Sunny Seaside

Sunday, March 15

We're home from the beach and I can't believe how great the weather was. So nice to have a break from the wacky weather of last week. On Monday we saw every form of precipitation: snow, hail, sleet, rain and slush. Did I miss any? I was amazed to look back at the pictures and find that these two were next to each other. Here is the last pic I took Tuesday afternoon while driving through the coast range on the way to Seaside.

Here is the first one I took Wednesday in Canon Beach, right after we shared a family size bucket of clam chowder at Mo's. Yummmm.The skies were this clear the whole time we were there, see the squinting. It seems like we packed more for three nights at the beach than for two months in Europe. I guess that's what happens when you have a car and pack bikes, food and a kite. You never know how many layers you will need to protect against the Oregon coast winds.

You Capture - Texture

Wednesday, March 11

Here are my texture photos for the You Capture photography challenge, week 3. It was to temping to go through all the Europe photos, but I resisted and took a couple new shots during the last week.

I was hoping to get Sydney looking through or over her fan from Spain, but she wasn't in the mood.

OK, this last one I took on the way home from South Carolina after Christmas, but I love this picture.

I also had some frost pics a few weeks ago that would have worked.

Brace yourself

Tuesday, March 10

I can't believe it, Kyla hasn't even turned eight yet and she had her first visit to the orthodontist and they're ready to start. Be thankful that they haven't sent me the pictures from the visit because I would have been tempted to post them and I think they might look pretty scary. Kyla didn't look very comfortable as they stretched her mouth as far as they could and stuck mirrors inside in order to take pictures from every angle.

It's no surprise that both the girls will need braces as Kevin and I both had them. Kyla's got all sorts of things going on: narrow upper palate, cross-bite, and an ankylosed molar (I'll explain that in a second). Things have sure changed since I got mine 20+ years ago. They do them in two phases now, which makes sense to start early to prepare the way for the permanent teeth yet to come in. Are you ready? The bottom line is 5-6k, x 2 girls = ouch! It's a good thing we weren't thinking about this last year or we may have spent that sabbatical right here at home.

For all you relatives here are the gory details. It's all starting now because Kyla has an ankylosed 2nd yr molar, which means that is it fused to her jaw bone and the permanent tooth underneath isn't growing properly. The more she grows, the more the tooth is sinking back into gums. This means that the first step is to have the tooth extracted by an an oral surgeon. Then she will have a spacer there to keep the other teeth from moving into the empty spot. Next they will put a metal arch across the roof of her mouth to expand her upper palate. She will also get some braces on the front four teeth to help make room for her canines. Phase 1 will last about a year and phase 2 starts around 12 years old. It will be nice that she may be totally done by the time she starts high school. I didn't even get my braces until I was fourteen.

For the rest of the week we're going to forget about all of this and head to the beach so I better get packing. Check back on Thursday to see the photo challenge on texture.

Fly with dragons

Saturday, March 7

Today is the first day of Kevin's spring break - Yay! The last couple of weeks have been busy and we're looking forward to some family time and a trip to the Beach on Tuesday! We haven't been to a beach since last September and I honestly can't remember our last trip to the Oregon coast - I'll have to look back at my pictures to see if we even went last year. Syd and I were at Costco and I could resist this big dragon kite.

I truly tried to convince the girls not to take this kite out the box until we got to the beach, but they were sooo excited and not to be reasoned with or bribed. Well, yes of course they wanted to fly it and were very disappointed when I told them it was absolutely not possible. They don't care that kites skies free of power lines, space to run and one more little thing called wind! For now they are happy just running in circles in the back yard. I sure hope they don't loose any parts or break it before we get there. Now let's all hope for some decent weather! Look, there is Kyla's right arm without a brace - her broken arm is now a thing of the past.

Photo Storytelling

Thursday, March 5

Lately I've been fascinated with taking pictures through my peep hole. I know it's kind of weird, especially since you can't really control what's on the other side. I found another photography challenge posted by Scott Thomas Photography where you try to tell a story in just one shot. I actually found this kind of hard, but this one does a pretty good job. Not only are my parents coming over for dinner, they are bringing the food (notice the cooler and various bags they are carrying). I'm still having troubles getting my non SLR to focus correctly through the hole, but you get the idea.

You Capture - Perspective

Wednesday, March 4

This weeks You Capture photo challenge is perspective. I know that new photos were encouraged but this pic Sydney on her bike is my favorite and I posted it the day before I found out about the perspective theme. Sorry for the rerun. OK, now for some new ones.

Sydney rather looks like a giant here helping me in the kitchen. I wouldn't even mind a giant in my kitchen if it meant someone else was cooking dinner. Too bad I got such a bad glare off the cabinet.

We don't have a train track at home, but I got this shot at preschool, I think the kids thought I was a little crazy. How did that get there? Well, I couldn't leave out this one of a staircase we saw while in Prague last summer.

Week end wrap up

Sunday, March 1

The week (and month) has gone by so fast and I feel like I can't get out of first gear. It seems like I've had something on the calender everyday for last two weeks. This post is for certain grandparents who wanted more pictures of grandkids and less of teapots - but I won't name any names (mom). It was kind of nice to be forced to take a break yesterday while playing nurse to Sydney whose who suddenly got a fever and needed snuggling and blankets and water and books and a long nap. I needed that nap too! Yes, so sad that I have given them up after needed/wanting them for seven year. Wow - seven?- I guess kids will do that to you.

We took a field trip to the Central Library with preschool. That place is huge - the kids section is almost as big as our local library. Here is Sydney acting appropriately impressed at the sight of the card catalog that we found up on the third floor.

I overslept that morning so we missed the opportunity to explore public transportation, but I think during the last year we've experienced every form of transportation there is. OK, we haven't traveled by submarine or hot air balloon, but there is still time.

Last weekend it was Kyla with the fever. Since I had just spent a day helping a few preschool moms put together a quilt for our annual auction fundraiser, we decided to spend her sick day sewing. Kyla had been planning a sewing project for a while and she was really excited to use her sewing machine.
Here she successfully sewed a straight seam.

Thanks mom for teaching me how to sew. It's great to be able to pass something like that on to my girls.