Summer Time

And the living is easy. Well I can hope it will be easier. With the two little kiddos walking the chances of ease are pretty slim in this household. However, no more school for Gabriella means at least the potential for sleeping in exists, even if it isn't too likely. We are looking forward to a few trips to Disneyland and a vacation in early August. There are a few things I'm really looking forward to. First, sleeping in, even if it's just past 7...once. Second, going to parks or kid friendly places like Java mama and not having to stress about getting back in time to pick up Gabriella from school. Third, not making lunches 5 days a week. I'm considering letting the kids go free range and forage in the pantry for food on their own. Just kidding, they can't open packaging yet, although Gabriella could help them with a few things. I'm happy summer break is here, I think I'm probably more excited than Gabriella is. Hopefully the next few weeks will be full of fun and relatively stress free, but if their not at least I don't have to explain to a teacher why my children are in pajamas at 3 in the afternoon.

Swimming Days

Now that the weather is hot the easiest way to stay cool is to crank the air conditioner to arctic and shut the windows. However, since we don't want to blow our food budget on keeping cool we occasionally get out to our community pool. The water is a bit on the chilly side and we tend to try to go first thing in the morning before it gets too crowded. The little girls love splashing in the water and being toted around in either our arms or in their princess floaty. Gabriella is mastering her strokes and breathing. She's like a fish in the water and given the chance she would swim for hours. Of course getting to the pool requires a few bags of stuff and enough sunscreen to keep us from getting too toasty. Lucky for me Greg is there to help. On this particular day Gabriella even rode her bike to the pool. We hope to make it to the pool a lot more now that Gabriella is almost on summer break. I haven't been brave enough to take the girls by myself, I think it's a little too much for me. But who knows maybe a day will come when I just need to cool off in the pool.

Raising an Adventurous Eater

Feeding children is a challenging and often thankless job. They complain about what is on the table or constantly ask for something that is not on the menu. I love to cook and when my food is complimented it makes me glow with pride. The little girls are starting to appreciate new and different foods. As we move away from purred beets and applesauce, I'm saddened as they make another move towards growing up. They've enjoyed steak, guacamole and turkey meatloaf. I'm sure overtime they will become just as adventurous as Gabriella.

Gabriella is shaping up to be quite a foodie. From the video above you can see her eat her very first crawfish. She's had more high grade sushi than most children twice her age. She loves natto, fermented soy beans and enjoys crab legs. She happily eats fish when ever it's offered and even has her favorite ways to prepare it. Because I like to cook and eat, she's been exposed to many different types of food. Living abroad also brought opportunities to try different foods that are they norm there. Another example is miso soup, full of tofu and seaweed, is delicious to her. I hope this love of the different and adventurous continues throughout her life. I hope she's always willing to try something new. I've given her the building blocks, I hope she continues to build on her foodie foundation.

All's Fair

The San Diego County fair is in town and has been for the past month. We've been lucky enough to go quite a few times. We've taken Gabriella to the fair in the past but this time she was tall enough to go on a lot of the rides and had a great time going on them over and over again. The little girls enjoyed the sights and sounds of the fair and were incredibly patient riding in their stroller. They did get out a few times but didn't go on any rides. Of course the best part of the fair is the food. This year we branched out to try a few fried food treats. Greg had a deep fried Klondike bar and I sampled the deep fried bacon. Julia and Genevieve had their first sips of lemonade and licks of ice cream. Gabriella did her best to cause a cavity with cotton candy and candied apples.

The pillow pet pictured above was won by Gabriella all by herself. I'm not really sure how it happened, I'd just handed over my $5 and the next thing I know I hear "winner" and the guy handing over the pillow pet prize. It was pretty impressive. She's quite good at the dart game and has quite a few prizes to prove it.

We walked slowly through the shopping tents and I was able to keep myself from buying all the as seen on TV items. Although I really wanted the counter top popsicle maker, maybe next year. We went two times with our good friend Kathleen who graciously agreed to ride a few rides with Gabriella. I had a great time watching her daughter while she twirled away on the rides with mine. A great time was had by everyone and we look forward to the fair next year.

