a quiet spot.

while on our trip to southern california, we spent one evening hiking in the hills up behind laguna beach. our cousin has a quiet spot up there, and we wanted to see it —

the great thing about being a guest, is that you get to discover the beauty of other places and fall in love with the culture and people who live there. laguna beach is a sun-kissed town filled with people who glamorously accessorize the sandy beaches. the hills are a quiet refuge with beautiful views of what lies below.

one particular hill has a special spot on top – a shrine honoring nature, filled with painted rocks, and other little souvenirs from life. our cousin created this place about ten years ago, soon after 9/11. she has been adding to it ever since. cool, right? there are rocks she has painted from all over the world, all representing different moments from her life. different challenges.  different goals, etc. her family, friends, and acquaintances have added rocks too. strangers who hike to this spot have added their own offerings to this place. when our cousin isn’t traveling the world, she will hike/run to this spot on a regular basis and is able to observe the new offerings/mementos of life that people bring up there.

the only rule – she doesn’t allow any religious items or money on the shrine. once, soon after the shrine was started it was vandalized. she had to gather all the rocks where they had been scattered, and then created a little border/fence to keep them in. she then wrote a kind request for everyone to respect the offerings. it’s worked so far.

it makes me wonder what people think when they stumble upon this spot out in nature without having any idea it’s there. if they just pass by without a care, or if their curiosity stops them to spend some time checking it out…

myla and i loved it. this special spot inspired myla to find some flat beach rocks during our trip. we brought them home and are going to paint them. we will either take them back to laguna beach one day and they will be added to this shrine, or we are going to create our own special place here in boston that would be our shrine, within walking distance. it’s a little bit harder to figure out a place like this in an urban setting, sans big hills, but we’re trying to come up with something good!

do you have a place like this?   somewhere to retreat when you need to step outside of the wordily chaos for a bit.  if you were to paint a rock – what would it be?  what would you honor, or represent, or decide to acknowledge in your life?  i relate to so many that are already in the pictures above – start again, balance, yoga, patience.

there are hidden, quiet spots all-over the world, and the challenge lies in finding them. i hope we all get a little time this summer to do so. xo.

{images by me. jane rhodes}

Posted in california, extended family, myla, traditions | 7 Comments »

tennis camp

with little words and mostly photos, eight days in *southern california:

our typical day went like this: wake up, get ready, go to breakfast, drop myla off at tennis camp, watch her for a while, i would go to bikram yoga or go running, shower, get ready, rest, read, time on my computer, pick up myla.

then… we spent our afternoons at the beach, a little shopping, lots of food, myla would snuggle up on the couch to read & watch tennis, or we’d go to movies – while in cali we saw the amazing spiderman, katy perry: part of me, and the latest ice age movie.

one evening via trolley we went to the sawdust arts festival. it was so fun – and such a beautiful setting! myla created a cup/vase on a pottery wheel with help, we picked out matching rings, and myla got fitted with a toe ring with our little cousin! {these toe rings are SO tiny and cute!}

more tennis… more beach… more mother-daughter time…

mother/daughter-tennis-camp-trip to *southern california is synonymous with pure joy, a perfect week, and sign-us-up-again-please!

*we hope to move to this area of the country one day…

{all photos by me.}

Posted in california, girls trip, jane, myla, tennis, travels | 8 Comments »

more laguna beach?!?, yes please!!! {day 2}

smashball!!!

myla was doing the best she could to keep moana movin’ all over…

still, no luck putting her into labor!

sela/ocean/pearl
{are those the cutest girl names?!?}

kj & owen. second cousins {i think}, these two had a blast.
give a kid a $3.99 shovel and you have no idea how entertained they can be!
{serious digging missions with those shovels!}

kj had a sleepover at owen’s. they were instant buds.
oh, how we wish we lived in laguna!

day 2 kayak adventures…
dusty & kj; cousin martin & myla; kiana & her cousin mitchell…

they went out for a typical kayak ride,
and at least SEVEN dolphins appeared!
{we counted seven at one time, there could have been more!}

how cool is that?!? a serious once-in-a-lifetime experience!
my picture is kind of lame because i was on shore, so far away,
but i had to try and photograph the amazing moment! the dolphins got much closer to the kayaks than my picture shows, and they just hung out there, circling the kayaks!

kj thought it was cool, dusty admits it’s a bit daunting…
those dolphins are bigger up close in the wild than you expect.

kiana and her cousin mitchell were a little freaked, considering
they were paddling by themselves and just hoped to not get tipped over!

from what i hear, myla was threatening martin.
she started easy, splashing him with water from her paddle…then she said she was going to hit him in the head with her paddle if he didn’t get her back to shore! ha!

