Bodega Dunes

Well I am pretty sure now I'm mixing up dates and things but so is the life of a garden-mom-non-sleeper.... I also update some events on facebook (usually ones where there are quite a few people in them who I am friends with, or where people say-I want that pic! Or take this for me..) So I thought I had blogged about Bodega. Untrue! This year was very special--Owen's second trip! We went last year in October, for his first getaway for fun. Aunt Syl and Uncle Doug flew out from TN and the whole clan took up two houses side by side. Below is listed how things went~
1. Walk around clean house
2. Unload insane amounts of food, clothing, and toys
3. Trash said clean house
4. Take turns cooking meals
5. Take turns eating too much
6. Laugh at and with each other
7. Take many, many pictures of each other
8. Eat popcorn and chat at night
9. Go to bed, usual sleep issues (Owen awake at least 3 times...)
10. Wake to someone cooking
11. Go for a run when done eating too much
12. Go to the beach
13. Repeat #3-12 until we need to
14. Pack up insane amounts of food, clothing, and toys.

We look forward to this trip all year long. Us Brittons have our routine in getting there. We stop in Petaluma, enjoy lunch at Della Frattoria, do a little bit of shopping (rarely venture into more than a few stores), and we head on to the beach.

Hopefully next year Mandy, Ben, Jack, and Lu and Candyce, Andy, and Ellen can come!!!

 Nice group shot at the Gull House.

 O sporting a mustache from a kit Chris bought at the toy store (yes sometimes I feel I have 2 boys..)

 Owen poking out Gram's eye...

 Sweet loves.

 Chris- the child bench.

 Bri and Kim

 Sweet auntie Syl.

 Yep. We all brought the same brand of chips. I think we had 7 bags for 3 days!

 That's my hubs kiting with Lil.

 Sweetness. He loves the sand. And the seaweed. He would just crawl through it, eat it, you name it. AWESOME!

 Dougie and Syl.

 Candid group shot on a cold afternoon. Forecast said 80's but it was more like 50's..

 O and Syl got to hang a lot!

 Cute little hipster.

 Kite master Bryce

 Future Dentist?

 Austie and Sav hanging on the windy beach.

 Lovers!

 Chris biffed it with Bryce's giant kite.

 Auntie Kim!

 Boys will be boys, with their toys...

 Our family, and Owen's pirate hat (still a little too big, that's why it's flipped up. Otherwise he just tries to pull it off because he can't see...)

Here are cousins Chandler and Cecil. They are no fun. No fun at all.

Passing me by

Wow, where is time going? Just flying on by. Last week we had a standing date with Evan and his parents Jeremy and Erika. We have been planning for months to go out of town with them, even before his diagnosis. We waited patiently to hear his lab results form Thursday, and he was not neutropenic. This was great news, as we could all get away and be together. Jeremy reserved us rooms at the Marin Suites Hotel, a converted apartment complex. It was a great location, walking distance to shops and food, and a quick drive to mill valley and Muir Woods hiking area. Erika and I went out to dinner one night, and Chris and Jeremy the other (without kids for a little while, woo-hoo!) We had a fantastic hike up up up about 2 miles, and the boys did great. Owen fell asleep on the way up the mountain, and Evan was a trooper for his longest back-packing tour ever. The views were amazing, as you can see. I love LOVE the photos of the boys!! We hope this will be an annual tradition at the very least. Thank you guys for coordinating the trip and showing us a good time. We love you and pray and hope and wish that Evan's treatment continues to be as smooth as it can be. 

 Evan just chilling in the town center, before listening to jazz and playing in the toy store.

 Our little pirate, ha! It keeps the sun off okay?

 The boys hiked the lil ones up the mountain.

 The sweet Maines.

 Sleepy eyes-only woke because we reached our destination.

 Ahhhh, so nice and refreshing.

 Loves the dirt like his parents.

 Best friends.

 Owen is a little rough but means well.

 Such a sweetie pie, walking a bit also.

Wow, where is time going? Just flying on by. Last week we had a standing date with Evan and his parents Jeremy and Erika. We have been planning for months to go out of town with them, even before his diagnosis. We waited patiently to hear his lab results form Thursday, and he was not neutropenic. This was great news, as we could all get away and be together. Jeremy reserved us rooms at the Marin Suites Hotel, a converted apartment complex. It was a great location, walking distance to shops and food, and a quick drive to mill valley and Muir Woods hiking area. Erika and I went out to dinner one night, and Chris and Jeremy the other (without kids for a little while, woo-hoo!) We had a fantastic hike up up up about 2 miles, and the boys did great. Owen fell asleep on the way up the mountain, and Evan was a trooper for his longest back-packing tour ever. The views were amazing, as you can see. I love LOVE the photos of the boys!! We hope this will be an annual tradition at the very least. Thank you guys for coordinating the trip and showing us a good time. We love you and pray and hope and wish that Evan's treatment continues to be as smooth as it can be.

