California

It was a wonderful weekend we got to spend with Grandma Gamache out in California.  Aaron, Stephanie and the clan were in town as well.  We had such a great time.  Of course, it started out with Sean working the night before and not sleeping.  I was able to get everything pretty much ready to go, so not long after he got home we hit the road for the airport.  We timed it all perfectly, or rather, got extremely lucky we made it on time.  We had to park and get shuttled to the airport and the line to check in was quite long.  We hoped we would be able to breeze through security and thankfully, we mostly did.  We ended up splitting up, Sean took Liam to the plane and I stopped to get some food.  Glad we split up since I missed the family boarding and had to wait for my seat assignment.  It looked like we were going to luck out and get an extra seat, however, we were holding up the plane for 2 more people...and yep, one of them sat right next to me, not only next to me, but his legs moved over onto me.  I get it, the seats are small, but I'm in the middle here with not much room, so a little help would have been nice.

Anyways, we got to San Jose and Grandma picked us up from the airport.  We then headed home and decided it was a good time to go swimming.  Liam put on his water wings and had so much fun jumping in, even went off the diving board.  Aunt Clare came over with her new puppy, Ella.  Liam loved her, running around and having fun.  Grandma had everything planned out for us, meals, and such.  It was so nice.  On Friday, we decided to go to Kelley Park, which was also a zoo.  It had little rides for kids, perfect for Liam.  I think the cars were his favorite.

It was time to hit the road and get this kid a nap, but not before feeding the goats!  

It was off to In-N-Out Burger for the traditional burger.  By this time, Aaron and the family had arrived and were already swimming.  Liam was ready for more pool action and enjoyed playing with his cousins.  The next day we went to the beach near Montery.  It was great, and we even saw dolphins swimming in the ocean.

On Sunday, we went on Jeri and Jay's boat.  It was a 50 foot sailboat that took us around South San Francisco.  Liam loved it - in case you can't tell from this!  He was helping with the sails, too!

We ended up with a great BBQ in the evening and just hanging out, playing games and talking.  It was such a fun weekend, it ended too soon.  Here are a few pictures of the kids and Grandma!  

Jack Johnson

It had been far too long since I went to a concert.  Yes, I did see Xavier Rudd earlier this year, so I guess that counts, but well, I am talking a big concert and one where I don't have my little man with me.  So, it turned out to be another date with Sean.  We had just gotten back from California, stocked up on some groceries and headed home to get Liam dinner and bathed before the babysitter came over.  Yes, the babysitter.  It was the first time we were leaving Liam with a babysitter.  Things seemed to be all set, minus the fact that our house was a bit of a mess due to just getting back.  We had dinner, Liam got a nice bath and was ready to hang out, play and do whatever he planned on doing, until whenever.  The babysitter arrived and we went over what I thought was important, where his room was, how we do bedtime, food, how to work the tv and the rest of those seemingly important items.  We kissed our little man and flew out the door, no quicker than we arrived.  We had to stop and get some beer before we headed to the show.  We were quite excited to see a show at Red Rocks and I was beyond thrilled to get tickets to the show, after all, it was sold out and tickets were going for crazy high prices.  We snuck in our back way and we were able to score one of the last parking spaces in our secret spot.  We decided it would be a great place to drink our beers and cheers the show.

This was the first and last picture we took for the night.  I didn't want to be obsessed with my phone all night, letting the world know what we were doing, instead, I just wanted to enjoy the moment we were in.  It was an amazing night, we did have quite the hike up to the venue, then back down to the box office, then back up to the venue.  We met a few nice people on the way back up, as I was mostly running to be sure to get to the show on time.  We got in to Red Rocks, stopped for a beer along the way and made way to find our seats.  We had pretty great seats, in the middle, up high enough to be able to see everything, but still close enough to feel like we were a part of things.   We sat down and hung out for a bit, I was excited to see Jack, but was also excited that Sean was going to get to see a show at Red Rocks - it really is something you can't put into words in my opinion.  So, we sat and waitied and when Jack came out, everyone stood up, and of course, got our cell phones and started taking pictures.  I'm not sure why that bothered me as much as it did, perhaps it was the 500 selfies the people in front of me took, with me in the background.  But mostly, I just wanted to be in the moment, get lost in the music and move and groove the way I like to.  

