Brendan and I attended an art show and had a few moments before we took Page to Tata’s to explore the grounds. I think Page is ready for soccer classes!
Watch out Poppy!
Archive for the ‘Life in the Santa Cruz Mts’ Category
Pumpkins
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
AARRRRR!
This one is a little more ambitious and scary. Page likes to call it “Creature from the Black Balloon”. We played it in 3D at PAIFF outside and Page came to the show briefly. She was mesmerized and couldn’t stop talking about it. She didn’t seem scared, she just thought it was funny…
Elmo!
Announcing a new addition!
Thursday, September 20th, 2012
Baby #2 will arrive in late April (or so they say – my vote is for May 7th, Brendan’s is for May 12th). This is definitely a different baby. See the heartbeat here. Page was so mellow during pregnancy and this one is throwing me for a loop. Page is very excited about the baby in Mommy’s belly and likes to talk about the baby in her belly, too. One more week until the Festival I am hoping adrenaline carries me through the long weekend. The Festival is going so well, much less stress than last year. I am REALLY looking forward to the weekend after Festival when Brendan, Page and I will head up to Calistoga for a relaxing spa weekend.
Auf Wiedersehen, Yard Art
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
When I moved to America, I tried catching public transport. That didn’t last long.
The cruel shouted jibes of “Communist!” and “Mexican!” wore me down. So I brought this car –
I spent my first weekend in the car up in Idaho. I drove rally style around the City of Rocks, skied at Pomerelle, and drove back from Sun Valley on Monday morning in time for work. I only got one ticket.
Owning an All Wheel Drive car in Park City made a lot of sense.
It made a lot of sense, but it wasn’t without its problems.
On a short break in Milwaukee I was watching Top Gear Season 12, Episode 2 and got inspired to take The Loneliest Road in America as a way to get from Park City to meet Craig in Laguna Seca for the Grand Prix. As was my way back then, I planned to camp outside en route.
After a thunderstorm on the first night, I drove off The Loneliest Road in America, and into … glue. So I continued until I was almost completely bogged, then turned around to get back onto the bitumen. I made it back, at the expense of my gear box.
Caught midway between Nowhere, and Well Beyond the Black Stump, I was still able to hitchhike 50 miles to the nearest town, make a phone call to get the car towed, and then got a ride with the local sheriff back to the car with seconds to spare before the tow truck driver left for good. Then I had the Audi towed 50 miles the other way to Ely, Nevada. A third world town with only a Casino and two brothels. After a few days of that, and even though I had the loan of a F250 from the car shop, I needed to be rescued.
Although the car still made sense when I moved over to California, keeping it on the road started to cost too much money. It was hard to keep the car on the road at the best of times, particularly when encountering elderly englishmen who liked to drive on the left.
When we moved into the Santa Cruz Mountains, it made sense to keep the car around as Yard Art. For nine months. Just to fit in.
I played Banjo music loudly as the truck towed the Audi away for the final time. I didn’t want to scare the neighbours.
So many adventures with the Audi, and I was emotional seeing it go.
To replace it, we now have a car that is so environmentally-friendly that we are sure to see dolphins gambolling in our creek sometime soon. A car that augurs well for plenty of adventures of its own. Watch this space.
Happy 2nd Birthday Page Alina Ballerina!
Sunday, August 26th, 2012
We awoke early on Thursday morning and decided to let Page open just a few pressies, we were hoping we could hold out until Saturday when we were having her *real* birthday party with Grandma, Carson and friends. But Page got the pressie bug and we just couldn’t stop her…
Let the Games begin!
Super blurry, but captures the moment.”Ready for more, Dada?”. “Ok, Page.”
Accessories!
Heaps of wonderful pressies from back home in OZ! Thank you Mama, Papa, Uncle Peter, cousin James, Uncle Martin and Antie Jodie!
Building the dollhouse from Grandpa Jim!
A new bike!
My new cool yellow Strider!
Birthday Party Balloon Patrol
Page’s bestie Nicholas
Beautiful Auntie Carson in her summer’s best
Time for cake?
Here comes Mama!
Phoebe Can’t wait!
Happy Birthday to Page!
Happy Birthday to You!
And that’s a wrap for #2!
Page’s first day at Camp!
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
Tata went on a vacation back to Ukraine to see her family so we had to look for alternative care for Page. Since Page will be starting pre-school at Little Oak Pre-school at the end of August, we were happy to find out they also had summer camp available. Page is in the Goldfish Room. Here is she checking out all the kids that were coming down the hall…
The school is huge and has a wonderful playground for the kids to play. Page especially liked recess where she was able to play with her BFF Nicholas who was in another class. They also got to play in the jumpy castle!
This is her room – we weren’t sure how she would be after we left. We heard her whimper a bit but as we peaked in the window to see if she was ok, she quickly stopped. When Brendan picked her up the teacher said she wished Page were in her class everyday. And she was especially surprised that she can count to 10! 2 more days of camp and then Brendan and I have to switch off days caring for Page. Tata comes back in early August – we hope she is having fun back in her homeland! We miss you Tata!
Relajado
Saturday, July 7th, 2012
Brendan bought me the best pressie ever. A hammock for us to relax and enjoy the peacefulness of the canyon. Its such a treat to steal a few moments away… The craziness of our lives has been taking up most of our time (when we aren’t enjoying all that is Page). We are shooting a short film as our PAIFF Festival Trailer – a few French artists are flying in to help us produce. Brendan has been hired on and I cannot wait to share the final product, the concept is brilliant. As PAIFF gets closer I wish for more hours in the day. But its the moments in the hammock with my sweet little monkey that make it all worth it!