Puff Puff Puff

Over the last 2 weeks Owen has been seriously thinking about eating puffs. For those of you who do not know, puffs are puffed cereal type of crunchy food that dissolve easily in the mouth. We have been giving these to Owen for months, but just recently he was holding one in his hand, and putting his hand in his mouth. He was exercising his control over the situation, and beginning to trust the food. Then he could put it in his mouth and spit it out. A few days ago, he actually crunched it, chewed it, and swallowed it. Then he wanted more. And more. Sometimes he will suck on it, and hold it in his mouth, but other times, he is wanting more because he has already eaten the puff.

THIS IS HUGE NEWS in Owen's progress. This doesn't necessarily mean that he will just jump on into eating everything, he has to develop a relationship with foods, become familiar, and trust them. With so much gagging and vomitting happening this year, this is quite a process. The mess is certainly better, but not gone. He has tried graham crackers multiple times, and will chew them but when he goes to swallow them they are too crunchy and cause a gag issue. So, he doesn't get those during a feed for now...

We work with Owen on feeding therapy constantly. He is exposed to food in a high chair 5-6times a day, but less if we are out and about. We are so thankful for our amazing OT Amy who works with Owen and us once a week in our home. The gtube has also come in handy so that Owen's throat and mouth and nares can finally heal! It has been almost a month with it. I can't believe it. We haven't used the feeding pump in almost a month as well. We have been doing bolus syringe feeds which take about 10minutes to deliver Owen 7 ounces. It has been such a great transition. His weight wasn't very impressive this month, sad to say, since he has been getting 100% real food in his tube, but he did gain 2 pounds the month before. Mama is just going to add a little extra olive oil to the mix to give him some extra calories.

Ok off to bed, Chris did get the time off so we can go to the Heirloom Veggie Expo tomorrow!

On my to-blog list~
Vitamix wonders with blenderized diets, PS if interested in the meantime, email me!
garden tally (still too early though...)
More ng-tube-free photos of Owen

Garden Progress

 Our sun flowers are the hit of the garden. I planted one at the end of every row. Excited to roast the seeds. Chris and I just cut off one that is ready for the seeds to be roasted.

 Owen enjoying some of the first squashes as well as a potato harvest. We ended up sharing 20pounds of potatoes with our farmer friends who do a CSA. I planted some of the potatoes too early, before Chris had put the drip system down, and we ended up losing some of the pots because the weeds took over... They are still in the ground, but I have only been able to recover a few of the lost ones.

 Love this pic of Owen, he loves to scratch the skins off of the zuch's.

 Tomato plant growing out of the compost drill hole. Love to see what kinds of things will come out of it. I pulled something out that looked like a potato, but it was a walnut tree! I wish it wouldn't have broken, it was so nifty!

 The true garlic harvest bounty. I  sacrificed 3 heads before these to see if they were done yet. I hadn't done garlic before, so that is the only way you can know if they are done or not. I like to call myself the impatient gardener (also reference potato story above...)

 A blueberry harvest, this is about 1/2 cup. We would get about that much twice a week for July.

 An early zuch and bean harvest.

 MMM. Last year, no cherries, this year, almost all cherries!

 Crookneck success!

 A few dinners, perhaps? The spaghetti squashes are like butta..

 First big harvest!! Zuchs, kale, tomatilloes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, yellow and crookneck, soybeans, purple beans, heirloom cucumbers, potatoes, and a spaghetti squash. So much fun!

 Brought the playpen down to the garden so Owen could wiggle about as we weeded, harvested, and snacked.

 Pole Blue Lake green beans, climbing the bean teepee. The bamboo needed reinforcements!

 First heirloom tomato.

 Pretty tall sunny flower.

 Love that boy.

Little basil muncher! Loves the flavor just like his mama!

 Lots of basil and butternut squash leaves climbing around.

 Spaghetti squash hiding.

Our garden view from the house. We love it and are thinking of doing veggie boxes ourselves this next year. We grow and give and preserve anyway, so would like to involve others. Also we are thinking about a community type of garden (really just between family and friends).

Harvested our first YUMMY watermelon last night. So good, we ate the whole thing! After stopping at the Baker Creek seed bank in Petaluma this weekend, we are hoping to be able to make it to the National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa next week. It is a three day event but we would maybe only be able to go one day. We ordered most of our seeds from the website but it was fantastic to see the large amounts in the store. We purchased some more, and are waiting to hear if Chris's vacation day goes through for next week.

Happy eating! I will include the tally later on, Last year this time we had just come home and the tally had just begun!