deer parts

nice title, right??

after christmas, we took a little hike into the nearby mountains.  it really reminded me of why I love california.  yes, we have a ton of people, traffic, and associated mean-ness.  but, as we stood there surrounded by nothing by pine trees, snow covered mountain tops, and the rushing stream - it was really beautiful.  and the beach is only an hour in the opposite direction!

we explored all the debris the recent heavy rains had washed down stream and discovered a ton wild mistletoe.  and then, we stumbled upon this.

a deer leg.  a small reminder to keep our heads up and eyes open!

see what happens when your head is up?

time well spent

sometimes the best times are spontaneous - and free.

spring means...

more sunshine.

more time spent outside, playing, running, jumping!

stopping the ice cream man for an afternoon treat.

watching our garden grow.



open windows.

staying up a little bit later.



enjoying the beach before it gets overloaded for the summer (which is the only season we generally avoid it).

bike rides in the sunshine.


lucky me, my favorite color is everywhere.

happy spring everyone!

feels like fall

we were so happy to be able to open all the windows this weekend and feel a cool breeze! 

we put an extra blanket on the beds, organized closets (pulling out the warmer stuff!), went on an evening walk that required comfy sweatshirts, watched movies under blankets, drank warm apple cider, and baked a carrot cake (which made the house smell oh so yummy!).

all this nesting reminded us of apple picking last year.  where his love for picking his own food was born. those sweet apples never had the chance to become pies, or tarts, or cakes.  nope, he ate every one of them within 2 days.  this year i'll let him pick waaay more than i think we need.

thought i'd share some pics from last year:

snips of snails and puppy dog tails

when you tell a 7-year old boy that he can be in charge of the days fun, that he can call all the shots, he can take the lead - be absolutely sure that you can handle the adventure. 

this boy takes the lead very seriously.  we packed a picnic, blanket, and the necessary g.i.joe guys, and headed to the mountains for the afternoon.


We took whatever trail he wanted, hopped on only the rocks he wanted, and limbo-ed under fallen trees.



i kept saying, "punky, slow down!" - "keep yours eyes open" - "stay close to me!"

to which he finally replied, "mom, don't be such a sissy, i'm not gonna get hurt!"

three steps later, he landed next to this:




a 3 1/2 foot long southern pacific rattlesnake.  she was trying to move out of his way, but alas, he was moving faster than her.  luckily, he recognized the tone in my voice when i said "punky - FREEZE!" was not a tone to disobey.  i told him to slowly take a big step backwards.  he did exactly as i asked without question. it was terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
 
needless to say, we decided not to hike any further, the area we were in was pretty remote.  so we found a nice big, flat rock surrounded by water (it was the only rock he'd sit on for fear of more snakes!) and ate our picnic.



after that, we took a relaxing, snake free, scenic ride on the ski lifts and giggled about how scared we both were!




that night as i was tucking my tired adventurer in bed, he told me how much fun the day was, and made me promise we would never do it again!