catching up

i've been pretty bad about updating the blog lately. i blame this partly on such things as homeschooling, cleaning, exhaustion... but mostly, i blame it on jane eyre.

i've been hopelessly absorbed in 554 pages of exceptional british literature.

and now its over.

sigh.

i miss jane.

but to catch you up on other news...

in celebration of our big 10 years of marriage, we had ourselves a little romantic getaway. it was a spontaneous family trip to santa barbara and while it did not involve sunset walks on the beach, leisurely dinners, gazing into each others eyes over candlelight, or sleeping in, it was still super fun.
the highlights:

• beachfront bike rides
• sea life spotting on the pier
• the never ending bowl of completely amazing salsa at dinner
• observing a drastic transition in our perspective during a beach front vacation: "why don't we spend the morning at the pool. after all, we can go to the beach anytime."

• convincing ella that my sweater looked perfectly stylish on her as a substitute for the one i forgot to pack and experiencing dreaded glimpses of what life will be like with a teenager as she constantly (and very dramatically) exclaimed "this is so embarrassing!"
• my favorite part was the knock on the door, the bottle of wine "compliments of the hotel" and the wonderful, yet hesitant "happy anniversary" greeting from the bellboy as he curiously took in the 3 children jumping happily on the bed.

for sure in another 10 years we'll actually have a quiet, relaxing, kid free get-away.

even if we have to take turns.