Scrambled Thoughts XI - Miami Style

1.  Paralyzed.  My brain.  Stuck.  Jammed.  Overwhelmed.

I'm paralyzed by all the things... so many perfect moments sprinkled throughout our last month in Miami that really deserve to be recorded, and I can't seem to get my brain to roll with the thoughts in any sort of productive manner.  Instead I sit here with this blank screen in front of me, staring into the light.  But record I must, so I am forcing my fingers to do the work and hoping that by bypassing my brain, something will be accomplished.

If the words leave you lacking, at least you'll have some cute faces to stare at inbetween.

2. Boys and Beaters

Not boys as beaters, let's be clear.  But boys with beaters.  The cooking kind, of course.  Timothy is starting to realize that there are some v.e.r.y special things in this world - like beaters with cookie dough on them.  I'm not sure whether Miles, Carson or Timothy enjoyed this moment more... those big brothers sure are excited to introduce that little baby to the finer things in life.

3. Some boys consider a dog to be their best friend.  Others choose a shovel.

Miles has chosen well.  Shovels don't have to be fed.  And you don't have to clean up their poop.

4. Sometimes motherhood feels a bit like a patient pelican with an angry seabird yelling on its back.

Sometimes I'm the seabird.  Sometimes I'm the pelican.
 
5. Parks. Bikes. Sweat. Sisters.  It's a wonderful life.

I'm afraid that Timothy thinks Kenz is his mother.  She kind of is. 

6. Sometimes I feel self conscious about my appearance.  So I look at this guy.

At first I feel better, but then I start worrying that something is hanging out of my own nose.  So I look at this creature below that doesn't have a nose, and am caught up in the sheer beauty of her.

Now you know, if ever you see me with all of my hair sticking straight out to one side, you'll be able to tell people where I found the inspiration.
 
7. The kids all yelled 'snow!' when I asked them what kind of climate they wanted to live in.  Life is full of disappointments like that.

But they're creative. Now they know that sand and boogie boards don't work just as well as snow and sleds.

And that smoothies and ice cream taste nowhere near just as good as hot cocoa when you're finished. 

8. Missing faces is the worst part of moving.

Also sand and palm trees and hammocks and cool, breezy nights.  Book club was fun and unique in Miami.

9. With a title like the Father, the Girl, and, the Boy (what!?  Looks like we need a refresher on comma usage) Brian and I were thrilled we got the last remaining tickets to the theater.

We were advised to dress up in our Sunday best and to make sure to practice theater etiquette during the duration of the play.  When we arrived, we found it was a full house. We quickly found the ticket booth,

and greeted the ushers as we walked in,

who graciously showed us to our numbered seats.  Front and center, SWEET!

There was no photography allowed during the show, but it was delightful.  And we were shocked to see that the ticket masters, the ushers, and the actors were all the same people!  It was a fantastic show and received an enthusiastic standing ovation upon completion.

10. Having town mascots is cool, just ask the children instead of the teenagers.  And who else thinks sea turtles are the greatest of all town mascots?

Sea turtles, sea turtles, sea turtles.  Sea turtles on every corner for everyone to love.  I think there was something like 60 turtles in our square mile town and we found as many as we possibly could.  The one below is Freedom... the kids' favorite.

He is a massive swirl of color and texture.  Seriously... artists.  They blow me away.  How do they do it?

The one below is one of my favorites because of where Miles is in his jumping process.

And this Carson kid... he is a comedian, I tell you.  I am loving his maturing personality breaking through his childhood skin. 

Stay tuned for more scrambled Miami thoughts!

June Harvest

The days are spinning.  Spinning round and round and round and here I am chasing them down with a hammer, trying to keep them in order (which, I realize is a little ironic because is there anything more orderly than the seconds that compose these hours and days?  But, logical or not, the chaos of my current days requires that hammer). 

I'm not ready to jump into the analysis of the last month of travel and moving (though, for those who are wondering, we are doing wonderfully and are quite happy swimming in our boxes on this, our third day in Vegas), and I am quite (quite) far from sorting through the thousand pictures I've taken of the whole process - but my fingers are hungry for this blog and I miss the time I spend here.

So I'll take an hour away from the 736 other things I have on my to-do list (some of which are quite important such as buy-all-(all-(all))-the-foods-we-eat, and unpack-the-bathroom-boxes-to-find-toilet-paper-so-we-can-stop-using-one-square-every-time-we-need-it-because-it-might-run-out, and other things like that), and put together the June Harvest. The last full harvest of our amazing year on the beach.  My hungry fingers are feeling better already.

1 - Does this even need an explanation?  Oh my heavens.  I have to remind myself to breath with those colors in the background.

2 - One perk about having a successful hubby is that I get to go out to fancy dinners every once in a while and watch him receive awards.  I thought the whole setting was beautiful.  Did you check out those lights on the ceiling?!  And the building through the magnificent windows?  And that tall, handsome man in a suit coat looking all bashful to receive a certificate that he's worked 10 years for?  Beautiful.
3 - A tree in front of my friend's house... I drove down the street twice just so I could see it again.
4 - Sunny clouds
5 - Oh tears... every time I look at Kenzie's face in this one.  There is a lot of backstory that I won't go into here, but the look on her face of pure, childlike love for her Daddy leaves me speechless.
6 - Crazy baby.  He has no fear of that water... I love the way this shot came out.
7 - That, my friends, is lightening. 
8 - This mushroom on the side of the trail was enjoying his time in the spotlight before the sun moved.  I thought he was fabulous.
9 - Double rainbow. 
10 - Love the roots of these trees... wish I could grow one of them in Vegas.

11 - I also wish I could grow this in Vegas.  Isn't it perfect?

12 - This is also lightening.  If you look close, you can see the city buildings in the bottom left.  I'm amazed at how big clouds can be sometimes.
13 - Peaceful morning.  The way the ocean was that morning, it looked like the boat was flying above the horizon.
14 - Rays of sunshine!  Oh, the rays of sunshine!
15 - Funny sidewalk art.
16 - Palm trees.  Green and yellow - love those colors together
17 - Temple.  We visited the temple on Jess's birthday this year and everything (aside from the rather cranky child *cough* miles *cough*) was beautiful about it.  The feelings, the memories, the promises of the temple....
18 - Full, beautiful moon.
19 - Hermit Crab.  We spotted this guy on our walk and my two oldest kids saved him from the path and placed him back in the ocean.
20 - The city view from our apartment during sunset.  I kind of love that crane.

21 - Watching the storms come in. 

22 - Miles gripping the pier with his toes.  The freedom my kids had this year: beautiful.
23 - Smoky sunrise.  We never did find out where all the smoke came from.
24 - Baby feet under the water.
25 - Another picture of that crane during sunset.  I told you I kind of loved it.
26 - After several failed attempts at opening a ripe coconut (how DO you tell?), the kids finally were successful with this one.
27 - Interesting patterns on the ocean.
28 - I made this cake, guys.
29 - Skyline from the ocean
30 - More lightening.  Cruel that we had to leave Miami during all these summer lightening storms.  Amazing!

31 - Gasp