Story Time

I love when my niece visits...she and Em play so well together. Just look at this adorableness!

Baseball!

It's been a baseball couple of days around here! Yesterday we went to the A's game: $2 Wednesdays are awesome! Nachos and hot dogs and lots of cheering. The kiddo brought his glove and kept trying to go down to the field to help them "throwin an hittin daball!"

And today, inspired by the baseball game he had so much fun at, the kiddo worked on his throw in the backyard with his dad. Too cute!

These guys are just too cute.

List #9 - Silly reasons I haven't been blogging

1. I'm all pregnant, which means I'm tired, which means I go to bed crazy early lately.

2. I usually get over writer's block with a glass of wine...not happening anymore. I miss wine.
3. I'm busy doing fabulous photo shoots. My modeling career is really in demand. I've been going to such exotic places as my dining room.

4. The kiddo has been taking short baths...and I usually do all the Etsy managing and blogging during bath time.
5. I'm busy trying to figure out how to watch American Idol online so I can see MK perform. (It's not possible...only highlights and bootlegs allowed. Boooo)
6. Work has been total madness - We put on a Drag Ball, which was an awesomely huge success and was great for the kids (I work at a school that has a very active and effective GSA, and acts in many ways as a safe haven for kids who might struggle to fit in at other high schools). But man, was it a lot of work. I've also been on a committee that's working to increase our diversity and relevance, and that's involved a lot of travel, and a lot of time lost in Excel spreadsheets. It's all good stuff, and I like it, but it's busy stuff too.
7. I fell down a Pinterest wormhole planning my sister's 30th Birthday/Baby Shower/Housewarming Party. It was super fun, and I did all sorts of lovely crafty fun things. Which I promptly forgot to take good Pinterest-Worthy pictures of. I'll never be a successful mommy-blogger that way! Or at least, not one who's good at pretending to do all the things perfectly!

There were also adorable Oreo pops, some pretty funny games, seriously photo-worthy decorations...but all I got were a bunch of pictures of people having fun, one shot of the cupcakes and my kiddo scribbling all over the calendar! Priorities, Lyn! Ha!
8. House of Cards...seriously.

List #6 - I'm Into It

1. Scandal. Oh my god, Scandal. This show! It's so good! We're almost halfway through season 2, and I'm loving it! Kerry Washington has the most amazing snarl-face, Joshua Malina is as sassy as ever, and the President's Chief of Staff is just brilliant. I wasn't sure about it for the first few episodes. See, in the pilot episode, Olivia Pope goes and rescues a baby from some kidnappers, and then when she brings the baby back to her office, she leaves the baby in a box while she and her associates eat Chinese takeout. Not cool, Mz. Pope! But about 3 episodes in, it gets reeeeeally good. I'm glad we stuck with it. I was figuring it would end up as one of those shows that we watch just to make fun of, but instead we're totally obsessed. If you like West Wing or House of Cards, Scandal is right up your alley.

2. Salad. All the time. Now that I've got my salad dressing down, it's like the only thing I want to eat. Except for

3. Soup. I've been craving it pretty regularly. Ross makes this hot and sweet and spicy noodle soup that's completely inauthentic but so good. Cook down some small-diced onions and garlic on low heat til they practically disappear, add in homemade vegetable stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, a spoonful of sugar and a ton of Sriracha and Sambal Olec, and then let the noodles cook in it. So nice on a cold night, which is all the time right now.

4. These boots.

 Like I said, it's been cold. And they're warm and fuzzy and comfy and go with almost everything I have that's warm. I get compliments on them all the time, and I have to restrain myself from being like "I totally got them on sale at Target" because that's not what the cool kids say. But seriously, they're from Target, and while they don't have them in the lovely green and brown anymore, they do have white and black.

5. Sake. See above, about the cold.

6. Wearing my hair like a giant cinnamon bun on top of my head. It looks like this, but less sticky, and I think it's very festive. If I could glitter it too, and still be work appropriate, I would.

