Moss Landing

Keeping up with the theme of being a tourist in our own town, we went adventurin' on Saturday. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from our lovely Seaside is this place called Moss Landing. It is a little cove off the ocean that is home to a family of Sea otters as well as some REAL rebel rousing sea lions.

I guess we could also Kayak for pretty cheap with our military discount. We plan on doing that while we are here. The sea otters were so cute and were just lounging about, not the slightest bit concerned of the kayakers floating about.
It was kinda windy that day. That building/wharf across the cove is where the boisterous sea lions were having a party. Those suckers are LOUD.
A little caramel corn treat while we were checking out the wildlife. Olivia kindly volunteered to hold the bag for us, she was hoovering that stuff down!
Then on the other side of the cove was the ocean. We climbed up and over a little sand dune hill, which Olivia thought was really fun.
It took us FOREVER to get a family shot. The times before this shot, the camera fell off the picnic table just as Marcus was running over to get in the shot (we used the timer on the camera). No matter how many times we tried, Bianca would get distracted at the very last moment and turn the other way.
Look Momma! I found a shell! Or direct translation "Momma. OoooooooHaHoooooooo!"
Me and my Army man.
Climbing the hill to get back to our car.

Olivia was so cute trying to put her shoes back on. She didn't want any sand on her feet and the caramel corn had made her hands all sticky so sand was sticking to them. She really wanted to put her shoes on herself, so she kept wiggling her feet around to get them in without using her hands.

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After Moss Landing, we stopped at this fruit stand and the girls picked out corn to go with the roast we had for dinner. We also scored some yummy strawberries and a watermelon that was only $1! Olivia had a birthday party in the afternoon to go to and my neighbor (who is really nice) was going to it as well. We walked to the park with the girls (her daughter and my Olivia) and chatted. The party was held at one of the parks around our house. We also walked back together which was really nice. It was crazy how similar our journey's have been to be in the Army. They are such nice people and I am really excited that we have them as our neighbors!

Del Monte Beach

Some of our new friends planned a beach day for today. Us Radders were quick to jump in on the action. All of our beach adventures have either been to Asilomar or to the Ord Sand Dunes. This was our first ever venture to Del Monte beach, which was all of 5 minutes from our house.
This is pretty much how Konks has been feeling about the beach. It has been her kryponite. Scaling huge play equipment to go down the big kid slid, no prob. Huge dog walks by? She wants to give it a hug. Using the kitchen as her own personal climbing gym? She is all over it. Try and take her to the beach and she looses it.

I was bound and determined that she would love the beach. She had no choice. I fully plan on beaching the crap out of this place. So I persisted and today she had fun. She PLAYED and not just hung on to me for dear life that the beach would swallow her whole. Chalk that up as a victory for this Mamma.
Meanwhile, this picture captures exactly how Olivia feels about the beach. Love. Joy. Unbridled freedom and wild abandon.
She would stay there all day if I let her.It was cloudy and HAS been cloudy for most of this week. But it hasn't fazed me in the least. I can deal with cloudy/foggy. It could be worse. It could rain every flippin' day.
The waves were crashing into the shore and it was so peaceful and relaxing. It is like the best lullaby soundtrack ever and can just put me into a trance.
We live in the Seaside/Monterey area which sits right on the edge of Monterey bay. Sweeping ocean views around every corner and sandy beaches as far as the eye can see.
What I like about Del Monte is that there is SO much beach area before you hit water. The Ord Dunes has a much shorter beach area and is a little more windy.
Bianca started to venture out on her own and make her own sand piles.

We packed a picnic lunch and played for hours and hours. I made new friends and got to know other friends even better. The kids frolicked and played about while all us Mommy's shared parts of our lives together. But the time we were ready to go I felt so good. Blessed to have met such amazing people and to see my kids learn and grow. Satisfied that I had lived today to it's fullest and explored some place new. My face felt dry and my lips were salty from all the spray.

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Just as we were headed back to our cars the clouds and fog let up and the sun shone. The beautiful blue sky teased us "Are you SURE you want to go home now?".

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I know that all sounds probably pretty cheesy, but there is something so magical about the beach. I still smile to myself when I think about how fun today was. I am really embracing this whole living in California thing. I have a feeling it will be pretty hard to leave this place.

The usuals...

Olivia is REALLY into skirts lately. I have probably 5 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of khakis and various other comfy pants but she will not wear them. She has this skirt (clearance find at target a few weeks ago) a denim skirt and a longer brown skirt that she wears EVERY SINGLE DAY. She just rotates between the three of them. This one is her favorite because it's bouncy and it sways back and forth when she shakes her hips.

