Yes, the festivies have begun. Last night we gathered with our family next to the tree and the twinkling lights for food, fun, singing, prezzies and good cheer. And the next few days are bursting with the promise of more . . .
From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Peace + Love,
The Scott Family: Ryan, Liz, Rylie & Zipper
I've blogged about these cakelovers before...
Our little Ryles turned two years old on Saturday. How can this be? Already? I know every parent gasps at how quickly these little ones grow, but it truly is remarkable. It seems like not long ago we were staring with awe at a fresh baby face, wondering how on earth we would ever be able to give her all that she needs. But with love, tons of grace, and more humility than I thought we were capable of, we are beginning to maybe, just maybe, find our way. Nowadays, every time we turn around, she is stringing sentences together and exhibiting her personality. New words, new experiments, new ideas - her's truly is a world of discovery. She ventures outward and comes back in several times a day. Times of independence tempered with moments of closeness. She is growing changing and becoming, every moment, just as she should be. My heart is so glad and grateful to be witnessing such miracle of miracles.
And today she is still humming Happy Birthday to herself with half deflated balloons trailing her every step. Happy birthday, sweet girl.
One day last week Ryan said, "I think Rylie would really dig a trip to the zoo." I agreed. Later that same day I opened my email to find a note from my sis-in-law asking if we wanted to join them for a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo and I said, "Yes please!" This was not Rylie's first visit to a zoo, we went to the San Diego Zoo last year (note: I posted the same animals back then as today - flamingos and giraffes - must be the necks!), but it was our first time to the one in Santa Barbara and it was so nice. It is a gorgeous drive up the coast, and if traffic is light, you can get up there in just about 2 hours. The zoo itself was really manageable and not packed, just enough folks to feel neighborly, but not claustrophobic. I think Rylie's favorite part was running from exhibit to exhibit with her cousin Liam. She is way into him now and runs around yelling his name: "Lim! Lim!" Even when he is no where in sight.
Highlights for me were feeding Audrey the giraffe and this photo of Rylie as part of the primate family tree. I love that my hat is sticking up above the sign. Classic!
I was off on a tear when I started this dress. I got all the way to the smocking in 2 days and then I messed up and it was all off. I attempted to rip out the stitches to get back to the part where I didn't mess up and it was a mind-numbing, painstaking process. So I frogged it. The whole thing. Actually I threw it aside (literally threw) and started from scratch with a new ball of yarn. This time I was beyond confdent in what needed to be done so I took off on an all night knitting party (that's what Ryan calls it) and got to the smocking part in less time. On this go round I knew what I was doing and made it through the smocked part in 2 days. I knit the straps in a day. Went to the fabric store and got buttons the next day and sewed on one of the straps. I also blocked the dress and the straps in there somewhere, too. Probably the day I went to the fabric store. So, I had it all done less the other strap that needed to be sewed on. Sewing on the second strap would have taken 30 minutes tops. But I didn't sew on the strap. You know what I did? I put the all-but-finished dress in my knitting basket and cast on for a blanket for Rylie. I did a few rows on that and then put it in the knitting basket, too. And then do you know what I did? I started sewing with fabric instead of yarn. I was on a roll with that for a while forgetting all about the projects in my knitting basket. I even mentioned to Ryan from time to time about how I hoped the dress would still fit Rylie once I finished. Well, last week I finally pulled this dress from the basket and sewed on the final strap and finished it up. Just in time to put my babe in it on Mother's Day. She brought me to Descanso Gardens for the day and, I didn't know it when I was knitting, but this is the perfect woodland dress.
It allows trail walking in relative ease.
When the contemplative baby inevitably brushes into twigs, leaves and bark it can be picked clean in a jiffy.
Sitting in the dirt?
Sure, it's brown.
Digging in the dirt?
Yep! Playing peek-a-boo?
Of course!
And forest floor exploration is a breeze.
Not bad, for one dress. I sure am glad I finished it. Oh, and it definitely fits her and will for a while as it is quite stretchy. I ended up criss crossing the straps in back because they are too long for her right now. So I think she can wear it for a long itme yet as a dress and then probably even as a shirt after that.
