San O: A Tale of Six Summers

During the summer of 2002, when Finney was about a month old, John and I took him to Old Man's at San Onofre State Beach for his very first beach day. Here's a rough scan of his baby scrapbook, marking that momentous rite of passage as a Southern Californian.

A year later, that little baby somehow became a toddler, and it was at San Onofre where he practiced taking his first steps.

Then, when that little toddler turned two, we held his birthday party at San Onofre, under the Dogpatch palapa. Here's a scan of his baby book page commemorating that day.

The next year we welcomed a little sister for Finn, and promptly initiated sweet Shea into the San Onofre lifestyle.

And, just like her brother, that small babe turned into a toddler, stumbling across the sand, growing more confident with each wobbly step. Again, we visited San Onofre.



And yet again.



And then we moved to Hawaii, which has countless gorgeous beaches, but no San Onofre. So we were delighted to visit our old summer playground -- "San O" -- for an evening barbecue and campfire with Cari and her family during our mainland vacation.

Where We've Been

The last couple weeks have been a little bumpy here, trying to settle back into the school/homework/soccer practice/preschool routine after what felt like a month long vacation from all of it.

(I'm only partially kidding: Finn's school let out for 25 days in a row for the holiday break. "That's like a college vacation," a friend said, shocked. But without the ski trip to Lake Tahoe and sleeping in 'til noon parts.)

The most deliciously vacationy of it all, however, was the last week of the break, when we hosted Finn's best buddy from California, Logan, and his sweet mom, Gina.

You may remember Logan and Gina from past posts on this blog (which I cannot connect to through blogger at this time. Anyone else having this problem for the last, like, forever? Anyone?). Logan's had top billing on the Marquee of Finney's Heart for years and years, so naturally the boys were excited to see one another again after an excruciating six-month separation.

We tracked their flight on our computer as it made its way across the Pacific Ocean from LAX, an activity which made Finney nearly bubble over with anticipation in the hours leading up to their arrival.

Finney made this special poster to greet them, which hung above our breakfast table during their entire stay.



Thankfully, the weather was cooperative so we spent lots of time at the beach, went hiking, and had lots of downtime, sprinkler hopping and Otter Pops at the house. Oh, and there was much juvenile nakedness. Especially from Shea, 'cuz that's just how she rolls these days.

Here's the rest of the highlights, in photos.

As the pictures can underscore, we had a fantastic time and were so grateful our friends made the long journey to come see us in our new home. We wanted to rip up their return tickets to see if maybe they'd just decide to stay forever, but no go. This time.

We're getting a new batch of visitors this week (and still more the week after that), so I hope to have lots of new photos up soon.

Practicing

Pink Bucket Hat

My New Favorite Picture

Living La Vida Aloha

Well, hello there!

We took a long break, then a long last look, then a long plane ride, and now we're here.

Living in Hawaii.

Pinch me; I still sometimes can't believe it's true.

Many of you have kindly inquired about what life's been like now that we're somewhat settled into our new routine and location, so I've assembled a mini primer for you with lots and lots of photos!

OUR NEW ISLAND LIFE IN REVIEW: DOMESTICITY EDITION

Every Friday we try to make a trip into "town" to visit John on his lunch hour.

Sometimes we pack a picnic, as we did when we watched the Royal Hawaiian Band perform on the grounds of the Iolani Palace.

Sometimes we visit prominent Hawaiian cultural sites, like the statue of King Kamehameha in front of the Aliiolani Hale, the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court.

And sometimes we simply venture into Chinatown for amazing noodle dishes and fresh produce.

Bourgeois as it may seem, Saturdays are generally reserved for chores and household cleaning and repairs, (and more recently, soccer games, but more on this in a future post), but every Sunday we try to explore a new beach. I think there are enough on this island to keep us busy in this pursuit for years.

But on a day-to-day basis, it's really just business as usual around these parts.

Since it's been quite hot and humid, the kids seem to subsist on the standard summer diet staple across the nation: Popsicles. The only twist is that most of theirs are homemade, and should really be called POGsicles.

There is also much Play-Doh action in the backyard.

The biggest news, I suppose, is that little Finn -- my firstborn who it seems only just recently came home from the hospital bundled in a baby blue onesie -- started KINDERGARTEN.

Shea's also leaving babyhood behind at an alarming rate by doing extremely well in her potty-training adventures. I think (*fingers crossed*) that we're just days away from finally throwing away all the diapers and Pull-Ups. (Or at least tucking them away in the back end of the closet.)

Other regular activities include:

Costume dress-up...

Tandem skateboarding...

And bandying about in only bathing suits...


or even less.

Yeah, we pretty much love it here.