Road Trip

Gia and I had a great time in San Jose visiting my mom, my sister, three nieces and my nephew. Gia could run circles on the trampoline for hours. Despite multiple "bonafide owies" inflicted by pavement over the weekend, Gia continues to run at every opportunity. In anycase, that trampoline is always a big hit.

One afternoon we were out there with my gorgeous nephew Sammy and his friend Joey. The boys were playing roughly so G and I sat along the edge and watched as they bounced around and threw bouncy balls at each other. To my amusement they started talking in "old man" voices. Sammy says, in his best "old man" voice, "I was born in 1822." Joey goes next with "I was born in 1976." It was brilliant!

We went to baseball games and held guinea pigs, stayed up late and ran with the pack for a while last week. It was fabulous. Giabella is a fantastic traveller. You see, we drove this time and eight hours in the car is no easy thing for even the most mild mannered two year old...which Gia is not. She sang, read and slept without complaint. In fact, around Oceanside, she asked if we could turn around and go back. Dave says she came back taller, with longer hair and talking more. I think he's right, the cousins have rubbed off.

Family time is the best. I love the weekends when I have adult companionship and there is a second set of hands to hug, serve, tickle, help and love our girl. I love watching Gia interact with Dave. She's with me all day, after two years of it I'm sure daddy is a nice change. On the weekends my load is lightened and my loves are near. We always have a good time. Yesterday after he got home from work, Dave Gia and I went to Ponto beach so that Dave could surf and G and I could play. G looks so chubby in these pictures!

Rambling..

The Santa Ana's are here this weekend. It's like summer again. The temperature is in the 80's, the sky is clear blue and the wind is warm. Everything is dry, dry, dry. It is a lazy weekend for us which is a nice change. Last weekend was our birthday extravaganza here at the Manriquez house. Both Gia and her daddy celebrated birthdays. I have a two year old!...and a husband who is getting closer to forty than comfort will allow. It's a funny thing, getting older. Anyway, Gia's birthday party was a smashing success. With three of her friends we, ate cake and ice cream, opened presents and pushed a pinata around (I finally took scissors and bludgeoned the thing until it opened). Gia wanted cake the instant her guests arrived...she's a true Manriquez. The next day we celebrated Dave's birthday by having brunch with friends.
I think the birthday extravaganza weekend will become a tradition in the Manriquez home. It has to be fine tuned, but it will be an annual weekend nothin' but fun and celebration. With Halloween, Gia's birthday and Dave's birthday all within a week of each other I've come the realization that I need to start planning for this time of year in, like, September. Being that I'm into the handmade and want to make all Halloween costumes, birthday presents, banners and goody bags, I can save none of it for the last minute.
After our birthday festivities of the weekend, I was feeling truly motivated to start blogging, finish some of my projects and once again hit the gym. The plan was to stay at home on Monday so that I could figure out a way to be both super productive and take care of the two year old...a challenge that still perplexes me. One of my favorite blogs is at soulemama.com. I love her site, her store, her flicka page, her non profit that she opened last week, but I have no idea how she does it! She has three kids with one more on the way (due this month), she home schools, hand makes everything, and takes amazing photographs daily. Did I mention she wrote a book and her second book will be out soon? How? But I digress...Monday. Motivated. Viscously attacked by a giant bee. Well, I didn't actually see the stinging beast, but I just know it was hideous. My right hand was stung as I was climbing on a playset at the park (so much for staying home), and within hours it was the size of Connecticut. Okay, maybe not Connecticut, but you could probably see it from an airplane, it was that swollen. My hand is apparently famous at my doctors office where I went the next day. I couldn't put my fingers together, much less make a fist, as for crafting anything, forget about it. Do you know how hard it is to change a poopy diaper with one left hand? I am happy to report that today I can actually type with both hands. And so I'll try again, this week, to learn to be productive and a mother to a toddler. Dave just got home from an afternoon surf and has lunch for us. Gia's running around in her diaper, excited about the chips Dave brought home, and all is well. It's time to go.