I told the girls to put their hands on their hips to model for me. You can't see as good with Olivia because she is wearing the rad poncho my mom made for her. She has newly discovered it's awesomeness and dubs it her blanket poncho because "Mom if I feew a widdle bit cold then I just cover mine arms wid my bwanket poncho!".

Olivia is giving Bianca's hand a hug. We got all gussied up (well gussied up for Olivia is now a daily occurrence) to go and visit Miss Mary's wonderful, magical garden. I took my camera but the girls were so over the place that the only picture happening that took place was right before we left.
Bianca just started to say "Shhhhhhhh" with the action. It is so flippin' cute it makes my heart burst with pride at her mad skills.

Can she say any sentences? No.

Can she say please or thank you? No.

Can she say any other words besides "Mama", "Dada" and "bye bye"? Definately not.

But this girl can purse her lips and hold her finger to her mouth and tell me it's time to be quiet and I think she deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. And rightfully so, wouldn't you agree?
My sweet sassafras girl!
Olivia, having mastered said shushing skill long ago still wanted to demonstrate she still knows her stuff. Accentuated with the hand-up-and-through-the-middle-of-my-poncho move.
Then the morning spontaneously burst into dance with a few rousing renditions of ring around the rosy.

I keep checking Target clearance for more skirts at the risk of the ones that we have turning threadbare. I only buy clothes for my girls if they are on clearance for a REAL good price. What's a Mom to do when she has such a fancy minded girl?

Let me Kindly Introduce you.

Apparently I am computer retarded and have been instructed by one wiser in the ways of the internet as to how I can upload pictures to my blog whilst I am in computer limbo. Et Voila! I am proud to present Stilwell Manor, AKA my humble abode.

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We opted to live in the older housing available here at Ord so we could save some shillings from our housing allowance. I was a little flustered by things when we first got here but have quickly adapted the attitude that I live in Vintage Housing. Like any good piece of vintage accoutrements it does have it's gently worn bits (or mega worn bits) but nothing that a good spit and polish couldn't do to ease the wear. So let us please take a waltz about my fine vintage home...

Firstly, can I just say how I love how much storage we have! Each closet was made to reach it's full storage potential and I love it! These are the his and hers closets of my grand master suite!
Mmmmmm. Nothing more delicious or pleasing to the eye than a straightened and made bed.
A little rental trickery on our part. There is a glorious storage room/pantry that I love. It was the perfect size to house our little deep freeze but lacked the outlet to plug it in. Darrol, with a little ingenuity on his part, replaced the light fixture with this light fixture/outlet combo and just a wee little extension cord later we had a new and improved storage room!

This little beaut is conveniently located off the kitchen area, so whilst my actual kitchen cupboards are limited I can store all of my bakery needs in here!
Kitchen from the side door angle. Directly to the right of where I am standing is where the washer and dryer are. I do my cooking and laundry without having to traipse about my house! Bianca really enjoys taking out all of my silverware. ALL THE TIME.
This is the view of my kitchen from standing right in front of the door to the super pantry. I love the little grove of trees outside this window. I always look out while I am doing dishes and can see little birds flitting about and the sun shining down through the branches. It is so peaceful.
Here is my dining area with the lovely table we acquired from magical Aunt Helen.
The view of my grand dining room from my living area. Do you see that big cushy chair?? (Or the Jayme chair as Olivia calls it, because Wynden and Jayme have the EXACT same style in their house). That chair has single handedly increased my quality of life. Oh the joys of reclined living! Marcus and I fight over it, as in who gets to sit in it first. Although to be quite honest he mostly just lets me sit in it all the time because he knows how I love it so! Also from Helen. I will sing her praises all the days of my life!
Here is my living area. Hide-a-bed just ready and waiting for guests to come and visit! (Olivia kept going room to room with me so she could be in every picture. I kept pretending I didn't notice, but it was so dang cute!).
Bianca's little oasis (plus the top part of Olivia's head).
Finally one of my favorite rooms at Stilwell Manor. Olivia's big girl room! We got the bed set from Kaitlyn's Mom when she got a new one for her guest room. I had the quilt set already and I love how cute her room is! She feels so fancy every time she goes to sleep. And it makes me smile every time I walk past her room and see her cute little bed and all her things in their place. Or to see her little body in such a big bed when she sleeps at night.

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So there you have it folks. The grand tour of our new estate! I will be blogging with pictures again now that I have this debacle figured out on a temporary basis! Coming soon to a post near you... introductions to super park, our front pavilion, evening walks, basketball courts, beach side playing and much, much more!!

21 and then some...

We always try to get out of the house after dinner. Either a walk to the park or to play basketball at one of the outdoor courts or SOMETHING! It has been harder to fit in regular workouts and it is so nice here that we just get outside any chance we can get.

