CALIFORNIA

We scrimped and saved this last year to take a family trip to California - Jeff had never been to Disneyland before, and Finn and I were eager to share our over-the-top enthusiasm with him. Finn is also super in to Harry Potter, so we tacked on a trip to Universal Studios to witness the wizarding world in action. All in all, it was a completely wonderful trip - one that I'm sure will be looked back on very fondly once we have recovered from the sheer exhaustion of it all. (I have yet to get out of my pajamas or leave the house for three days now..)

I wrote a bit on instagram about our last day exploring downtown Los Angeles - witnessing first hand the gross inequity in this world, and the stark contrast between Disneyland and the world beyond its magical gates. It was a hard end to our trip, but also an important reminder that life is about SO MUCH MORE than money spent, dollars hoarded, crap accumulated, and not sharing everything we can with those that struggle for the most basic of basic needs.

For me, this is a renewed focus that I welcome and am grateful to take on.

CARIE'S BIRTHDAY IN TOFINO

my beautiful sunshine of a friend carie helm turned 40 last month. to celebrate her and all the wonderfulness she brings to our lives, a group of her nearest and dearest gathered in tofino for a weekend of ocean air, delicious food, special memories, and (lucky for us) so much sunshine. it was a magical few days spent with some of the greatest and kindest people i know - memories we will all cherish for a lifetime. jeff brought his camera and captured some photos of the gaggle of kids we brought along for the ride - if its even possible, they may have had more fun running wild than we did.

Final photo by Carie's partner, Chad - from L to R: Me, Carie, Kate, Anne, and Shellie (Tanja and Amanda not pictured)