Crystal Cove in December

Last week it was 75 degrees outside. In December! As a recent Northern California transplant I found this to be amazing. I grew up in Southern California but it has been so long since I lived down here that I forgot just how warm the weather can be any time of the year. I decided since it was  75 degrees outside in December we needed to get our butts to the beach. Maybe after a while the novelty of the winter warm spell will wear off but for now I am absolutely tickled pink about a winter day at the beach that doesn't involve a parka. I decided to go to Crystal Cove State Park because I knew there would be a parking lot that didn't require me to attempt to cross Pacific Coast Highway with my toddlers like that old Atari game, Frogger,  while hoping nobody got killed in the process. We pulled into the almost empty parking lot and followed the trail down the bluff to a beach that was almost completely empty. I couldn't believe it. We live in a population center of millions and hardly a soul was at the beach! Were they insane? I think so. It was 75 with just a slight ocean breeze. You couldn't ask for a better day to be at the beach. And what a gorgeous beach! Since it is a state park it looks exactly as it did 100 years ago and it will continue to look the same way for years to come.  There are pristine beaches, steep bluffs covered in native plant life (instead of the ever present multi million dollar mansions), and large expanses of tide pools surrounded by rock. Paradise. Truly.

The twins had an absolute blast running around in the sand, exploring tide pools, and just being kids. I just kept having  to pinch myself. I felt like I was on vacation. It was wonderful.

We were lucky and stumbled upon the peak of low tide. The kids loved exploring the pockets of water which were filled tiny sea life. Pelicans and sea gulls flew overhead (I am not a big sea gull fan. I like to refer to them as flying rats) and huge rocks were covered with the biggest mussels I have ever seen. The kids just couldn't get enough of the tide pools that we spent nearly three hours exploring. 

There are two main sections of beach at Crystal Cove. There is El Moro Cove (this is where we were) which is basically a large expanse of beach front with tide pools, bluffs, rocks, and sea life.  The other section of beach, The Historic District, has cottages for rent (at an affordable rate I might add. Truly a wonderful way to have a beach vacation),  a boardwalk,  a shake shack, The Beachcomber Cafe, and more sand and sea.  Then there is the back country area which has plenty of hiking trails and some primitive hike in campsites. They are also in the process of building a large drive in camping area which will be across the street from the beach.  Finally, there is the underwater park which allows people to dive or kayak in an 1140 acre protected are of ocean. Not bad, eh? 

Come June and July, Crystal Cove will be packed full of surfers, swimmers, and beach combers so why not take that next warm sunny day and head out to Crystal Cove State Park so you can have it all to yourself (well you may have to share it with me and the kids but I promise to share)?

Tuesdays for Tuesday

All scans have come back with NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!!!!! Its truly a miracle and blessing. This means her bone marrow will be clean for the stem cell transplant and little Tuesday finally has the cancer out of her body! A rough, rough road is ahead of her come December 29th when stem cell transplant occurs but just as she pulled through life support and tumors filling her body, she will pull through this. She will be one of the positive statistics. God is watching over her and prayers are being answered. If you have never believed in miracles before, now is the time to start believing.

Halloween in December

Well I told you it would happen. I am finally posting my Halloween pictures in December. Why? Well I spent Halloween down in Orange County looking for a place to live! It was extremely warm that week and felt nothing like Halloween but the night finally arrived and it was time to put on the warm and furry costumes that I had bought before I found out I was making a last minute trip to Southern California I thought it would be cute for them to be a kitty and a puppy. The only kitty costume I could find for Mari that didn't cost a small fortune was a pink leopard. Kinda cheesy but she looked cute even though she refused to wear the ears. Ben had an adorable dog costume in size 2-3T. Well evidentally he is taller than a 2-3 year old because the dang thing wouldn't fit! Great. It was 6PM on Halloween night. I had no costume for Ben. We scrambled looking around my aunt's house for something for him to wear but all she had was an adult sized basketball jersey and tiny hat. So off I went to Target in a mad desperation to find something, anything. And guess what happened to be the only boy costume they had left in the 3-4T size? A dog! Now I bet you are thinking that I lucked out. Well in theory I did. Unfortunately this costume happened to be an extremely warm and snuggly costume. Something you could wear in cold weather. We were in tank tops and sweating at 7:00 at night! Poor Ben was forced to sweat in the puppy costume. I stripped him down to a diaper so the suffering would be as minimal as possible but lets just say the boy was not pleased. We went up and down my aunt's street with our happy kitty and very miserable puppy. He wanted to be carried and he wanted to put forth no effort in the candy earning process. But who could blame him?

 

Anyhow, I promise to make up for this year's half ass Halloween next year. After all, it is one of my favorite days of the year!

Tuesdays for Tuesday

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is a cancer free Tuesday. Her family has been through so much and she is truly an angel on earth. Please keep that horrible disease away from her body.  And maybe throw in a pair of the sweater boots I have been eyeing. You know, the brown ones. Thanks!

