So Much to Catch Up On...

goodness, i have left out so much from the end of summer and this fall. i'll try and be fast...

aren't they cute?

dinner at tokyo garden for juni's birthday dinner.

juni's cloud themed birthday party

breakfast and chicken judging at the fair. popi hated the mirrors.

when we go to the fair, we spend ALL day there.

sky ride, caramel apples, and the largest horse hoofs i have ever seen in my life, the picture doesn't even show the mamothicity of it. i just made that word up.

california dreaming. popi meets her cousin Zinny! we love her bunches and bunches!

good times with friends and family. oh yeah, and that trip to steve jobs' house.

and what would a trip to cali be without our trip to mecca, the Google campus. we had breakfast, never had breakfast there before, but of course it was fantastic!

this is just scratching the surface...

Rowland, NC

rowland, nc

that's the family "plantation" farm house up in the left hand corner before the wrap around porch was built. my great grandfather is in that photo somewhere as a child, those are the edens, my family. it is the house where great grandmother gave birth, where my mom spent many days running around working and playing. they grew cotton, tabacco, and now corn. distant relatives still own it. so, that's juni by some tabacco, and bee by an outhouse at the family church.

centenary church has an outhouse:) it also houses the edens' family graveyard. my grandmother is buried here, my great grandparents, my great-great grandparents. there is popi's namesake, alexander!

i have always loved this church. it was where i always wanted to get married there, that never happened. the interior is a beautiful dark stained wood panels everywhere, ceiling, walls. it is gorgeous. there popi is sitting in the edens' section of the church. that last picture is beila with aunt bj and uncle clarence. they hold the keys to the church, it's on the national historical registry, sweet!

Laurinburg, NC

laurinburg, north carolina

laurinburg, this is where my aunt bj and uncle clarence live. my uncle is my deceased grandmother's younger brother. he always has a contagious smile on his face that makes me feel warm. they also have some of the best blueberry bushes on the planet! every time we visit we pick blueberries, and it couldn't have been timed more perfectly, we ran out of blueberries for popi about then.

my north carolina family just happens to be huge duke university fans. there is duke stuff everywhere you walk, or walk on. go blue devils! my mom was born at duke university hospital, and i sport a large blue devil on my Christmas tree ever year that belonged to my memaw.

my aunt bj is a wonderful cook, one of my favorite things about traveling in the carolinas is eating the down home food. my favorite restaurant is in rowland near laurinburg, it is called pinks, but they were not open:( popi had her first corn cob. all my kids think that gumming on corn cobs is the best think in the world, you dare not take it away.

we spent the night there with them and went to rowland the next day.

Raleigh, NC

Raleigh

looking back now, i see i have practically no pictures of raleigh and my aunt kakie and uncle fred. i was so excited to go see them and spend time with them. my aunt kakie is my deceased grandmother's sister, i love listening and looking at her because she reminds me of my memaw. she had a trunk full of old dolls she graciously gave the girls. juni and bee got small baby dolls with a wardrobe of clothes and popi got the life size baby. it was so much fun to watch her play with the popi sized baby! we had such a great visit with them, i wish we could have spent more time there.
p.s. you might know i am a huge david sedaris fan. i love having a small north carolina connection with him. so while driving in my mom's home state, mr sedaris' adopted state, i saw his brother's hardwood floor business van, sedaris hardwood floors. why this excited me to no end, i am still not sure why....

Asheville, NC 2

my parent's favorite place to eat in asheville is early girl eatery. now it is my favorite. my kids have been sporting early girl tshirts for years now, so it is nice to have finally eaten there. it the kind of restaurant i would like to have one day, local ingredients, and simple, good food.

i was excited to see that they had local mead on the menu. i have been hearing some about this resurgence of mead and was eager to try some. i got my chance! i liked it, i like honey, i like wine...what was not to like? for dinner i had grilled pimento cheese with tomatoes and spinach, with a side of pickled cucumbers, heaven. we ate breakfast there too, it was that good!

Asheville, NC

Biltmore Estate

this was my second trip to the biltmore. i was here with my mom a long long time ago...
the girls and i were here all day. the tour of the house was fun and long, and i was surprised the girls enjoyed themselves as much as i did. we also went to the barn/farm area. we fed animals, played on farm equipment, played old outdoor games, and walked a lot.

we also went to the winery where we had a "wine tasting." okay, it was grape juice. for lunch we ate at the old stables turned buffet. it was really beautiful, up in the rolling hills of the estate, open windows, good food, good company. we had a blast!

Nashville, Tennessee

Loveless Cafe

right outside of nashville is a restaurant i have been wanting to eat at for awhile, Loveless Cafe. it did not let me down! they give you a plate of fluffy, soft biscuits with butter and jam to eat while waiting for food (the blackberry jam is to die for). i got fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and creamed corn and it was all so good. juni had chicken and dumplin's with mac and cheese and green beans. my parents got sampler plates that were fabulous! i would weigh 400 lbs if i lived near there!

Memphis, Tennessee

first stop: memphis

we stayed at an elvis themed hotel:) super fun and the girls loved swimming in the guitar shaped pool. after singing along with paul simon all morning my mom, the girls and i went to graceland early so the line was not too long. we each got head phones for the guided tour and we all loved every second of it.

it was so cute, juni wrote "we miss you elvis, love juniper".

