happily I do...

I love weddings.  wedding shows.  wedding dresses.  wedding flowers.  all things weddings really.  so when two long-time friends say I-do you are ready to travel to the other side of the state to be part of each happy moment.

earlier this month we experienced the beautiful wedding of our friends colin & jayne.  everly got to be a flower girl for the very first time [something I joked she was just about to age out of, and something I always wanted to do, but just never had the chance].  the mr. was a groomsman, and I was the mother of the flower girl, and un-official videographer.

here's a glimpse into the beautiful details of that day...


music:
"we will become silhouettes" - the shins
"anything" - mae

mother's day weekend

this past weekend we took advantage of a weekend away, and soaked up lots of mom-time with three generations in tow. we visited Hayes Mansion for the first time, and soaked up the history, but mostly, the gorgeous succulents that greeted us at the entrance.  everly spent time in the pool, and danced in the sunset.  it was a great way to start our mother's day weekend off right.

we had been invited to the 40th anniversary celebration at Mission Springs, the outdoor education camp I take my students to every fall.  everly has been coming to this camp with me since she was two, and getting to bring my mom with us for this family day made it a bit more special.  everly was pretty pleased to get to show her grammie all of her special places at camp, and the activities that we enjoy every year.

we hiked, held chickens, stamped our clothes with ferns, and enjoyed a perfect day outdoors.

for me, my proudest moment was when my daughter said she wanted to try the zip-line this trip.  last time she tackled the rock wall, but still wasn't quite sure about the zip.  that morning, she brought up the fact that she wanted to try it again, and then asked me if it was safe.  I reassured her that it was, and that was all she needed to make the jump.  for our first time down the zip, ev and I went at the same time.  I looked over to her and asked if she wanted me to count down for her.  she said no, I'm ready, and jumped.  seriously, like 30 seconds after he gave us the go ahead.  after making our way to the bottom, she quickly let me know that she was going to go again.  and she did, three more times.  I love the naturalists reactions to her going, over and over again!  I loved that they loved it too!

and, because a part of this blog is really me just curating my memories in an easy fashion, I have to share an early mission springs photo of everly enjoying the outdoors

happy mother's day indeed!

dreaming of palm springs, and days off

right now I'm drowning in adulthood.  man, work is just too much sometimes.  when visiting with friends from out of town, they were asking how things were going.  I started talking about all of the new responsibilities I have at my school.  they shockingly looked at me and said, "what, you aren't teaching any more?"  to which I replied, no, I still do that too.  it is just crazy this season of my life.  I feel like I am balancing most things on most days. other days I know I could do better.

it is weird when I notice certain aspects about myself that have changed.  like, I don't have anything to say when I'm not at work.  I feel like I used to be able to talk all the time.  I would talk about school to anyone who would listen.  I would talk about anything really.  now, I am SO okay with silence.  or listening.  I feel like I'm now in the season of listening.  and I guess that is okay too.  my daughter has a lot to say, so as long as I'm listening, I don't think she notices.

but for now, it is only march, and I'm dreaming of days off.  summer was sure good to us last year.  we visited palm springs, a destination the mr. and I have wanted to see for some time.  it was a super quick trip, and it was july, so you can imagine we didn't get quite as much outdoor exploring done as we would have liked.  but, for now, here's looking back at the one time we drove into the desert in the dead of summer, and visited kitschy places, and swam in a heated pool, and looked at so many cacti, and pretended we weren't in the desert in the dead of summer.

Palm Springs 2018 from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

music: Portugal the Man

see photos from our trip to the botanical garden here
and the rest of our palm springs photos here

summer means frozen treats any time!

everly and I are lovers of frozen treats - and summer we are in prime form!  on the first day of summer break, we even enjoyed a pinkberry just minutes after it opened, because who says that frozen yogurt can't be enjoyed any time of the day!  

while visiting healdsburg and our favorite little bookstore, copperfields, we had to check out the ice cream spot just down the way, noble folk.  everly tried many flavors that day, first settling on lemon and poppyseed.  now, this extremely mature ice cream flavor surprised me a bit, but not too much since ev is a lover of lemon.  however, after a few bites, she realized she was in over her head with the poppyseeds.  thankfully, I enjoyed the scoop more than I can explain.  after a few more flavor samples, we settled on classic vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.  oh everly.  

looking forward to trying other new frozen treats this summer, including the new swirly goodness in Disney's California Adventure.  my favorite soft serve stand has been turned into the 'adorable snowman frosted treats' as the pier has shifted over to Pixar Pier officially!  they are now serving lemon swirls, which I'm pretty sure is exactly what a hot afternoon is going to need.  

feeling thankful [mini film]

right now, I have many things to be thankful for, including only three 4-day work weeks for the rest of this school year! and then year ten of teaching is in the books, and I'm a stay at home mom for two months!!!  ev and I are already practically summer mode.  we have been swimming a ton, going to the river, been to fairytale town three times in two weeks, and I can't count how many times she has squeezed my hand lately just thanking me.  thanking me for a fun day, for being her mom... the thankful cuteness is just overwhelming right now, so I'm going to soak up this moment real hard. while working on our mother's day gifts, I stumbled upon some footage I never touched from our trip to san diego this past february. so here's a look at one of our days with our friends, and the only footage I took of our time there, I was getting over a cold and clearly not feeling like picking up my camera. so, I'm thankful for at least this little bit.

