Back in the van...

Yesterday Ezra and I made our way to San Diego to meet up with Ryan(hood). We went straight from the plane to a 2 hour drive to LA, in which Ezra napped nearly the whole way and Ryan and I got to chat...better said, he listened to me gush about how great it feels to be back on the road. It is true, I love to travel...and being back in the van traveling north on I-5 with a blue sky backdrop just felt good.

I just spent 5 minutes looking for a post I wrote years ago when we were touring "full-time" and I listed all the things I love about life on the road, but I couldn't find it...and I don't have the patience to keep looking during this precious bit of nap time that I have left to write.

Here's Ezra snacking in the back of the van...


Once we arrived in LA, we found a great park to run around at. It was within walking distance to the venue, so Ezra and I were able to keep playing while Ryan went back to soundcheck.


But once Ryan left the park, Ezra started to get a little worried and kept asking for "Dada? dada? dada?!"...so we walked back to the venue and helped with soundcheck. Really, I'm not sure they could have done it without Ezra's help. He is a pro at unplugging and plugging in things. A perfect toddler activity, no?






We walked to dinner, Ezra loved drinking out of a straw...and thought he was pretty cool getting to dip shredded cheese in my salad dressing. The boy is all about dipping food. Ketchup, salsa, anything he can dip in makes him happy.


The show started at 8pm, which is 9pm Tucson time. Ezra typically goes to bed at about 7pm. So, I cuddled him in my carrier thinking he'd fall asleep, but he decided there was way too much of a party happening to fall asleep. The boy partied until 11:30pm (12:30am Tucson time) totally happy, laughing, and literally spinning in circles. I got him ready for bed and strapped him in the carseat for the 1/2 hour ride to where we were spending the night and he fell soundly asleep in no time. And then slept until almost 9am this morning. I think he is already getting the hang of life as a rockstar. :)

Hit the road jack...

Tomorrow Ezra and I head out on our first real-deal Ryanhood tour!!

Originally the plan was for Ezra and I to fly round trip into San Francisco and stay with a good friend(s!), however Ezra really really misses Ryan when he is gone, and since this tour offers a lot of short drives (I think the longest drive is only 4 hours), we thought, "this is our chance to really do what we've dreamed of...tour as a family!" Sadly this meant having to change our original plans of staying with friends in SF from 5 days to only 1, and to not getting to see our friends in Turlock at all, but it feels like the absolute right decision for our family (and they are all super understanding people :).

Ryan drove to San Diego today, and tomorrow Ezra and I will fly in and meet him in San Diego and drive north to LA for the day. Other stops include (possibly out of order): Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, and San Francisco.

The evening after Ryan and I made this decision to change our trip and tour as a family, I started reading this new ebook: Bottles to Backpacks: The Gypsy Mama’s Guide to REAL Travel With Kids . It is a co-write, and one of the authors is our friend Jenn Miller, of Mama Bus fame, as well as creator of The Uncommon Childhood. I read and read and read, until finally Ryan said it was time to go to bed. It was so encouraging to hear "someone" say, "Go for it...live your dream...and don't listen to the naysayers!" As well, there were lots and lots or practical tips about traveling with young ones: how to pack (or rent baby items...genius!), entertaining kids in the car/plane, and sooo much more. I HIGHLY recommend you check it out..it's really that informative and inspiring (and, yours truly may have also written a short little bit in it as well :). To check it out, please just click the button on the top right column of my blog that says: The Gypsy Mama's Guide to REAL Travel With Kids.

And speaking of buttons on my blog, did you notice there is now also a button for my Etsy store? Yup, just click on that and it will take you right to my site! Sadly, I don't have much posted right now...I had planned on posting tonight, but my external hard drive for photos is in the van in San Diego. Oops! If you are in Tucson, you can always check out my items at Little Bird Nesting Company on 4th Ave.

Alrighty, that is it for tonight...I hope to post from the road!

Advent Festival...

I don't know if I have mentioned here yet that we have started going to the church down the street from where we live. There are literally only two houses that separate our house from the church. My guess is that its about a 70 yard walk from our door to theirs. Which, I find to be about perfect!

I posted about this church a year ago here.

We were loving hosting church at our house, but with the growing number of infants and toddlers in our midst, it was becoming more and more of a challenge. So instead we have maintained meeting together on a regular basis, but do church on our own.

Ryan, Ezra and I visited quite a few churches before we decided to visit the one "next door". Funny how it was right there all along, and we have just now realized what a good fit we are for each other.

Tonight they had an Advent Festival with lots of fun activities for adults and kids alike followed by a soup supper.

Ezra was particularly fond of stuffing socks with toiletries for the homeless...


