(daddy loves a project!)
C looks a little consternated..
She loves the Radio Flyer!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Radio Flyer!
Cyanne & Daddy putting together her Radio Flyer - thanks very much to Nanna and Grandpa Blabey! Happy Birthday Cyanne!
(daddy loves a project!)
C looks a little consternated..
She loves the Radio Flyer!
(daddy loves a project!)
C looks a little consternated..
She loves the Radio Flyer!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Happy 1st Birthday, Cyanne!!!
Happy 1st Birthday, Cyanne!!
September 26, 2008!
Cyanne had a good birthday: She spent the morning with Mommy at home, enjoyed a nice, long nap, ate some cheese, apricots, and oatmeal and then went to daycare to hang out with her new little friends and caretakers. They sang her happy birthday in the afternoon. She apparently spent her afternoon (in addition to a 30 minute nap) trying hard to climb up the stairs of a little climbing structure they have in the daycare center... I think some of the older boys are rubbing off on her =).
Mommy picked her up at 4:30 and we drove home to get ready for her big birthday dinner.
Daddy then got home and we drove to The Beachside to meet Grandma and Grandpa for dinner.
Here are a few photos of the evening:
Someone is a happy birthday girl!
(Check out the beautiful view! Another gorgeous Santa Barbara day, just for Cyanne)
The sun set while we ate dinner. The view of the Goleta Pier and UCSB and Goleta Beach.
Cyanne is playing with Daddy's birthday present - a 5 fairway wood from C&J. That pretty much completes his full set of golf clubs!
Cyanne's 1st birthday dessert - vanilla ice cream and one candle!
She loved it. Not surprisingly... However, she also discovered that when you grab an entire handful of it, it's pretty cold. She was torn between wanting to eat it very badly and then experiencing a little pain while holding it in her hand... =) She eventually learned and had her fill of ice cream. We finished with quite a dirty face and very sticky hands. But boy, it was sure tasty! (This is where Grandpa would like to take credit for introducing her to ice cream - when she was a lot younger... just like he did to her Mommy...)
Happy Birthday, Cyanne. It has been an incredible, amazing year. We have learned a lot and loved even more. We love you very much and are amazed by you each and every day. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful, entertaining, and observant daughter. We look forward to each coming day...
September 26, 2008!
Cyanne had a good birthday: She spent the morning with Mommy at home, enjoyed a nice, long nap, ate some cheese, apricots, and oatmeal and then went to daycare to hang out with her new little friends and caretakers. They sang her happy birthday in the afternoon. She apparently spent her afternoon (in addition to a 30 minute nap) trying hard to climb up the stairs of a little climbing structure they have in the daycare center... I think some of the older boys are rubbing off on her =).
Mommy picked her up at 4:30 and we drove home to get ready for her big birthday dinner.
Daddy then got home and we drove to The Beachside to meet Grandma and Grandpa for dinner.
Here are a few photos of the evening:
Someone is a happy birthday girl!
(Check out the beautiful view! Another gorgeous Santa Barbara day, just for Cyanne)
The sun set while we ate dinner. The view of the Goleta Pier and UCSB and Goleta Beach.
Cyanne is playing with Daddy's birthday present - a 5 fairway wood from C&J. That pretty much completes his full set of golf clubs!
Cyanne's 1st birthday dessert - vanilla ice cream and one candle!
She loved it. Not surprisingly... However, she also discovered that when you grab an entire handful of it, it's pretty cold. She was torn between wanting to eat it very badly and then experiencing a little pain while holding it in her hand... =) She eventually learned and had her fill of ice cream. We finished with quite a dirty face and very sticky hands. But boy, it was sure tasty! (This is where Grandpa would like to take credit for introducing her to ice cream - when she was a lot younger... just like he did to her Mommy...)
Happy Birthday, Cyanne. It has been an incredible, amazing year. We have learned a lot and loved even more. We love you very much and are amazed by you each and every day. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful, entertaining, and observant daughter. We look forward to each coming day...
Friday, September 19, 2008
"Mama"
This week, Cyanne went to daycare twice. Yesterday, I picked her up at 5:15.
As I opened the door to go into her room, I saw her being given a bottle on the couch by one of the day care attendants.
She saw me, stopped drinking, kind of started to cry, raised up her arms, and said "Mama"
=)
Now, I don't know about you, but that made my day. Week, really.
She continued to say it as I was holding her and getting her stuff ready to go.