** Adding this to yesterday's post to join in Ginny's Yarn Along. I am putting that frogged dress to good use as a pair of booties for a very special baby. And I just picked up this book at the thrift store today called Country Life in America. It has a collection of quaint essays, poignant poems and beautiful photos from the likes of Emily Dickinson and Laura Ingalls Wilder and many others. I mean, how could I pass it up?
It really is in the air, isn't it? I love this time of year, this transition between the extreme of winter and summer, this slow and gradual intro into the warmer months ahead. The mornings can be particularly gloomy this time of year, giving way to afternoon sun. But on the mornings when the sun is shining bright the whole world outside our door is glittering with pure light. The springtime is certainly much more subtle here than in my native Michigan where the first warm days after that unbearably long and cold winter are down right exuberant. Here, in this mild and tropical climate, we look to the bottle brush tree (what is the proper classification, anyways?) in our backyard which is in full and glorious bloom this time of year. It is as if the peak of the season lasts about a week or so, until slowly, one by one those red bristles begin to fall to the ground. Oh, and the Farmer's market too, the arrival of spring veggies let us know the season. Those cabbages were unbelievable, and for only three bucks, jeesh.
Oh my goodness, well, where has all of the time gone to? Ryan, Rylie and I have traveled to and from Michigan since the last time I was here. And for the best reason: My sister had a baby! Her fourth! And a boy! His name is Kyler and since meeting him, Rylie has paraded around the house shouting: Baby Kyla! Baby Kyla! endlessly. Needlees to say she was quite taken with him and had no problem with me holding him as long as she was right by my side.
He is as perfect as perfect can be and looks exactly like his daddy, it's uncanny, really. And remember her cousin Kenzi that was born on the exact same day as her? Here they are now at 20 months.
While we were there we got to play frisbee and blow bubbles at my Grandpa's. Those rad throwback neon hightops belong to Rylie's older cousin Kelci.
After a long day of playing, we did one of my favorite things to do in Muskegon: we took a ride around the lake. That phrase may lead you to believe that we were out on a boat or actually interacting with the water, but no, it is just what my family has always said when they take a drive by Lake Michigan. Every time I go back I am struck down by the quality of the light: the angle, the brightness, everything is in focus. And the moments before dusk that we call The Golden Hour here, lasts for four hours there. It seems endless and stays light until 9 pm this time of year.
After the long flight back we were all pretty excited to be on the ground and heading home. Rylie, so much so, that she squealed the whole way down the colorful corridor to the baggage claim. We are happily settling back in, but we are truly missing our cousins too and we know that baby Kyler has probably already turned into a different baby since we saw him last.
Easter Sunday 2012, San Francisco
In the late 90s, (seems like a lifetime ago) I spent about 2 years living in the Bay Area. My dad was woking there and I took the opportunity to live with him and to explore what, in my mind, is one of the greatest of American cities. I loved San Francisco then and it was hard to leave when my dad had finished his contracted work. But we packed it up and headed back to Michigan where I finished college and got on with becoming an adult. That little respite from real life was amazing and taught me so much about myself and who I was at the time. Over the years I have been back to that great city a time or two to visit friends or to pass through. And this past weekend, I spent the most time there since I was a resident. I had not been back in over 5 years and Ryan had never been, so we decided it was time to head up to that special place that is a short plane trip away.
The contrast between Los Angeles and San Francisco is shocking. San Francisco is a very well planned and contained city with diverse and distinct neighborhoods, a proper downtown, a lush city park, public transport and it is clean as a whistle. LA sprawls and sprawls and is really more like 50 small towns all stuck together. I never go to downowtn LA, not because there is nothing there, in fact that is where the art district is, but more because it is so out of the way and there is no easy way to get down there. But, more than just being different from LA, San Francisco is different and distinct from any other city I have ever visited. I gave it a lot of thought this weekend and decided that it may be best described as New York meets Portland with a strong Western European influence. I'm not sure if that is even close but that was my impression on this trip. The weather is brisk and the landscape is beautiful, just like Portland. And there is also a laid back, earthiness going on that reminds me of the Pacific Northwest. But then you can not deny the cosmopolitan sophistication, the unparalled art and design scene, the shopping, the neighborhoods, and the food (oh my, the food!) the style, the energy, and the amazing architecture that could only define one sppot in the whole world - San Francisco. We squeezed a lot into our trip, and though urban travel with a toddler has it's challenges, we rolled with it and had quite a fine Easter weekend.
