little black journal

Ok, this is it gang – the final installment of our California adventures and then we’ll get on with business of May (since tomorrow is JUNE!)…

We spent Friday morning at Liberty Public Market, a large food hall near the airport packed with vendors selling tacos and macarons and fresh-squeezed juices.  Juliette and I grabbed a latte and a steamer and wandered around while munching on a flaky croissant.  We each carefully selected our treats – a meat empanada for Shane, a bag of radioactive-colored popcorn for Juliette, and a dainty pair of gold earrings for me!  Score, score, score.

We left the market late morning and headed up to Del Mar to claim our lunch reservations at Poseidon.  First, though, a few beach sprints:

I opened the stopwatch on my phone and stretched out on a towel while Juliette spent several minutes seeing if she could dart to the water’s edge and back in less than 30 seconds (she could!).

The patio at Poseidon was the perfect place to sip Bloody Mary’s and chow down on Cioppino (or Sprite and coconut shrimp for the little track star).

The afternoon was a lazy blur of napping and puzzling back at the house.  We headed to La Jolla Cove again in the evening to wander around the tide pools and hunt for crabs.

Anenomes!

We took the steps down to our favorite little stretch of beach and played some whiffle ball, since the water was feeling particularly chilly that evening.

I mean, this little beach.  COME ON!

We joined a crowd of people to watch this guy propose to his girlfriend on a petal-strewn bluff (spoiler:  she said yes), then grabbed dinner in town and called it a night.

We took our time packing up on Saturday morning, reluctant to leave our cozy cottage.  I put the final pieces in the 80% brown puzzle I’d been working on all week while Juliette finished up the surf shop Lego set she’d scored on Thursday.  Ta-daaaa!

We drove over to University Heights for brunch at Madison, an uber-cool restaurant opened and owned by one of Shane’s high school buddies.  The charcoal mimosa was…interesting, the breakfast tacos were spot-on, and the waffle churros were a definite crowd pleaser.

We had a few hours before our evening flight, so we went down to Mission Beach for one last fix.  The water was every shade of aqua down here!

We had left all of the beach toys and towels back at the AirBnB, so we made do with games of “bury Mama’s feet in the sand” and “see how big a hole you can dig”.

Plus, more sprints.

 

Hot damn, beach life suits you, kiddo.

We snapped one last family pic, stopped for acai bowls on the way to the airport, and then called it a wrap.  I want to say I was ready to get home, but…not so much.  Not yet.

It’s hard to put into words just how happy I was during these few days with my two favorites.  Not only during the spectacular ocean-view sunsets or the thrilling roller-coaster rides, but in those simple moments, when we all doubled over with laughter at lunch because of Juliette’s impression of Shane, in which she squints her eyes and scratches her armpits and talks in a super-low voice.  I loved our nightly hot tub ritual, where we played animal charades and recounted our favorite parts of the day and watched clouds pass in front of the nearly-full moon.  It felt so good to have Juliette crawl into bed with us at 2 am and ask me to snuggle her close.   I’m so thankful for this little family of mine, for a chance to unplug and reconnect and be reminded that life is exceedingly, heart-achingly good.

We took a break from the regularly-scheduled beach programming on Thursday to check out Legoland in nearby Carlsbad.  The three of us walked into the theme park right as the gates opened, not entirely sure what to expect.  I mean, it seemed pretty likely that Juliette would have a blast, but neither Shane nor I are big theme park people – we don’t have any magical childhood memories of Disneyland, no inclination toward twirly rides or elephant ears.  We don’t like big crowds and aren’t particularly patient when it comes to lines.  The things we do for the ones we love…here goes nothin’!

Our inner scrooges were quieted when we breezed through the first line and witnessed Juliette’s utter delight during a mellow boat cruise through fairytale land, where Little Red Riding Hood is made of thousands of Legos.

We moved onto the merry-go-round and then Juliette zipped around in a little car and cozied up to a bunch of life-size Lego figures – she was digging this place.

Then we got on “Captain Cranky’s Challenge”, a ship that swings and turns like a speeding, giant pendulum.  Juliette laughed wildly through the whole thing.  Our little thrill-seeker!

We hit a couple more rides, scarfed down some pizza, and then took a break from the lines to stroll through Miniland USA.  The New Orleans replica, complete with a jazz parade, was my favorite.

We were pretty weary by mid-afternoon and decided to end on a high note, with a whirl on the Coastersaurus.  The ride was short, but the joy was BIG.

Thanks, Legoland.  We’ll be back!  (Ok, let’s be real – probably not.  But you were fun!)

Juliette and I napped together back at the house (which I enjoyed almost as much as the Coastersaurus!) and then we made the quick trip up to La Jolla Cove for some sunset beach play.  I tell you, I could watch this girl splash in the ocean for hours.  One of my top five favorite pastimes.  Maybe top three?