One of the caregivers said "Well, she seems to really know who you are!"
Hearing her little voice say "mama" has to be one of the best things.
Ever.
As I opened the door to go into her room, I saw her being given a bottle on the couch by one of the day care attendants.
She saw me, stopped drinking, kind of started to cry, raised up her arms, and said "Mama"
=)
Now, I don't know about you, but that made my day. Week, really.
She continued to say it as I was holding her and getting her stuff ready to go.
One of the caregivers said "Well, she seems to really know who you are!"
Hearing her little voice say "mama" has to be one of the best things.
Ever.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Gap Fire - July 2, 2008 (Part I)
The Gap Fire started Tuesday, July 1st. Tom was at a Goleta City Council meeting and, during the meeting, the mayor announced that there was a "small" fire burning above Glen Annie Canyon. He called me and I then proceeded to look out the window... knowing our propensity for fires.
Here's the view of the fire as it was spreading. You can still see some blue sky... This is the hill right behind our house. These shots are taken from our driveway.
We figured all would be under control - hopefully - within a few hours. That night, we went to sleep, uneasy, not knowing whether we'd wake up to a much larger fire or news that the fire had been put out. During the night, we heard fire engines going by our house and saw the local KEYT reporter at the base of our street.
Well... we woke up on July 2nd and the fire was not out. Quite the opposite. It had grown and was getting bigger. Looking back on it, it's rather amusing. Tom went to work in the morning per usual while I worked from home with Cyanne. Then, we switched and I went into the office in the afternoon and I remember while driving on the 101, looking over and seeing dark, black clouds of smoke over the hills. Little did we know.
We evacuated July 2nd.
I started that afternoon moving 'valuables' and important documents into our 4Runner. I grabbed financial papers, Cyanne's documents, photos, negatives/cd's, our wedding album and DVD... It was so surreal looking around thinking well, we might have to leave and if we do, what do I grab? What is irreplaceable?
Our friends the Secords arrived that afternoon to help us evacuate. They knew me well enough to know that even though I said "no, um, I think we're okay" that we'd need help. And lots of it.
We ended up filling five cars with our belongings. We grabbed china, crystal, silver, clothes (must save those cashmere sweaters, scarves, and special purses! Not to mention perfume and jewelry! =)...), photos, maps, special books, my thesis from Middlebury, all sorts of things we decided we needed.
Mary kept saying we should leave and eventually - she said "Kristen, we need to get the baby out of here. The air is too bad." So, she took Cyanne to her house and we kept packing up. Then Dan left, then Jenny - cars full. Tom and I were left, knowing we had to leave as soon as possible but wanting to grab anything we could think of...
These are photos taken that afternoon and evening right before we drove away. Had there been no fire, the skies would've been clear blue. The color was incredible. As we kept saying over the next few days, the only word that seemed appropriate was 'Armageddon.' Never have I experienced anything like this.
The view from our front driveway looking back towards the hills. That's Tom standing at the base of our driveway, looking at the hills and smoke.
The view back towards our house - from our neighbor's home across Cathedral Oaks Road.
At this point, the ash was horrendous. It was coming down in pieces about the size of a dime or slightly smaller. I was running back and forth between the house and cars loading stuff while trying to cover my mouth with my shirt sleeve. It was crazy.
If you look closely (this is where I was wishing I had a zoom lens), you can see flames on the hills behind our house. That is Glen Annie Canyon. For those of you who have stayed with us, we walk Lucky up Glen Annie...
Tom and the view looking back towards our house from our neighbor's house across the street.
This was right before we evacuated... I am not even sure what we were thinking at the time. We went to say good-bye to our neighbors who were also packing and to let them know we were leaving.
The fire proved quite a draw for people. Cars were stopped all along Cathedral Oaks. This was before the fire and police department completely closed the road to all but emergency access vehicles.
More cars and even bicyclists stopped to look at the fire on the hillside.
Tom walked to the intersection near our house. This is the shot looking back towards our house on the hill.
View of more flames. And to think - this was just the beginning...
This was my attempt (hard to drive and do manual focus properly) - while driving away from our house - to take photos of the flames. These do not do it justice. It was eerie, frightening, and overwhelming.
The sky was this incredible, ominous dark orange color.
Driving away from the house - the juxtaposition of the orchards of citrus trees, the sun, and the orange glow from the flames on the hills behind those in this photo.
