a life beyond running shoes.

transitions pretty much sucks.  you have one foot in your previous world, yet are trying to put a foot in your new world.  but nothing feels solid. it is all shaky, gravely, uneven sand.  i have felt like we were just on vacation.  renting a house....oh wait, with our own stuff in it.  exploring a city...oh wait, this is where we live.  having summer fun... oh wait, daddy goes to work.    at some point we will go home, right?  okay, so not all transitions are terrible.  this one is an awesome opportunity.  but we are in the middle of this in-between space where we aren't there but we aren't here either because there is no normal yet....no routines, no rhythms, no friends, no classmates, no teams.  and then today.  school started.  we were all nervous.  the smiling picture of the kids. true. but we might have been wiping away tears as we posed for it. i wanted to capture the ...

ninja with his sister after his class party okay, is she a teenager?? we only made it about 5 minutes before the wig was tossed.  zombie soccer player, ninja, and rapunzel. our cul-de-sac!! trick or treating with friends was SO fun!!! best year ever. (maybe because we didn't have a stroller and didn't have to carry anyone!!)

we borrowed a friend's camera.... the super-duper high tech, telephoto lens, etc.  it was super fun to play with! here is little bit, who despite being resistant to getting dressed for his games, looks like he had a ton of fun once he got out on the field.  and peanut who was part of a great team and played really well. he was getting stronger and faster each game! it looks like real soccer at this age!

we were supposed to go to yosemite this past weekend but apparently there was a governmental shut down and we had to come up with plan B. hendy woods state park.....north of sonoma county in mendocino county.  daddy and little bit eating breakfast  a fort right by our tent made for hours of unstructured play    fisher girl who was much braver at picking up bull frog tadpoles than her oldest brother  steel head trout. apparently rare in these neck of the woods a redwood root system. this was about eight trees that were growing together  apple farm where you cannot pick the apples and they do not have apple cider donuts.   so we played apple baseball with the ones that had fallen on the ground. we make our own fun!!!

visiting the academy of science in golden gate park griffith observatory with mimi and mr. denny (the hollywood sign is in the background) santa barbara with g'pa adams sweetpea's cousin's first bday our time in tennessee with family we had lots of other adventures including golfing, more cousins in palm springs, a road trip via I-40 to tennessee, signal mountain with friends, monterey aquarium with more friends, and more exploring "the city" . and hello september.

we had a great thanksgiving with my mother-in-law in town.  we visited "the city" on the best weather day of  her visit.  we feasted with friends and had my new niece come visit.  we took her to a local brewery. i also trained and ran my first half marathon on this coast.  i got  my personal best time!!! 2:10 guess all that backyard circuit training we are doing really might be making a me a stronger runner.  and of course threw in some advent wreath making!!  merry christmas!!!

(by the way those are two ninjas and one rapunzel) the day was full, full, full. each boy had a party in his classroom - which sweet pea and i attended both.  then had a parade at school. than trick-or-treating.... that ended in rain.  phew.  and now the battle over candy.  yipee!!!

well soccer season is under way.  an opening day and two games and we are in full swing.  opening day consists of kids in the back of pick-ups riding down main street (we don't actually have a main street but it might as well be called that).  it is a lot of whoop-la. i had a bad attitude. apparently it is enjoyed by many.... but not this mom. go rockets!!! go comets!!! little bit was dyno-mite on the feild. he got out there and tore it up.  can't say that there is any resemblance to the kid that played last year.  i am not sure where he went but  apparently he was replaced by a soccer player!! and here is peanut in the goal.  more pics of him to come!!   happy fall.

we went into the mission district for a sabbath outing.  we played on a playground, kicked the soccer ball, saw a tightrope walker, ate vietnamese food, had great company, and saw a naked man (peanut asked if it was because he was poor....nope, just san francisco)..... all in a day's adventure out of marin. 

i am working backwards.... we got to leave town for a few days before school started just the five of us.  this does not happen often since we live far from family, we usually take our vacation time to travel to them.  we always love it but don't often get time as a family of five. we got to head north to the coast. mendocino. hiking, walking, eating, bike riding, beach exploring, tide pools, tadpoles, baby frogs, wine, and reading.  wonderful...... and delightful.  we are so thankful that we are loved so generously.  we are thankful to have enjoyed our children.