 

Ok, top ONE!  It’s times like this that I really get a glimpse of the world through her eyes – the wonder and joy and beauty of it all.  I mean, clearly this place is gorgeous, but Juliette has this way of engaging with the places she’s in, rather than just observing.  I’m trying to do more of that.

I’m falling for San Diego awfully hard – while I love the wide-open stretches of beach at Santa Monica, these little coves are pretty magical.

After we’d packed up our towels and buckets, we walked down to the beach at Children’s Pool to perch over the aqua waters and check out the lazy sea lions.

 

We dined on pasta at a little patio in La Jolla before hopping into the hot tub for our nightly wind-down.  This, folks, is the good life…

I’ve been traveling to San Diego every other week for the past few months for a project I’m working on, but had yet to let Shane and Juliette in on the fun (though having to look at the ocean through a conference room window?  not so fun!).  And so we booked ourselves a few days at an AirBNB in La Jolla for a mid-April no-work, all-play dose of sunshine.

We landed in SD on a Tuesday afternoon and high-tailed it from the airport to In-N-Out.  Ahhhh, tastes like Cali!

We settled into our cozy little La Jolla cottage and quickly raided their selection of lawn toys.

Gosh I love you, Jules.

We popped over to La Jolla Shores, just a few blocks away, to check out the sand scene.  Despite the clouds and the cold Pacific waters, we ran and splashed and lived our best beach lives.

From the moment the first waves lapped at her toes, she was all grins.

Should have worn my swimsuit…  Or shorts, at least!

After months of Facetiming Juliette from SD, it felt so good to have her there with me.

We grabbed tacos at Puesto and then walked down to La Jolla Cove to visit the sea lions.

They were out in full force that evening, lounging and barking and scooting around the rocks.

Juliette and Shane rented an electric scooter and bopped around while I got in a short walk.

The evening winds picked up and Shane had left his sweatshirt at the house, so we quickly called it a night and jetted back to our abode for a warm-up in the hot tub.

When I saw the sky turn pink, I couldn’t resist – I threw on a sweatshirt and jogged over to the beach to catch the day’s last rays while Shane got Juliette ready for bed.  This. Is. Vacation.

Wednesday was all about taking it slow – Juliette and I strolled over to the café mid-morning and sipped our steamer and latte while Shane went for a jog.  Shane joined us for an iced Chai, and then we grabbed a stack of towels and a pile of sand toys and drove down to Coronado Beach.

I had heard that the sand on this beach sparkles, but was still struck by how legitimately golden it is.  Bling!

We splashed around and hunted for shells and reapplied sunscreen on 30-minute intervals.  Juliette and I burned the soles of our feet on the dry, hot sand when heading back to the car.  #beachproblems.

We ate lunch in Little Italy and then spent some time walking and scootering around Balboa Park.  I’d love to come back and spend a full day here – we barely brushed the surface, but did spend quite awhile working on our hula hoop game.

He’s a man of so many talents.

We walked into the Botanical Building eight minutes before closing time, but managed to smell a few flowers and snap a few pics.

Energized by all that Vitamin D, I squeezed in a pre-dinner jog – it was an uphill slog through Scripps but I was generously rewarded with this view.

We spent the evening back at La Jolla Shores.  Juliette and I both donned our swimsuits and spent an hour jumping waves, letting the water lap at our legs and waists, then darting toward shore as higher, chest-high waves chased us down.  There was a moment when she looked up at me, breathless and wind-blown, and gasped, “This is SO FUN, Mama!”  I know, sweet girl.  I KNOW.  Juliette’s taught me more than I ever knew I had to learn about living my best life.

To infinity and beyooooond!

It was past bedtime when we returned to our cottage, shivering and sandy, but…hot tub!  Perfect end to a perfect day.

Still catching up on the highlights around here – this picture is a couple of months old now, but I wanted to make sure I gave a proper Little Black Journal shout out to…ARCHIE!!!

Shane’s Aunt Val and her dog Archer spent a few days with us at the end of March, and Jules soaked up the lovin’ from them both.

Ok, I’m not sure how reciprocal the affection was, but still, this is one patient pup!

We missed them both the moment they left.  I’ve known Val longer than I’ve known Shane (she introduced the two of us), and she’s family through and through – felt nice to have a little extra bustle in the house for a few days.

I feel like I had a disgracefully inactive winter, but Shane and Jack slogged through their Saturday training runs together and completed the Mercer Island Half Marathon for the 6th (?) time in March.  This cheering squad, though!

Also, we got out!  In Belltown, no less!  We’ve found a couple of sitters in our neighborhood, which has opened up our social calendar a bit.  We dined on tapas and then went out for drinks with the gang – I offer these photos as proof that we actually do stay out after dark on occasion. (P.S.  We were home by 10.)