Image via Another Good Thing

7. Christmas. We decorated the tree today, and put up lights. Ross says it looks tacky, and then we had this conversation:

Ross: I really prefer a classy and elegant "Courier and Ives" Christmas decorative theme. All white lights, all wooden ornaments, blah blah blah artsy stuff.
Me: Babe. You know I've never made anything look classy or elegant. You want Courier and Ives? Get out here and decorate.
Ross: Bah humbug and harumph. Also, why are you hanging things where we can't see them?
Me: grrrrrrrrrrfalalalala-la-la-la-la
Ross: Good point. I'll go do some more art in the other room now.

Anyways, here's our poor little crooked Tree-in-a-cage and my tacky (aka awesome and sparkly) decorations. I love it, and Santa will definitely know where to find us! E likes it too. He calls the tree a flower and smells it all the time. My kind of kid!

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I'm thankful today for warm sweaters, living near enough to a Target to be able to run out at bedtime to get more nighttime diapers because we ran out and forgot, living in a neighborhood that really does it up for Christmas (just wait til I tell you about Christmas Tree Lane - it's too cool), enchiladasagna lunches, and the mini marshmallows that come in packets of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate.

Email Sent!

So Ross and I sent out an email letting all our family know about the art he's been making. I'm so nervous and excited that we've really done it - we're actually trying to get his wonderful art sold, and I love it! Here's the gist of what we told everyone:

     Happy Holidays family! Here's hoping you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that you're all headed into an even better year-end celebration. Ross and I definitely have a lot to be thankful for this year, and one of those things is the recent chance to start a business together!

      As you may know, Ross is an artist. Way back when, before I stole him away from art school in New York, he had plans to be a professional graphic designer, painter and art teacher. His art was actually one of the things that made me love him so much - it was thoughtful and striking and so gorgeous. Once he moved out to California, other jobs became his priority, and rather than being his career, Ross's art became a hobby.  

     Recently, though, a few of his pieces were featured in a benefit auction (full disclosure - I planned the auction and convinced him to let me include his work), and, just like I knew they would, his paintings sold quickly! Soon after that, I was able to convince him to give "artist" another shot as a career choice, and now here we are, launching our business together! He makes the art, I write about it, and we're hopeful that you all will like his work as much as I do (being a serious artist, Ross will never admit to liking anything he's created...but he sure does beam with pride when Emmett asks him to tell stories about the bear and penguin he's painting!)
Called "Paint By Number Parents," our home-based, online, decorative art shop offers unique and one-of-a-kind paintings and photographs created by Ross, with the occasional addition from me. Our products are designed with both kids and parents in mind - art that is sweet and kid friendly, but also appealing to parents. 

     It's been great fun brainstorming design ideas with Ross, and I think a lot of the fun shows in the things we have for sale - adorable animal watercolors, custom made name or initial paintings, fancy and impressive watercolor greeting cards, canvas mounted photographs, with unique lighted paintings and more soon to come!

We offered a coupon there for some awesome items like Ross's Stuffed Animal Greeting Cards, or one of my favorite photographs from our honeymoon, and I'm going to throw a great deal out here too! 

Use the coupon code "Holiday2013" and we'll give you 30% off anything in the shop. Free shipping! We'd love for you to use it, hopefully on something you really like. 

Crossing my fingers, cause here we go!

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I'm thankful today for butter on popcorn, tin foil, Thanksgiving leftovers, rock-paper-scissors, and driving around with the heat on and windows down

Twains!

Today's gonna be a much more lighthearted day here. After all the emotions that yesterday's post brought up for me and some others, today should be filled with cuteness. A note about comments: I don't know why some of them just disappear when you hit "publish." I've looked and looked for an answer, and blogger is very unhelpful. If you've managed to solve this on your blog, let me know how. Otherwise, I think I'm going to set up Disqus on this thing tomorrow, so that the wonderful words my friends are writing actually get here!

Now on to the adorable!!!

In Berkeley, there's this huge park with lots of open space and hills and little wonders tucked into all sorts of nooks and crannies. One day I'll write about The Little Farm and The Tilden Merry-Go-Round, but they're both closed right now and today we went to ride the Steam Trains, so that's what you're getting!

