lake anna

Saturday, we wanted to hit the beach.  But so does everyone else for Memorial Day weekend.  I was reluctant to make the two hour drive to VA Beach with Carmen...factor in the unpredictability of 64E traffic, and I was picturing a tiring nightmare.  

So I suggested Lake Anna.  We'd never been, but it had the same idea...sandy beach + water + a little bit closer.

The kids had all sorts of questions, the first of which was probably "Will there be sharks?"  Not likely.

We were happily surprised by the beachiness of the lake.  The May water was way too cold for me, but the kids jumped right in.  There was even a little surf with waves to destroy nearby sand creations.

Did you know Lake Anna is a man-made lake created to cool the nearby nuclear power plant?  There are two sides to the lake, a public side (which is cooler), and a private side (which is warmed from the water discharged from the power plant).  That sounded a little radioactive, but I googled it, and it said it could have a build up of heavy metals and salts but is not considered radioactive because it never comes into contact with those materials.  Phew! since I didn't learn that until I wrote this.

Carmen is quite particular on what she walks on...like grass bothers her little tootsies....

and so does sand, apparently.  Yeah, she doesn't really care for sand yet...so good call on the closer beach.

She spent most of her time at the cooler full of ice-cold watermelon.

It's nice that there's a huge grassy area right next to the beach.  We decided to set up there so everything didn't get too sandy.

Wasn't Saturday a perfect day?

Carmen liked the view from the chair the best.  She spends a lot of time climbing in and out of this at soccer games, too.

Put me in the zoo!  There's a nice playground close to the beach, too!

Here's Joaquin enjoying his sandwich.  We didn't get to the park until 4pm.  That was on purpose...we'd miss the burning midday sun, but there would still be plenty of time to play...the beach closes at 7pm.

I caught Diego crawling around in the sand and scrunching his 'paws' leaving bear tracks. 

And later I saw him digging a hole off to himself with a shovel full of wet sand lying beside him.  It was his own golden treasure.  He buried the wet sand and made an 'X marks the spot' on top, hoping no one would steal it and so he could find it when we come back.  Joaquin pointed out, "If there's an X on it, that's where everyone will look!"

There were life guards on duty...

but you can see in this picture of Isabela, the water up to the first rope was pretty shallow.  She's sitting on the bottom.  

Packing up and time to go home.  Next time, we need to remember to bring a ball, a frisbee, and we even saw one family that had hooked a hammock up between two trees.  Now that's relaxing!

And here was Joaquin's favorite part...sliding down the railings on the steps.  You should have heard all the kids asking their moms, "Can I do that?"  I think they all said no.  In their defense, I told him not to do it the first time, too; but then I realized it was fun, and it was safer than it looked, so why not?

The kids are already asking to go back to Lake Anna.  It's a keeper.

praying?

If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience?  Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?  If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous?  If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

--God, from Evan Almighty (played by Morgan Freeman)

life lately

I've rediscovered the farmer's market.  How about this hamburger-size strawberry?

We are lucky to have the Chesterfield Berry Farm market so close to the house.  They are always giving something free away, plus the prices seem to be really good.  The other day I bought red grapes for $0.99/lb., got one free cantaloupe and a free container of strawberries for spending $15.  

Unfortunately, the strawberry crop wasn't very big this year so they didn't have their huge celebration and U-pick month.  I imagine that gave them a big setback financially, which makes me feel even better to support them weekly.  What do you like to buy from your farmer's market?

Saturdays are finally letting up with this one's soccer schedule, so maybe we can visit some other local farmer's markets.  That would be a fun summer challenge:  visit a different farmer's market each week!

Doesn't Joaquin look like one of the Beetles with his long hair?  

He has a spirit that rebounds from any setback.  He tried out for the Elite Travel team, but didn't make it.  "I suck at soccer, " was his quick response then he went on to some other activity.  I think he knows he doesn't suck at soccer every time he dribbles through three defenders and gently and simply taps the ball into the goal.  His last game he scored five of their seven goals...and had to leave early at the half!

God works things out though.  He was able to try out for the U11 Classic team, the one that all his friends play on and he made it.  Next season is going to be the best year of his life, whether they win or lose, I'm sure of it.

And this guy turned one year older this month.

Latinaish gave me a great idea for a birthday present...is anyone else collecting World Cup stickers in this album?  The album is only two dollars and each sticker packet is, too.  Fun to trade.  Fun to learn about.  Can you fill your favorite team?  Can you fill the whole book?  Juan Pablo wanted to cut to the chase and buy a whole box of sticker packets, but really that's not how you're supposed to do it.  I think I'll surprise him every now and then with a packet and see how far we get that way.

We made a little banner of all the teams flags that are competing this year.

It's a great challenge trying to name them all.  We had a little dispute over England's flag.  See that white one with the red cross?  Who knew?

Here he is with his dad and some of the kids.  His dad has been busy making a vegetable garden in the back yard.  I'll have to snap some pictures of it.