The Jarrell clan came to stay for a night in mid-April, sending Juliette over the moon with cousin joy.

We spent Sunday at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma – Elise and Juliette carefully charted our route while Shane picked up our tickets.

The aquarium exhibits are my favorite part of this zoo and the octopus was particularly showy on this day, hanging out front and center while waving its wild tentacles.

Stingray-petting was Juliette’s hands-down favorite.

Juliette brought her little point and shoot camera and took about a thousand photos.  Like mama, like daughter…

The three amigas!  I’m thankful for these quick catch-ups with them.

Juliette joined me at the office on a Friday morning for Bring-Your-Kids-To-Work day, where she built marshmallow structures and drew on the walls and hula-hooped in the kitchen.

She walked away with a personalized laser-cut bookmark and some very big dreams of being an architect one day.  Well-played, P+W.  Well-played.

April was full of quality buddy-time, in the form of bike rides and play dates and sidewalk shenanigans with the neighbors.  Juliette had a couple of friends over one afternoon and I was super-impressed by how independently the three of them played a board game together.  These kids are getting so grown-up!

…But are still so wonderfully silly.

Easter felt like it came especially fast this year, and we arrived home from a week-long vacation on Easter Eve.  Still though, Shane and Juliette managed to read through all of her Storybook Bible during Lent, and I managed to hide a few jelly-bean-filled eggs around the house on Sunday morning.

After church, we gathered at the Rusts for our annual egg hunt and potluck.

This group started hanging out when we were all young and child-free…

Now, look!  I heard Emily exclaim during this photo, “You guys!  Look what we all did!  Good job.”

We were so, so happy to have our beloved Hickories back in town for the week.  We’ve missed them like crazy since their move to Colorado last April.

These dads are some of Seattle’s finest.

And Gryff, you are the big brother Juliette’s always wanted.  We love you!

We were graced with another full weekend of sunshine after Easter, so we gathered the crew at our house for hot dogs and Spike Ball.

Man, I love a sunny Spring weekend – you know it’s just a teaser and that rain will resume within a few days, but that dose of Vitamin D awakens a certain excitement within me that seems to go dormant in the winter.  Summer is right around the corner!

As much as Juliette loves talking Mario and Bowser with the Rust boys, it was apparent on this evening that she also very much enjoys the company of lady friends.

The kids busted out a live dance-along to Let It Go while we ate dessert…

And then kept the performance going.  And going.  Juliette can be quite timid when put front-and-center, but not on this night.

Definitely not on this night.  You do you, Jules!

Finally, the grown-ups couldn’t resist the urge to get in on the action and cranked up Hey Ya for a serious dance party.  Then there was Ace of Base, some Ice, Ice Baby, I think even a little Wilson Phillips?  I saw the Funky Chicken and some White Man’s Overbite, a lot of shimmy-shimmy-shake-shake.  We’re so old, you guys.

These are the smiles of Spring, people.  We’ve made it!

It seems I’m setting new records on the length of time between posts on here, but I’m back!  With a boatload of pictures!  It’s been a gray, rainy week in Seattle, so I’m going to start with a flashback to sunnier, Springier days:

I’m still traveling to San Diego every couple of weeks for work, and with the added daylight hours, I actually have time to get out for an evening walk along the beach after each day’s meetings are over.  Work travel can be a bummer, with the time away from Shane and Jules, but…these trips aren’t entirely terrible.

UC San Diego (where my project is located) is in La Jolla, which is some of California’s best-looking coastline.  Once I laid eyes on these beaches, I called Shane and asked him to start looking for tickets for a family vay-cay down to SD (stay tuned for that blog post!).

I came back from a three-day work trip in early April and found that our beloved backyard magnolia was putting on a show, trying to outdo the neighbor’s red camellia.

(Magnolia for the win!)

I can’t believe this tree is ours.  I mean, it’s a total nightmare to clean up after, but whatever.  It’s stunning and it’s ours.

And then, just a few days after all the buds had blossomed…POOF.  Lady Magnolia decided she was done with pink and was going to move onto green.

(I’m smiling on the outside, but cringing on the inside, because…what a MESS!)

Juliette and I made our annual pilgrimage to the UW Quad to see the cherry blossoms on a Friday morning.  Truth be told, I’m also trying to plant Husky seeds in this kid’s heart!

This was one of those luxurious days when we had hardly anything on the docket, so we spent awhile on campus, playing tag on the open lawn and hide and seek among the trees.

God bless this girl for making me feel like the funniest human on the planet.

SPRINGTIIIIIIIME!

We’ve been making a few small changes to our yard, whittling away at a some stickly old shrubs that have seen better days.  When I’m stumped on what to plant in their place, we take a neighborhood stroll – the streets of West Seattle have never looked so fine!

(On an unrelated note, sayonara tooth #2!)

Up next:  less flowers, but more family and friends!