Ticket Booth

Train Station

The Redwood Valley Railway, or "da Twains," as they're called at my house, is about a 20 minute drive away from Alameda on a traffic-free day. Emmett likes the drive because we go through two big tunnels each way. And that's good, because today is the second day in a row that we've driven out there. Yesterday we got caught in traffic and didn't make it up the hill to the Trains until 5:00, and since it gets dark early now, and they close at dusk, we missed the last ride of the day by about 10 minutes, I think. So we had to turn around. Not the happiest ride home, but once we hit the Caldecott Tunnel, the kiddo was being his usual goofball self again.

We went up there with my sister Kelle today. She'd never been before (probably because she doesn't have a toddler yet!), so it was fun to show her around. The gates had just opened today when we arrived, but there were already several other families there. Lots of grandparents - maybe because school was out today but most businesses were open?

Yes, those are my giant knees. Too tired to edit out my mom jeans.

He's so excited he can hardly stand it

Anyways, we bought a 5-ride ticket for $12, then walked to the front of the train to greet the Conductor, also known around here as DaDuctor. (Sidenote - I know, just KNOW, that I have at least two single-ride tickets in my wallet. But I can never find them when I'm there, only when I'm looking for something else entirely.) The DaDuctors are really nice older gentlemen who seem to love trains and making kids happy. They're cheerful, knowledgeable, and wear adorable railroad hats. Today, the conductor we met gestured for Emmett to reach into the engine, pull a rope, and make the bell ring, then shouted "All Aboard." Or maybe he just smiled and let Kelle take pictures of us, but in my head (and I'm sure in Emmett's, this was a serious and wonderfully cliched train moment).

Emmett led us to one of the traincars at the end, a caboose-looking thing with a roof, and we piled in. A conductor came by to punch our ticket, and we were off! The ride itself is really nice - about 12 minutes, with lots of adorable things to look at along the way, and when it's clear, a great view of the Bay Area.

I didn't even Tilt-Shift this! It's that adorable, all on it's own!

We rode twice, and in between, poked around the grounds a bit. Down the hill is a true miniature trainyard, with a great view of the Steamtrain as it chugs out of the station. On Sundays, you can sometimes get rides on the mini trains too.

Hi People!

Up top, they have a small set of souvenirs (Tshirts, postcards, etc, mostly under $15 and cute) and a train...house? A train garage? A wheelhouse? Is a wheelhouse even a thing? Isn't it like an arsenal, but full of skills instead of weapons? Or is that a skill set? I'm just confused now. Ok, so it's a building where they do repair work on trains. The trains, and their engineers, work behind giant glass panes, and the kids can watch them tinker and repair.

Kids Tees, $9!

All in all, we spent a great little hour there. It's cheap, it's adorable, it has potential for pretend play when the kiddo is older, and it's not too sparkly or cartoony or ADD inducing. Just a nice thing to do that makes my kiddo beyond happy.

Cheeeeeeeeeese

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I am thankful today for all the outpouring of support I received after my last post. Everyone who responded, whether on the blog or by text, or email, or over Facebook, thank you sincerely. I feel so encouraged to keep writing, and so happy to be who and where I am, with the friends I've got!!! 

I'm also thankful for my husbands military service. It's Veterans Day today, and I want to show my appreciation for his sacrifice, and that of so many others, who fight (and/or fly, or play music, or file paperwork) for our freedoms. I hate war, and I hate that we fight at all, but the men and women who serve in our military are not the ones who choose war. They only choose to lay their lives on the line for us, and to get not nearly enough in return for their devotion. Also, had he not been a dashing young Marine, he and I never would have met. And so I picked out a steak for him at the market today, as a thank you for everything he's done, and is doing. (And by "I picked out" I mean I wandered back and forth in front of the meat section looking lost until Kelle grabbed my arm and guided me to the butcher counter, and then picked out the steak while I ran off in search of Drano and a red cabbage).

Adorable 19 year old Ross - thanks babe!

Lastly but not leastly, I'm thankful for Tom Yam soup, blue nailpolish, and drinking juice out of a wine glass (feels fancy!)

Day Trip - The Bay Area Discovery Museum

Yesterday, we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. They have a free admission day on the first Wednesday of every month, which we've known for ages (or for about a year, but whatever), but have never taken advantage of for one silly reason or another. But yesterday we were determined, and I'm so glad we went!