I did not return to the house after I took these photos - until after we returned from our trip to the East Coast. Tom went the following day (7/3) to remove more of our possessions but this was my last drive down Cathedral Oaks not knowing whether we'd return to our house to see it standing - or burnt to the ground. Honestly, I was pretty sure it would be the latter, seeing how the fire was advancing the oppressive amounts of ash and hot air that we were feeling. It was an experience unlike any other and I hope never to experience it again.
Here's the view of the fire as it was spreading. You can still see some blue sky... This is the hill right behind our house. These shots are taken from our driveway.
We figured all would be under control - hopefully - within a few hours. That night, we went to sleep, uneasy, not knowing whether we'd wake up to a much larger fire or news that the fire had been put out. During the night, we heard fire engines going by our house and saw the local KEYT reporter at the base of our street.
Well... we woke up on July 2nd and the fire was not out. Quite the opposite. It had grown and was getting bigger. Looking back on it, it's rather amusing. Tom went to work in the morning per usual while I worked from home with Cyanne. Then, we switched and I went into the office in the afternoon and I remember while driving on the 101, looking over and seeing dark, black clouds of smoke over the hills. Little did we know.
We evacuated July 2nd.
I started that afternoon moving 'valuables' and important documents into our 4Runner. I grabbed financial papers, Cyanne's documents, photos, negatives/cd's, our wedding album and DVD... It was so surreal looking around thinking well, we might have to leave and if we do, what do I grab? What is irreplaceable?
Our friends the Secords arrived that afternoon to help us evacuate. They knew me well enough to know that even though I said "no, um, I think we're okay" that we'd need help. And lots of it.
We ended up filling five cars with our belongings. We grabbed china, crystal, silver, clothes (must save those cashmere sweaters, scarves, and special purses! Not to mention perfume and jewelry! =)...), photos, maps, special books, my thesis from Middlebury, all sorts of things we decided we needed.
Mary kept saying we should leave and eventually - she said "Kristen, we need to get the baby out of here. The air is too bad." So, she took Cyanne to her house and we kept packing up. Then Dan left, then Jenny - cars full. Tom and I were left, knowing we had to leave as soon as possible but wanting to grab anything we could think of...
These are photos taken that afternoon and evening right before we drove away. Had there been no fire, the skies would've been clear blue. The color was incredible. As we kept saying over the next few days, the only word that seemed appropriate was 'Armageddon.' Never have I experienced anything like this.
The view from our front driveway looking back towards the hills. That's Tom standing at the base of our driveway, looking at the hills and smoke.
The view back towards our house - from our neighbor's home across Cathedral Oaks Road.
At this point, the ash was horrendous. It was coming down in pieces about the size of a dime or slightly smaller. I was running back and forth between the house and cars loading stuff while trying to cover my mouth with my shirt sleeve. It was crazy.
If you look closely (this is where I was wishing I had a zoom lens), you can see flames on the hills behind our house. That is Glen Annie Canyon. For those of you who have stayed with us, we walk Lucky up Glen Annie...
Tom and the view looking back towards our house from our neighbor's house across the street.
This was right before we evacuated... I am not even sure what we were thinking at the time. We went to say good-bye to our neighbors who were also packing and to let them know we were leaving.
The fire proved quite a draw for people. Cars were stopped all along Cathedral Oaks. This was before the fire and police department completely closed the road to all but emergency access vehicles.
More cars and even bicyclists stopped to look at the fire on the hillside.
Tom walked to the intersection near our house. This is the shot looking back towards our house on the hill.
View of more flames. And to think - this was just the beginning...
This was my attempt (hard to drive and do manual focus properly) - while driving away from our house - to take photos of the flames. These do not do it justice. It was eerie, frightening, and overwhelming.
The sky was this incredible, ominous dark orange color.
Driving away from the house - the juxtaposition of the orchards of citrus trees, the sun, and the orange glow from the flames on the hills behind those in this photo.
I did not return to the house after I took these photos - until after we returned from our trip to the East Coast. Tom went the following day (7/3) to remove more of our possessions but this was my last drive down Cathedral Oaks not knowing whether we'd return to our house to see it standing - or burnt to the ground. Honestly, I was pretty sure it would be the latter, seeing how the fire was advancing the oppressive amounts of ash and hot air that we were feeling. It was an experience unlike any other and I hope never to experience it again.
Concerts
Tom & I have been lucky lately in that we've been able to go to a couple of really fun, cool concerts (not to mention have a 'date night' which is always a treat).
On August 27th, we went to see Jack Johnson at UCSB.
