Exploration: California's Capital

Gavin and I decided that Thursday's are Adventure Days. We've lived in California (as a family) for 4 1/2 months now and haven't really explored much further than Folsom. Sure, we've been to Roseville, but that's just a Southcenter/Bell Square combo and not really unique, and Gavin drove to the gold rush town of Placerville almost everyday for work, but I don't think that counts either.

So we made a California "to-do" list of things we really want to see and explore. First up: Sacramento.

Being only a 20-30 minute drive for us means we should have been to Sacramento numerous times before last Thursday. It's RIGHT there. But other than driving through it to get to/from the airport every few weeks, we haven't visited. Gavin came up with the idea Wednesday, since two items on our list were the capital building and Old Sacramento. Easy to cross those off in one day (thought we decided going back sans Eleanor would be nice).

First stop was the capital building, and a beautiful building it was. From afar it looks like a run-of-the-mill  capital building: white stone, pillars, and a dome. Then you get close and the intricate carvings and statues come to life and the beauty of the surrounding garden enchants. One does have to look past the brown, dying grass and the dry "trout pond", but California is in the middle of a terrible drought and its good to see the capital doing its part to conserve.We walked around the building and were going to go in, but with the baby in her stroller the idea of metal detectors and security checks had us turning around. The garden's shade gave us the reprieve from the sun we were looking for, so we toured the different memorials and saw a diversity of plant specimens. Ive since fallen in love with magnolia trees and the giant white blooms they carry. I also saw my first orange tree which was pretty cool; I joked with Gavin that I thought oranges came from the grocery store. I've seen apple trees but the orange trees are a different kind of beauty.

After an hour or so we wondered over to Old Sacramento for a quick look around and sustenance for the growing rumble in our stomachs. We were rewarded with a little self tour of the historic gold rush era buildings and cobblestone streets. It was still very touristy, like the Seattle waterfront, with souvenir shops, candy stores, and carriage rides; the history of old town was preserved beautifully though. Once the heat finally beat us, we found a small pizza parlor to fill us up and then made our way home to our day with some relaxing family time.

Oh, HOT damn ...

The forcast for the news 10-days here in Northern California calls for sun, sun, and more sun. The highs range from 99-104 degrees. 104?! Our Washingtonian bodies are taking their sweet time acclimating to this new, dry, ever increasing California heat. To think, we complained when the thermometer hit the 90's in August. Now I'm thankful for the littlest bit of cloud overhead, or when the weather app on my phone is wrong and it only gets up to 88, or when the pool in empty and Eleanor and I can have it all to ourselves. Its the little things in life really. I've never gone through so much sunscreen.

But we've figured out ways to keep ourselves cool. As I mentioned the pool is always a good one. We're lucky enough to have two provided by our apartment complex, one of which is right by our building. when there aren't too many other kids in the pool we spend an hour or so relaxing and floating to our hearts content. A poolside lunch is always a plus too.

Elenaor's other favorite way to beat the heat is by having Nakie Days. She gets to run around in her diaper or little shorts. Wish this was socially acceptable for me, but alas I dug out all my shorts and tank tops instead. We did enjoy a few movie days in front of a big box fan. Eleanor is becoming a fan of Disney -I think it's all the animals.

We had a nice suprise yesterday actually when Gavin came home a few hours early form work to spend some time with his girls. We enjoyed a family dinner at Smash Burger -a burger joint that I'm hoping will expand to Washington one day. Gavin and I are doing our best to eat healthier, and bun-less burgers are one of our favorite ways to cut a few calories. I didn't think Gavin would like it at first, but there's no bread to soak up all the delicious burger juices so there's a lot more flavor to enjoy. Then we did a little shopping where Gavin and Eleanor had a few good father daughter bonding moments.

Eleanor and Gavin in the cigar room at Total wine. (Above: Gavin found an Eleanor sized wine cup and she loved it.)

We also had a nice visit with Grandpa Pete and Grandma Karen last weekend. They were on a road trip and realized they would be about 20 minutes form us, so they swung by and hung out with me and Eleanor for a few hours in the afternoon. Of course no visitor can leave without breakfast at Mary's Gold Miner Cafe, so the kiddo and I joined them for breakfast the next morning as well. (Unfortunately, Gavin wasn't able to see them due to his work schedule.)

We had an otherwise chill 10 days since the last post. It rained a little yesterday, which felt so good. When it rains here we get these little sidewalk visitors all over. I took a picture as I was walking the dog this morning. Just a little something to enjoy until our next post.

And I would walk 500 more ...

I thought our house was properly baby proofed. Oh how wrong I was. Haha! Eleanor can find even the littlest hint of trouble, and now that she's walking it's even worse!

List of things Eleanor has gotten to:

• Multiple magazines, torn up and pages ripped out. I mean maybe she's starting her own hands on Pinterest or maybe she thought those articles were BS -though there was a good one about Disneyland, so I don't think she really read it.

•Dog food. I swear I feed my child. Good food too. I just made sweet potatoes last night! But heaven forbid we don't close the gate fast enough or the dog pushed his bowl too close to it. Her little hands get in it and next thing I know I'm fishing out kibble. 

• Toilet paper. Did you know that TP makes a wonderful streamer?! Next time you want some new decor for the bathroom, just grab the TP and pull! It comes off the roll with a quickness. 

