Kumquats and such

After a much too quick visit with Colleen and Keith and the boys, we hit the road again. I came from and married into families that are very proud of the universities they attended. They have allegiance to the sports teams, visit on alumni weekends, and own a plethora of school paraphernalia. And then there's me. I'm proud of graduating from UNC, and I had a great four years, but my memory is awful and the closest friends I have are from high school and the military...so unless UNC is playing UVA, I rarely talk about "my glory days" in Chapel Hill. That being said, I figured it was time to show the girls a little piece of my history! (They have been to UVA more times than I can count:) We made the briefest of pitstops in Tarheel Country. I snapped only one picture...the girls with the Old Well. We had an awful meal at Waffle House in which our first waitress was so loaded she actually picked her nose AND fell asleep while taking our order. There was moldy bread a...

Although we hope you will all come visit us in Cali at some point to see it for yourselves, I thought I'd share some pictures of our new home. We live in a great community of townhouses just 3/4 mile from the beach and 2 miles from the base gate. Our house is 3 stories. We'll start at the top and eventually I'll get around to posting the other floors:) At the top of the stairs, you'll find the girls' room. We got them bunkbeds one Christmas knowing that we want them to share a room for several years to come. The room is small, enough space for their toys, a small desk, the bunkbeds, and a bookshelf. We decided to put their dresser downstairs in the guest room because the closet holds all of their clothes. They have their own full bathroom attached to the room. These are Savannah's. Every night, she looks at me and very seriously asks, "Mommy, can I put my monkey in my pajamas?" I answer, "Of course you can." And we carefully tuc...

Uncle Dan and Aunt Helen have the most amazing yard! It's full of vegetables, herbs, succulents and other beautiful plants. It is also full of fairy gardens! Apparently these are quite a popular thing here in California (and perhaps other places, but this is our first sighting!). There are nurseries with sections dedicated to tiny signs, houses in the shape of mushrooms, gourds and anything else you can imagine, and other little treats! They are adorable! Some people choose to place fairy figurines inside their gardens, while others opt to set up small villages for fairies to visit while we sleep. Uncle Dan and Aunt Helen chose the latter. This is the fairy house Reagan added before we moved into our new house. I love the tiny acorn birdhouse and the garden. This is my favorite one of all! The fairy trailer! They just added the flags and now it's PERFECT! Who wouldn't want to visit this magical place?!

Warning: Serious photo overload below!  On Saturday, we headed north to visit the Burzumato clan in Orange! We left the house around noon after a quick lunch and sat in a LOT of traffic. DC had some bad traffic, but it pales in comparison to the ridiculousness of I-5! The traffic had one upside...more time for the girls to nap. They were both passed out for most of the way. As soon as we arrived, Savannah became Uncle Dan's shadow. She really loves to find him and follow him around:) Reagan found the hammock, one of our favorite spots, and settled in. We hung out in the garage for a couple hours. Reagan found a cardboard box, so we cut holes into the sides and made her into a robot:) They played tug-o-war with Uncle Dan. Then she spotted Uncle Dan's old handcuffs, and he showed the girls how they work. Reagan went from one person to the next practicing her new found skill. (BTW, handcuffs are really uncomfortable!) Uncle Dan was nice enough to break out a...