So, the show went on, and as usual, it was amazing, Jack always delivers such a great show, such good feelings and positive energy, just makes me smile thinking about it again.  The night ended far too soon, but we also knew we had to get home to that little man.  We were considering bringing him, and while I missed him and think he would have had fun, I am glad we got to just be with each other, and enjoy the show.  We headed out of our seats and found a great spot to stand to enjoy his encore, in hopes of not getting stuck in long lines on the way out.  We stopped and I got a shirt, it was teal, of course and headed on our way.  We were told we couldn't use the trail on the way back, so we continued down the parking lot until we found our trail come in at a place where people couldn't yell at us.  We had our flashlights (on our phones) and walked all the way back down our secret trail to our car, where we hopped in and sped home, not sitting in any traffic.  It was such a great night with Sean and the music and the place, just awesome.  Time to get back to reality and get to work, huge event this weekend, hoping enough time to get everything done!    

Date day - climbing

Yes, this was yet another odd date for Sean and I.  See, our last date was a few hours of some awesome sailing in 60 degree weather, with a few rain showers.  And yes, I do think that is fun.  I think that defines us and makes us the couple we are, and I love it.  Every now and then I forget that our dates are not like other dates.  We don't go out for dinner or drinks, or a movie - we go out and do stuff.  As we looked at our schedules, we realized we needed a date in Colorado soon - to go do something here, in nature and with some adventure.  So, we took Liam to day care, which I felt a bit bad about, since we were home, but there was no way we could have gone climbing with him.

We prepared out our items the night before, laid everything out we needed and found a spot to go that was about 30 minutes from  our house.  We left nice and early and enjoyed a nice little drive to our destination.  It was a little tricky to find the trail, but once we did, we knew we were headed for some fun.  I was so excited to climb.  We hadn't been in so long, so long that I think Liam was still in a carseat watching the last time we went.  We got to our spot, found where we planned on climbing, laid everything out and got going.  Sean was going to lead climb to set the top rope, so there was some learning to do for me, and remembering for him.  It was fun, to learn something new, to be outside, to see the river, to watch rafts go by, just so much fun.  Sean made it to the top and set his ropes so I can climb top rope, which is what I am used it.  We finished the climb, Sean ran up it again to bring the rope back down and we found a new spot to climb.

The next section over was much easier, so Sean decided that I should take my first attempt at lead climbing, something I have not done before, something that scared me just a little bit, but something that I also didn't think about long enough to be really scared.  It was a great day climbing, we had so much fun, just being out there, doing something we loved again.  We finished up just as it was getting crowded, so we took our PB and J's and drove a bit down the road to a nice pull out on the river.  We found some rocks, sat and just enjoyed our time in the fresh air and sunshine.

It was a great day that reminded me how important it is for Sean and I to get away if we can, just the 2 of us to do whatever it might be.  I was also reminded how much I love climbing, which will get me to join a gym not far from work to climb at.  It was always great for me and will continue to be great for me.  It was a great day, with many great moments, but most of all, was so great because we got to be together.  

Peace

I was outside yesterday, rushing around, getting a few things done before Liam woke up from his nap.  As soon as I started the second paint coat on our letters for our adventure wall, the monitor beeped.  Sean and I both knew that he didn't get enough sleep and we didn't get enough done in that time.  So, I sprinted inside and up the stairs, which made my heart race and made me quite out of breath.  And when I got there, the little guy was sitting up in bed, crying for mama.  I pictured myself more as a mommy, but mama has grown on me.  I crawled into be with him, asked if he wanted to cuddle with mama and he curled into me.  At that moment, I took a minute to realize what I felt.

My body was covered with a rush, a rush that I had to slow down and absorb.  After a few seconds of trying to figure out what was going on, I felt it, peace.  I felt a sense of peace over me from head to toe.  My head was in the moment and my heart was settled.  And it felt so good.  It felt so good to have that moment with Liam, the moment of peace.  I mean, anyone that knows Liam, knows those moments don't exist that often.  But he fell back asleep in my arms and instead of sneaking out right away to get back to some chores, I decided to stay.  I closed my eyes and smiled.  I looked at what I have and where I am in life.  And it felt good to be me, it felt good to be at peace with everything I was doing.  I did decide to sneak away, I knew Sean needed help with a few things.

I found Sean and hugged him and told him everything that happened, another feeling to know our move was right and this is where we belong.

We concluded the day playing in Bear Creek at a swimming hole we found about 10 minutes from our house.  It was a wonderful day to play in the water.  Liam got to throw rocks in the creek and bang up his knees a bit.  He had a blast and those little moments are just another example of the peace I feel, when being outside, with my family.