San Diego from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

shot on our Sony A6000
music from epidemic sound

first snow!

yesterday, the mr. and I finally made our way to the snow.  on our way up to Lake Tahoe we were reminiscing on how long it had been since we had been to the snow - and considering everly had never been, we were realizing it had been well over five years!  turns out, our four hour drive home [it should have taken a little under two] reminded us why we don't go to the snow more often. even so, seeing our baby in the snow for the very first time was well worth it.

next time, more snow gear, and spending the night!

First Snow from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

shot on our sony A6000

music:
She & Him: Christmas Party - A Marshmallow World

48/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with our christmas traditions we are forming. getting to see these trees every year with you, such a special little trip right before the holidays.  and of course, your excitement when you found a Back to the Future themed tree.  and I melted, in this moment. 

one last trip of summer [mini-film]

back in august, I was finally able to take a trip to see my sister and bianca before I went back to work. it is amazing how long summer feels when you talk about it, until you get super busy with little day trips, house projects, and a vacation or two sprinkled in there too, and before you know it, you are back in a staff development meeting.  but alas, there is always next summer.

ev and I loved our escape from the sacramento august heat, and gladly traded it in for some fog and wind.  typically, I am not a fan of san francisco weather, but by the end of summer, it sounds like the best idea ever.

besides the weather, san francisco can be a stressful destination, for me at least. between parking, and traffic, and having a public [clean] bathroom on hand, I've had many trips where I felt I was good on not going back to the city any time soon. yeah, I'm more of a suburb kind of girl. however, this trip was the complete opposite. it really was perfection. everything that day just worked out, and was SO freakin' easy.  parking right out front everywhere, most of the time is was completely free, didn't have a single bathroom emergency, and even found some super clean public ones I will keep on my travel list.  we also tried lots of new firsts for me in the city.

we picked up sandwiches at Lou's Cafe, and they were superb.  now I like a good sandwich, and I was very full after eating it, but it was the perfect full.  not the, okay, now I need to go lay down kind of full. and a word of advice, say yes to all the houses sauces, you won't be disappointed, and I'm not a real sauce kind of gal.

next we headed to Baker Beach - another first for me.  not sure how I've never been here, considering I've been to san francisco countless times.  the parking is free, and my only complaint was no 'regular' bathrooms.  but thankfully, we kept the kid just slightly dehydrated and we didn't have any issues while having a blast.

finally, we were ready for a rest and a sweet treat, of course.  after some serious conversations on the topic, we landed at Loving Cup.  okay, people, I'm a complete yogurt snob.  I try other yogurt, but it pretty much always ends with, well, it wasn't pinkberry.  however, this place was awesome, and just unique enough to make it a place I need to visit again.  it's frozen yogurt with toppings selected by you and mixed in to perfection.  kind of like if pinkberry met up with cold stone and had a mcflurry baby.  yeah, kind of like that.  and yes, my child's bite sizes are for real. there was no prompting like, "hey everly, why don't you try to take the tiniest bite of yogurt possible, just to make sure it isn't poison or something." yeah, I didn't say that.

so, pretty much I loved this day, and hope we can sneak away again soon.  and, have you heard that october in san francisco is the best month to visit weather wise?

well, now you have.  so let's go plan a trip.
end of summer in san francisco from Lyndsay Lewis on Vimeo.

thanks meg & bianca for being such great tour guides!

filmed on our sony a6000
music: the postal service - such great heights

let someone else do the work!

family photos - we always have the best intentions, but sometimes they just don't happen as often as you would like.  sometimes it feels like you can get just one great photo with everyone pictured, and not taken as a selfie.  at disneyland, we rarely hand over our camera to a stranger to take our photo. not really because we are scared it's going to be taken, it just isn't really our style to ask.   however, I upgraded my season pass to Disneyland, and the biggest reason for spending a little more money monthly was because of the Disney Photo Pass being included.  every photo a Disneyland photographer takes is instantly on the Disneyland app, and instantly available for me to download and save.

if you are not passholders, you can still buy a daily photo pass, or just buy single images.  I believe the daily rate is about $40, which is a little steep in my opinion for only one day, but it sure does make things easy.  not to mention, the Disneyland photographers have very nice cameras, and their lighting is almost always perfect.  from past experiences, trying to get the perfect photo inside the castle meet-n-greet with the princesses is very hard due to their funky lighting, but the Disneyland cameras get it perfect!

here are some of our professional Disneyland photos... 

excited to use this perk at dapper day this year for everly's 4th birthday!!!