myla can surprise me. she is my most adventurous child, but has a serious fear of dolphins!

allyson said she’s waited ten years for something like this, and has never had dolphins appear while she’s kayaking or anything! we feel really fortunate that our kids had such a cool encounter.

beautiful memories.

thank you bartholomew’s.
you are certainly some of our favorite relatives.
{malia & michael – we missed you.}

Posted in california, extended family, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, laguna beach, myla, sela, travels | 2 Comments »

laguna beach, day 1

immediately after our trolley adventure, we were another few steps away from auntie’s house, and we were in their own secluded local cove. at the beach.

kj was on his boogie board, seconds later.

the tide was pretty high at first, and sela would have NOTHING to do with the ocean. every time a really high tide came in, she literally started climbing rocks to get away.

so, she snuggled herself in amongst the kayaks, boats, and lifeguard high on the rocks with her own little patch of sand. and happily played by herself, with her shovel, and bucket, far from the water.

kiana and myla couldn’t wait to go out on the kayaks.

dusty took myla and cousin martin took kiana…

they had the best time!

miss twelve must point her toes, even when exiting a kayak!

if any family history buffs are out there,
please tell me…

when your husbands cousins have kids, how are they related to husbands kids?
seconds cousins? once-removed cousins? nothing?

this yummy little blonde below is miss ocean. the adorable girl. ocean.
she and sela are cousins, of some sort, i think.
because sela’s dad & ocean’s mom are cousins.

these two had so much fun together.
ocean’s momma, moana, was 41 and a half weeks pregnant while we were there.
and she was doing all she could to try and put herself into labor.

yours truly, moana {plus ‘flower’ the unnamed baby girl past due}, and allyson {martin’s wife}

two angels in the sand.

i just love the contrast of these two, the little blonde and the little brunette.

they could not be any cuter!

dusty has promised me when he retires we will live in manhattan for one year.
now, i want to live in laguna beach the second year, and be on a lawn bowling team.
planning our future is so fun!

what do you plan to do, one day?!?

Posted in california, extended family, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, laguna beach, myla, sela, travels | 3 Comments »

on the hottest day in july…

my wet-wet family after grizzly rapids…

we loooooove toy story!!!

a few trips ago to california adventure we ate at ‘aerial’s grotto’ and thought it was awful. awful. awful. and because of that, we’ve skipped it every time since then…

but, because we wanted sela to see all the princesses, we made reservations there for lunch this time, and it has made so many changes, it comes highly recommended now!

sela was still a little reserved with chatting to the princesses, but she definitely wanted to see each one, and have her picture taken with them. but i could NOT get a genuine-normal smile out of her!

the {cute} little stinker!

my kids have always loved the ‘redwood creek challenge trail,’ and i have to note here i just love my little misters legs these days. his little body is turning into a little man of muscles, it’s so handsome! just like his daddy…dusty has the best man legs ever. they are perfect.

i’m not biased either, this is fact.

my moosey!!!

sela was totally in awe of ‘it’s a small world,’ and i love the renovations…

we learned on this trip, that disneyland comes alive after 10pm. holy schmoly, live bands start performing, the temperatures cool off about 6pm. it’s great.

at 11:15pm, we headed back over to california adventure to see this.

it is unbelievable.

make sure to get a fast pass for it early in the day, there are three evening shows. a fast pass is the only way to see it. and, trust me. you want to see it. dusty & i stood there watching for forty-five minutes in awe. especially me, i think i even felt a lump in my throat with the disney medley. yes, i am a very emotional person. but, it’s amazing.

at midnight, three out of four of our kiddo’s were sound asleep on each other in the strollers. a little inconvenient, i still would not have missed it.

Posted in california, disney, husband, jane, kiana, KJ, myla, sela | 10 Comments »

nuvo

then each afternoon from about 4pm-midnight is the national competition. we are not allowed to take photos during the competition because professional videos & photos are offered there, so i am limited, to where i can snap away…but still got a few.

kiana was competing as a junior national break out artist. down below is a quick photo of my girl running her solo before the competition, warming up.

i dare everyone to sit down, and try the pose she is in…!

seriously, don’t you have to look twice just to figure out where her leg is coming from?!?

on the right, kiana is pictured with jessie thacker, she is adorable & so talented. kiana’s contemporary ‘what sound’ solo was choreographed by jessie.

you can watch the video of her solo, here.

kiana, in her solo costume, with two of her dance besties jace & lisa. these three girls have grown-up dancing together for years. they were also national breakout dancers from CS.

the photos below i purchased from the competition. i love seeing the still frames! after seeing the dance live and watching the video, you don’t often realize how amazing my bearzy’s technique is! kiana did great with her solo. high gold twice!

the two pictures below are both teen, and teen/senior companies from center stage.