• Everything that opens. EVERYTHING. Cabinets, boxes, doors, drawers. If it opens, those little fingers will work forever until they have succeeded. And nothing can be opened without then being emptied. I'm becoming a pro at drawer-stop installation. 

Its time to bolt the mirror to the wall too. 

We had a fun "day off" this week. We've been trying to checkout more of the sights, events and activities in our community. This week's adventure was the Folsom Zoo. This "zoo" is actually a sanctuary for a lot of local and exotic wildlife. Most of the animals came to the sanctuary as rescues, either found wondering neighborhoods or injured, and couldn't be released back into the wild. A few of the animals were pets, seized or surrendered when they becaue too much to handle. It has a nice assortment of animal population for a small zoo.  

Eleanor had a lot of fun -we all did. We weren't sure how engaged she would be, but as soon as she saw the animal she would point and babble. It was cute. 

And now for the shameless wedding plug. Only 299 more days! The wedding website is up and running and I will add information as it becomes available.

Check us out at: https://www.theknot.com/us/karie-gill-and-gavin-smith-mar-2016 (I'll add the hyperlink when I login from my laptop). 

Wedding planning is going pretty smooth -I don't feel the crunch since we pushed the date back to March. We have the venue on lockdown, the website is coming together, and I've been investigating vendors and invites. I think Gavin is started to go crazy. He's getting better at giving me at least some sort of opinion though -and he's getting better at keeping the sarcasm to a minimum. Sometimes. Haha! 

Well Eleanor and I will be heading to Washington for Memorial Day weekend. We hope to see you! But if we don't we hope you have a good holiday weekend! 

Sweet Sixteen Weeks

 Our little love bug is 16-weeks-old today! It's hard to believe that we brought her home only 16 weeks ago. Long gone is the newborn who seemed too small for her car seat, who slept on her daddy's chest almost every night, and could easily be swaddled asleep. Our baby girl has grown in leaps and bounds the last few weeks.

Now Eleanor sleeps through the night, has favorite toys, is growing out of her clothes, and has discovered she has a voice (one she uses is a million different ways). We try to read to her every night and on weekend mornings, which she enjoys for the most part. She loves watching Veggie Tales Silly Songs or Food Network with her mama. Haha! She has discovered that her hands can grab and grasp things as well. Her favorite thing to play with is her Hunger Caterpillar which gives her a bunch of different fabrics, beads, and a rattle to explore.

My favorite developmental leap Eleanor has made is that she can rollover from her tummy to her back. This new skill was an elusive one for a few days. Eleanor would be in her cradle or on the bed on her tummy for some tummy time and Gavin and I would walk into another room for a second. When we'd come back and she'd be on her back! For days this happened -she'd roll over the exact moment we weren't looking. One night Gavin spent 15 minutes watching her attempt to roll over on the bed and she wasn't able to. We eventually witnesses the feat and now she rolls over when she is done with her tummy time.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

This last week was a rough one for mama. I went back to work and Eleanor started going to daycare.

For our family daycare is unfortunately a necessary evil right now. The smarter choice for us is for me to go back to work -at least through the end of the year. It helps with insurance coverage, my FSA, and keeps me a little more sane. But that doesn't make it feel any better knowing she is in a daycare a few hours every day ...

Eleanor and Gavin at dinner Tuesday.

Lets start with Monday. I didn't go to work until Tuesday, but I wanted to do a "test run" with Eleanor and her daycare -plus I wanted to get all the emotions of leaving my child with a "stranger" out of the way. I was super unprepared for the emotional onslaught. Gavin was just about to leave for work and I was getting ready when I suddenly just lost it. I couldn't stop sobbing about not wanting her to go to daycare and how I was gonna miss so much in her life and I was a bad mom for not staying home. Gavin was awesome (he usually is in these situations) and took Eleanor to daycare for me, even though it meant he was late for work. He took a bullet and was "the bad guy" who dropped her off at daycare and I got to be the one that rescued her.

Gavin and Eleanor "suited up" for the day.

Tuesday and Wednesday were much better. I went back to work and tried to get back into my old groove. It was easier to be away for so long knowing Eleanor was at home with her Daddy all day, especially since Gavin kinds rocks the whole Dad thing. I'll admit that it was kinds nice being KARIE again for a few hours and not just Eleanor's mom/meal/diaper changer.

Thursday and Friday were a bit harder knowing Eleanor was at daycare. No one takes care of my child like I do, so of course I'm going to worry and wonder. Are they comforting her when she cries? Do they know what her hunger signs are? do they know they have to feed her at an angle so her reflux isn't as bad? Is her diaper being changed when the line turns blue? They're only giving her the breast milk I sent right? They're not leaving her unattended are they? Are other people holding her? Are the other kids being nice and gentle? So many questions going through my head until I finally have her back. 4pm never seems to come fast enough anymore.

Tummy time with Mama!

Going back to work and being away from my baby has definitely given me a new appreciation for the time I have with her and makes the day-to-day routines we have feel a bit more special. I love getting on the floor with her for tummy time and having our little "babble chats" and just rocking her to sleep. Nursing her doesn't seem like such a chore anymore.

Maybe in the future I'll get to spend my days with her again, but for now I try to cherish those little moments I had started to take for granted.