It was at the Harder Stadium which is normally their soccer stadium. There were over 15,000 people there! (apparently, the largest show in SB in quite some time). It was a great show. He played all of the songs I love and was hoping he'd play. Plus, there was a very interesting stage set up with large LCD type screens behind him showing either him or other band members or scenes from nature - the beach, waves, clouds, trees etc. while he was performing. Very, very cool.
It was just such a neat night - sitting outside in the stands of the stadium (we opted not to stand on the field with the masses - though it turns out after talking with several people who were there - the sound was better in the stands) we had great seats and an excellent view of him and the stage. We let all of the UCSB "kids" stand on the field. =) We listened to the songs and enjoyed hearing all of his stories about how he wrote the first CD - Brushfire Fairytales - while a student at UCSB - talking about the places he lived, his dining commons (the DLG - de la guerra commons), street names in IV, etc. Very cool to be able to tie certain songs to where we live and hear how and when he wrote them...
We left right as it was ending and walked back towards our car under rows of eucalyputus trees listening to him sing the last song of the night, "If I Had Eyes." A very fun evening.
On September 12th, we went to see Jason Mraz at the Santa Barbara West Beach Music Festival. This if the first time they've done this festival - it was huge! For those of you who can picture this, the festival took over all of west beach which sits between the SB Harbor and the Wharf. It was quite the set-up. Various stages, venues, booths... We hung out and sat on the sand, waiting for him to arrive. (As an aside, most of this time I was thinking of Whitney - the ultimate J. Mraz fan. Afterall, I owe being a fan to her as she introduced me to him and his music in the first place. Ah... that fateful day when she drove down from VT to take me to a show at the Orpheum in Boston... She would've loved this night - and the venue!)
He finally came on stage sporting his trademark hat and started singing and beatboxing. His vocal styling and range is amazing. There was an entire horn section as well as other instruments not commonly seen in a 'rock band.' He was, as he said, traveling with 'his orchestra.' He played songs that we knew and some songs that I didn't recognize (I suspect off of the new album which I've yet to purchase) except he did sing the "I'm Yours" song which is a hit at the moment.
It was a great evening: sitting on the beach, listening to him sing, feeling the sand between our toes, and looking up at the palm trees that line Cabrillo Boulevard moving in the ocean breeze.
All in all - two great shows and two great nights out.
(p.s. this is where we'd like to give a shout-out to our awesome babysitter, Erin... yay Erin!) =)
On August 27th, we went to see Jack Johnson at UCSB.
It was at the Harder Stadium which is normally their soccer stadium. There were over 15,000 people there! (apparently, the largest show in SB in quite some time). It was a great show. He played all of the songs I love and was hoping he'd play. Plus, there was a very interesting stage set up with large LCD type screens behind him showing either him or other band members or scenes from nature - the beach, waves, clouds, trees etc. while he was performing. Very, very cool.
It was just such a neat night - sitting outside in the stands of the stadium (we opted not to stand on the field with the masses - though it turns out after talking with several people who were there - the sound was better in the stands) we had great seats and an excellent view of him and the stage. We let all of the UCSB "kids" stand on the field. =) We listened to the songs and enjoyed hearing all of his stories about how he wrote the first CD - Brushfire Fairytales - while a student at UCSB - talking about the places he lived, his dining commons (the DLG - de la guerra commons), street names in IV, etc. Very cool to be able to tie certain songs to where we live and hear how and when he wrote them...
We left right as it was ending and walked back towards our car under rows of eucalyputus trees listening to him sing the last song of the night, "If I Had Eyes." A very fun evening.
On September 12th, we went to see Jason Mraz at the Santa Barbara West Beach Music Festival. This if the first time they've done this festival - it was huge! For those of you who can picture this, the festival took over all of west beach which sits between the SB Harbor and the Wharf. It was quite the set-up. Various stages, venues, booths... We hung out and sat on the sand, waiting for him to arrive. (As an aside, most of this time I was thinking of Whitney - the ultimate J. Mraz fan. Afterall, I owe being a fan to her as she introduced me to him and his music in the first place. Ah... that fateful day when she drove down from VT to take me to a show at the Orpheum in Boston... She would've loved this night - and the venue!)
He finally came on stage sporting his trademark hat and started singing and beatboxing. His vocal styling and range is amazing. There was an entire horn section as well as other instruments not commonly seen in a 'rock band.' He was, as he said, traveling with 'his orchestra.' He played songs that we knew and some songs that I didn't recognize (I suspect off of the new album which I've yet to purchase) except he did sing the "I'm Yours" song which is a hit at the moment.
