Where in the World is Carwin San Diego?

7.22.2016

Meridian and I off on our wild 99 day adventure across 10,000 miles through 22 states, 17 or more national parks & monuments, and 14 or more state parks in the lovely red Carwin*, our evolved mini-van turned camper. An entire year of planning kicks off right now! If you want to follow our adventure please click through to our Cross Country Trip Travelogue.

aka: “Carwin San Diego-bound and determined to find adventure at every turn, turn, turn around, Bright Eyes”

Oreo Update

7.20.2016

Found Meridian's hideout in the oatmeal container.

My next spot was then locked and loaded. She totally punked me though! I sat gloating, eating my Oreo bounty, when I noticed that it tasted overwhelmingly off. I have experienced ziplock bags offgassing and changing the taste of food before, so I thought that was happening. So I asked her, "Did the last cookie you ate taste like mint?" And she burst into a furious fit of giggles and informed me that on two of the cookies she had scraped out the filling and replaced it with toothpaste!!!

Found M's next spot. She's upping her game. If you're suspicious of Oreo #7, you're not alone!!!

I left her this note. Yep, I just called my kid "Sucka". So, that happened.

She found my last hiding spot (inside the caddy full of old grocery bags - no pic). Then I found her gross spot while trying to make her lunch.

Can you spot the dangerous toothpaste Oreo?

I hid mine in plain sight this time. Sort of. We'll see how much she's paying attention.

PS- these cookies are SO stale by now!!

Becky

7.6.2016

Meridian and I are driving along, and she's hit SCAN on the radio, and by happenstance, it lines up perfectly so that we hear, "Oh. My. God. Becky. Look at her butt," and then the station switches. So, I say to Meridian, "I betcha a dollar you can't tell me what song that was," to which she replies, "That wasn't a song. That was a commercial about looking at a girl's butt." And I swallowed laughter so that I wouldn't have to turn back the station and let her analyze the lyrics to Sir Mixalot.

Tech World

6.30.2016

I'm finding it a little surreal that I now communicate with my child via email while she works in a separate part of the house. That said, I found this exchange funny and iconic of who she is as a homeschooler.

Meridian: Papi installed sketchit, a 3D software, on my laptop. I've been using it to design my tiny house. wait til you see it!!!! it would be great for your working out your campervan kitchen!! Me: Excellent. Want to make one for me? You can take my 2D drawing and bring it to life! Also, I'm interested to see what you've done so far on your tiny house. AND, it's time to come up for air. You've been at it for 4+ hours. Meridian: WHAT???? come up for air!? are you KIDDING me????????????? I'm WORKING!

Private Road

6.29.2016

Listening to the traffic report while driving: "An ambulance has been dispatched an accident on Genito Rd." Meridian: "Oh my gosh, that is awful!!" I nod, and she continues: "I hope you would never buy a house on Genital Rd. Who would name a road that? It should be illegal!"

Women Can Fly

6.25.2016

Today we met up with friends at the Women Can Fly event at a nearby airport. It was a wonderful event and very well executed. They provide the opportunity to women and girls to go up for a 20 minute flight in an effort to encourage more women and girls to go into the field of aviation, where they are extremely under-represented, with only 6% of aviation positions being filled by women. There were a variety of small aircraft and even a small helicopter.

Game ON!

6.22.2016

I found these two photos on my phone this morning. Cricket's got a sense of humor! I love that she did this! I like how she says "I have them counted," like, don't even consider eating more than one of them. Actually, I'm just realizing that she just Jedi-mind-tricked her way into half a pack of oreos! C'est la vie. I've already found them hidden in a stock pot on a high shelf. I emptied them into a ziplock bag and put is under the bag in a box of cereal she hates. Stay tuned for pictures as the game unfolds.

Meridian's Compendium of Magical Minutiae

6.14.2016

My new favorite thing to do with unrecognized phone numbers: hand the phone to Meridian who starts reciting Harry Potter facts without coming up for air. Turn around is fair play.

One Moment in Time

5.30.2016

Kilauea Volcano was in the news today, which made me nostalgic. Kilauea will always hold a special place in my heart. Meridian was 6 years old when we were there. After a month there, the opportunity to hike to an overland lavaflow never developed, so in our last week there, we arranged a boat to take us around to where lava was pouring from an underground lava tube into the ocean.

It was an out of time moment. The three of us sat snuggling in the back of the boat, and I took a moment for some quiet schooling, to explain that here we were watching the earth create itself, amazingly watching liquid rock bubble up from the very core of the earth, from a place that no man has ever been, and spewing forth as molten lava, dancing a liquid dance for us before crusting over and then hitting the cold of the ocean and instantly hardening into igneous rocks. I pointed out the black beach nearby where the volcanic sand washed ashore and created the island we'd just spent a month enjoying and exploring. She was all rapt attention, really grasping the reverence of the moment we were sharing.

After a moment, I said, "One day, you'll tell your children about the day when you were a little girl when you sat in a boat with your parents and watched the earth give birth to itself." She stared at the red turning black and murmured, "No, I'll bring them here. They'll have to see this for themselves."

It is my, as of yet, favorite moment.