Wednesday, June 30, 2010

San Diego.

We are spending so much of this summer traveling. We have some important events to attend, and important people to visit. We also are taking advantage of Clark's free flying status, and my empty lap to see family and friends around our country.

Clark and I were in San Diego last week visiting Greenwells and Grillots while Tom was in Long Beach going to a conference, he came down the coast on the last few days of our trip to do some government work in San Diego, mentor some post-docs at Scripps and visit with his family.

We stayed with Nana Greenwell. She has a delicious little ball of puffy fur named Allie. Clark really loved Allie. He loved petting her, following her around, getting her to lick him, grabbing her tail and even pretending to be her. He spent most of his time going "oof, oof, oof," his version of a bark.


Clark loved climbing in and out of her dog box, bed, and splashing in her water. He and his cousin, Sophia, had a blast pretending to be doggies!
He loved being able to play with Sophia so much! I think it was good for her to have Clark, as she just got a baby brother that week, and things always change with a new baby. Clark was someone from her past who she may have slightly remembered, but definitely thought was fun.
They try out the dog box and doggie bed. We also got to go to a park to play. All of the fun and sunlight helped Clark adjust to the Western time zone. He had fun playing with Sophia's sand toys and eating sand. He walked around a bunch and gained the affections of everyone there. Sophia is especially talented linguistically, cousin Ruby is especially talented physically, but Clark's super power is certifiably his charm.

Nana/Janet and I had a really fun time going to the Viejas Outlet mall and doing some shopping for the new baby. Since Andrea and Jake don't like to know what gender of baby they are having in advance, everyone scrambles once the baby is born to bestow upon it gender appropriate gifts, and we did. We bought a good amount of boy clothes at the mall and were happy to bring them to the wee babe, like Jesus in the manger. We the wise ladies with animal, sports and blue themed outfits. So, I know you are dying to see this baby already. Here you go. I present to you the proud parents!


And the wee little babe.
And the babe again.
And the babe and the baby.

And the newest addition in jungle animal themed jammies.

It was very nice to be in town the first week of his life, yet probably hectic for everyone in SD as I was an extra body and had my own little boy to plan around. It was nice that Sophia had us to play with and get to visit with her. Her birth was such a big deal in my life and I have really missed watching her grow since they moved back to SD. Its a bummer that I won't get to see this new one grow up - at least not in person, but that's the reality of our big country. I hope that since we are gone, their family is getting some rest, things are settling down, and that the baby is getting used to being outside Andrea now.

When Tom finished up in Long Beach and came down to San Diego, we were able to spend some time together as a family. We went down to Ocean Beach one morning and had breakfast at Margarita's Mexican Food and American Breakfast, better know to us as "Mexican American Food!" we had an awesome breakfast while Clark ate Jelly at the table.

We walked around our old neighborhood and noticed its changes. Most notably are two marijuana shops. I can't say that I wish I lived there anymore. We always said it was not a good place to raise kids, and now I'm even more glad that we left.

One afternoon, while Clark and I were waiting for Tom to do some mentoring at Scripps, we went to the mall and found these awesome dolphin fountains. Clark loved them and had fun splashing in the water. He was a little afraid at first, thinking there was some kind of giant animal in the water, but then he realized they weren't going to hurt him. =)
This is the fountain where he got so soaked,
had to take all of his clothes off and bring him home naked!




We also took a nice hike up Cowl's mountain with our good friend Julie. It took us a lot longer than we thought because we had never really hiked with Clark before. He wasn't a big fan of being in the Ergo carrier and wanted to get down and play. When we finally got up to the top, we freed the boy and he got really dirty. I feel bad for San Diego mothers with crawlers and toddlers - cause it is a dirty place.
dirty, dirty, dirtyThe views from the top were very pretty and it was a lovely hike overall. We had considered hiking Iron Mountain (where we got engaged!), which takes about 4 hours if you are not stopping for a baby - so we're glad we didn't do that mountain!

