I married a cowboy hat-wearing pick-up truck driver from the Central Valley. And James married an environmentally conscious tree-hugger from Santa Cruz. So of course this has led to many years of friendly ribbing, especially when it comes to Papa and me. Fortunately, Papa can dish it out, but he…
During the last weekend of August we ventured out to the campground at Lopez Lake for a two-day, fun-filled outdoor cousin adventure. “Lake” Lopez is a bit of a misnomer. The drought has reduced it down to a brush-filled canyon. Jake and Nate know quite a bit about droughts and…
Bizarrely, I remember every pair of teachers I had in elementary school: Mrs. Kinney/Mrs. Cahill, Mr. McGuire/Mrs. Crowell, Ms. Mizell/Mrs. Jones, Mr. Shepherd/Mrs. C. and Mr. Post/Mrs. Crowell. Crazy right? I think Jake might have had that many teachers just in first grade. Of course I’m exaggerating… but it was…
Santa Barbara is one of California’s undeniable gems— perfect weather, irresistibly quaint architecture, hipster restaurants, shopping, beaches. And yet, we’ve got a dark and sordid history with this beautiful town. It all started back during my first visit as a tween. One day I was traipsing around the woods with my best friend, Esther, and the…
Childhood is full of many milestones that most of us have long forgotten: finger snapping, chopsticks, blowing a bubble, pumping a swing. Last week Jacob tied his first bow— on his swim trunks of course. I haven’t bought any shoes that tie as all shoes that aren’t KEENS are immediately transformed…
The boys have spent the summer in a traveling Y camp… traversing the entire county of San Luis Obispo. They’ve walked miles and miles to swimming pools, museums, fire stations, boats, grocery stores, gardens, parks, waterslides and pizza parlors. Everywhere we go, Nate sees city buses he’s ridden around town–…
A few weeks ago we were spending hours and hours in the car… driving all around California for various moving activities and parties and holidays. At one point I think we had banned iPads due to various infractions and were rewarded with the following: Jake: “I spy with my little…
Nate is at least six good months into his “Whaboutif Phase.” Meaning that every day, most conversations involve him venturing further and further into imaginative what-if scenarios and preposterous proposals. He asks things like: “Whaboutif you had three eyeballs?” “Whaboutif it flew into the sky and then hit the moon and then crashed into…
Years and years ago, back when James and I first got married, we dreamed of one day moving to San Luis Obispo and building a Spanish-style house. We envisioned a beautiful view and room to entertain and we called it Casi Cielo… “Almost Heaven” in Spanish. But then we found…
It’s a bit of a seven year saga that I’m not really in the mood to rehash… but long story short, Jacob has what is called sugar sensitivity. In a nutshell, his blood sugar is highly volatile and what he eats tips his biochemistry out of whack, wreaking havoc with his emotions…