put a bird on it

As I uploaded all dozen photos over the course of three weeks I can't help but reflect on how drastically our family landscape has changed in such a short amount of time.  Sometimes I feel like we're all learning how to waterski.  It's pretty wobbly at first and then you're up and surprised by the sheer terror that has overcome all of your senses.  But you realize you're actually doing it and it's kind of fun, you notice that you're smiling and take one hand off the rope to wave to your family at the dock.  "Look at me!  I'm doing it!"  And then you hit a wave and spectacularly crash on your face causing all kinds of discomfort and embarrassment.  But you are proud of yourself anyway and...you decide to try again because it was a rush of excitement and... you were kind of getting the hang of it and... hopefully it will get easier and... the next wipeout will be less traumatic.  Some days the sun shines bright and the waters are glassy smooth and some days you are just holding on.
 I'm not sure if that makes any sense but it is exactly how this process of going back to work has felt.  On one hand I would love to have the time to enjoy a quiet rainy afternoon on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea.  On the other, I'm strangely filled up by the ridiculous, hilarious, rowdy messiness that has become my life.  There's new fuel in the fire and new little people who need my songs and hugs.  Its always tricky when you add to your fold, especially when you feel like it's a fresh set of hearts in your hands.
 But even though I was snot spit on (this is a technique one of my students pioneered where you push your snot out of your nose and then spit it out your mouth) and had to wrestle one love away from the deathly grips of another on more than one occasion, I've gained their trust quicker than I thought.  They are mesmerized by the zany combination of firm boundaries and body art. And now I've got them right where I want them...

In other news I'm pretty sure nothing says "fall sellout" quite like buying squirrel cookie cutters.

And apple tastings...

 and fall farmers markets

But our newest fall tradition brought us to Chapman school to visit the Swifts and cement our place as Portlandians.   Every September these crazy birds stop through to nest in the chimney of this elementary school.

It draws quite the crowd

The real show starts when a larger bird (falcon?) swoops in and tries to (eat? / mate?) the swifts.  Then they go crazy and chase the big bird away.  Everyone claps and cheers them on.  It only lasts about an hour and eventually the swarms of birds get smaller and smaller until the last little guy makes it into the chimney.

The kids were all a little confused about why we met a gang of friends on an elementary school lawn to eat fried chicken and stare at birds but they might as well learn earlier than later, this is the least of the crazy they'll see in this town.

Yes, that is a man dressed as a court jester playing the mandolin and singing about birds behind Ian, why do you ask?

just the facts ma'am

281 days until summer vacation!  Too soon?  Yeah I thought so.  Today we broke an eighty year old record with temps in the 90's so I'm just going to go ahead and high five global warming. (Hi Al!)  This is going to be an Ava heavy update but girlfriend is commanding some attention lately.  Mostly good. :)  

Happy first day of school.  Let's see...she has a boy teacher and eighty percent of her friends are in the same class.  All I've got so far is that she gets a snack, lunch, game time, and two recesses.  Needless to say she is pretty excited about this year.  And she has promised to say hello each morning to the boy who cries every day and who tried to escape twice, because "Maybe if I say hi he will think he has a friend and be less sad."  (Swoon)

 We've kept little brother too busy to even know she's gone.

 She sits next to her bestie Ben in class.  This came home in her backpack today:

Der Ava,

I wod lik a play dat.

503-***-****

Frum Ben

We are hoping this is a request for a play date and not a form of gangster sexual harassment.  We've got our eye on you Ben.

 Remember what I said about keeping little man busy.  Just photo shop my face in and this is the two of us every day at 4:30.  This working mom/traveling boy gig is going to take some getting used to.

 I refuse to pencil in anything on the weekends so I have plenty of time to keep up the illusion of a normal life.  This facade includes having clean clothes, floors free from smushed grapes and granola bar wrappers and meals that don't involve travel,

 that's right peach crumble and umbrellas in our drinks...in your face Fall!

 Tonight Ava lost her third tooth at soccer practice, after months of diligent care she was pretty bummed when it was unrecoverable.  She came home and immediately wrote an update letter for the tooth fairy.

 Translation:  Dear tooth fairy, I lost my tooth doesn't it count because I lost it at soccer but doesn't it count if I cannot find it?  Will you still give me a coin?  Your friend Ava. 

I know she is simply the most adorable six year old on the planet.  No I am not biased.

 And Lord have mercy we have a potty trained boy on our hands. I gotta say there was some cold hard doubt.  Even tonight he got a little confused and peed straight up on my shirt because he thought he had  to "big potty."  "Don't worry mommy.  You can still wear it.  It will dry later."  Thanks buddy.

 His reward for filling up his potty chart was a trip to the Lego store.  Oh man was he proud of himself. I am still in shock.

 And finally some Miss A soccer shots because she is just so dang cute out there.

 I am going to start calling her the smiling ninja because she can be really aggressive but she just beams the whole time.  It cracks this mama up.

