Every time I go back home to Capitola I envy my friends who never left. I miss the beautiful scenery, all year round, the temperate climate, the foggy summer mornings and the family that still lives there. It also helps that my parents have a home a hundred feet from a cliff overlooking the Monterey Bay. It’s a pretty sweet set up and I took it for granted when I lived there through high school and college. Maybe we’ll move back one day?

Then I get back home to Boise and am nostalgic for a couple days, but I eventually get into the frame of mind which I’m in today. That is, I’m really happy here in Idaho. I have a handful of friends and family who have also left California’s greener pastures in search of lifestyles that suit their own families needs. They’ve landed in places throughout middle America, just like us. (Technically Idaho is part of the Northwest, but it’s no coastal state.) I suppose what it comes down to is where our priorities lay, and for my family it is quality of life. California offers beautiful scenery and a great state of mind, but it’s hard to enjoy it if you’re constantly keeping your nose to the grind day-in and day-out in order to afford it’s high costs. In those cases, you’d better hope that you love your job. Luke and I love the work we do here in Idaho, with the added bonus of living in a truly great small city.

The high desert climate sucks, comparatively, but in the Spring and Autumn I love the dry sunny days. The Winter isn’t so bad, at least in the beginning. Then the days start getting longer and that gives me hope. Summer has the potential to be REALLY hot, but as I recall, last summer wasn’t so bad. Plus I get my fair share of vitamin D with all the extra long sunny days. Add to that my amazing friends, an affordable cost of living, home ownership in an increasingly friendly neighborhood, 3 kitties to cause me just the right amount of angst, and the ability to spend lots of quality time with Luke and Porter doing things we really love. It’s a great life we’ve created for ourselves here and I won’t mind staying as long as we have to, or until the next adventure arises.

Something else that makes life grand, is that we get to visit Porter’s grandparents, who live in two of the most beautiful places in California. The central coast and Sierra Nevada foothills. Last week Porter and I got to take a trip to Capitola to visit Porter’s uncles Steve and Kumar. It was a fantastic visit, and more of a vacation than I’ve had since Porter was born, because of their attentiveness to his need for running, climbing and exploring. Paired with the crazy amount of travelling to places around the country, and maybe internationally (stay tuned for that!), and any issues I may have are merely first world problems. Life is good!

Enjoying a bagel on the deck.

Ball.

Taking a moment to smell the roses.

That ball is trapped in a prison of thorny beauty. Luckily he was able to save it.

With Uncle Steve.

Looking into the atrium, and the bathtub which was big enough for the both of us to take a bath every night. It was glorious.

Porter really truly loves Steve.

I think Steve feels the same way.

Smell it!

The handle. So close, yet so far away. Story of this kids life.

Bet you didn’t know that P plays the jazz flute too.

Reading with Uncle Kumar.

This piggy book warranted some serious discussion.

Yes, the stairs. Lots and lots of stairs.

Capitola Wharf

Soquel Creek and the Venetians.

Capitola Beach

Bending Steve’s ear about some very important world matters.

Breakfast at the Wharf House.

He’s blowing to make the wheel turn, like a “whee” (fan).

BIG BALLS! Do the happy dance! Do the happy dance!

The sea gull kept walking away from them. It’s like he knew Porter’s affinity for  grabbing at animal feet.

Porter strikes his best casual male model pose.

He was deliriously happy to be walking on the wharf.

One of my favorite gardens of all time.

And, it’s on the beach!

Looking off the bridge into the creek.

Waiting for coffee at Mr.Toots.

I felt this was necessary to document since Porter’s first natural disaster was indeed a tsunami, in Maui. This is what it’s like to visit Uncles Steve and Kumar. SO MUCH FUN!!!