Where in the World is the Pokey Little Puppy

asheville, north carolina

well, we are in florence, South Carolina! we just had a great visit with mi tio y tia, aunt sandie and uncle jose, their 2 kids, cousin samantha and carla, and my grandpa's wife, nan sara. my aunt and uncle live in beautiful spain, so it is always a treat to get to visit with them. we have been having a whirlwind tour with my mom and dad, a total blast! we've been to memphis, nashville, asheville, raleigh, laurinburg, rowland, south of the border, now here in florence! and we ain't done yet, folks!
i do wish my Greek were here with us, i miss him so much, so do the girls. but we get to face time on the ipad so we can see him and love him and give kisses through the interwebs. thank you steve jobs. (you won't hear me say that often;)
ya'll have a good night now, ya hear?

ahhh, the open road

well, i'm in memphis. my mom, my dad, the girls and i got here just in time for dinner at rendezvous. after ribs and greek salad that were oh so yummy, we went to the hotel to swim in the guitar shaped pool! tomorrow graceland:)

Prep

getting ready for east coast road trip 2011. while doing this i am getting ready for beila's fifth birthday party on sunday. she turned five yesterday:) i have to make a death star pinata while stocking the rv, good times. wish me luck with my time management skills!

My Cal-ee-forn-I-A Trip

i have been so busy. the kids got out of school this week so i am crazy! but here is the break down on our trip...

kalliope's first plane trip:)
we got to go to the cock pit, just like the good ole times.

bathhouse time with carrie at watercourse way.

my new favorite grocery store, milk pail, rocks.

breakfast at dottie's, we waited inline for 45 minutes. it was so worth it! we picked up a dining partner in line, a pregnant gal from singapore. that was fun, we each got a different scramble and shared. i also partook in the rocky road bar:)

pop-star was happy shopping downtown with the gals.

miette in hayes valley, always. ALWAYS.

ocean beach.

it was ummm, windy.

the mission. my favorite place in the city. the food, the shops, the people, yes....the people. i like the people of the mission!!!

carebear's baby shower for her baby girl:)

google lunch, heaven.

playing angry birds on the giant android. it worked! the whole phone worked for reelz.

we even took pictures and emailed to carrie's itty bitty android.

honeyplex photo-op

mmmm, do-nuts........

so i had a great trip, of course. carrie and tal were the perfect hosts, we had fun, ate a bunch of food, got to sit around and do nothing, i love being with my family out on the west coast. pictures not here are of our time in san jose. real quick...we went to a baby convention thingy then i got let loose at the winchester mansion for the afternoon, it was nuts., then popi and i went to san francisco for the evening. glad to be home, it is good to be in my bed:)

i got a welcome home from all these people...so sweet.

WoW.

blogger was down for awhile, huh? i flew out to the bay area thursday and didn't know how to tell you. then my blogging app on my genius phone wasn't working. so here i am at my carebear's house chillin', eatin', and shoppin'. just thought i'd let you know. btw, pop-star and i having a morning dance party to alphabeat and lovin' it! we heart this song....hole in my heart.

Happy Mother's Day

a lot of times i look at my life and i wonder how it got to be where it is at. it has not turned out the way i thought it would, or did it? i always knew i wanted children, i am not sure why i wanted them, i guess i thought that is what grown-ups did. they go to college, get married, buy a house, and have kids. that is what you do. i didn't realize you had a choice. i am not a "kid person", i know that sounds odd coming from a mom of three, but i don't like children in large quantities. don't get me wrong, i fell in love with my kids the day the pee stick told me i was with child, and i love all my friends' offspring, i just don't understand them. the problem is i remember being a kid, i remember my imagination, i remember my mind as a child, and i also remember knowing i was going to loose it all. how can i know and not know all at the same time? maybe i am jealous of children, who knows. anyways....that was a ramble. it is mother's day, and i am truly blessed. i would never change my life, i have three beautiful, smart, healthy, bright and incredible girls. i would and do everything i can to make sure they stay smiling. without them i would not be a mom, without them i would not get up in the morning, without them i would not be complete. even though my life is different than imagined, it is completely what i imagined. i'm talking crazy, huh? well, i hope all you moms out there had a wonderful day filled with love made from colored construction paper and glue stick. i know i did, and do...every day of my wonderfully wonderful life.

Happy Passover

i know fiddler on the roof is not a passover movie, but, passover is a tradition!

Baa-humbug

here is a heart for you. my san fran heart. that's miss beebee by the way. i'm not a valentine's day person, never have been. why? i'm not sure. it seems like a day for let down. in grade school i loved decorating my desk and bag/box for valentine receiving, that was fun. in middle and high school we had candy gram things and you could send valentines to your friends, but that was like a popularity contest. if you were popular you got tons, if you were like me you got a couple, some anonymous..yikes. i had a steady boyfriend all through high school, yet we were never really into valentines then either. i like it better like this. i don't have to worry about getting my sweetheart a dorky, thoughtless gift just because a day says so. what's even funnier is that we got married the day before valentines! i give my kids valentines, so what does that say? it says i love them:) happy monday!

Last Week...

popi and i went shopping and shared kisses

we ate with friends and family to celebrate our last day of 2010

best friends and family

loved family, played with family

made the best chocolate cake ever, and ate our black-eyed peas

the girls' got a new dollhouse, and i got lemon meringue pie

friends came to visit from near...

and from far!
so glad it's over:)