Summer Fun

 This summer we visited our old hometown in the Bay Area.  We were mainly visiting family, but we took a couple of days, just the 6 of us, in Santa Cruz.  We stayed at the Dream Inn-which I highly recommend.  We had a wonderful time!
  Now that summer is ending I came up with a way to keep vacation fresh, at least on Dotty's shelves.  What I did was print a picture of her doing something at the Boardwalk and make it the theme of a shelf.  Take a look....

This is the bi-plane ride she loved.  I found this wooded bi-plane online and added a sticker book.

Of course the carousel is a favorite!  We have a book, two figurines and a cd of carousel music.  (The music is fabulous and as soon as you hear it you are there.)

This is of course a beach theme.  Big plastic storage bin, play sand, seashells, and a bucket.  We keep this one for use on our porch.

I am so excited to create more activities based on her experiences, helping her engage in the present by reflecting on the past.  

Little House on the Prairie

 Truthfully as a child I didn't read the Little House on the Prairie books and was completely devoted to the show.   The show, as many know, is about 10% based on Laura's books and 90% pure fiction.  That is fine with me, I have a deep respect for both.  As a young girl growing up in central California we weren't too far from Sonora, which was where on location filming for the show took place.  My mom, being her daughter's mother, booked us at the same motel the cast stayed at.  I think I was 8 years old.  We got to hang out at the pool with some cast and their children.  Here I am with Pa, Michael Landon himself.  

Yes I am trying to get away.  He was asking for a kiss.  This wasn't perverted, my mom was taking the picture...but it was creepy to me, so I refused.  My mom and aunts on the other hand were tripping over themselves to trade places with me.

Now as a mother we own all the dvd's and I love watching them with the girls.  I also read them the books.  So this summer's road trip to visit 2 original Laura Ingall's sites was coming full circle.  

Visiting her home in Mansfield, Mo. was amazing.  I can not believe how well preserved and accessible her home and museum are to the public.  It truly brought tears to my eyes standing there in the home she and Almanzo built together.  (I also got a lot of style inspiration!)

De Smet, South Dakota is also fabulous.  I can't believe we were in the actual surveyer's house where the Ingall's spent their first winter and that the Brewster school (Laura's first teaching job) and Loftus store (where they bought Pa's Christmas suspenders) are all there to explore.

The Ingall's Homestead was heaven.  It is the original land they homesteaded although all the structures have been moved or built there for tourist.  Because of this I thought it would be cheesy and I wouldn't like it... I loved it!  (But I do love cheesy)  The girls could run and play in barns with animals, drive a wagon team, have a lesson in an old school house, go into a sod house, pump water... you get the picture.   There were very few other people there and if I could live there I might.  I wondered why we go to Disneyland so often when a place like this exists.  

Ruth almost the same age Laura was when she taught

The house Pa Ingalls built-amazing artifacts inside

still in the same location

can't get this in a classroom

"whoa"

wash day

barn cats

Laura's Pink Stove

I am wanting to do a blog post but my iphoto is in disarray.  I am running a program to remove duplicates (why isn't this a feature of iphoto?) and it takes 23 hours to cycle through all our photos.  Which wouldn't be so bad-except the fact when it was almost complete yesterday I was vacuuming and bumped the power cord and had to begin again.  "Arrgh!" I say.   Anyway I hope to get a post done this week, until then I leave you with a sneak peek at things to come....

This is Laura Ingalls Wilder's kitchen in Mansfield, MO.  I was in love with this stove.  It is pink!  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the home and the postcards available made the stove look greenish white.  So when I found this one representing its' true color on the web I had to nab it.  Her home is my dream home.  It was left as it was upon her death n 1957.  She died in February and in May of the same year the home was available to tour.  Until I get my own post up about visiting Mansfield you can view Solanah's.

Epic Road Trip: What I Wore

Day 1, picnic lunch in Pendleton, Ore.  (home of THE Pendleton)

Cheyenne, Wyoming- Oh the boots in that building! 

Hardly a view of my outfit...just imagine this shirt with the first outfit.

Branson, Missouri.  This is outside of the Titanic museum, which just happens to be housed in building built like the ship.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I am sitting outside an amazing and haunted old hotel.

What's with that hair Elvis?

Mansfield, Missouri.  Laura Ingalls Wilder's grave

Kansas City, Missouri.  Lewis and Clark Corp of Discovery monument.  We singled this one out because the girls had done research on their dog Seaman-who is represented here.

