Turkey Trotting

We made yet another trip to the east coast, this time for a little business and an early Thanksgiving in Plymouth, MA. The trip was loads of fun for everyone and we had wonderful weather to top it all off! The trip began with our first successful red-eye with Claire and as usual, she was a trooper on the plane. We then went to Hopkinton to visit Aunt Carie, Uncle Clint, Aubrie, Charlie and of course Sweetheart! Claire had heaps of fun playing with Aubrie and Charlie, they both are such great kids and it's crazy how fast they're turning into young adults. I'm grateful Claire has good role models to look up to.
After our stay with the Clements we were met in Plymouth by Gramma, Papa, Uncle Shaun, Nicole, Great Aunt Nancy and Great Uncle Jim. The weekend was spent laughing a lot, chasing Claire around and of course eating good food as in typical holiday fashion. Plymouth was a charming little town and as we were told, the rock really isn't that big! Claire had a blast with all of the attention and didn't quite understand why she couldn't go in the water at the beach. She definitely enjoyed the ducks and dogs in the neighborhood, plus all of the walks with Papa were great! It was nice to spend the holiday with everyone and just have time to unwind and enjoy each others' company. There were plenty of special memories made that weekend, and as usual it was a hard farewell. We're already looking forward to our next time together.

The next Thanksgiving was spent in an RV! Brandon, Claire and I rented a motorhome in Oakland and then headed north. We spent the first night in Bodega Bay at a pretty benign campground without fire pits, who knew you had to bring your own?! The area was beautiful with a ton of fishermen. Crab is currently the hot item to catch, so we took advantage of it while we could. We got to take in some amazing views at Bodega Head and then made our way north along the coast.
The views were phenomenal and we were both surprised how untouched the coast was in that part of California. There are a lot of very lucky cows up there- they have ocean front property to graze on every day. We also saw sheep, chickens and goats, in fact B almost ran over one dumb little goat who decided to cross the road in front of a first time RV driver! Don't worry, we didn't hit him, but goats aren't much smarter than sheep! We passed through quite a few small little towns, most would have made Clifton Springs look pretty big!
We spent the next two nights in Caspar Beach, just north of Mendocino. Shortly after we pulled in, a couple asked us if we would like any urchins. Brandon and I were both a little puzzled by the question, but it turns out the two had been diving that day and brought back a bucket of urchins, along with crabs and some other seafood. We took a few and B got to work cleaning them- not an easy task by any means. I decided I still really don't like them no matter how much of a delicacy they're supposed to be! The area was great, we took some hikes while there and Claire spent some time swinging at the playground. We headed up to Fort Bragg and were disappointed that one of the breweries we had hoped to check out was closed, but we had a nice lunch and enjoyed wandering around the town. Mendocino was very charming and they had the most inclusive grocery store we've ever seen. You could get anything from bananas to fishing lures to plumbing needs. There was even a little kitchen wares section, but to top it off there was a lady wandering around in the store wearing a gas mask- we both wondered if there was something going on that we didn't know about!
From the coast, we headed inland. Along the way we stopped in Boonville to check out another brewery, which was also closed. Fortunately they had goats and horses, which easily entertained Claire. We also stopped in Ukiah to have lunch with Miss Debbie. She made us a wonderful meal and Claire had a fabulous time running around and playing with toys. The Belfanti's live in a beautiful setting and we had a good laugh hearing the stories of the random animals they have had in their backyard! With full bellies, we got on the road again and headed to Clear Lake. Nothing too exciting, but it was a nice area and they had some very friendly ducks. Claire definitely is not afraid of ducks and thought it was a lot of fun to throw bread to- or at them!
The last part of our trip was closer to the Bay area. We stayed in Forestville and spent time in Healdsburg, Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas. B was very happy to check out Bear Republic and Russian River breweries and I loved the quaintness of Healdsburg. Claire made a new friend with one of the campground cats, she was friendly enough to let herself in to our RV! B and I had the living daylights scared out of us by the same cat the night before and a boy looking for his cat named Chad, not good to run around the campers in the dark and jump out at people! We all had plenty of good laughs and enjoyed spending the time with each other. B and I were amazed at how many new things Claire picked up in just a week's time. She's talking all the more and has gotten to be quite a dare devil. She thinks she is ready to drive too, thank goodness that won't be possible for awhile. We were pretty surprised when she put the key in the ignition and chuckled when the wind shield wipers came on when the motorhome was started!

Both of our Thanksgiving holidays were great and loaded with fun times. We hope everyone had a special Thanksgiving and ate lots of yummy food. Enjoy the start of the holiday season!

west coast to east coast and back again...

So, I've been a little slow in keeping things up to date. Claire's had quite a busy schedule with her travels and meeting up with friends.

