The Good Life

This picture shows one of the things I will really miss about California. The views are never boring. It's funny, we have a view of the Verdugo Mountain foothills from our loft window and we almost always have the blinds down (that would be because the museum worker in me knows what the sun will do to the fabric of our bedding). But the blinds were open yesterday because we had an open house. And last night there was a really great sunset. At that point, the girls were bathed and put to bed, and Andrew wasn't home yet. So I sat with my Mike's Lemonade and just enjoyed the beautiful sky. I think we should open our blinds more often.

We also spent the afternoon at Topanga Beach yesterday with our playgroup. Can you believe that I have lived here 5 1/2 years and this was the first time that I went to the beach with the sole purpose of just going to the beach? We've stopped by before to show visitors the Pacific Ocean, but never really made an outing of it. On the LONG drive there (an hour and half because there was traffic and construction in Topanga Canyon), I realized the drive was what kept me from going before. But I think maybe we'll have to make a day of it again before we move. Amazing what you take for granted until you know it won't always be there.

We've been back from MN almost a week now. We had a really great trip there. Andrew and I had fun looking at houses in Plymouth and Maple Grove. We think we've settled on a neighborhood we really like in Maple Grove and put in an offer on a house. They weren't too crazy about an offer with a contingency so we are sort of putting offers on hold for the moment to see what happens with our condo. I was pretty disappointed about the house when we heard yesterday, but then I looked this morning and there is another house in the same subdivision that is less expensive, pretty much the same layout, and more square footage. This only reinforces my belief that everything happens for a reason and that things work out for the best.

While we were in MN, we visited with all the usual suspects, saw the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America, Deep Sea 3D at the IMAX theater by the zoo, took in the Aquatennial festivities, and saw Superman Returns (just me and Andrew at that one). Ella and Lily got to spend good quality time with Grandpa Gary and Grandma Clare. It's amazing how well behaved Ella is in a setting she's not completely used to. Makes me wish she was that well behaved all the time. Sure would make my job easier!



Just a quick update on the girls. Lily is ten months old tomorrow. She had her 9-month checkup a few weeks ago and weighed in at 20 lbs, 8oz (75th %) and measured 30 1/2 inches long (100th%). For comparison, Ella was 19lbs, 8oz and 29 inches at her 9-month checkup. Lily is just chugging along, she pulls herself up, walks along the furniture, speed crawls, climbs things, and tries to do everything her big sister does. Ella is almost three (in a week!) and I can't believe it! She has really grown up in the last 6 months too. She is very helpful around the house, she has been better with Lily lately, she listens better, and she is talking more everyday. I think she will absolutely love our new house when we move. She had such a great time with the freedom of going outside whenever she wanted and playing in the sand box or with a ball or whatever when we were at the grandparents last week. They both loved just having the patio window there to look out and see the world.

Okay, I think that's all for this installment. I promise new pictures very soon, but for now enjoy the ones in this post.

UPDATE: Over 100 new pictures in June & July albums on the photo site