The kids and I will be making the day-long trip to Portland, OR tomorrow. I am doing my best to organize, pack, prepare and basically remember everything that the kids and I will need for the next 10 days. My plan is to leave as close to 7 am as possible so we can make it to my mom's house around 9 pm or so. My kids are good car travellers as long as they have a steady dose of movies on the portable DVD player. There are only a few circumstances where I allow them to watch movies to their heart's content and being the only adult, driving in a car for 700 miles, fits the requirements. We have made this trip the last two summers and as long as the kids have movies, snacks, books and something to draw on, we do alright. I, on the other hand get to indulge in too many Cokes, fun snacks I wouldn't normally eat and lots of my favorite music. I will be bleary eyed by the time I reach my final destination tomorrow, but I think I will be prepared in time tonight to enjoy some quality time with Todd and get to bed at a reasonable time. I will miss Todd very much until he flies up to Portland on the 30th to spend the final weekend with us and to join in the drive-home party. It will be so nice to have his company, even if I have to suffer through some of his favorite music. I will have fun pictures and stories to share while we are on our trip.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
To The One I Love
Todd and Angela in the beginning
Todd and Angela now
Our Wedding Day
Dear Todd,
Today is our ninth wedding anniversary and I wanted to tell you, and anyone else who reads this blog, how lucky I feel to be your wife. We have been on a great adventure together during the past twelve years that we have been a couple. Together, we endured a long-distance romance where we only saw each other on the weekends, faced the roller-coaster of parenthood early on when our firecracker daughter came into our lives, took the chance to move away from Windy City of Chicago to the small Santa Cruz beach communities to begin your dream of owning a civil engineering firm. We have bought a house together, added our amazing little boy to our family and have delved deep into the venture of business ownership. Those are some of the big milestones we have accomplished together, and there are thousands of smaller ones that make my days as your partner so wonderful. Here are some that have a lasting memory. I remember my first Mother's Day, when Edie was a fussy, 7 month old. The two of you left me alone at home to take a nap and returned with a new pillow for me. You endured one hour of crying Edie two evenings a week so that I could go to an exercise class. You always make a big deal of birthdays and Christmas and surprise me with amazing gifts that I would never buy for myself. You came home from work in the middle of the day to bring some food and movies to Edie and me when we were both so sick with the flu, we couldn't move. I loved it when you would drop by and surprise me at work and when you didn't come by, had dinner ready for me when I got home. It is thoughtful when you buy me a new CD and leave it in my car for a surprise. Your have creatively come up with scavenger hunt dates that were so fun (and made some of my friends jealous!). You secretly had the living room painted while I was gone to make me happy when I got back, and worked really hard on the patio to make it look beautiful. I could fill a book with happy memories of our time together.
I know that I can always count on you to take the garbage out, to make sure my car goes in for an oil change, to do the handy-work around the house and make sure the chill is gone from the sheets at bed time. I am so lucky to have found a man who works so hard to support his family and who loves his family so deeply.
Thank you Todd for our life together. I look forward to many, many more years together.
Love always,
Angela
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Catch Up
Todd at Pebble Beach & Spyglass 
I have some catching up to do here. I can't believe that Summer is half way over for Edie , who starts her new school on August 25th. The days have been slow paced and filled with lots of friends. I wish I could say that they have all been filled with sunshine, but really, I live in Santa Cruz. Here is the short list of our activities the last few weeks.
1. Edie and Isaac both spent a fun-filled week at Vacation Bible Camp which managed to pack enough activities into a four hour morning to completely exhaust both kids every day.
2. We enjoyed a fun evening at the Boardwalk with friends. We took advantage of local night which boasts 75 cent hot dogs and drinks. Hot dogs really only taste good when you are either surrounded by carnival rides or baseball fans. Isaac rode the Pirate Ship for his first time and quickly let us know that he wasn't going to go on it again. He also got to accompany our friend's 15 month old son on his first ride. It was Isaac's moment to shine as a big boy.
3. We had a fun 4th of July at a friend's house where we ate an assortment of BBQ'd fish. The kids were in bed and asleep by 8:00 pm which was before the illegal booms of fireworks could wake them up.
4. Todd got to golf Pebble Beach and Spyglass for the first time and had a great rounds at each course. Todd's said Splyglass was much much tougher than Pebble Beach....
5. I have made three more batches of yummy jam. I couldn't just stop at strawberry, so I made strawberry-fig, ollallie berry-strawberry and plum. The figs and plums came from the trees of two friends and the strawberries and ollallie berries were picked very close to my house. I think I'll have to do some peach or apricot next. I will have reminders of Summer all year long.
6. Edie has had several play dates and sleep-overs which have all been great. I really like spending time with her and her friends.
7. A family BBQ with my Supper Club. We all contributed delicious dishes and enjoyed spending time with each other and our families on a relaxed Sunday afternoon.
I hope that the second half of the Summer is as great as the first. I'll let you know!
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