Some Recent Favorites

Bright eyed and bushy tailed first thing in the morning.
I love how every feature on her face is raised in anticipation of the giant bite of Cheerios.

Her favorite new spot. "The Brown Chair" was built by Kevin's great-grandpa.

And while potty training is going pretty well, this is what "poop training" looks like in our home every other day.

Central Coast

For his birthday, Kevin's dad gave him an awesome gift certificate for a weekend away to Cambria. It has been a busy summer, but we were excited to get away just the two of us. We love doing things with Lily, and we have a great time, but not only was it great to reconnect just us, we were able to do things in the middle of the afternoon instead of just waiting for her nap to be over.

We headed us the coast on Sunday afternoon for a beautiful cool drive. We had a great dinner in town included in our getaway package.
The next day after breakfast at the lodge, we went for a stroll along the board walk path at Moonstone beach. We didn't follow the entire way but still had a nice long walk. We headed down to the water to look at the tide pools. I must admit, this is probably the only part where I missed Lily. We saw squirrels, rabbits, deer, elephant seals, crabs, sea anemones, and so much wildlife, I would have loved to have pointed it out to her. But I was quickly over it.

We drove up a little to Hearst Beach. The sun was shining but it was still pretty cool. I used my sweater as a scarf to block some of the wind.

We went even further north and found the Elephant Seal viewing. The beach was not as full as other times in the year, but we watched them flop around a play for a while. They reminded us a lot of our dogs when the wrestle.


We headed back to town to pick up mochas for a snack and took the back to the lodge. Just outside out room/cottage there was a private little patio garden with a bistro set. I was a beautiful location for a coffee break.
In the afternoon we joined up with Kevin's sister and brother in law for wine tasting. The package included tastings at 6 wineries, but we only visited two.

We took our time at Harmonie Cellars in Harmony, population 8. The view was nice and the weather gorgeous.

That evening we had a beautiful dinner at the lodge, followed by some live entertainment. The entertainment wasn't stellar, but the company was great.


I always like to head to the coast in the summer and breathe in the fresh, cool, coastal air. It was not so great to head back home to the triple digit heat.

Independence Day 2012

July fourth was our first day back and without food in the house, we headed out for donut holes at the shop down the street. It was Lily's first time with donuts and she gobbled that sugar covered fried dough up with glee.

After donuts we got some real food for the week at a couple of stores.
Then we went by Toy'R'Us to pick up a wading pool but arrived a little early so we played out in the grass next to the store until the opened.


That evening our friends and their two sons came over for dinner, a little water play, and some fireworks.

We walked down the the park for a nice cool evening and fireworks off of Mt. Rubidoux. This may have been the first time I have seen the show without stopage of the show to put a fire out.

We enjoyed our time with our new friends.

Flying Home

The trip back to California was a lot less stressful than the trip to New York. Everyone had plane tickets and we all boarded on time.
Lily found a play area at the terminal and loved the play house.


Unfortunately, the flight was a little rough on Lily. She didn't act out, but she was exhausted. She was very, very interested in the four children in front of us. She fell asleep about 40 minutes before we landed. Then she was awake the whole drive home from L.A. Poor thing. It took her almost 3 days to recover from the time change and the lack of sleep.
It was a great trip, but we are glad to be back in California.

Howe Cavern, N.Y.

On Monday the second before we left New York we headed down to Howe Caverns. I had really wanted to visit Womens Rights National Historical Park in Senca Falls, but not only would Kevin not be overly intreguied, Lily was sure to not make it through the four locations that make up the park.

So we headed 152 feet below the earths surface.

The cave path was much too narrow for the stroller so I carried Lily in the sling. Luckily, she still doesn't weigh much,
The cave was chilly at a constant 52 degrees.

The camera died while we were underground but we were able to take a few more shots with the phone.


In true Atkinson fashion, we picniced outside the cavern. The picnic is something I learned growing up. We always took lunch with us on day trips or while camping. I'll admit, it is significantly cheaper, but it really is a lot of fun to find interesting places to sit and eat.

We couldn't capture how beautiful the drive was, and I'm sure it would be much prettier in the fall, but we had a great scenic drive. Lily, however, missed all of it.

Fort Stanwix, Rome, N.Y.

On Sunday we headed east to Rome to visit Fort Stanwix National Monument. Nothing is left of the original fort but the rebuilt fort was very interesting.

Of course, if their were stairs, Lily had to climb them.






At the visitors center, Lily and Daddy played with the toys.







After the fort we drove a couple of miles up the road to Oriskany Battlefield Memorial. There were some signs and a visitors center, but not much else.
It was beautiful, but just as I was taking this picture I was suddenly overwhelmed by what actually happened here. The Colonists felt that their freedom from England was worth putting their family in danger for. They were aware of what could happen but had such passion for what was right and true that they risked everything. I am often reminded and appreciative of our current troops but I was suddenly very aware that our current freedom would be non-existent if the Colonists had not fought against "taxation without representation." One day I'll take Lily back to the east so she can learn and appreciate all that was done for her freedom.

Fort Ontario, Oswego, N.Y.

While in New York we took a day trip up to Lake Ontario to visit Fort Ontario. When we arrived we were surprised to see people camping out in front of the fort. They were all in early 1700s garb camping in time era tents cooking food and making soap over a camp fire. Not something I wanted to participate in but definitely entertaining. Whole families were participating. Children were playing with toys of the time period. The highlight of the day was the battle reenactment that afternoon.

We walked around the grounds and had a great time. The weather was very nice that close to the lake.

In true Lily fashion, she was captivated by the quartet. We returned to the benches to listen to the music repeatedly throughout the day.


We walked over to the graveyard for a shady picnic.

Man, I love this kid.







We waited around for the battle reenactment but Lily wasn't really interested. And to tell you the truth, once it started, it all looked the same, and we already knew who was going to win.

Everything becomes a phone.

The drive was beautiful and it was nice to reach some cooler weather. We had a great family day.