Long time overdue

Well, things have been very hectic with LOTS of company and getting settled in our new town. We've had visits from both sets of parents, the McDowells and my sister, Joy - all within about a three week span. It's been great! Who knew all you had to do to get people to visit you was move to Southern California.

We've gotten into somewhat of a routine as well. We've tried to get to the beach once a week or so - either to play in the sand and water or at lest walk along the boardwalk (a nice, non-gritty alternative).

Caroline has started back in a Kindermusik class once a week which we're really enjoying. I've joined a large community playgroup (with over 130 moms) that has all kinds of great outings, including this concert in the park from Hullabaloo (a local folksy "band" for kids - very cute original songs) that we went to when Joy was here.



Here's another picture of Joy & Caroline - I love this because Caroline wanted to wear a headband just like Aunt Joy.





The budding artist has taken on new mediums ever since she met Ms. Linda (who keeps her every Wednesday morning for me to have a little mom's morning out). They have made bracelets with beads, a scarecrow out of wallpaper scraps that is taller than Caroline, all kinds of fancy drawings with paint, feathers, pompoms and even equipped with googly eyes. Our refrigerator is covered!



We had her crib converted to a toddler bed for a while. All went well for a week and then it totally back-fired on us. She didn't nap for 4 days straight, it took about 100 trips of us putting her back to bed at night and then we threw in the towel deciding that she wasn't quite ready. We received no resistance putting the crib rail back up so we'll try that again after Thanksgiving, I think.

We have made leaps and bounds on the potty training though! This is successful day two of big girl panties (no diapers!). And NO accidents!! This was MUCH easier than I thought it was going to be... I should have made the switch weeks ago, it was just hard with lots of company and outings. Yay for my big girl!

I think we're gonna like it here...

Caroline had a great week with Mimi & Pappy while I unpacked and Josh headed to work. She is already so happy having a real backyard and has discovered her new artistic endeavor - watercolors - which now adorn our fridge.
To all my southern friends - note the sweater on Caroline. It's August and actually chilly here at night. I think I can get used to this! ;)

Trek to California

Well, we made it! Our 2,200 mile trek to California went very well and we are starting to feel settled with just a few boxes left in the house and even have some pictures on the walls. Caroline has adjusted far beyond our expectations and Josh has been working for over a week now.
So far, adjusting to "Navy life" has gone smoothly. It took a while to get into the system with car stickers and id's, etc., but that was to be expected. Everyone is really nice and I'm still getting used to being saluted when I drive on base (the marines salute the car because of the officer sticker no matter whose driving).
I will have to send out a kodakgallery slideshow of our trip because we have almost 60 pictures, but will put some of the highlights here:


Our fist stop was a short drive to Indianapolis to Josh's parents' house for a respite after the 3 days of pack-out from Cincinnati. Caroline got lots of good cousin time in. We arrived there Thursday mid-day, spent the afternoon with the girls in the pool, then took a short boat ride down to the marina for an Italian dinner with Josh's parents, sister and her family. We will really miss being so close to family!



Friday morning we got an early start for our longest day of driving... through Indiana, through Illinois, into Missouri and to our final destination of the day, Tulsa, Oklahoma (which I really wouldn't recommend for a stopping point for anyone not needing to stop there!). Our stay was fine but not noteworthy. Caroline and Maggie were troupers... no meltdowns, NO videos (can you believe it?!?) - we counted cows and windmills a lot. She took a good 2-hour nap mid-day. A very happy day of driving.
Saturday we made a quick stop in Oklahoma City to see Josh's cousin, Dawn and her family. Caroline enjoyed playing with Marian and Miranda - this picture is of the three girls making silly faces.

We ended our short 400 mile drive that day in Canyon, Texas at my aunt Janice's house. I got to visit with my cousin, Tamara, and Caroline played with her youngest child, Josh. It was a very nice stop and we got some good food, nice company and a good night's sleep.





Sunday we had another long day of driving all the way to Williams, Arizona (just south of the Grand Canyon and in the mountains near Flagstaff). That was one of our more interesting drives through New Mexico (which has to be the most beautiful state we drove through) and through Arizona. A lot of desert and mountains with stops far a few between. We stopped in New Mexico and the gas station also served as the post office, there was a rooster at the pump which "cock-a-doodle-dooed" quite a bit AND Caroline decided that was the place to go to the potty which had to be the most disgusting bathroom we visited along our journey (but she still went potty..yay!). I think I actually Purelled her backside that visit even though I had lined the toilet with about 6 layers of toilet paper. Eck!
We spent the next day, Monday, resting from the road. We visited the Grand Canyon that morning and spent the afternoon at our ranch resort letting Maggie and Caroline have some outdoor time just running around the extensive grounds.
Our last day on the road, Tuesday, we drove into California and to our new home! The funniest thing was stopping at the first exit in California for gas and a restroom break. We saw our first palm tree and in the same shot, the exhorbitant gas prices! They're actually not that bad on the coast but it was a shock to see at the time.

Quick update...

Well, the camera is packed so there won't be any pictures to accompany this quick update but just wanted to say that all is going well on the move front. We're doing our "lasts" in Cincinnati and running around like mad getting everything done while Josh is still working these last few days and the movers are doing their thing. They packed 80% of the house yesterday (they are so fast!) and just have the finishing up to do today before the loaders come tomorrow. Then Thursday we're off!
We will get to Oceanside on Tuesday night so we have close to a week of travel in the car with some fun stops along the way visiting family and seeing the Grand Canyon. Should be interesting with a dog and potty-training toddler. We'll have lots of pictures to post on the other side. Wish us luck!!

Coney Island

We went to Coney Island (a water/amusement park along the banks of the Ohio river in Cincinnati) for the hand surgery group's annual picnic on Saturday. We got there about 10 o'clock and had a couple of hours to do whatever we wanted. Caroline wanted to go swimming first.

They had an enormous pool (they boast that it's the largest in the world, and it might be). It was mostly a shallow wading pool but had a big water slide in the center and then a deep area at one end with about 6 diving boards. Caroline wanted to, and DID, go down the giant water slide in the picture by herself! Josh walked her up the giant ladder while I waited at the bottom with my heart in my throat. She went down all by herself (with her little tube float on) and I was at the bottom ready to grab her. She came down without any hesitation but I think she had second thoughts about half-way down when she twisted sideways a bit and got pretty wide-eyed. No tears or anything, but also no requests to do it again. I still can't believe she did it. What can I say, the girl can't resist a slide!


Then we got into dry clothes and took her to the kiddie rides. She had only ridden carousels up to this point but she really liked all the rides (turtles, trains and rocket ships). She looked like such a big girl riding the rides all by herself and waved to us every time she came around to where we were.

painted piggies

We hosted a "pool party" at our house the other day for Caroline's friends, and in the spirit of summer days, I painted Caroline's toenails for the first time. She sat still because she was so excited about it. You can kind of see it in this picture of her with her best bud, Maggie.

A funny something

Caroline has started singing along with the radio in the car. I have satelite radio in the van and mostly listen the the Nashville station (go figure!) or "Flight 26" which has the top current pop songs (I'm desperately trying to stay atune to other things than the wiggles these days). Anyway, they are always playing the same top 20 songs and Caroline can now sing along with Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape" and Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." This really cracks me up! You should hear her do the "Whee-Hoos" on the sweet escape song... it'll make you laugh for sure.