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So we went on a little run to the Hayes Park bball court to get our game on. I always insist on pushing the girls in the stroller whether we walk or run because I feel like it makes any activity we are doing that much more of a workout, however long or short it may be. So running down Monterey Road pushing the double jogger I felt all studly. Clipping along at a good pace, wind breezing through my hair.

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We busted out 4 games of 21 and I actually won one! (In case you have never played with Marcus, he is crazy fast and almost always gets to the rebound first. So winning one felt really good.) There may or may not have been some inappropriate fouling going on. It may or may not have been me doing the said fouling. It may or may not have made no difference whatsoever in the outcome of said game.

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I then insisted on pushing the girls up the hill for the run back. I didn't feel as studly. My legs are still burning! I just made sure I kept running the whole way, no matter how slow I got I made sure that I didn't stop to walk. Marcus was cheering me along right beside me.

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We bring a bunch of little balls for the girls and they run around and play while we get our game on. They were really good tonight so they got Popsicles in the tub when we got home. I was tidying up the rest of the house while Marcus was keeping and eye on the girls and all of a sudden I hear the loudest fart rip. Then everyone starts laughing hysterically. Olivia was tooting one right after the other, in rhythm to her laughter! (Her mothers daughter FOR SURE). Marcus kept calling her Tooty-McGruber. We were all dying it was so funny.

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Now all is quiet and Marcus is watching some Korean drama called Coast Guard. Most of the Korean movies I have seen since we got here have been pretty cheesy but this one has some serious acting going on. I also have some brownies that are calling my name. Running up that big hill tonight.... I feel like I deserve a little treat!

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Also speaking of Korean... not to get all braggy McBraggerson on you guys.... but Marcus had his first semester tests a week or so ago and he is currently at a 4.0! I am so over the moon about all he has accomplished here! He is working so hard and the classes are SO tough and he is still excelling. Anyway I am just so proud of him and wanted to share :)

Accomplishments

So moving to a new place is kinda like the New years all over again. Fresh start, inspiration, invigoration to set up things differently.

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Thus far I have been able to accomplish the following things DAILY.

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Wearing my makeup. Serious accomplishment there. I was not so great about doing that before but it feels good to look good and although I am not garish with my makeup I really feel like my face benefits from some eye shadow and mascara.

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Doing my hair. Which kinda goes hand in hand with the make up thing, but I wash and then style it everyday. Also along with this I have been trying to wear outfits as well. Like not fancy fancy, but just not my yoga pants everyday.

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Preparing dinner. We have been doing sit-down-at-the-table-eating-altogether dinners every day. We didn't do that as much before Marcus left. The kids would eat dinner first, or sometimes the kids and Marcus and then I would eat later when the kids were in bed. But we set the table and have actual meals altogether (when we are feelin' REAL fancy then we bust out the paper napkins... but that is just for fancy dinner night).

DISCLAIMER: It's not like I cook four course meals for dinner all the time. They have been pretty healthy (meat, a couple of sides and salad) but there have been a few tater tots and mac and cheese nights in there too.

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When I am at the Park I try to say hi to someone new each time. Sometimes all it ends up being is a Hi, but just starting with the Hi has also lead to meeting new friends, which is pretty cool.

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Anyway I feel very "domestic goddess" bustling around the house with my hair did and my face on with my sitting down at the table altogether dinners and house all tidied. It might seem like small stuff but I feel really good about it!

Suburbia

So I have never really lived in a suburb before and I have to say I kinda love it. It also helps how family orientated Ft. Ord is, but still!!

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I love walking everywhere with the girls. We go on a walk at least once a day and play at the park. I love walking to the grocery store. I love being less than 5 min drive to Costco and target. It is so convenient!

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Marcus also did a really great job of picking out our housing. I went to Relief Society last night and it was all about planting raised vegetable gardens and what kinds of plants work well for our area. I walked to it (it was held at a persons house) and it was just interesting to see of two other units and also how close they are to their neighbors and location to the freeway etc. It is also crazy how many LDS people live within a 10 minute walk of my house. I love it!

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Besides our next door neighbors (who I never hear and rarely see) I can't really see any of our neighbors from any of my windows. My kitchen sink window faces into a little grove of trees and it is so relaxing doing dishes looking out into that grove. The ground dips down a little past our house so all the next neighbors down are down the slope. The big tree in the front really keeps our house nice and cool (one of the ladies house last night is in full sun all day and it was ROASTING). Our street is a dead end and it is nice and quiet compared to some of the back and forth traffic of some of the other streets.

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Marcus did a great job and looking at all the angles and picking the house that would be the best for us.

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We have our first little friend coming over to play today! The girls are really excited! Plus we are going on a family excursion to Costco tonight to load up on essentials. My fridge is looking pretty sad right now!