Music in the park

So, here's the deal with the Central Coast...we love being outdoors, we love music, and we love our friends...er, at least I do.
We, (me, Brooke, Tess & Rachel) have been trying to catch most of the Templeton & Paso Concerts in the Park this summer. It works out great because Wednesday is Templeton's day and Friday is Paso's. What I enjoy most is time with my friends and people watching or listening in on conversations around us.
I have been teaching my "Park Pretties" how to play this great game that AJ & UB got for me. It is called Cinco, (5 in Spanish), and is small and easy to transport. We have busted it out a few times at the park. If nothing it has provided us with some things to talk smack to each other about.
Another fun game we happened upon last Wednesday was this strange photo copy cat contest. Round 1, someone gets their picture taken. The next person gets to take their picture too...
But they have to copy the previous person's look.
It can obviously be open to interpretation of the previous person's look...
Very open...
But of course, It is a fun way to capture some of our quirkier moments.
I refrained from posting all the rounds of photos because most of them were unflattering...which should teach me something about mockery...it makes the mocker seem unflattering...alas, I am unmoved.

Tess & I were hanging out downtown and came upon the Teass House. I know not what it houses, if one can enjoy tea there, or if they in fact do not know how to spell teases / teas's / the ass.
But I do know that it is pink and was built in 1929.
I also know that in my village if you want to talk about your home or where you came from, the literal phrase is "the place of my ass" or more succinctly "ass place".
So, I guess this could be home sweet home Tess!

A Cousin Visit

My cousin Celeste & her husband Stephen came for a weekend visit.

Grandpa especially enjoyed their visit...remembering Celeste every time he saw her & being able to really converse. It was a special treat for him, and a special treat for me to share that alert time with him.
Mumsy took us for a tour of the Ranch. Celeste loves animals and it was fun to see her in that environment.Another fun thing was the fact that Stephen commented on how much my mom (Mumsy) & Celeste's mom (Aunt Constance) look alike. I don't think either of them think they look alike, but it is more probably their mannerisms.
Celeste & I enjoyed finding out the things that we have in common too. It is a special thing to share ancestry and for all our disfunction we are a fun bunch of people.
I drove them to the beach on Celeste's birthday. I got a speeding ticket on the way. EEEK! But it was probably deserved, especially if you consider how many times I have been pulled over in the last few months. Three.
We happened upon this dead jelly fish that had washed up on shore. It was fascinating...
I don't think the photos do justice. The top squishy part was dirty but still completely see-through. I tried to flip it over with my feet, because I'm not sure how stingy a dead jelly fish of that size can be and because I wanted to see the stingers.
It didn't work.

We walked a little more, skipped stones & drew in the sand...
it was a beautiful day.

We went out to a great little Italian restaurant in SLO, and came home late to a surprise birthday cake from the Hawks.
We played a fun game that Celeste brought that I cannot for the life of me remember the name. I do however remember the people's names in this picture, that it had to do with trains, and that it was fun...
Tess was gracious enough to be our DD for a fun afternoon of wine tasting.
This is us at Eberle (which means "wild boar")
Finding that out did help me to better understand all the ugly boar sculptures, paintings and fountains we came across.

Yes, we are posing in front of a boar-spewing-water-water fountain.
Why? you may ask.
Like I said on facebook...why not?

Why? I did ask.
Because Tess loves to torture Kona. She was actually successful in getting Kona to pull her around on the little wheeled dolly. Very funny but a little mean I am afraid.

A bird for Susan

Mumsy & I made a sweet little pin cushion bird for Susan's birthday...
I should clarify that by "Mumsy & I made" I mean, of course, that I picked out the pattern, we both discussed the fabrics, & Mumsy technically did the "making" part. But, I was there the whole time! (almost)
See, proof I was there...these are my fingers.
The happy little bird at the first run-through. We shortened the beak, because it helped it's cuteness factor to have a daintier face.
I really liked the colors and especially the surprise red dot on the tail. I hope it turns out to be something beautiful & useful.