Shout Out

Here's a shout out to my dear friend Kathy Conch and her beautiful husband Mike "da plummah guy" Losby. It was so great to see them and celebrate their marriage with so many loved ones. For two months now I've been wanting to blog about their ultra cool wedding in Hawaii and the fun reception Kathy's mom threw for them in her Pasadena home.
Kathy has been one of my best friends since the 8th grade. I've seen her boyfriends go from bad to worse, reaching a pinnical of chodness soon after she moved to Hawaii 9 years ago. After that they progressivly got better and better and now she's with a wonderful man who is so good to her and loves her in the manner she deserves. If you know Kathy Conch, you know that she really truly deserves a great love, a life partner worthy of her beautiful spirit. Kathy, the girl who could light up a room with personality and magnatism. Kathy, who swims with the dolphins off the shore of Kona Hi. We love you Kathy Conch and are so happy for you and Mike. May aloha and blessings rain down on you continuously.

What's cooking?

Gia's kitchen has become somewhat of a treasure trove. She's at an age where her imagination is blossoming and so at times she is quite the good chef. She likes to prepare her little wooden egg, put it on a plate, shake salt and pepper over it, then serve it to Dave or me. She might throw a fake pizza in the oven, or serve up some wooden bread. What I've discovered though is that she is baking more than fake bread in that oven of hers. It has become a storehouse for a variety of things. I've begun checking it each night after she goes to bed. One evening after Gia spit out a grape that I had not given her I looked in her oven suspecting that she had gotten it from there. I found two more two day old grapes (no wonder she spit it out!) a pair of tennis shoes and a bit of cheese. Last night I found a "big girl cup" with the tiniest amount of water in it and a graham cracker. There is always a variety of toys in there, sometimes a dvd or a picture, outlet covers. I'm glad she has a little cubby of her own although I may need to set a few guidelines. It's kinda fun to guess what will be in there next, almost like a bit of Christmas at the end of every day.

Another Mommy Blog

I know. It's been way too long since we've posted anything. You see, ideally I'd get one night a week off of baby duty to go to a coffee shop and write. But the weeks go by and it never really seems to happen. I don't really mind, because I love our family time together. Dave works so hard for us, that I enjoy taking care of things at night and either letting him rest, do more work, or just hang out with Gia. There just always seems to be something going on, and evenings away from home are few and far between. I hope to be coming to a place where I could either focus on writing while Gia is around, or become involved in a writing group, even a class (!).

Enough about that. Since the last post we have had many adventures with the G-note. We took her to Mammoth a few weeks ago. My stud husband made an incentive at work and won us a trip to the Mammoth Lodge right at the base of the ski resort. Our room, though old, had an amazing view of the mountain. Each morning we enjoyed watching the sun rise and eventually hit the face of the mountain with a brilliant orange glow. It was beautiful. And although we didn't brave the half pipes we could watch kids a lot more brave and talented than us do jumps and tricks, all from the comfort of our room. Dave and I each did a half day of boarding which was just about perfect for us old timers who hadn't hit the slopes in several seasons, six I think. Gia had an okay time, but really, there wasn't much for her to do. We were disappointed because we couldn't find a sled and we really wanted to take her sledding. It was just too late in the season. We endured a flat tire on the way home, which was an adventure in itself. Dave handled it though and everything was fine.

We like to go on little hikes with Gia. We'd like to do some more serious hiking with her, but our weekends fly by so quickly, that it never seems to happen. I've included, in this batch, some pictures of a little trek we did around the lagoon, in Solana beach, just last weekend. Gia enjoyed being in dad's pack and when we'd let her out, she just wanted to draw in the sand. The pictures are pretty cute.

Also included in this batch of pictures are a few from the zoo. G and I went on Monday. I didn't snap man pictures that day, but had to get a few of Gia kissing the gorillas. At the San Diego zoo, they have bronze statues of gorillas that kids can interact with. Gia kissed every one of them. I'm pretty sure that she has an affection for gorillas because Goodnight Gorilla has been a favorite book of hers for about a year now. If you've ever tried to get a kiss from Gia, you know that they don't come easily. Lucky gorillas.