Yesterday Ingrid and I took Ollie to a field trip with his preschool. We hiked to Hakone Gardens and read books, sang, and fed the koi fish and turtles. In the afternoon we baked chocolate chip cookies for Brian and then in the evening we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate his 22nd birthday with him. That was super fun! The kids had a ball. When we got home, everyone crashed except for Bella and I who stayed up reading.

Last night was bumpy. I woke up pretty much every hour betweeen 2 and 7 am. Kids coming in and out of bed, fighting over space, Ollie stretching or asking for his Binkie. Somehow we managed to get Bella and Nathan out of the house in time for school and Ollie and Ingrid played at home in the morning.

Chica (the dog) has been following me around the house. I think she is lonely since her buddy Indy died. We took her to the pharmacy with us and bought her some chew bones. Both the kids wanted to give her the bone first so I gave them one each. She took Ingrid’s first then decided she wanted Ollie’s too, see funny pic below.

Things have been pretty smooth so far. I’m pretty sure I’ve covered the biggies- like medications and such. I did forget to give Bella dinner tonight after she got home from soccer practice but her brother reminded me at bedtime and so she did eat. The little one I’m supposed to ask frequently if he needs to go potty and I did do that a lot the first day. But today I got busy and didn’t ask and he managed on his own. Quite proud of himself too- he came and told me each time after he’d gone.

Yesterday the older kids were in school so Ing and I took Ollie to our place and he got to explore a different kind of house. He loved our cat Pluto (what’s not to love?) and he and Ing read books and made play-doh cakes for hours. Then we went to Coyote Point Museum and saw lots of local animals, like bobcats and foxes and racoons. A couple of snakes too. It’s a really cute little museum, nice and low key and not at all crowded. Afterward, Bella and I got to work sewing twin skirts (see completed skirts in pics below!) Ollie helped by pulling on various parts of the sewing machine and reorganizing the pins in my pincushion. Then the three older kids began an epic game of Star Wars Monopoly, which is still raging today.

This game is both wonderful and a curse. It keeps them occupied and all together in one room where I can easily keep an eye on things. BUT, they fight like cats and dogs over every little thing… I never realized how many gray areas there are in this game! I am constantly playing referee. I finally ran out of steam and let them referee themselves. Things got heated and there was plenty of cheating IMO, but then they helped each other from going bankrupt in ways that were heartwarming.

Today the kids got out of school early and there was plenty of Monopolying. We went on a walk to gather flowers for a secret project and just get Ollie and Chica out of the house. Everyone enjoyed it and the girls looked adorable in their matching skirts. Some shooting at targets (hope that’s allowed in the house!) and then read the Borrowers in bed and now finally I have a moment to myself.

Andrew loves the Syncro talk of course, and seeing all his Syncro buddies and their beautiful vehicles. This year he took our vanny out on some more challenging drives (I wasn’t there, thankfully!). I am happy to report that vanny came back in one piece. There were obstacle course races, the big raffle where you can win various vanny parts and accessories, and the trophies ceremony. Guess what? We won a prize this year! Longest distance traveled. Yep, that’s us: Florida to California!

I love the gear head mixed with hippie vibe; we even had some expert hula hoopers there this year and got to make our own hoop and watch some fancy hula hooping moves. I love being in the sunshine and hearing the awesome surf guitarist playing during the potluck dinner. And there is just something extra cool about people who own Syncros. They love adventure and do whatever it takes to find it. People like that really inspire me.

As for Ingrid, she has a wonderful friend named Hannah who comes every year and they spend 24/7 together playing Barbies or Legos or Clue or just acting goofy. Go Westy brought a super amazing jumpy house/slide that they had custom designed in the shape of a Syncro. See the pics cause it’s very cool!

This year, Ingrid and Hannah were helpers in the raffle on stage. They picked winning tickets and gave out prizes. Ingrid was pretty serious about the whole matter, until her name was called. She had put in a ticket to win the vanny hat that I had knitted for the raffle and she was super stoked to win! A few minutes later she gave her hat to Hannah. Someone had offered her $5 for it but she really wanted Hannah to have it because she’s a very dear friend. Taylor, one of the Go Westy guys won the vanny-embroidered pillow I’d made for the raffle. A little corny for a guy to win, but I think it went over well and I’ll probably make another one for next year too.

The dogs enjoyed sitting in the sun and barking at people. I took them on some short trail walks and they got to sniff and pee in new places. Ginger got to chase bubbles that kids blew for her. Pluto, as usual, was the belle of the ball. He parked himself under the big tent where all the action was, and just basked in all the adoration. When he’d had enough, he’d go curl up in one of the boxes under the trophy table. And the children, oh my goodness. He was often surrounded. They even had him jumping through some hula hoops. Pluto has become so popular that people are remembering him from years before!

I guess I can’t be too sad though because there’s lots more fun coming up for us this year. A couple of weeks with our much loved family here in the Bay Area then off to Moab, Utah for another Syncro event and some more family fun in the desert. Then back to the Bay Area for the summer and some weddings in the fall (Ingrid gets to be a flower girl for the first time ever and she’s very excited about it, got her dress all picked out and everything). Maybe a short trip or two here in the West. We’ll probably travel some for the holidays and then who knows where? Disney World again? This has been such a fun year, I could do it all over again and be very happy.

Yesterday we created some new, season appropriate window art. There’s a butterfly, a chickadee, and a peacock.

At lunchtime we went out to Mexican food. While waiting for our order, I noticed some writing on Ingrid’s leg. “I love my mom”. How sweet is that?