stacy bills, their coach is pictured with them. i just love watching these kids dance!

after kiana and i had been in cali for a week, dusty drove down with our other three kiddo’s to meet up with us. {yay!} dusty, moi, and our other three enjoyed the hotel, century city {a charming mall a block away from our hotel} and pool time during the day while kiana kept on dancing!

century city has these awesome double decker strollers at the mall.
kj & sela just had to try them out! kj could barely fit! such a funny kid!

one morning, sela took her new bubble kit out on our patio, and had LARGE bubbles floating down from our room. kj and myla were quickly behind her wanting to participate too! it was pretty much the highlight of their day. i totally recommend doing this on your next family trip!

oh, how we love lazy family mornings!
{except kiana was still in classes dancing her heart out!}

i’ve decided that my myla is pretty much the funnest sister to have. ever!

one afternoon we were at the pool all day, she gathered up every pool noodle and was giving sela & kj rides. she does silly-fun stuff like this with her siblings all the time. my heart just flutters when i hear my kids giggling together & playing together like that.

pure joy.

the last night of nuvo is the ‘gala.’ it’s a semi-formal event, red carpet, yummy dinner, and all the judges favorite/top dances from all week are performed.

we love it.

in the photo on the left, all our kiddo’s wanted to walk the red carpet with us before they headed off to hang-out for the evening with one of the dancers who was not performing in the gala. this way, dusty, kiana, and i could enjoy the evening. such a fun night with our kiana! she performed a piece with all the junior breakout artists, and a teen company dance with center stage in the gala.

the photos from the red carpet all turned out strange. we’re all squinting a bit. there were so many lights. it even made my camera all wacky.

on the right, kiana’s dance bestie cheyenne, such a cutie, sat at our table with us.

how often do you get to be dressed up and enjoy a fancy evening with one child?!?
dusty & i loved it, every second of it. and, can i just say,
dang. my husband is handsome! i am one really lucky woman!!!

center stage did GREAT at nationals! we had a fantastic year.
now, they’re already getting ready for 2010-2011.

center stage is having auditions this week. if you’re interested in having your child on a company there…{which i highly recommend.}
check it out!

Posted in california, dance, husband, kiana, KJ, myla, sela, travels, youtube | 13 Comments »

LACMA & more…

miss twelve. miss twelve is a light in my life that i have always dreamed of…

she has me thoroughly convinced that she prefers hanging out with me over her friends. she has me thoroughly convinced that she highly values my opinions about what she should wear, what color she should buy when shopping for clothing etc, my opinion about how her hair looks, how she should style it, what tastes good…she truly values my opinions about all things. and, she has me convinced that my opinion out-numbers anyone else.

i may have mentioned this before, but miss twelve rarely if ever talks back. she doesn’t have one sassy bone in her body towards her momma. simply put, she is, and has always been a really great kid. i keep hoping that the teenage years will not change any of this. i realize it’s a lot to hope for.

i love my one on one time with her. during cali, she willingly tagged along with me to the LACMA. there are five large buildings included in the entire spread of museums. all of them 3+ floors, thousands of square feet of artwork. we conquered two of the buildings. the european art & the contemporary art. kiana was a trooper. it was all inspiring. kiana saw her first picasso’s, claude monet’s, an entire floor of artwork by andy warhol. truly inspiring. i felt like a personal art historian guide to my miss twelve, it was so fun. she was even sweet enough to make me feel like she was really interested. in ALL of it!

note: in the first photo we are wearing the same shorts & both of us were sportin’ our toms that day. like mother, like daughter.

{oh, how we are addicted to toms. great shoe. great charity. complete package!}

since kiana turned twelve, we have given her the responsibility for purchasing all her clothing purchases that are outside of anything she truly requires. like dance costumes, etc.

knowing this, she started saving her money months ago so she could do her school shopping in california. all of our kids have savings accounts, but kiana started working extra hard with babysitting, her allowance, extra jobs she could work on around the house. i have been in awe of her saving skills.

in her momma’s eyes, she was adorable on this trip! she would find something she liked, put it on hold, think about how much she wanted it, stop by the ATM, get the cash, then purchase the items that she felt were really her favorites. she did ALL of her school shopping on her own. and can i say, if i were just two sizes smaller, i would be wearing everything she picked out! it is all so stinkin’ cute!!!

i know it’s silly, but i even thought my little girl who is so grown-up now, she was so cute standing at the ATM! so mature. so responsible. wow. bring on jr. high, her closet is ready!

and, her savings account is greatly depleted…if you need a babysitter, organizer, cleaner…she’s lookin’ for work!

Posted in california, jane, kiana, restaurants, travels, visit a museum | 9 Comments »