The sea and my soul

After the last trip to grandma's house I thought it was bad, but this trip really sealed the deal. I now have a two year old that dreams of California, and in all her games of pretend tells me she's going on a plane to California. And every time I answer the pretend phone she says it's "California" on the other line.

My California-born heart has been a little weepy over the whole thing. I don't think Jay and I will ever end up back in California (But you never know, fate may make me eat my words) but that state really is something to behold. And I feel like I've been spoiled to spend my time on the central coast and in the foothills, where my girl CA really shines bright.

This happens to have been one of my favorite family beach trips on record. Although the flu hit us hard starting with Rory the night we arrived and subsequently hit almost everyone (whyyy did it have to be the flu!?) we really did have a good time. The flu kept us fairly cooped up, but whoever was well at the time spent their days playing cornhole, walking the beach, and building sandcastles with the babies. Jay is always the master fire-builder and we had lots of good bonfires and watched fireworks on the 4th from the sand.

My soul mostly is home in the mountains, but there's something calming about the sea.

My week with Rory

This past week I've spent several days alone with Rory. And when I say it's been the best of times and the worst of times that's really what I mean. Mostly best of times, but we will get to that. Jay had packed up the uhaul and moved our things to Utah (we bought a house! So excited!), so I went to the beach for the 4th of July with my family. Well, they all headed back for work, girls camp, etc. and my house was empty and my husband still gone... So I decided to stay at the beach until they came back for family vacation later in the week. 

Although my family was panicking a little about leaving me by myself with a newborn, I thought it would be great. I mean- the ocean, a sweet baby, and the best ice cream known to man within walking distance? What could go wrong? Though those parts were dreamy, what I didn't know was that Rory would choose part of our time together for one of her growth spurts and would be extra fussy and clingy and need to eat every hour or two.  I was so exhausted. It's amazing what lack of sleep and full responsibility for another human life can do to your nerves. Also the value of having another adult to talk to and give a hug to, or have hold the baby while you take a shower is a luxury I didn't realize I would miss. Luckily, it didn't last forever and after a tearful prayer and a phone call to Jay, she gave me two 3.5 hour stretches of sleep in a row and we woke up two new people. 

But though sometimes the really hard moments try to overshadow everything good, in this case it just can not be done. The rest of our days have been filled with dancing in the living room, swaying to the sound of the ocean on the deck, naps in the kitchen (for her) and the couch (for me) with the doors open for a breeze, taking walks to get ice cream, eating leftover pizza, and lots of cuddling while I read Little Women. Oh and nursing, lots and lots of nursing. 

I'm still figuring out how to be all the things I aspire to be and a mom at the same time. Luckily most of them coincide when I really think about it. We love our little life (and will love it even more when we have daddy in it again), and are grateful. So so grateful.

*Also, we took some self timer pictures today to record the fact that I actually am here. I think all I have from the last three weeks are pictures of this sweet muffin!

a post dedicated to my niece, because I know you're obsessed too....

I know I'm biased.... but I'm not. [is that the highest form of biased?]
I was given the award "most likely to be a Disneyland Aunt [aka obsessed Aunt] at my last work party.
I have the cutest niece of all time and I can't help it- I'm obsessed.

But in my defense, I don't know anyone who doesn't love the chunk.
She's hilarious and awesome and has the biggest personality of any toddler I know.
Jay may have given her a run for her money if we could bring back the mini version of him,
so someday she may have cousins just like her- we'll all be excited to see!

But for now she is her own little independent person, who does whatever she wants.
And she's dang cute.
She's obsessed with rocks and water and has no fear of the ocean.
And some of her bathing suits can [obviously] not contain her awesomeness.
If you aren't in love with this chunky diva by the time you're done with this post,
I don't know who you are.

Good things Aptos

We vacation on the central coast- and we have for years.

In fact, my dad vacationed there when he was a kid, 

and his family all rented houses on the same street when we were growing up. 

Needless to say, it holds a special place in our hearts. 

If I need to convince you in the direction of the central coast, 

all I probably need to say is that it's the happy medium off all the West Coast. 

It doesn't have the same crowds as Southern California. Nor the same traffic. 

And it's not frigid cold like the Northern Beaches. 

Aptos is our home base, but we like it all. 

The shops in Capitola, the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, 

and the history/aquarium in Monterey Bay. 

So in case you happen along that way anytime soon, 

I'm going to share some of our favorite places to go [warning:mostly food]

Aptos Street BBQ

Go. 

And go early. I'm dead serious. 

Those who know us know that we Veaters love our meat. #cattleranchfamily

[are hashtags appropriate on a blog? Meh.]

Moral of the story is this place smokes the meat overnight and only has a certain amount. 

They sell out by the end of the day, and believe me you don't want to miss it. 

Get the TriTip and it will change your life. 

I crave it on the daily and I'm not kidding. 

Marianne's Ice Cream

Try their licorice ice cream for me, would you?

Ok, you don't have to but I'm obsessed. 

I never can choose another flavor, though if I'm in the mood for a double scoop [aka almost always]

I'll pair that bad boy with salted carmel, which will also blow your mind. 

Not to say that 50-50 and snickerdoodle cookie dough aren't equally as amazing....

but you get the idea, don't you?

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Ok, so it's super old and maybe slightly ghetto, but the rides are actually great!

And you can't beat looking out over sailboats and the ocean while screaming out your lungs. 

Can you?

And if I say so myself, it's a great place to people watch- 

every type of person you could think of is there. 

Cafe Sparrow

A darling little Country French restaurant!

Wallpaper and fresh flowers on the table and the best pork chop I've ever tasted.

And I don't like pork chops, so that's saying something.

And now for some more vacation pictures!

p.s. I forgot to mention that now that Jay's in the family, we do bonfires too.