And these two are just so cute together I can't stand it.  Carmen looks for Diego as soon as she wakes up in the morning and reaches out to hug him when she sees him.  Diego has taken to carrying her around the house which always makes my heart skip a beat, but he's very careful with her.

Look who's walking.  Well, just about to take off...any day now.  She's at the two-second balance, time is frozen stage, before she crashes onto her diaper cushion.  She's got a cute bye-bye wave, too.  One is so fun!

And pool time is upon us!  

Have you made your summer bucket list yet?

becoming me

I remember at our house on Camouflage Lane, there was some sort of green plant growing around the mailbox.  It seemed to have spread out and wasn't that pretty.  I even thought about pulling it out, but was probably too lazy and never got around to it.

Great advice to new homeowners: Wait one year to pull anything in your yard.

Because do you know what that plant was that grew at the base of the mailbox?

I found out the next spring.  It was phlox.  Google it if you've never seen it.

It has since been my favorite flowering plant of all time.  (Plus it's fun to say and spell.)  And I've been wanting to plant it here for many years.

FINALLY, I have made my first attempt at gardening in this home of ours that we've lived at for almost six years.  The light-purple plant in the middle is....phlox.

There's a long list of things that held me back from planting anything but a vegetable garden.  Mostly, it was probably fear.  Fear of killing what I planted and wasting the money, fear of planting them in the wrong place and it would look ugly, fear of creepy crawlies.

That last one is interesting.  When we are little kids, we're not afraid of bugs.  We'll dig for worms, catch fireflies and grasshoppers, and enjoy watching the slow journey of snails and slugs.  Diego even let a Madagascar hissing cockroach crawl up his arm at an event at the park the other day.  

But then we get a little older and we become afraid of most of those things.

The funny thing is, if you get old enough, you're too tired to be scared of bugs anymore.  At least, I think that's what's happened to me.

(Although I'll still freeze when a carpenter bee buzzes close to look me in the eye.)

But I won't let it stop me from gardening anymore.

These beautiful irises were planted by the people who lived here before us.

Such a surprise to come out one day and see beautiful purple flowers as big as you are!

Sometimes, I wake up wondering who I've turned into.  I have a garden, I read novels, I write, I'm a mother, I cook.  These are all things that never even entered my mind growing up.  (I still say I got through high school never having read a single book.  OK, maybe Lord of the Flies.  But that's it.)

Things that are still the me I always knew:  painting, sewing, crafting, love of language and culture, and I think I'll always love stuffed animals (but don't tell the kids that's why they get so many).

But I also wonder what's out there still waiting to become me?

Even in the busy life of a stay at home mom:  chauffeuring, cleaning, washing, folding, cooking, caring, scheduling, teaching, and loving I am still becoming me.  With every novel I read in the wee hours of the night, with every apron I sew that took two weeks instead of two hours, with every idea I have but have not the time to act on, I am still becoming me.

How relieving to know we are always still becoming.

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."  -Audrey Hepburn

Do you have a garden?  Do you want a garden?  What would you plant?

eleven

I love this face.

It seems like both yesterday and centuries ago.

I love looking at old photos.  It's one reason that I've kept up this blog for so long...although it's gotten harder as time in the day has gotten shorter.  When did the days start shrinking?

This painted face was from our trip to Disney World before we moved to Bolivia.

I think we can tell who the serious one is here.

Her third birthday.  I remember those days...she never used to look at the camera.  Jello in an orange boat...I think people are still talking about those!  Yum!

Always happy and laughing.

Somewhat shy, although I think she's really gotten over that.

The rare family photo.  I don't even remember this one.  Do we look young, or what?

Her fourth birthday.  Princesses and pirates.  A family friend even dressed up like a princess...in her wedding dress that she could still fit into, plus a wig...and Isabela didn't find out it wasn't a real princess until last year!

Fast forward to ELEVEN.

She is quite amazing and capable.  

She can cook.  By herself.  Cheesecake, quesadillas, eggs.  She can follow a recipe and she's a wiz at fractions.

She is great with small children.  She can craft with Diego, she whips Carmen on to her hip and even shares her Calico Critters with her; and she has the patience of Job with her close-in-age brother, Joaquin.

I'd say cleaning is her enemy.  But maybe she'll grow out of that.

She loves music and singing.  If you hum a tune, she's humming along with you, even if she hasn't the faintest idea what song it is.  And she even tapped out Mary Had a Little Lamb on her homemade xylophone for music class.

She braves the highest roller coasters.

 And she's nearing her black belt.  Watch out world.

Sometimes with four kids, I'm spread real thin.  But I treasure my one on one time with Isabela...reading chapter books before bed, snuggled under the comforter together...although Diego usually weasels his way between us;  or shopping for clothes, which she's seems to grow out of the the minute we rip the tag off; and just talking...for which there's never enough time.

The Bible says the fruits of the spirit are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.

She's got them.  Maybe not all at once, but I'm so thankful for the amazing spirit in this girl.  

Happy Birthday, Isabela.

I've said it before:  the world is wonderful with you in it.