Julie and Clark going up, up and away!

Everyone but me.

Everyone but Tom. Julie helps Clark practice good sun habits! When we got up there, he was done wearing his hat. None of us were wearing sunscreen either - what idiots!
Tom didn't mind wearing Clark's hat though!


All in all it was a very nice trip and we had a great time visiting with family, seeing friends, and exploring our old territory. It was relaxing for me in many ways because I didn't have to worry about cleaning or laundry or what bed needed to be changed and vacuumed under next. I read a few books, magazines and took lots of naps. It's the last time I'll be going West for a while. In January, we'll have the new baby, Clark will cost money in March and we'll probably use all of our vacation on maternity leave. I'm glad we got to be there together as a family before all of our next big changes!

Zoo trip




Hey!
I've been taking photos all this month and not really posting anything. Once again, I'm sorry I'm a slacker. Here are some photos from our most recent zoo trip. Clark really loves the small mammal house because he can see the animals up close at the windows and they run around so he definitely notices them.I also like the farm part of the zoo, because we have lots of books that talk about farm animals. I encouraged Clark to say, "mooooo" and he said back in a high note "ooooooooo" our little opera singer. =)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Family.

So I've been meaning to write for a while, but have just been emailing photos from my cell phone instead. I promise to try to write a blog with words at least once a month from here on out...

One thing that we really love right now is family. Tom, Veronica, and Clark. When you first get married, it takes a while to stop having conversations like, "we have to visit your family for this holiday." or "well that's how your family does it, but mine does it differently." Eventually you develop your own your twosome, threesome, or moresome into your own family. We definitely are now, and its a wonderful thing.

When Tom comes home from work we usually share a hug and/or a kiss, just some quiet time between husband and wife. Clark, however, knows that this is a special time and has made it family time. He rushes over and climbs between our legs, reaching up to be lifted into our hug. He gives us kisses and lays his head across our chests.

The fact that he does this is one of my proudest parenting accomplishments. Our son knows that we, three, are family. He knows that we belong together and that we are a source of love and nourishment.

I pray that as my belly grows larger and our newest baby makes his/her presence known, that Clark can open his heart to an expanding concept of family. We are happy to welcome this new being into our lives now, but wait for the birth this winter around New Years.
Love to all,
Veronica, Tom, Clark and baby Joy. The Greenwell Family

Sunday, June 20, 2010

IMG00724.jpg

We get to fly on the Shamu plane! Suddenly I have rays of hope bursting out of me!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Leaving on a jetplane.

We leave in 30 minutes for San Diego. Clark is enjoying the airport, Veronica and Tom are not. We are on seperate airlines going to seperate destinations (Tom to long beach). We'll be traveling for almost the next 3 weeks. Wish us luck, pray for our sanity and for peace and relaxation. Thanks!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Home Depot.

The kids @ home depot. We are getting supplies for a painting project this weekend!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The best .25 cents I ever spent.

The kids love this fire engine that I bought at a yard sale. It was featured in Clark's halloween photos!

Bollywood dance class!

i
Tom and I took a Bollywood dance class this spring. It was the first thing we've really done for ourselves in a long, long, long time. We had neighbors babysit Clark in exchange for watching their kids sometime. At our last class we had a little recital. One of our friends/babysitters came along and took some film and photos. She held Clark during the performance.

Clark's little vest is from Afghanistan. My outfit is my own, which I won off of an internet contest. It was sent to me from India! I applied to the contest in college when I was dancing in Masala and Divali festivals @ Tulane with IATU (Indian Association of Tulane University). The whole class was 5 weeks long, so we are not totally awesome, but here is the first minute of our 5 minute dance.

Garden Tour

Here's a tour of our garden. We just planted things this weekend, so its a tour of dreams....



pool fun!

Our crazy baby enjoys his pool time. Just a happy glimpse into our backyard life...

Clark enjoying his Memorial Day weekend.

We took out the pool. And a bowl. If all of life's joys were so simple!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®