Fall Y'all

It's 80 degrees, which in California time means that it's officially Fall! We met up with my cousins at Apple Hill a couple weekends ago for the traditional Fall kick-off, though we picked no apples and apparently I took very few photos. But there were apple donuts and hay bales and a butterfly that landed in C's beard

 

Someone take away my money

Friends? Shit is getting out of hand. And also, occasionally money WILL buy happiness if it comes in the form of a 12 foot skeleton my HOA is ABSOLUTELY going to hate or a pink flightsuit that makes me feel like Barbie (don't mind my dirty bathroom)

 

Youth Recruit Eli

We are in a season where all the kids are happy and healthy and well and I am frequently overwhelmed by gratitude for that. Eli, especially, is absolutely THRIVING right now. He's in a dual enrollment program where he's spending half of his day in fire tech training and even though it's a bit of a logistical crash course, it's just such an amazing opportunity for him. Thank god he can drive. 

And speaking of driving, his parking spot brings me all the feels. 

My brother gifted him his first gen Prius. We weren't in a position to get him a car so this was such a huge gift and made it possible for him to do this program. He loves the freedom and even though he doesn't really appreciate the benefit of a hybrid to a kid with no income, I certainly do. 

A uniform! 

And his own personal axe. He assures me that it's all safe and copacetic. We shall see...

Seriously. This program is LEGIT. 

 

My octopus

I've been wanting to add to my shoulder tattoo for awhile, but I didn't know what I wanted and tattoos are expensive and it was just a whole "thing" and I already had enough things. But then my regular tattoo artist took on an apprentice, which meant that I could get an appointment quicker and cheaper, from someone learning from someone I trusted, so I figured "fuck it!" 

I am SO IN LOVE with this tattoo. Seriously. I think it's my absolute favorite one. She did such a good job on it. Every time I remember that it's on my arm I get excited all over again. She didn't show me the drawing until the day of the tattoo, so I got to be totally surprised by it which was fun and I'm so glad I hadn't chickened out. She designed it so we can keep building if I want, which I hadn't considered but now that I see how pretty it is, it may turn into a whole sleeve. 

I have no serious attachment to octopuses or the ocean but I just love this guy (or maybe girl? I haven't decided yet) It's just so fucking rad. Also I just learned that they can itch their own lungs so that's weird and cool. Plus they are cool animals...

 

Camping photodump

 

We finally went camping and it was everything I needed. We fished and hiked and made spoons and figured out how to use my new percolator. I tested out new s’mores recipes and decided that the best choice is to use a peanut butter cup in place of the chocolate. C and I cold plunged in a lake. Sydney declared that she was never camping again (though I’m not sure she meant it) and Averson immediately asked when we could go back.  

I love her little brain

I want to remember forever this season where one of her favorite things to do is annotate her two favorite books. She carries them around with highlighters, along with whatever book she's currently reading, and calls them her "comfort books." I've peeked over her shoulder and there does seem to be some sort of order to what she chooses to highlight, but what her method is lives in her brain alone. 

 

Moving on

 I sold my family's house and it was so anticlimactic that I'm having a hard time processing it. I have so many feelings wrapped up in this pile of bricks and sticks and yet I'm not finding myself grieving it at all. My parents bought it when they moved to the mountains and were bright-eyed and optimistic and while it held so, so many great memories, it feels symbolic that it always tended to make life harder than was absolutely necessary. The people who bought it are going to flip it and I hope the next people who live there are able to appreciate it for all of it's magic (and that they don't find too many of the animals that we buried over nearly 50 years of country life). 

Barbie Movie

Not only did I buy tickets for the movie theater, but I bought them for opening night. THAT'S how excited I was for the Barbie movie! (Almost) everyone themed out with me and it was so fun to see the sea of pink milling around the shopping center before the show started. 

I thought I was going to love it because it was fun and pink and targeted towards me and my girls. I wasn't prepared to love it so much for the messaging. I nearly cheered out loud during America Ferrara's speech. 

You can't tell, but even the boys loved it

I bought these from a little girl who was selling them at the Farmer's Market, which felt very on-brand. 

 

Cats and carpets

 Lots of bits and pieces. Eli hit a breaking point with trying to keep his kittens in his room (sleep deprivation with kittens is legit) and so now they're out in the house. We're all together and no one has gotten eaten!

And just look at this beautiful, beautiful flooring! The blue carpet is GONE and I knew it was going to make a difference, but I didn't really appreciate just how big of a difference it was going to be. I just love it so much

It was even worth putting everything we own into one room, which did actually make my eye twitch for a few days

Anniversary Trip photo dump

C and I celebrated our TWENTIETH wedding anniversary this year. TWENTY. I was 19 when we started dating. I was 21 when we got engaged. In two more years I'll have had his last name longer than I had my dad's. We have outlasted most marriages I know, and because we got married when we were literal babies, we've managed to witness several friends' second and even third marriages. I think the secret, if I'm honest, is that we got married young and stupid. We figured it out together and now I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather muck through life with. This guy makes me absolutely crazy, but he also 100%, on a cellular level, gets me. Which is how we came to celebrate our anniversary at a wood carving camp in the actual middle of nowhere. It was beautiful and crunchy and exactly how I would design the most perfect weekend away with my person. We learned how to carve spreaders (or shanks, depending on who you asked), he fished, I read and carved some more. We stumbled on the weirdest, most delightful Fourth of July festival, and we had a lovely, lovely low key weekend. The kids are big enough that we stocked the house with frozen food, named explicitly the acceptable house guests (so as not to recreate the shenanigans spearheaded by my mother last time we left them home alone) and didn't check in for two days. We came back to a clean house and happy babies. 

Yup. That's a goat. On a leash. At a concert. 

Future Tinder profile pic, should he choose not to stick around for 21

 

Our cute little lodge in the town with a population of 75