So all my fall lovin friends can stock up on pumpkin spice lattes and cozy jammies but I will not give up panzanella salad and flip flops without a fight.  Oh summer...you know you can own September so please don't cave to the pressure.  I still need to go to the drive in, and take late afternoon walks, and eat blackberries...Just one more trip around the lazy river please?

seven loves for the weekend

I am as prepared as I'm going to be for this first full week back of "reality."  Our fancy labor day memories include Ben fixing the brakes on our car, Ian pooping his pants twice, Ava's discovering her favorite new catch phrase, "kiss my shiny butt cheeks," and me waiting over two hours for a $2 captain america costume craigslist deal no show. 

 On the flip side we had friends over for a back to school party, the sun beat down hard all three days, this cake, and discovering that if you grill lemon halves dipped in raw sugar and sprinkle them over dry rubbed chicken you will immediately decide to enter the restaurant business.  So in honor of summers last hurrah, here's what's making me smile today.

I'm an admitted coffee novice but I dream about salted caramel mochas just about every morning.  I eyed this in the grocery aisle this week and threw all caution to the wind.  After adding some caramel syrup, milk, homemade whipped cream and T.J's salted caramel sauce I think I've nailed it.  It comes in three flavors if you like to mix it up.

These hydrangea are giving peonies a run for their money.  Do I feel guilty about swiping them from my parents yard while they're on vacation?  No.  At that point I considered them abandoned and deserving of a good home.  

I've had this book on hold at the library for forever.  It finally came in and took me all of 48 hours to cry my way through it.  It's...I don't really know how to describe it...it's funny and sad and you can't help but ache with the desire to just be normal but being made for something so much more.

I decided last week that this is going to be my new favorite fall show.  I'm actually mad that I have to wait 25 days for it to come out.  Celebrities, comedians, food, and traveling?  Come on...sign me up!

When picking up dinner actually means "picking" up dinner. 

I'm crushing on this scarf right now.  But the whole website is awesome.  I might be working on my Christmas list.

And finally my baby's "smile" after acing his swimming test.  I'd say that gives us about one month of practice before picture day.

I hope something makes your day this weekend!

Firenze

This is the story of two people who woke up one morning at 7am and decided to drive to Florence.  As with any adventure long on hopeful innocence but short on planning there are highs and lows and eventually a happy ending.
Florence was only two hours away and although we were perfectly happy to laze the day in our adopted hometown, we decided it would in some small way justify us traveling all the way to Italy to not just sit at the beach.  Most people in our shoes would probably procure some sort of guide book or at least attempt a quick googling of said historical venue.  However we instead tried to remember what it is we should do (five minutes before arriving) in such a lovely town.  The drive was smooth and the parking was free so we were off to a good start.  In fact the city seemed almost abandoned which did not help our plan of following large crowds to the most important destinations.  In a few short turns we found a busy street and with the help of a man selling posters, discovered we were in line to see David.  Not bad for rookies.
Two hours later we were still in line to see David but we had scored a convo with two American college girls who gave us the down low on after hours bars.

 lots of time to take pictures

 Here I am totally laughing because B was caught red handed breaking the no photo rule.

After the museum we rounded some corners and stumbled upon beauty of the 13th century intricately detailed church variety.  Believe me, once you do a semester with Wheaton in England you've seen some churches and this one definitely topped the list.

The details were so breathtaking you didn't know where to look

Unfortunately with the long lines, the cost to see everything and the heat, our luck started to change.  We were slightly swindled at lunch but at least the food was amazing.  And then we attempted to wander.  At this point we were so dang hot we just wanted to find a park and sit down.  All attempts at this were futile and only led to us finding a homeless mans bench in a dry deserted field.  After returning his bench we soldiered on and became more and more lost and dehydrated.  It seemed all roads led us upward so that's where we went.  After a few failed tries at navigating the bus system and one less than loving conversation we took some stairs up to find that it had all been worth it.  In one moment the heat and exhaustion are erased and there is only him and me and the view.  

I memorized that horizon as if it would save me from a lifetime of wanderlust.

I think I took thirty pictures of doors.  Each one seemed to tell a story.  They were either twenty feet high or designed for tiny hobbit people.  

 I'm thinking of single handedly bringing back lion door knockers to the states.

There is so much history in every stone wall of this city that they don't even know what to do with it all.  I think this was a side entrance to Banana Republic.

So after what we eventually called a successful day in la citta bella we found our car and began the journey home.  Until Ben said, Do you want to get dinner in Tuscany?  Turns out we were in Tuscany (probably something we should have known).  So after (another argument passionately Italian discussion) and then miraculously finding a McDonald's with wifi we picked a restaurant from tripadvisor, changed in the car and found ourselves on a vineyard watching the sunset.  I couldn't make this stuff up.  It was the best meal I had on our trip.

The moral of the story is that sometimes taking a blind step into another country can leave you looking like a couple of dumb a's stranded and hungry, but sometimes when you don't know what your looking for the surprises are so much sweeter.