He also decorated a gingerbread house (and didn't realize the candy was edible until about 20 minutes into the activity!) ... sorry, photos are on my mom's camera...I'll get them to you later. :)

We did a little "origami" a.k.a. ripped up origami paper, and glued it to more origami paper.

Made a popsicle stick star ornament.

...and most importantly, ran around with the big kids outside.

Grandma is in town!!

My mom flew in on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving (plus some) with us. I was relying on her camera (also a sony) to take a lot of photos over the last few days...and then just tonight realized that our cords are different and I can't upload any of her photos...grrr...why does technology have to be so complicated??

So, to re-cap with words...

On Thanksgiving morning I ran a 5k "cross country classic" at Reid Park with my friend Jen. The course has water pits and hay bales...it's fun...you get boo'd if you walk around the water pits, and cheered extra loud for if you splash a lot. This was Jen's first 5k, and she totally rocked it...and I think she smiled more than anyone else on the course! I, on the other hand, had a pretty rough run and got slower with each mile. Oh well, so it goes. My mom, Matt and Abby were there to cheer us on, and they didn't boo me, so I'm happy. :)

We hosted Lori and Grammie for dinner at our house...and it was all super scrumptious!

Now, let's fast forward to when we have photos....

On Friday, it was $2 admission day at the Children's Museum...yay...my kind of way to spend "Black Friday".

Here is Ezra steering the fire truck...


...controlling the submarine...


...we did several other fun things at the museum, but that's all we have on camera...here are my guys...quite excited over the balloon someone gave us!


All of that excitement, followed by a stop at Guero Canelo for Sonoran Hot Dogs...yum!

random things that make me smile

Ezra loves to hide. Both himself, and things. Yesterday I found his socks in the refrigerator, his washcloth in the reusable grocery bag, and my toothbrush in his room.

This photo, is from a while back, but it still makes me laugh. Here is Ezra crawled into our friend's play kitchen sink hole. He is indeed a climber and a "can-I-fit-into-that-space-er"


Here he is hiding all of the contents from my wallet behind the couch. So glad I saw this and knew where to find the missing items. :)


Oops...I've been caught on camera!


And while dada is gone, Ezra has found it only appropriate to hang his ukulele on the guitar stand in the living room.


Here is Ezra watching a video Ryan made for him for while he is away. We have been ichatting/skyping often, but when Ryan is driving or performing and can't be online, this is second best! The other day he tried holding Ryan's hand through the computer screen so we could pray before eating dinner, and tonight he gave Ryan (on the video) a big ol' kiss on the screen. This "I can see dada, but I can't touch him" thing is pretty hard to understand.

new do, part 2

Tonight I actually got some shots of his new hair cut...slowly, it's growing on me. :)





p.s. We saw a coyote and a deer while at sabino canyon this morning, and then a bobcat on our walk to the park today...yikes!!

Hairdo!

If it were up to me, Ezra probably wouldn't have gotten his first hair cut until he was about 6. I know, I know...everyone would think he was a girl (they already do), it would be all matted and in dread locks (it already was), and when he turned 6, I would probably change my mind to 7.

So, I guess it's good to have balance in our parenting relationship and have reasonable Ryan say, "I think it's time the dude gets his hair cut."

So as a little surprise (though I can never keep a surprise) gift to Ryan, I took Ezra to get his hair cut. I'm not going to lie and say "I love it", because truthfully I'm still pretty self-conscious of it and wondering if it borders too closely on "mullet status"...but I have been re-assured by many that it is definitely NOT a mullet (however, they might be lying, I'll have to wait until Ryan is home and tells me the truth). I will say that I am sure I'll get used to it...and that I know his bangs will grow out again (I wish they didn't get cut quite as short)...and as time goes on, I'm sure I'll grow to love it as much as the sweet little boy wearing it.

Date Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon, Ezra and I went on a little date adventure.


We rode our bike to the library and checked out a couple of Mo Willems and Leslie Patricelli finds. Then rode on to Starbucks. Did you know you can order a kids drink for just $1.25? While I sipped on an iced green tea, Ezra was loving his "warm" hot chocolate.


Then we sat outside and read our library books before heading home. It was quite a memorable afternoon.

The mama house!

Ryan is on tour for two weeks right now. As I type he is Maine, soon to travel to PA and then MA...then NY and DC. He returns on November 20th. I have a wonderful community of friends and family keeping me company in the meantime.

Stephanie invited me over for dinner on Tuesday, but I truthfully told her that I felt like we needed a night at home...and that dinnertime can sometimes be a hard time to be out and about with Ezra (especially when he is missing his Dada). So, she came over with the boys! (Her husband, Joel, was going to be gone for the evening too.) I really wish I had taken photos and videos of the whole evening, but I only have a couple of snippets.

