a little trip back to almost normal [oakland zoo]

 well, I survived.  

an entire year of teaching on a computer screen.  with a little hybrid/in-person mixed in the last 3 months of the school year.

maybe one day I will write down those feelings, but right now, I'm just looking forward.

yesterday we visited the oakland zoo with friends, and it marked the last day of mandated mask wearing in our state.  now most places are still requiring masks for children until they can be vaccinated, so we shall see how much I really ditch the mask in the coming days.  

but for now, just happy moments with little people.

we went to hawaii!

this month we had a major family milestone, our first trip to hawaii as a family of three!  the mr. and I haven't been since our honeymoon, so getting to go for our 11th wedding anniversary with our everly was pretty amazing.

to be honest, the thought of a trip to hawaii just always seemed out of reach for our budget.  however, turns out that a costco membership can really come in handy and made our island vacation dreams become a reality.  we are already semi-planning our next vacation!

I've been working like a crazy person since taking on an additional role to my teaching position.  and the long hours do come with a better salary, so it was time to play a little harder with the benefits of the hard work I put in during the school year.

it just seemed like the perfect age to take everly for the first time.  she LOVES the water, is an extremely capable swimmer, and is really easy to travel with.  and it turned out our hopes for the trip really became reality.  hopefully I can put together some more detailed posts on our trip soon.  this was our first time visiting the big island of hawaii, and I have some memories and special spots I want to remember for the future.

but for now, I'm just going to share our mini-film of the week on the big island.  we watched it last night on the 'big tv' and it was so fun to know we always will have this to look back on to remember this milestone trip.


music: Vintage Hawaiian Music
shot on our Sony A6500 and GoPro Hero7 Black 

just dance!

everly has loved dance since we officially started a year and a half ago.  this kid loves music, thanks to her daddy who plays music whenever there's a chance to do so.  she is currently rocking out to a lot of 80's music, apparently yacht rock is her thing.  and yes, yacht rock is a thing.  and I'm so cool, I heard about it from my principal. anyways...


this weekend we celebrated with family and friends another summer recital.  I'm so proud of her hard work and dedication, not to mention taking something so seriously at age 6.  she is my child.  that cannot be debated.  however, her grace and dance ability, well, that must come from some ballet angel somewhere, because this former softball-playing mom did not give her these moves.  I barely could get the bun/lipstick perfected by show.  but man, persistence pays off.
since everly is too young to manage costume changes on her own, I watch from the sidelines.  thankfully, they sell the dvd of the entire performance so I can get the full idea of the performance.  recital days are always a bit hectic for me, but I think we are getting better with more shows under our belts.  however, I am so thankful for the few shots that the mr. was able to snap in the audience during the show.  the stage lighting is so harsh, but thankfully, the dramatic black and white filter using a color story did the trick!  for those curious, I used 'black lodge' in the b&w pack!

I love this post show smile.  she nailed her dances and felt quite proud, as she should.  she worked hard to memorize her choreography.  she let me know she only peeked twice at her dance teacher in one of her numbers ;)

after recital we took advantage of being done with everything by 11:30 in the morning and had everyone come over for lunch.  we had so many friends and family drive quite the distance to see the recital and getting to enjoy their company afterwards made the day extra special.  

and any time everly can get a little cooper time, she is an extra-happy camper.  

 ^this one is everly's favorite, she loves it because of how cooper is looking at her!^

what a happy day indeed.  two months until the nutcracker season begins!

swimming our way through summer break [mini-film]

I'm officially in stay-at-home summer mom mode, and it feels good.  with some exciting trips on the horizon this summer, I finally decided it was time to add another camera to our little family of tech.  a gopro hero7 black!

I remember as a kid the disposable underwater cameras we would get for our trips to hawaii.  there is just something extra magical about taking photos where you are pretty sure you aren't supposed to be taking photos.  being the photo/video junkies that we are around here, I couldn't wait to get ahold of a camera that would let us bring that magic to reality.



I'm still learning my way around this little camera, but for now, I'm pretty much in love.

here's a little peek into our first time in the water...for the record, I was too lazy to put the video clips on my computer, so I edited the entire thing on my phone.  that still amazes me what these little devices can do.

happy summer!

gopro details here music: Portugal the Man, Live in the Moment

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 of disneyland [mini film]

this summer we soaked up two trips to the parks.  it seems that no matter when you go, the parks are pretty full.  but there are some magical hours that need to be attended, and no, I'm not talking actual magic mornings.  I'm just talking the first three to four hours the parks are open.  it is cool, and quiet, and as long as you stay out of tomorrow land [it gets so crowded so fast, and I never really understand why] you can get onto pretty much any ride with a very small wait.

as soon as it crept closer to noon, we would grab a bite to eat and head back to the hotel for a swim and a rest, typically making our way back into the parks around dinner time.  the middle of the day always feels the craziest, and during the summer, the hottest, so we just avoid it altogether.  getting back into the parks just before sunset makes for the most magical photos - the lighting is breathtaking.  and, besides sunset, I always love the parks at night the best.  the lights, oh the twinkling lights, always the best.

here is a look at our summertime moments in disneyland.

music -
bring it on home to me - sam cooke [guardians of the galaxy vol. 2 soundtrack]
when can I see you again - owl city [wreck it ralph soundtrack]
married life - michael giacchino [up soundtrack]
I see the light - mandy moore [tangled soundtrack]

shot on our sony a6000 & a6500

here's a look at our other disneyland mini-film trips here, here, and here.
all disneyland posts here.

serious ice cream sampling over here

this summer our family has been having fun trying new ice cream flavors and brands.  watching the ice cream show on viceland has gotten us to branch out and buy brands that we haven't tried before.

our latest ice cream tasting has been from our local target store and their partnership with the museum of ice cream.  this ice cream definitely has a real sweet feel, clearly meant for young ones and young at heart.  my favorite flavor was sprinkle pool, just a classic vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. 

other ice cream brands we tried this summer:

*coolhaus

*mcconnell's

*tillamook

also got to visit a lappert's ice cream while in palm springs - it took me right back to my trips to kauai as a kid [so of course, I had to have a scoop of kauai pie, my family opted for the dole whips instead]