Waching @ Seaside

h man, I am so clever.

We went to Seaside with the Wachs, and I wish I could post all 111 photos in all their full detailed glory. Wouldn't that be so boring for you?

Anyways, here we go..

We visited an ice cream and candy shop, and the boys rode the carousel. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was nursing...stinking nursing.





The Wachs took us to this little beach about 15 minutes outside of Seaside. The entire time we were there we saw maybe 4 other people and a dog. The fog made for some weird lighting. I don't know if I have ever seen so much fog in the middle of the day.



Have you ever done pigs in a blanket over a fire? They were so good.







We had such a fabulously good time. Chandler and Davy played so well. We are so lucky to have awesome friends, and we'll be sad when the Wachs move away in a few months. tear

Jare-Bear

He used to get really mad if you called him Jare-Bear. Oh, but he was so cute. I used to think he was the funniest one in the family. He had that little kid charm, with a hint of true intelligence to his humor. He was so funny. When he got mad, he was even more hilarious. He hated that we laughed when he threw fits, and was genuinely trying to hurt you. Him trying to hurt me, made me laugh, which made him more mad, which made me laugh more.. you get it.

I often have wondered what it is like to be Jared. His teenager-hood being so different from mine. I was teenager with little kids in the house, Jared is a teenager with two little teenager sisters. The house is quiet, or at least much quieter than when I was there. Jared has mastered the art of being a teenager. Although, being 19 today, he's maybe, kind of, out grown being a teenager. He's incredibly handsome, and I would say, in competition (with me of course) for the best looking one in the family.

He is incredibly smart. I would tell you what his graduating GPA is, but I don't want to make you feel bad, and I don't know for sure. He's incredibly smart even though, he likes to make faces like this.

Or Sometimes like this.

And I like to make fun of him and say his faces look like this.

Jared once dropped Chandler on his face. Yet, Jared appears to be Chandler's favorite. Last week Chandler was playing cars with "Car Mommy, Car Daddy, Car Chandler, Car Baby Brother and Car Jared." Welcome to car club Jared, that's a pretty big deal.

I think maybe it's because the rock the same hair style

When Jared was 4 he decided he was going on a mission to China. So, in preparation he took 5 years of Chinese, and became president of the Chinese club. Which from what I could tell was mostly about eating Chinese food. Recently, Jared received his mission call to SPEAK Chinese in Taiwan. This picture is very poor quality, from someone's cell phone, but I liked it, so deal with it.

Happy birthday little brother.

Do you love the word 'crispy'?

Yesterday was the best day I've had in, well, 5 weeks and 3 days. Not that the past 38 days have been so horrible.

Yesterday it felt like fall. Crispy, bright, clear fall. A perfect day for Chandler to start preschool.

What the heck? Preschool?

This is me when I started preschool...

Please ignore the quality. The scanner that Adam used to upload old family pictures must not have been up to par.

Chandler's attitude towards preschool is, obviously, much different.

How can your heart not swell? He is awesome.

Last night, I told him to pick out his clothes for school, and he said, "School tomorrow, again?" I said, "Yes" and Brandon said, "Pretty much for the rest of your life."

While that's somewhat true for Chandler, I realized, that is oh too true for me. Chandler starting school marks the beginning of motherhood with Children in school; a journey that will last long past the day Chandler goes on his mission, and other children get married. A journey that will last all the way into my 40's. Not that 40's is the rest of my life, and it will just die after that.

Okay, only one more..

ummm.. My kid's eyes sparkle. Do yours?

Dear Daddy

Today, a lot of the country is thinking about New York, fire fighters, American flags, you know, the things that "nine-eleven" are made of.

Today is my dad's birthday.

My dad is a lot of things. Dad is smart, remarkably smart, kind to others, incredibly cheesy, frugal, and some what of a a cereal addict. What? you wondered where I picked up that attribute?

Today I reflect on his relationship with his children. He takes abuse that is admirable. I know "admirable abuse" isn't a common phrase, but his children have a tendency to mock and poke fun at him, and he has nothing but laughs in return. I am eternally grateful that he taught me this skill: laugh at yourself. Thank goodness I married Brandon who established his own personal "Larry Tate Fan Club". The club has two members, Brandon Barnette and Jeremy Castagno. This alows for a little ego boost for Mr. Tate.

Dad was always supportive. We kids could do anything. Anything even when it meant spending hours outside with a crying 7 year old trying to ride a bike, even when it meant coming to every swim meet to show support (even if he couldn't tell which swimmer was me and cheered for the wrong girl more than once), even when it meant driving me to school because I didn't like driving the manual car, even when it meant supporting me as I got married and had babies before I was done with school.

Dad was and always is generous with his children. The financial support from my father made that idea of getting married and having babies really a possibility. Beyond finances, however, his generosity is overwhelming. He is generous with his time, resources, and love. Always giving to his children in abundance.

So..

Dear Daddy,

I love you. Happy Birthday. In my book, 52 is still mid-forties. For you anyways.

Bethy

Do you miss me?

Have you missed my yearly post about fall?? Like this one in all it's smelly awesomeness, and this other... that is also good? I know you all sit around and wait for it, the blog update entitled, "I love fall."

I miss you, all of you.

(Does it say something about me as a mother, if I don't edit my photos?)

This is my life lately. I'm not fantastic at waiting around for 6-12 weeks, doing nothing. I miss the gym with a passion, and I'm not sure that's something I thought I would ever say.

Slowly, summer has turned into fall, at least for today, and I'm anxious for life to feel normal again. I'm ready for a routine that requires us to get dressed before noon.

So it's fall.. go smell it (did you read the old post?) and make a pumpkin roll.. Brandon loves those. Soon life at the Barnette home will be busy and normal again, just like we like it, and I will post about how much I love fall. Until then, I miss you, because I probably haven't seen you in 4 weeks or so. I think I'm going to watch You've Got Mail. Because I love that movie in all it's Tom Hanks cheesiness.

PS: Sterling is a gangsta-yo.

.....be AWESOME.....

Barney, we are waiting for you