Larger than a two year old
That’s right, Mazie is now three! Today was the big day and she celebrated in true Mazie fashion: a pool visit, strawberries, mac and cheese, chocolate cake and lots of playing. Here is a pictorial of the day’s festivities (you have to click through to see the full picture)…
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If you are looking for a touching account of Mazie turning three, tune into Jamie’s post. I’m not too good at that sort of thing, so I decided to let him take the reigns and drive that horse.
Big Sur packs a wallop
Today has restored my faith in “the vacation”. I must admit over the last few days I’ve grown weary and last night as I was trying to fall asleep I really wanted to pack it up and go home. But today was a glorious day and I’m feeling the travel buzz all over again.
We took it easy this morning, no showers, breakfast in our little house, and then hit the road around 9am. The van cruised us down Hwy. 1 to the Big Sur area and there was nothing but Spectacular each and every way we turned. There are scenic spots to stop almost continuously and lots of quaint motels, shops, art galleries and restaurants tucked into the hillside. The drive continues on to the Hearst Castle and beyond, but in the interest of Mazie and her sanity, we kept our distance from home base around 50 miles.
We lunched at this fabulous spot called Nepenthe where patrons are seated at two long wood counters that overlook a sheer drop-off with hills on one side and the ocean on the other. I’ve never felt so calm and happy waiting for and then partaking in my meal. Even Mazie was a picture of near perfection, only showing faint signs of “two-ness” while sharing dessert with Jamie.
After 3 hikes, an awesome lunch, lots of picture taking and even a little shopping, we plopped ourselves down for a refreshing ice cream cone in the prettiest state park lodge I’ve ever been to, then turned the van around and headed back to our temporary home.
Paradise lost, paradise found, and the pictures to prove it.
SF + TKT = :-(
I know San Francisco is a great city and so I figure there was something out of whack with me during our visit. It’s not that I had a horrible time or no fun at all, but I never fell into a groove with the city. Since I don’t have much to report, I thought I’d share a few photos instead. Click through the pictures if you want to see the full image or read the description.
Deep-Fat Fried
I’m feeling like a horrible mom. I tend to be pretty blasé about certain things and the sun is one of those things. I know, I know, not putting sunscreen on your kid is a horrible crime and I’m so guilty no jury is needed. I could easily count the number of times I’ve applied sunscreen to Mazie on one hand. She’s never burned before; she’s always been the same shade of off-white. I try to ensure her sun exposure is low, keeping her in the shade or making sure that when she does get sun it’s early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Anyhoo…
We were at a park in sunny San Francisco on Saturday, getting some quality time with the all-important swing, and by nightfall a small part of Mazie’s face was puffy and red. It’s now Tuesday and she still has red spots on her face. Jamie, who is much wiser about sun things than I, had put sunscreen on her, but even that wasn’t enough to counter the devious plans of this particular sun. I remember him being worried about Mazie getting too much sun and me thinking that he worries far too much and should just chill out.
As with all things like this, I learned my lesson and changed my tune immediately. After realizing that my stupidity got my kid burned, I’ve become the sunscreen police. So, to all you moms and dads out there who religiously put sunscreen on your kids, good job.
Would you like some plastic with that - Update!
I’ve come across three more instances of biodegradable, starch-made plastic on our drive down the coast and I thought I should share. The West Coast is definitely far ahead of the Midwest on this front and it’s been exciting to come across these products. The proof is in the crappy iPhone pictures. [gallery]
Wiki Sticks
If you are looking for an interesting craft project to do with kids, may I introduce the Wikki Stix. Mazie was gifted a few Wikki Stixs at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and the whole Thingelstad clan has enjoyed playing with them ever since. They are colorful, easy to sculpt, wax-covered yarn pieces. With only eight “sticks” Mazie has managed a ladder, while I’ve sculpted many a person and Jamie has fashioned multiple geometric shapes and the Seattle Space Needle. Just imagine what fun could be had with a whole package!
Larger than a piece of poop
Warning: If you are easily offended or have a problem with stories of poop, even cute three year old pooping stories, please do not read any further.
As we were walking alongside the redwoods today, Mazie decided that she needed to poop. She dropped trou’ right there in the middle of the path and plopped down a couple of turds. It was awesome! I gave her a high-five immediately. I know most people would feel differently, but I couldn’t help but to applaud her adventurous spirit in the face of adversity. As soon as she finished we saw a group of kids approaching. We did a quick stick-stab and throw of the specimen deep into the forest floor, wiped her clean* and had her pants back up before the approaching kids could utter the word “poo”.
*The toilet paper used to wipe clean was packed out and disposed of properly. Over and out.
Larger than a woman's butt
Jamie has handed the camera over to Mazie on a couple of occasions and I think during her brief encounters she has managed to log almost 1,000 pictures. Thankfully, Jamie has had the good sense to delete many of them. She has a knack for photographing the ground and people’s feet, but today she found a woman’s butt to be of particular interest. She took this picture in the middle of the Redwood Forest. If you are interested in more amazing Mazie pics, Jamie has created a set in Flickr just for her photographs.
Face to Face with a Redwood...
or maybe that should be face to foot with a redwood. Yes, they are tall, majestic and grand. Yes, I felt tiny and timid in the midst of such greatness. And yes, I am definitely smaller than a redwood. But, I also felt peaceful and quiet amongst the giant trees and even a little protected. Because the trees are so massive and their foliage doesn’t start until high up in the sky, there is a lot of space down on the ground. I relished all that open space in a place that felt disconnected and separate from the rest of the world. It was a good day.
I'm still smaller than a redwood
This blog started 571 days ago, thanks to our crazy, lovable landscaper Ann. We were talking one night on the phone and she said, “At least I’m smaller than a redwood”, and for some reason I loved the saying, put it up on a wall in our house and demanded that Jamie immediately register the domain name and poof there she was, www.smallerthanaredwood.com. The site has sat idle for many of the days since then, but it seems this trip has brought out the blogger in me. Being that my site’s namesake is here in the redwood forest I felt the need to let the world wide web know…we have arrived!