The museum is in Sausalito, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, in the old Fort Baker, all of which combines to make it a really cool setting. Seriously, just check out this view from the parking lot!
           

                   
So we went in, and the kiddo could barely keep it together long enough for us to fill out the guest card and make our $3 donation. The whole place is set up so that kids can roam around and discover all sorts of things on their own, which I love. I'm kind of a museum dork, and I love nothing more than a well-curated museum, which my family mocks me for relentlessly. And I LOVED this place. The setup and concept all made sens, and it made it really easy for Emmett to find a set of instruments to play almost instantly

Of course, with so much to check out, the music didn't last too long. Within about 5 minutes, we were on to a section of the museum that actually made me jealous of my kid. When my sister and I were little, we pretended all over the place, and our favorite pretend game was "Wilderness Girls" which we invented while camping in Sequoia with my cousin Carrie and friends. Post camping trip, our favorite place to have epic games of Wilderness Girls was at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, a magical place with a Japanese rock garden, a big lake, and huge forests full of wild animals that might jump out at you at any moment so you'd better go make a fort quick! That last bit might not actually be real...

Anyways, the Discovery Museum had a whole section designed just for absolutely epic games of pretend, called "Lookout Cove." A shipwreck, a fishing boat with a steering wheel, a smaller (but still big!) version of the Golden Gate, little nests, possibly the best climbing tree I've ever seen, several caves, miniature rivers and waterfalls and best of all, this amazing work of art called the Peekaboo Palace. It was amazing - nooks and crannies and windows and corners to peek around - the ultimate treehousefortcastle. (I know, that's not a real word, but this place was unreal, so I'm sticking with it.)

Seriously, look at this thing! The coolest!

Peekaboo!

A nest, that apparently had baby tuhtoes in it

Serious frog is serious

Stepping stones - those are probably special "hot lava" type woodchips 

A spiderweb! Of course, if Kelle and I had been captured by a villain, this would have been the dungeon

Ross couldn't wait to climb this thing

We spent most of our time in this pretend wonderland, but there were other fun things all over the place. An exhibit created by the Boston Children's Museum that explores all sorts of fascinating things about 5 Native American communities in New England, like traditional jewelry making, storytelling, modern Pow Wow, traditional recreation and more. I didn't have a chance to get pictures in this one because the kiddo was grabbing things left and right, putting them down in the wrongest places, and trying to climb into display cases. So you'll just have to trust me that it was awesome.

Another set of exhibits featured hands on crafting and art for all ages - from complicated whirligig creations to simple paper towel tube scupltures, there was something designed for any kind of kid. Even mine! He drew on his face, licked some glue sticks, got his hand stuck in a tube, tried to stomp through the display of tissue paper sculpture, and then pulled all the books off the shelves. But you know what? It was totally fine! The museum staff was well trained to interact with little ones, and knew what to expect, and I didn't feel awful about my 2 year old being just that, which was so nice.

mmmm, purple

I was glad to see this survived all the toddlers - it was even cooler in person

I just love reading corners with giant pillows

After we undid the mess, Emmett was ready to move on. We hit up the giant tinker toys in a spot called "Imagination Playground" for a bit, and watched big kids build an enormous fort. The kiddo didn't quite know what to do with these things, but Ross sure did, and had a great time showing him how to build fancy things.

I don't have a kid, I have an adorable sheepdog

Next was the "Tot Spot," which was a smaller version of Lookout Cove, based around animal homes. It was sweet and cute, but I think Emmett enjoyed the "big kid" stuff a bit more.

Playing in the "fissies" home

A groundhog tunnel

The cutest dang puppet show stage I ever saw

We finished the afternoon in Bay Hall, which had Emmett's favorite thing in the whole world, Trains. And that was the end of it for us - once he saw the elaborate Brio setup with Thomas and James and the whole Shining Time Station crew, he didn't want to leave.

We will without a doubt be back to this place, and not just for a free Wednesday. It was so fun, for all of us, and I am sure that it will just get better. As Emmett gets older, we'll be able to set him free (ish) to run around the place, while we hang out in the cafe and enjoy the view.

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Today, I'm thankful for: interesting conversations with coworkers, burritos (Northern California style, of course), cinnamon raisin bread, salad, and NPR