Madison County, Iowa.  A covered bridge.  Romantic because in the old days you could steal a kiss without anyone seeing.  I must say this dress was my favorite on the trip.  I don't ever buy anything online but I saw this from http://stores.ebay.com/lebombshop and loved it.  I ordered the wrong size (they are sized juniors) and had a very pleasant exchange experience.

De Smet, South Dakota.  Ingalls homestead.  If you enjoyed the books, go there!  This dress was not pictured in my "what dresses do I pack" post because I bought it while in Kansas City.

Mt Rushmore, South Dakota.

Deadwood, South Dakota.  Cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried-and for some bizarre reason next to each other. 

Yosemite National Park, Wyoming and on our way home.

The first picture my hair is set in curlers (proving I had good intentions) and the next picture it is down but the whole rest of the time it was SO hot that I wore it up like so:

I love the bow barrette.  It happened to be in the clearance basket at Anthropologie right before we left.

Epic Road Trip: Out Takes

I as put together posts from our trip I am coming across photos that give a little peek behind the scenes.

Papa deserves a lot of praise for travelin' with 6 girlies!

This wasn't even the worst of it!

Loading up in Colorado

I started to take pics of all the pink houses-but that ended up too big a task to take on.  I like this one for my reflection.

Tired!

Thank goodness for our hotels happy hour!

Ga-ga over bathrooms-this one is in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming.

This photo of Dorothy in gingham and ruby slippers was taken in Kansas. (ala Wizard Of Oz)  You would never believe the drama we went through to get it before we left the state.  We didn't realize the whole state wouldn't be farm like, so it isn't what I had envisioned.

Me climbing in with a new born calf.

Too hot!

Too hot for bras!

Here we all are, true to form.  Look at Dot with a Mountain Dew!  I have no idea why we are all in this room when there were two more bedrooms.  We like cozy.

Not all nights were spent in suites.

There's No Place Like Home

We have been home from vacation 10 days.  "Home" is a big word.  A wonderful word.  I enjoyed our time on the road and would do it all again-but right now my heart and mind are focused on home.  Watching our youngest in full melt down for the last 4 days of our trip, it became clear how much security and comfort being home gives.  Up until this time I have lived by the saying "home is in a mother's arms".   I felt as long as we were all together we would be home.   I still believe being together is the most important security factor for children, but I have a new appreciation for the house we live in.  It makes the feeling of home tangible for children, it's familiar, and routine.  Of course not every house is a home.  It makes me sad to think about the children who live in houses without security and stability and how they are often labeled as "difficult children".  Those last few days of traveling I began to wonder if my daughter had been taken over by hostile aliens.  A few times it was like a scene from a horror movie with her tantrums being so intense I thought she may levitate-and her screams were those of a soprano banshee!
Now that we are home my focus has been to provide a home where children are nurtured and nourished.   It's like a nesting instinct.  I have been super busy; cleaning, rearranging, baking, sorting, shopping etc... On the trip I was selfish and I chose to deal with the consequences, after all it isn't everyday I am at Mt. Rushmore.  As parents we make those exceptions.  Seeing the effect it had on the girls made me realize we are all happier when I put mothering first.  Focusing on and meeting their needs- as I am modeling and equipping them to meet their own, actually creates more space for myself.   Time invested in my family creates secure little people who are not misbehaving to get some attention.
I'll be posting soon on some of the projects I have been doing around the house to make it the perfect place for us.

County Fair

We went to the county fair today.  We go for two reasons...

the food & the animals.

I wore a dress I picked up on our trip.  I love it but because it is lined/reversible --but that meant it was too hot to wear while traveling in 100+ temps.  

(I need to work on getting better pics!)

I liked my scarf in the front, now looking at the back not so much.

and reversed! 

Coedith + SnoopDogg

You know our family recently took a road trip where by day we followed pioneer trails, Lewis and Clark, & visited famous authors homes.  But do you know what I was doing in the evenings?  I'm sure you'd never guess I was catching Snoop Dogg live in Kansas City.  A friend we were visiting mentioned his tattoo shop was right above the venue putting on the show.  I think he was surprised to see me giddy with excitement.  Very few friends know of my secret crush- don't judge me, I can't help it.  I think it's all those naughty things he says-  I should be offended-but I am not.

The Doggfather

Outside our friends tattoo shop.  I have seen Snoop in a cowboy hat so I went with the boots.

Balcony view with my ever indulging husband.

From below.  I actually snagged this pic from the Kansas City newspaper.