhile, we are close enough to the airport that Big Planes would often be just overhead. I thought Eden was going to explode from happiness.
Unfortunately, there is a limit to earthly happiness. Especially when your mom is too busy taking pictures to be at the bottom of the slide to catch you. (She's gone down a slide safely 100 times before, people!)
This is probably a truly terrible thing to say, but I wish I could zoom in on this picture (like I can on my camera) so that you could see the perplexed look on her face right before she sails off the end of that slide, backwards and going at a nice clip, into the sand.
If it makes you feel any better, I felt horrendously guilty.
That did not stop us from sending her down the slide again, of course.
Before you call the authorities, I would just like to add...
She had a really, really good time.
Thank you so much friends-who-want-to-remain-anonymous!! It was wonderful!
**Peter and I actually used our donated money to start a little competition with the kids at his school. Each class competed against each other and against the faculty to see who could raise the most money for Haiti - with the result that Peter was actually able to send a little over $10,000 to a large relief organization working in Haiti. That did my heart good. :)
Sorry I'm late with this week's installment of flashback photos. I have good reasons (not really) but am too lazy to type them out and figure you probably don't care anyway. Moreover, if Saturday Night Live can have a Thursday edition, then why can't I have a Flashback Friday post on Sunday? Except I guess, technically, they are actually airing shows ahead of their normal schedule. So, yeah. Moving on...
Once upon a time, long, long, ago, Peter and Stephanie took an anniversary trip up the coast of California. Actually, it was a combined 5th and 6th anniversary and also Valentine's Day trip, and it occurred during Peter's spring break back in March of 2006. I think. But that is a lot of details, so it is very possible that some of them are wrong.
One thing I know for sure: we had a great time. We stayed in our first ever bed-and-breakfast (beautiful and cozy and not nearly as please-please-PLEASE-don't-make-me-talk-to-strangers-panic-inducing as I expected), we toured Hearst Castle, we saw a LOT of elephant seals, we visited Pismo Beach and Avila Beach, we visited Mission San Luis Obispo, we tried to go whale-watching but the weather was too stormy that day, and then, on our way home we randomly took a strange little detour recommended by the lady at the b&b and after seemingly driving out to the middle of nowhere, ended up at the Oso Flaco Nature Trail.
Which was awesome.
Awesome because it was a pretty little trail that wound its way back through a small area of trees, over a boardwalk that crossed Oso Flaco Lake, and then ended on a beautiful stretch of beach bordering the Oceano Dunes.
Awesome because we got to the trail just as the stormy skies suddenly emptied of clouds and everything was sunny, and blue, and sparkling, and amazingly gorgeous.
Awesome because previously mentioned stormy skies had apparently scared away all other visitors and we had the entire trail - the entire beach - to ourselves. Let me repeat that. Peter and I found a beautiful stretch of beach (not all that far from Los Angeles) on a beautiful day - completely devoid of people. AMAZING.
It was beautiful. Really, really beautiful.
Also, the Oceano Dunes? Super cool.
I only found four photos of the trip (below) when I was going through our photo files. More can be seen on an old online album of Pete's. The pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.
On the way home from Shanelle and Jared's wedding last Sunday I had a horrible moment of panic when, after thinking about their upcoming honeymoon trip to Paris and Italy, I was suddenly hit with the thought that, OH MY GOODNESS, WE HAVE A KID. And maybe someday KIDS. AND THERE WILL BE NO PARIS OR ITALY OR ROMANTIC ROADTRIPS OR LONG WALKS OR LET'S FACE IT LEISURELY DINNERS OR UNINTERRUPTED CONVERSATIONS FOR US EVER AGAIN FOR AS LONG AS BE BOTH SHALL LIVE. Or AT LEAST until we are 80. And then we'll be too tired. (I apologize for that last bit of ageist stereotyping. As I'm sure you can tell, this panic attack was not completely full of rational thought.) ALSO, I HAVEN'T BEEN ANYWHERE OR SEEN ANYTHING. WAH WAH WAH.
I really felt quite gloomy about it for a bit. Then I recovered. But a little smidgen of panic remains. Or maybe it's some other emotion. I'm not quite sure.
I mean, Eden. Is Wonderful. I cannot get enough of her. But I also miss the just-the-two-of-us adventures that Pete and I used to have. And while I know that we will have more of those in the future - and in all likelihood, well before our eighties - I have a feeling they won't be quite the same. Because we are not just-the-two-of-us anymore. And even if we are physically off on our own, a chunk of our heart and mind will always be missing, somewhere else, firmly tied to the rest of the tribe, whatever it may look like at that point in time. We are no longer carefree.
Because we have cares.
We very, very much have cares.
Also. Thank you God, for our cares.
P.S. Does anyone have any suggestions for toddler-friendly 10th anniversary trips?
I imagine most of you have heard of the Station Fire by now. It was in the national news quite a bit a week or so ago. This is by far the closest a forest fire has ever come to our home, although we were well out of danger. Several of our friends had to evacuate their homes though, and our next door neighbor, a firefighter, was gone for days at a time, fighting the fire up in the foothills above Pasadena and beyond.
Here's a picture of Sean (our neighbor) on the day the fire started. He is the one standing in the front, on the right: While we were safe from the flames, we did struggle a lot with the smoke produced by this fire. For over a week we were told to stay indoors with our air conditioner on (and as it was 100+ degrees almost every day, we were more than happy to comply). Unfortunately, our ac unit is old and probably clogged with all the dust that is constantly blowing about here in our desert environment. Because of this, on several mornings we woke with burning throats and eyes to an apartment that smelled exactly like a campfire. Trying to seal up and recirculate air in an apartment that is already clogged with smoke is obviously pointless, so on these days we would pack a quick bag and try to drive somewhere out of the area. On Sunday, August 30th, we ended up down in Long Beach for an impromptu family day at the beach. We spent that evening and most of the next day at a friend's house in the nearby town of Sierra Madre. Eventually, the air improved and we could go back to spending the days in our apartment. Although we got quite stir-crazy after awhile, we were thankful that the fire didn't do as much damage to the community as it easily could have and grateful for shelter and air conditioning that at least kept us cool, even if it didn't keep the smoke out.
The Station Fire is still not completely contained although it is far enough away and under control now that our daily activities are no longer affected. The air quality is no longer in the unhealthy range, although it seems like it will hover around "moderate" for a long time yet. Unfortunately, we are really only at the beginning of fire season. Here's hoping that this fire, the largest in the history of Los Angeles County, and the 10th largest in the State, will be by far the worst we see this year.
Here are some pictures that I took with my new camera of the smoke, as well as our trip to the beach:
Believe it or not, there are mountains on the other side of those trees - they are just completely covered in smoke: Things were looking much better at Sunset Beach: Taking in the view: Peter takes Eden to experience the surf: Here it comes! Pete's head is missing in this photo because I was trying to take it while also jumping up out of the water myself. Have to protect the new camera! Hmm. Not a fan. Notice how she keeps a death grip on Pete from this point onward: Or just flat out tries to climb up in his lap: "Fine. You won't pick me up? I'm going to Mom." A nice woman took this photo of us: Our sweet girl: We head home toward the smoke: These big plumes could come and go in a matter of minutes. Sometimes they would fill the sky. At least we could see the mountains again: Above our apartment: Later that evening: Lastly, here's a video that Peter took of Eden at the beach. She finally got the guts up to walk on the sand (well away from the water):