She enjoyed her trip to the east coast to see her family and friends on the other side of the country. Her time in the swing in Papa and Gramma's backyard was very fun and running around on Nantucket with her new friends and the chickens was priceless! Claire got to visit her Great Gram Alice, swam in Seneca Lake and the ocean at Nantucket, picked berries on Sophia's family farm, played tons with Olivia, Gus and Sophia, had a sleepover with Papa and Gramma, saw a bunch of family friends, as well as G. Aunt Nancy and G. Uncle Jim and took lots of rides in the wagon too! Of course the end of the trip was topped off by hand, foot and mouth disease! What a wonderful way to come home!






We were home the following weekend, so Claire was able to go on her little date with Wyatt to the San Diego Children's Museum. It's a cool little museum that just opened downtown- they pretty much let the kids run wild. Wyatt taught Claire how to crawl through tunnels, they played in the play house and made a mess with the bubbles table. They had a blast! The day ended with
two tired little kiddies swinging together. Wyatt even gave her a little kiss at the end!




So, another week to recover and we were off to the Bay area. Claire got to see Grandpa and Grandma and of course Candy. I think Candy was happy to see Claire leave! She also got to meet her new friends Augie and Audrey. She swam in the pool and played with the bocce balls. Luckily, Grandpa didn't have to put her up against the fence and hose her down like some other family members we know! Claire had lots of fun playing with some of the little kids after church and of course, Grandma and Grandpa got to show her off to a bunch of their friends.






Most recently, Claire got to go to the pumpkin patch. They had a petting zoo and pony rides, along with a giant pumpkin patch and piles of regular pumpkins. Claire was much more interested in pushing her stroller around instead of picking out pumpkins. Eventually we chose some and then she got to ride in the wheelbarrow with the pumpkins- that got her interested! It was a very fun day, followed by a nice long nap on the way home.

It's been a crazy time, but it's amazing to see how much she's changed in that time. B was just commenting how she's looking less and less like a baby and more like a little kid in the past week or two. She's trying to say what we say to her and she's putting two words together. She went to her first dentist appointment and has been a champ with brushing her teeth. We're having a great time getting rid of the pacifier at bed time...so much for the perfect baby that would go to sleep peacefully!
We hope everyone is enjoying their fall and we look forward to seeing everyone sometime soon!

Fun With Friends

Claire's been keeping very busy over the past few weeks. We all went to another Point Loma concert in the park and met up with some friends. Of course, she wandered off to check things out. She met a little boy and decided she really wanted one of his toys- he did not like to share. She also found a wagon that she really liked- we had to remind her she already has one. She didn't scrounge for food this time, but was checking out everyone else's water bottles.







We also went to a Padres baseball game on one of the hottest days of the summer. Aunt Emily and a friend of her's joined us. Claire was really into the sandbox in the outfield and she loves Aunt Emily's purse! She still isn't into baseball very much, but she was happy to see the Padres beat the Giants!!!





Our most recent adventures took us up to Sandpoint, Idaho. We met up with Richard, Casey and Moana from Missoula, MT and had a blast! The area is beautiful and it was even better spending it with such great friends. The girls had heaps of fun playing with each other. They seemed to enjoy the pots and pans and the fire hydrant the most. They learned some new wrestling moves from Richard. Claire was lucky enough to see her friend Moana start walking on her own. We also enjoyed watching the ospreys in their nest and we had some great entertainment with an amazing lightning storm one night. We were sad to say good bye after such a fun weekend, but look forward to seeing them again in just a few short months.

Click on the link and go to the Sandpoint album for more pics. http://claireschwab.snapfish.com/snapfish








We're now back at home for a short bit and looking forward to a little R & R, even if it is for just a few days...

Summertime

So, I'm only a year behind on my goal, but I've finally got this blog set up! We've been having quite a fun summer even though it's quickly flying by!

We've done a couple of camping trips, which Claire has had a blast with. Being that dirty was so much fun for her! She was a trooper with the heat and bug spray too.

She's taken her first pony ride and has been on many bike rides. We've hit the beach as much as possible, did Del Mar Fair, Sea World and the Zoo a bunch. And of course, she wants to be outside as much as possible. In fact, she's perfected her temper tantrums when Mommy makes her come inside.

She's running around and climbing stairs like a little monkey. She's talking more and more- she meows all the time now when she sees cats. We're still working on her "moo", although she gets pretty embarrassed when she does it. She also showed me that she knows where her belly is tonight- it was a surprise to me, maybe it's thanks to Bernadette!

We are definitely having an unbelievable amount of fun with her. I keep thinking that each age is so much fun and I don't want it to change, but then it just keeps getting better...