Easter

A little bit of Easter goodness: Easter dress, eggs dyed, nests made of herbs from the garden, flowers, lemon bars, cups of "cowboy coffee". Let's not remember the several meltdowns that occurred, or the other ups and downs of the day. Shall we remember the part where Cassidy told me she was going to "put my body in a cave"? Yes, looks like we're still working on learning the true meaning of Easter.

Redwood picnic

What does one do on an unseasonably warm April Saturday? Why a picnic in the redwoods of course! Complete with yummy food, yoga, off-trail running, and plenty of blissful big-tree gazing. Love.

At the beach

What does January look like in Northern California? Well sometimes it looks like this. Sometimes it is unseasonably warm and not rainy and a girl just needs to strip down to her skivvies and climb on the dunes, you know?

Another day, a new year

Welcome to 2012! Even though life continues on much as it did before, it's still fun to welcome the new year and new possibilities. One of my goals for the new year has me desiring to do more writing and more sharing here with you all about the happenings of one little lady...

Maybe it's the desire to document those moments that everyone tells you go by so fast, not in a panicky "are you enjoying this it will soon be gone!" kind of way, but rather just an intentional desire to check back in with the lovely moments, the funny moments, and all the moments I do want to cherish and be grateful for.

If I were to throw down some words to describe Cassidy at this moment in time? Funny, joke-teller, singer, asker-of-many-questions, wannabe-writer, curious, loving, determined, organizer-of-people, enthusiastic, photographer, explorer.

Like any other parent, I get tired and I treasure those few hours after bedtime, but on the whole I'm pretty grateful to spend my time with such a delightful little person.

Little explorer

Just a couple pictures of Cassidy out and about enjoying the natural world on Mother's Day. I think this is going to be good summer for us. No longer do I need to worry (quite so much) about her tottering over onto rocks or filling her mouth with sand and dirt as we go out exploring, but I love watching her poking about with sticks, sitting in the tall grasses and just generally embarking on those little kid adventures. Here's to a fun summer of explorations!

Art for all

I think it may have started with the wooden egg painting on Easter. We had a fun time pulling out the paints and a basket of wooden eggs, with everyone gathered around for some decorating. Despite the fact that I have never really felt terribly artistic, I enjoy the fact that parenting has really helped me rediscover that art can and should be for everyone. It's just fun to get those creative juices flowing and to play around with paints!

In any case, the egg painting has inspired us to get into quite a bit more painting and art this week. Cassidy revisited the painting of her egg on an almost daily basis, adding new bits of color. We painted on paper, which led to Cassidy discovering how to paint her hands and then make handprints. She took an interest in painting directly on the porch, which led me to redirect that energy into sidewalk chalk :). 

It's been a fun week for art and for being outside. We're enjoying some lovely spring weather and getting ready to do some planting in our garden this week!

Finding the snow

As you may know, we don't exactly live in a snowy place, and yet pretty much every children's book you'll find about winter takes place in some kind of winter wonderland. Needless to say, Cassidy has this understanding of "winter", but little opportunity to experience it first hand.

All of that changed this weekend.

With a return to cooler, rainier winter weather around here, we got the idea that perhaps, just perhaps, if we headed towards some higher elevations we might find some snow. And find it we did! A mere 40 minute drive from our house!

Cassidy was so excited and kept repeating over and over "Cassidy play in the snow. Cassidy play in winter". It never really occurred to me that she would think of winter as a location, more than a season, since everything we typically think of as winter is not part of her daily experience. But we had a great time playing in the snow and making little snowmen.

It was fun to see the wineries all covered in snow too.

We finished off the trip with some hot chocolate in the "cowpoke cafe", while looking out at geyser-dotted snow covered peaks. Not a bad Saturday!