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.

April: the month of Eleanor (and other stuff)

It's been over a month since I posted (Where was my reminder Christina??) I'm gonna have to make a habit of doing this weekly, and i promise to try and stick to it this time. Really. I swear.

April was a hectic month in the Gill-Smith house. We had Eleanor's birthday in Seattle, multiple family visits, and then a little adjustment for Gavin's new job. We'll go in chronological order to make things, well, logical.

We flew back to Seattle for Eleanor's first birthday. Gavin and I couldn't believe a year had passed since that crazy day(night) in the hospital. I remember the first 24 hours of visitors and doctors and nurses, then the slowest drive home we've ever taken (Gavin swears it everyone was driving like a lunatic that day), and finally it was just the three of us. It doesn't seem possible that a year has passed since then. We celebrated the milestone, and the fact that Christin was in town, to have family photos taken by Jamie/JLV photography. she has taken some amazing photos of our family and didnt disappoint for Eleanor's one-year-old photos.

See! I told you they were awesome! Eleanor's birthday party was the same day and the theme was "Somebunny turns ONE!". We had colorful cupcakes, bunny decorations, and little Easter baskets for all the kids -complete with bunny glasses, bubbles, and even bunny crackers. And so many people came to celebrate with her, my parent's house was jam packed full of people. I'm pretty sure Eleanor's favorite part was her cake, but only after we cut a slice off for her. there was no getting her fingers dirty for this girl.

The following day was Easter -the other reason we went home that weekend. We went to church in the morning and then spent the day with the family, finishing the day and our weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Wendler's for Easter dinner. We were on the early flight home Monday morning, since Gavin still had to work that day.

So, while we got to fly home, Dad, Jennie, and the kids hopped in their car for a nice long drive down to Folsom! They spent a week with us, sightseeing and enjoying the great California weather. We went to Six Flags discovery Kingdom, Folsom Prison Museum, and Alcatraz. It was really fun to spend so much time with them after being gone for two months. After they left we had a couple of days until we we got to enjoy more visitors: Papa and Nana Johnson! They were on their way up from Arizona for the summer and spent the night not too far from us. Gavin took a day off work and we spent the day together relaxing and catching up -though I'm pretty sure they were more excited to play with the baby all day. 

The surprise to round out the chaotic month was the news that Gavin left the dealership he was working at and is now a finance manager at Roseville Kia. This dealership is a bit smaller than the one he came from, but he seems to like the people and there are a lot of opportunities for him to try new things and learn more than he knows now. He gets along with his new coworkers really well and his commute is shorter by about 10 minutes. the only downside is the long hours, but those are a little offset by his guaranteed 2 days off now! like I mentioned earlier, its an adjustment, but one we are fully capable of making -we are a pretty good team after all.

That rounds out our April. Crazy, chaotic, and jam-packed, but we wouldn't have it any other way.