*We explored and had dinner in Chinatown.
*We strolled around North Beach and had cappucino, chocolate and lunch at an Italian deli.
*We drank a whole lot of coffee.
*On saturday morning we visited the farmer's market at the Ferry Building.
*We spent time in the park,
The Haight,
and soaked in the ubiquitous eye candy.
*Of course we pondered the bridge.
*And our Easter dinner was at a Taqueria in the Mission.
*Rylie's vacation highlight was the hotel telephone!
*Daddy's vacation highlight was the Rogue Ales Public House.
For today at least, it is safe to say that our hearts are still up there in that city by the bay.
If you keep up with this here little blog, you may have noticed two things. One, is that my posting has become a little lighter as of late. Life is very busy with this little toddler of mine. She is not fond of me spending large chunks of time sitting at the computer and typing, so I try to get my blogging in while she naps. Sometimes she does not nap, and sometimes I need to do a little knitting or meditating during nap time. I do love to post quite regularly though and I am going to try my hardest to get into a little routine of early morning blogging, so hopeful things will pick back up again in this space very soon.
The second thing you may have noticed is that my family has been on the hunt for snow all winter long. We finally found some this past weekend in the same place we looked over the New Year's holiday. Last week somewhere around Tuesday, our partners in family fun informed us that there was rain in the forecast for LA which meant there would be snow in the mountains. Mandy, being the extraordinarily gifted organizer and motivator of folks that she is, found us the Dancing Bear cabin for a great deal and we were on our way. Driving up on Friday at 5 seemed daunting, but traffic was much lighter than expected and we got up there in record time. That evening I was out on the front porch of the cabin and swore that I could hear the rushing rapids of a river. I did not recall there being a river in the area and asked the others. They told me it was the wind whipping through the pines - a storm was certainly afoot. The next morning we awoke to the most beautiful and peaceful snowfall that I have seen in a very long time.
The babes loved getting cozy in front of the wood stove with their pjs and stuffed bears (quite aptly, Dancing Bear cabin was filled with stuffed bears.)
And it was St. Patrick's Day to boot! I brought everything green that I had and found the perfect hat in the cabin to top off my get up. I'm not even Irish, though I did pay them a nod while making my coffee that morning. The jig is a dead giveaway, no?
We played outside . . .
and in . . .
The girls showed us their best down dogs. After all, they have been attending yoga with us twice a week for a year now.
It was so nice to come back in to the wood stove and kniting needles after being out in all of the cold air for so long. We all hail from places with snow; Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, but Southern California has a way of thinning one's blood. I've traded my parkas and snow boots for lightweight sweaters and sneakers. When we had our fill of the snow we packed it up and headed back to lower ground where the weather was warmer. All the while the little ones amongst us cried: I want to go back to the cabinet.
Until next time, snow-capped mountains!
Today, I am grateful for:
* all of the fun, learning and creativity that can happen with the simplest of materials.
* an updated look with larger photos on this here blog. I am still working on it and I have more changes in the works, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.
* the late afternoon sunshine an how it glistens on my baby's newly sprouted hair and beckons me to kiss those soft flaxen locks.
* the abundance of amazing flea markets in this great big city (or cities.)
* the discovery of a new bakery that sells nothing but mini cheesecakes. They have over 120 flavors, even savory ones like cheddar sun dried tomato basil, um, yum.
* a very special friend that offers me companionship, lunch, and conversation again and again.
* a baby that is full of wonder and is growing and changing every minute. I could never dull of expressing my gratitude for the precious experience of motherhood.
* helpful neighbors that let us know that a swarm of bees has taken up residence in our backyard fuse box. I have a call in with these folks and am hopeful they will come and offer their assistance.
* A toy closet (with a door.)
* Sneaking in our February Soul Weekend at the very last opportunity.
* New cowboy boots for our pony ride during said weekend.
* the gloomy clouds in the sky this afternoon promising rain. And I even heard rumors of a thunderstorm (what?)
* an increase in appetite for the above mentioned growing toddler. It does a mama's heart good.
What is making your heart sing lately?
Hello! I'm Liz Scott - mama to two little ones, maker, and all around curiosity chaser. I live with my family in Los Angeles, where we seek to fill each day with adventure, joy and creativity. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting.