How to Fill a Mini Van in 3 Easy Steps

First have a child, then add twins and add a dog for good measure. With those three things you can easily fill a van full of annoyingly necessary stuff. There are a few things that are permanent residents in the van, the 2 car seats and the booster seat. We keep a couple of blankets in there in case it's chilly or someone needs an impromptu pillow. Now if we are going to the grocery store we add in a diaper bag and a lot of reusable grocery bags. If it's the park we add a stroller, maybe a large blanket to sit on and possibly some sand toys. Now if we are going anywhere for a night or a week the list of things gets much much longer. A pack and play, a couple of bags of clothes, a bag of baby toys, diapers (10/day times the number of days we'll be gone), wipes, bottles, pump, baby food, dog food, bowls, and if it's for a birthday party then add in the gift. It's a lot of stuff and getting it in and out of the car feels like I'm moving out each time we go somewhere. The funniest (read most frustrating) part is when I get somewhere and realize I forgot something important.

It's a wonder that I get out of the house at all, each trip requires an extensive list and a lot of forethought but it's worth it. We've gone on a lot of adventures and trips which are good for all of us.

Why is it so loud in here?

I find myself cringing a lot these days. The little girls are finding their voices with the help of their big sister. It amazes me the sheer volume in this house. It's not big, there is no echo and yet the noise seems to be magnified. The laughing of three little angels is one thing, the screaming is quite another. Here is an example, Gabriella and the girls were playing in their playpen, *baby containment unit, the yard, the pen, etc.*, when suddenly there was this earsplitting shriek. I immediately jump away from cooking dinner and rush over expecting a bleeding head wound. Instead I see three girls echoing each other screams and then laughing hysterically. There are good things about the loudness, I always know where they are because I just follow the screams. Greg has a theory, if it's too quiet someone is into something or is eating something they shouldn't be. Like when Julia is quiet and still she's probably eating some paper or pulling all the kleenex out of the container and stuffing them in her mouth. If Genevieve is quiet she's probably spilling the dog water and eating the kibble. If Gabriella is quiet then she's painting something or making a mess of her room. If the house is quiet then we are obviously away for the weekend. So my ears are always in use, either trying to mentally lessen the loudness or straining to here what's going on. I must admit often when I'm in the car I turn off the radio and just enjoy the silence. That silence seems few and far between for this only child, but when it goes on too long I really miss the noise.

I Miss My Island Life

I feel at times I would give anything to go back to Okinawa. The complications of adjusting from the simplicity of island life to the hectic style of life in California is overwhelming. I won't deny I feel incredibly happy to be so close to my family and to have their help with the girls. But I miss the friends I made in Okinawa. I feel slightly separated from my friends here, they've had shared experiences for the years I've been gone. Things have changed in their lives and I haven't experienced them. It's not the same, I can't seem to re-establish those relationships, because I'm busy with my kids. We are different and that is just a fact. Another difficulty are the choices, there are far too many of them. The featured picture is of the ridiculous number of goldfish choices. Every time I find myself in a grocery store aisle starring at 5 choices of rice or chicken stock I feel overwhelmed. I miss the two choices in Okinawa and the chances that one of those choices are out so there is no choice. Little things become hard, making friends, trusting people, understanding people's agendas. It was easier when we all lived on an island and that made for built in bonding.

The separation from family was difficult and now being close to them I feel like I need to learn their likes and dislikes all over again. I've always touted myself as an excellent gift giver but now I don't even know my recipients. I suppose today I'm tired and suffering from a severe case of ennui. I miss the simplicity of my past life, the fact that we never drove more than an hour to get anywhere and we never had too many choices about what to do. Adventures abounded and now they don't seem like they exist even though we have so many more miles to explore.

I suppose it will all change, adjustments will be made and I will get use to these things, but for now it will remain a challenge.