It was a great evening: sitting on the beach, listening to him sing, feeling the sand between our toes, and looking up at the palm trees that line Cabrillo Boulevard moving in the ocean breeze.
All in all - two great shows and two great nights out.
(p.s. this is where we'd like to give a shout-out to our awesome babysitter, Erin... yay Erin!) =)
Monday, September 15, 2008
Cyanne's First Day of Daycare
Today, I took Cyanne to First Presbyterian Early Childhood Center for the first time.
The word 'day' is a little more than what we did today...
As this is a learning process for both of us, we went for a couple of hours today in the middle of the day (between naps). She seemed to like the other babies and by this I mean reached out to touch their ears or hair (gently...), sat and starred at them, and tried to 'share' toys.
One thing I am certain she liked were all of the new toys. Ah, the joys of undiscovered toys.
Such fun to play with toys that aren't 'yours' and that you don't see every day.
So, we had fun. Checked it out. Met her primary caregivers who will take care of her during the day. Stocked her clothes bin, filled up her food bin in the refrigerator, and loaded the diaper bin...
As I suspected, this might be harder for me than for her. It amazes me how much when I am with her, I want to see her all of the time. Play with her. Pick her up. Kiss her. Hug her. Hold her. I just don't want to let go... She's just so, so, so sweet.
But, it will be a good experience for her, I'm sure. I hope...
If nothing else, she'll learn some good social skills and perhaps be even more motivated than she already is to walk - by looking at some of the other kids.
It's mostly boys - there are 2 other girls but the rest are boys. (I believe there are 10 kids in all in her room).
So... we are going to ease into it the rest of the week and perhaps, come Friday, she'll go for a full-day. Or, maybe, we'll wait for that until next Monday?? =)
Ah, another stage. A new period of change. However this one, unlike almost all of the others, is one of our own doing rather than hers.
Day care will be fun... I'm sure... Cross your fingers. =)
The word 'day' is a little more than what we did today...
As this is a learning process for both of us, we went for a couple of hours today in the middle of the day (between naps). She seemed to like the other babies and by this I mean reached out to touch their ears or hair (gently...), sat and starred at them, and tried to 'share' toys.
One thing I am certain she liked were all of the new toys. Ah, the joys of undiscovered toys.
Such fun to play with toys that aren't 'yours' and that you don't see every day.
So, we had fun. Checked it out. Met her primary caregivers who will take care of her during the day. Stocked her clothes bin, filled up her food bin in the refrigerator, and loaded the diaper bin...
As I suspected, this might be harder for me than for her. It amazes me how much when I am with her, I want to see her all of the time. Play with her. Pick her up. Kiss her. Hug her. Hold her. I just don't want to let go... She's just so, so, so sweet.
But, it will be a good experience for her, I'm sure. I hope...
If nothing else, she'll learn some good social skills and perhaps be even more motivated than she already is to walk - by looking at some of the other kids.
It's mostly boys - there are 2 other girls but the rest are boys. (I believe there are 10 kids in all in her room).
So... we are going to ease into it the rest of the week and perhaps, come Friday, she'll go for a full-day. Or, maybe, we'll wait for that until next Monday?? =)
Ah, another stage. A new period of change. However this one, unlike almost all of the others, is one of our own doing rather than hers.
Day care will be fun... I'm sure... Cross your fingers. =)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Light and Shadow
A few photographs of Cyanne taken one late afternoon while she was sitting on the floor of our living room, alternating between being engrossed with a board book and trying to pull herself up to standing on a side table.
(While Mommy was having fun with the camera and various light exposure settings...)
(Please note the Blabey concentration look, tongue out).
(While Mommy was having fun with the camera and various light exposure settings...)
(Please note the Blabey concentration look, tongue out).
Visit with the Eldreds - Aug. 23rd
We had a nice day with Jason & Holly who were in town for a few days after coming back to the states from the U.K. We took a nice walk at Ellwood Preserve (Lucky had fun as well!) and then came home and had dinner.
Here are a few shots from the walk:
Jason & HollyHere are a few shots from the walk:
(We're hoping that maybe the view and California ocean breeze
and sunshine convinces them to move West...)
Down near the beach
Walking back through the eucalyptus groves
Jason & Cyanne - hanging out in the kitchen... and playing with whisks... =)
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