Mini Em

Annalaura & I threw a baby shower in honor of Emily's baby girl C.G.. It was fun that she had already arrived when we gave the shower, because so many of us wanted to meet her.
Here are my two sweet, beautiful friends...


My three favorite parts of the weekend were down time with the Wilkins, being with Em & holding her tiny C.G., and seeing Em's face when she opened our gift...

I may have forgotten to mention that I, with the help of Julie, have taken Emily's mild dislike of cats and pushed it over the edge to pure unadulterated loathing.

The trick you ask? Well, step 1 is to have a mind like mine. Slightly obsessive and a little immature. Whenever I see anything feline, I immediately imagine Emily and her cute nose turned up in disapproval. (sigh)
And so, step 2, I buy her the cat things I find. You would be surprised at how many cards with cats there are in this world. Finally, step 3 is persistence. It has taken years...birthdays, Christmases, Easter, Hanukkahs, any time I might be thinking of her...and Ta-Da! she absolutely detests them.

We also made C.G. a yellow onesie with an owl on the bottom & it said "Smarty Pants", and a purple onesie that said "Daddy's lil' biker". I just hope that Em will let C.G. wear the cat one.

Carol, C.G., Annalaura, Brenda & me

I love being around women who are good at hostessing. I feel like a sponge and long to be cool, calm, and collected and able to make marvelous delicious things to boot. Annalaura & I wouldn't have made it without these two!

Here is one of the joys of my weekend...time with Smeadie, as I call her. She started calling me "Friend" this weekend & I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized Annalaura & I call each other that. So cute! Also, at one point she wanted to be "Sminda", as Annalaura calls me, and wanted me to be "Smeadie". I hope she remembers when I see her at Big Sur. I love name-calling games!

Kimwood Ranch

I was able to go with Tim & Jill to the ranch where Jill grew up. The one where she ran wild and free, played horses, and tortured her baby brother Ryan.
Her Nana Lily lives there and was so fun to get to know.

I cannot believe how good Kona is in the car...even when the car ride ends up being like 6 & 1/2 hours. Tim rolled the window down for her when we drove through San Francisco. People acted like they had never seen a dog before...it was so cute. Well, Kona is so cute! Here she is smiling to her adoring fans in San Fran...


We meandered back through the Kimwood property (which is GInormous)on the toughest little mule I have ever seen. (I mean a mean green motorized machine). We decided to commemorate our trek to the back edge of the property by doing what?...of course, a jumping picture. This is Tim, Jill, me, Kristy & Kona...



Kristy & I horsing around...


The whole gang (minus Nana Lily) jumping...
(Tim, Gary, me, Jill, Gay, Kristy - & Molly & Kona are confused in the foreground)


Nana Lily, Jill, Tim & me

Wild Things & Cultural Relevance

I have found some beauty on the walks I have taken of late...
Here is a little bouquet of wild mushrooms


And here is some Miner's Lettuce (I think that is what it is called). No matter what it's name I think it is sweet, and that is why I captured it with the elph


This is a photo from one of the last of our Perspectives classes.

We had a Christian service that might be culturally relevant to Muslims. It was a sort of disorienting experience. It was good to feel unsure and uncomfortable because it helped me to again think more deeply about what it takes to take the Gospel to a new culture. How do we strip away anything that is simply our culture and bring only the Gospel? Something I keep thinking about.

Laura's Last Dance...

So late one night we took Laura out for one of her last nights and Kelly for one of her first nights of California dancing. Woo-hoo!

It was a fun crew...
Brooke, Laura, Me, Tess, & Kelly

No, Rachy didn't go...too young, so we let her take our picture (a lot of them) before we left.



I think this was the night that we got serenaded by 4 young men outside of the Library. They were so fun to dance with, because it was a group of them and a group of us. Also, they were dressed up in like suit & tie or tie and vest sort of outfits. They were respectful and great dancers. After a fun time dancing all together they caught us outside and sang us a little accapella song. It was so sweet.
Another funny thing that happened was that Brooke at one point had to dance a slightly inebriated guy away from her sister-in-law, Kelly, and tell him to leave her alone because she was married to her brother. I just about died laughing.
It was fun! But seeing the pictures makes me miss Laura!