Sharlene

On the 29th of this month Tuesday will begin her stem cell transplant. In the next 2 weeks, she will undergo 22 scans and procedures! TWENTY-TWO! This week, she is having scans to make sure her last round of Chemo wiped out the cancer still remaining after her surgery. We all need to pray that her scans come back clean. And don't forget to go to her blog and let them know you are praying.

With the new year fast approaching, it's time to start shopping for calendars. Everywhere you go, there are displays of lots of different types of calendars for many different prices, right?
Well, a friend of mine has put together a calendar that will not only help you keep track of the days in the coming year, but will allow you to give back too.
The name of the calendar? For the Love of Tuesday. This calendar features beautiful pictures of some of my favorite twin sets from our multiple group and all proceeds go to help in Tuesday's battle against Neuroblastoma. Ben and Mari are featured in the calendar so check it out! Even if you have a calendar already, this would be a wonderful way to show your support to a family who really needs it this holiday season.  Click on this link to check it out!

Finally my friend Debi wrote this on her blog and I wanted to share it with you...

So, last week while I was on the phone with Jess, she told me about an idea the Chaplin at the hospital came up with and I knew I just had to help out. The Chaplin and Jess traced little Tuesday's body onto a large piece of paper and drew large dark circles everywhere that the cancer has invaded this sweet little girl. They then cut out the tracing and Jess is to place it somewhere in her home for all to see. (I am pretty sure she is attaching it to a wall)
At the end of the month, little Tuesday will be in the hospital receiving her stem cell transplant, which will render her very weak and susceptible to infection.
Jess is asking that everyone trace their hands, write inspirational messages on them, cut them out and send them to her home. While Tuesday is recovering in the hospital, her big brothers will get to lay our healing hands on their little sister's body.
It is Jess' dream that not only will Tuesday's entire body be covered with the healing love and prayers, but that their whole wall will be.
I joked with Jess, saying that my family alone can cover Tuesday's whole body ;)




My bracelet is for Super Tuesday :)

Showing off their work and FYI, they each found their own bible verses to write on their hands and I must admit, I was very impressed with the words they chose.

 

If any of you would like to participate please trace your hands and send me a message and I will give the address of where to send them. I hope we can overwhelm Tuesday's family with our support. I hope you all keep this family in your prayers through the holidays. I have never met a more worthy group.

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

This year we have a Noble Fir. Its a big step up in our house from the lowly Douglas Firs of year's past. I have always wanted a Noble Fir but they have always been out of our price range. I guess one good thing about a crappy economy is that the Noble's were deeply discounted at Home Depot. We were tipped off by my brother about the bargain so off we hurried to Home Depot to pick up one of our very own.

This was the kids' first experience in picking out a tree. The first year, they were only three months old and I went from store to store a week before Christmas searching desperately for a tree. There wasn't a tree to be found anywhere. As I headed home with tears in my sleep deprived eyes, I remembered  there was a tree farm out in the country not far from our house. Lucky for me they had a few trees left! Unlucky for me, I only had about $20 in my pocket to spend on a tree and everything left was way out of my price range.  After seeing me completely deflate, the man took pity on me (or wanted to get rid of the last of his trees) and gave me a tree for $20. We put it up and celebrated our first Christmas as a family.

The next year was just sad. We were in the middle of waiting to hear when we would have to move so we just had to sit, wait, and be ready to go at any time. We didn't bother unpacking the Christmas decorations because that would be one more thing to scramble to put in a box once we got notice.  I ended up buying a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (They sold them at Urban Outfitters and I felt it was truly appropriate given our situation) and put it on our kitchen table for us to all gather around and feel pathetic.

 

This year things were going to be different. We may not have much in our bank accounts but we were going to have a nice Christmas tree! The decorations were up inside the house and the perfect spot for the tree was waiting in the kids play area. We drove up the road to that mega home improvement store we all know so well. Immediately the kids were taken by the spectacle of it all (honestly they were mostly excited about the left over Christmas tree string that was on the floor but they were excited nonetheless).

Poor Paul unwrapped 8 trees and I nixed them all. They just weren't the right tree.

Finally my exacerbated husband told me he would watch the kids and I could find the tree. I perused the stack of trees, found one for Mr. Home Depot to open, and guess what?

That's right baby. The perfect tree on my first try.

While Mr. Home Depot prepared the tree for its new home, Mari checked out all the tree department had to offer (Ben was still fascinated with the string). Soon the tree was on our roof and on its way to its new home.

Its a beautiful tree if I do say so myself.  

Friday Foto Fiesta

Here is a photo collage of our final walk on the path behind our old neighborhood. The leaves were finally turning so we decided top take the camera and get some shots at dusk.  I hope these encourage you to find a path near your house to explore!

Visit Candid Carrie to see who else is playing!

Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Recital Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!