We spent the end of last year in the south visiting friends and family in TN and GA. We had a lot of fun seeing some of the beauty of the deep south from some awesome lakes in MS to the ancient Smokey Mountains. Our first stop was visiting my old friend Janet in Memphis, it was a quick stop but we had lots of fun at the zoo and a great park with an awesome playground.

Next we headed south of TN to MS where we visited the Shiloh National Military Park, a civil war battlefield and burial. We also got ready for halloween, carving some pretty rocking pumpkins. We then headed back up to TN to see my friends Matthew and Sabra, but like an idiot didn’t get any pictures of our halloween aside from a few iphone pics.

Then we heading to Asheville, spending a short time in the Smokey Mountains, although the park was nice, the town around it was a tourist dump. I at least fulfilled a life long dream of riding a motorcycle on the famed “Dragon” at deals gap, an 11 mile road with 318 turns. It was EPIC. After that we headed to Asheville where crappy weather cramped some plans I had to do some mountain biking. Never the less we had fun checking out the Biltmore Mansion, which was cool, but friggin’ spendy.

When Xmas time came around we headed to Atlanta and visited my great aunt Suzy. It was really nice to see her and when the girls flew out to CA for Xmas I hung out with Suzy myself and took her to see a movie, something she had not done in a long time. When Xmas came I flew out to CA for very quick visit then flew back with the girls to celebrate our own Xmas, RV style.

Once Xmas was over we make a B-line to Disney World. Earlier in the year we bought the mondo annual passes that work at Disneyland AND Disney World and we were itching to use them. We stayed there for a few months taking a short trip in between when grandma Pam and Mike came to visit and rented and RV for a trip down to Key West.

Sadly spring break was coming and the cost of staying at the Fort Wilderness Campground was getting very expensive so we moved to a sleepy trailer park in Kissimmee while I started on my next grand adventure….learning to fly. Since I work for a company in CA my work hours don’t really start until noon when we’re on the east coast. So in the mornings I took flying lessons at Sunstate Aviation at Kissimmee’s local airport and in little less than two months I was a certified private pilot. In many ways I still can’t believe it, but I’m very happy I did it. Aside from the general awesomeness of knowing how to fly (and land) an airplane, I’m just happy to have gone out on that limb to learned something entirely new. I have a few pics from my flying lessons and my solo flights and have made a new category on the site for flying.

The day after I passed my checkride I enjoyed some aviation fun at the Sun ‘n Fun fly-in airshow in Lakeland, FL while the girls went to St. Louis to do some dress shopping with grandma Pam. The P51′s from that show are based out of Kissimmee’s airport and on more than one occasion I got to see them taxing or flying around, and once I even got a nice view of one landing right before me.

All and all it’s been a pretty great year so far and now we’re making a B-line to CA for our favorite VW event, Syncrofest!

At night, there were Disney movies in the outdoor theater, at Chip ‘n Dale’s campfire. Also sing alongs and dance alongs. And of course marshmallows and hot dogs to roast. We rode our bikes everywhere, riding several miles each day. The doggies played off leash at the dog park right next to our loop. It really was ideal!

Now we’re staying in Kissimmee, about 6 miles from the airport where Andrew is taking flying lessons. It’s been about a month and he’s about 2/3 of the way done. As soon as he’s done we’ll say a tearful goodbye to Disney and head to Cali.

This campground in Kissimmee is nothing to brag about. It’s plain and quiet, and there are no beautiful bike trails. So we usually rush to get our chores/school done in the morning and then take off to one of the theme parks right after lunch. Ingrid and I have lots and lots of time together… it’s been nice : )  Our favorite park is probably Animal Kingdom since we both love animals. Next? I’m not sure. Maybe the water parks. Then Epcot and Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The longer we stay here, the more I find there is to explore. We have met people who come here every free moment they have, and others who ‘Disneyschool’. I think it’s awesome! And I’m totally jealous of them. I wish my family were here instead of all the way in California.

There are the days in between the parks too, where nothing terribly exciting is going but a slow gentle rhythm to the day. Time passes with no rush and projects materialize without much planning. I’ve included some of these photos here too. Sorry some of them don’t open big, I’ll have to redo this in a better way when I get some time.

When we got back to Atlanta, Andrew had set up a cozy Christmas surprise for us. The RV was decorated with beautiful paper snowflakes, about twenty in all, each a unique and intricate design. And the best part- a crackling fire! He’d built us a miniature fireplace, hung and filled stockings for us, and even put a completely realistic iPad fire in there! I’ll have to dig up a picture later. It was super amazing and we had a hard time taking it down a few days ago. (The snowflakes are still up.) I want to photograph each one because they are so beautiful.

For Christmas, Ingrid got some Harry Potter Legos, a real porcelain flower fairy tea set, lots of books, a jewelry box, some clothes, and Harry Potter candy. Also a flower making kit, magic kit, harmonica, and a claymation set. Mommy got a new BBQ(!!!), some jammies, earrings, a knitting calendar, and some kitchen goodies. Andrew got some GoPro accessories, zombie comic book, and Star Wars audio drama.

Soon we’ll begin the drive to Florida for Christmas Part II with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike. And Mickey :)

The photo of Pluto below is him showing the dogs a new trick- batting at ornaments to knock them off the tree. The dogs didn’t know what to make of it. Pluto and the dogs have gotten on good terms again, thankfully. Otto is back to giving Pluto licks in the morning (which Pluto hates).