The first 10 minutes or so were filled with Owen and Ezra chasing each other around the house and screaming with excitement.

They ate dinner sitting at the little table, just the two of them in total silence while focusing on getting every last bite of pasta into their little mouths. It was really quite adorable!

Then we remembered we had bought some gluten-free donuts to hang on a string for a halloween game that we never got to, so we decided that would be a fun game to play. As were doing it, I asked if we were supposed to tie their hands behind their back, but that felt too much like child abuse...hanging donuts on strings for them to eat was funny enough. I would love to know what they were thinking. The only place we could find to hang them was from the shower curtain rod. And, surprisingly they were quick to not use their hands, (however now that I'm looking at photos I realize I was also pretty much feeding the donuts to them). It was hilarious, perhaps even more fun for the mamas watching...




They stayed for baths...even Otto got to take a bath with the boys!


It was really quite the perfect afternoon/evening. Thanks for keeping me company!

Gardens and Gardening...

This morning we went with Jessica and Eleanor to the Tucson Botanical Gardens. This was my first time being there since I stopped working almost 2 years ago!



All photos courtesy of Jessica (I seem to often "forget" my camera when I know she is going to be around :)

Brilliant water fountain in the Children's Garden...they can get wet, but they can't climb in.


Using magnifying glasses in the Butterfly Garden (overalls, not planned :)


Watching the train and playing in the sandbox


When we got home, I watered my garden and found that I can now actually see cilantro leaves...yay!!


Carrot tops (despite rocky soil)...


Spinach leaves...


And, I had been hoping this was kale, but I'm starting to think it's weeds...any expert opinions out there?


Do these always come with gardens??

Ryanhood CD release concert!!

On Friday night Ryanhood had their CD release show at the Rialto Theatre. Blanca offered to babysit, and amazingly Ezra slept through the night!! (I put him down to bed before I left, but he usually nurses at least once at night, and I had been a little worried that he would wake up while I was gone. But nope, the dude slept until morning. And I felt like a new woman, well-rested.)



The show was wonderful. Ryan insisted that I watch the show and not work the merch table since I had taken the effort to get a babysitter. And, I'm so glad I did just sit and listen. Such a nice evening...such good music.

Here is the music video for After Night Came Sun.



Oh, and After Night Came Sun (the new album) was #1 for Amazon Best Folk Rock sales today!! Above Simon and Garfunkel and Neil Young!

Weee!!!

Look at what we recently scored on Craigslist...



Its a Kangaroo Wee Ride. The picture doesn't really let you see what is going on very well, but it's a bike seat that sits between the seat and the handlebars. I love it. Ezra loves it. I think I want to bike all over town now!

2nd Annual Kickball Extravaganza

Chris, Melissa, Dominic and Calvin were in town this past week for a visit. When I heard they were coming, I thought, "ohhh, this calls for a kickball celebration!" And indeed, it did. Funny how it goes that the number of children this year seemed to have quadrupled from last year, which meant all the more fun!

clearing homeplate


up to kick




On first base!


In the outfield...




Luckily we had 2 kickballs to play with...


Afterward, we celebrated with a picnic...


(...and some puddle jumping!)

October 31st

After Ezra woke up from his nap on Halloween, GG (Lori) stopped by with goodies for the hobbit! All dressed in costume, he said trick-or-treat to get each treat she had for him...so sweet!




Our pack of trick-or-treaters (West, Roslyn, Ezra and Owen)...


Ezra also wanted a personal photo shoot...


Stephanie and baby Otto!


Oh, I just love these little hobbits of ours!!




We started the evening out with a potluck and a hay ride, followed by trick-or-treating. Trick-or-treating started out pretty rough. The very first house we went to, Ezra and Owen walked up and knocked on the door quite bravely. The man answered the door wearing a wolf mask and let out a scream. Ezra stood there totally frozen. I think the man felt bad that it was two toddlers (perhaps he was expecting to scare teenagers?) so he took off the mask, which really scared Ezra. He let out this terrified scream, I mean, the guy had 2 heads for all Ezra could tell...so scary, so sad. After that Ezra, wasn't too into going up to houses, so we would carry him, and then slowly he would warm up and get down to get some candy. And of course after the person would put one piece in his bucket, he would look up and say, "mo" (more). :) Owen on the other hand, was totally comfortable with going up to houses of strangers. In fact, after the person would give him candy, he would just walk past them and into their house as if he were there to stay for a while. :)



Ezra was trying to eat all of the candy through the wrappers. I gave him a tootsie roll to eat, and it got totally stuck to the roof of his mouth.




Hobbit hugs and kisses!