Pink, Orange and Purple Time

Greetings to all from the Merced River Canyon, where spring is shouting out in bright colors and rushing rivers.  It has been a long time since the last Marcis family update, and we have celebrated several milestones in that time, so it feels appropriate to take a break from frolicking in the foothill wildflowers and send greetings and photos to all.

Here's the short of our lives in the past four months: We went to Hawaii!  We moved to a beautiful home!  Kim started a new job!  Whitney turned 2!  And we're gearing up to spend the summer in Palo Alto...

Here's a bit more on those events:

After years of hearing about the Big Island from my uncle, we finally embraced a long trip to the youngest Hawaiian island and instantly fell in love.  Lyell and Whitney have arrived at that beautiful age where you can set them down on a beach and they are happy for hours.  Matthew bought himself a salt water fly fishing rod and found numerous coves and beaches to practice his new sport.  And I was captivated by the black rock landscape, the underwater life, and the energy of this emerging land.  We were so fortunate to share our time there with our parents, my sister and her niece.  While my dream is someday to be in Kona for the Ironman world championship race, we have already made plans to return to the Kona coast next Christmas- come and join us!!!  Did I mention the tropical fruit farmers markets and coffee tasting plantations?  If that doesn't convince you here are a few photos:

Lyell and Matthew navigate the black lava shoreline.

Lyell, Whitney and cousin Georgia hard at play in the sand.

Christmas Day!

Opening presents...

...and setting up all the new toys.

Back to our favorite Keiki beach for some serious playtime.

There was at least one large sandcastle project each day, usually involving Grandpa's patented Drip technique.

Hiking and taking pictures in Volcanos National Park

Matthew and I celebrate our inner dorkiness as we watch steam rise from the caldera in the distance.

Toes in the Sand for Breakfast at the Four Seasons.  Fancy!!!  

Family photo- as good as it's gonna get for this crowd :)

After returning from Hawaii, we began to pack up our apartment home of the past year and a half, in preparation to move "across town."  Those of you who have moved with young children can testify that it's about as close to complete mayhem as you get in parenthood.  We now have the distinction of having moved twice with young children, and I will tell you that the second time is a charm!  Especially when your amazing husband rounds up some buddies and does almost all the work while you vacate the premises with the kiddos for several days.  We are now settled and nesting in our amazing new home which overlooks the river.  Lyell and Whitney adore their new backyard and they are loving sharing a bedroom, which allows us to have a guest room- so come and visit!

Our first fine spring day in our new backyard.  Digging and planting has begun.

This planter box contains corn and sticks and various other household objects Lyell and Whitney have planted.

Our small backyard granite dome.

Coincidentally, our move coincided exactly with the start of my new job as a Director with Galileo Learning (not the preferred combination, just for the record.)  After an intense first couple of weeks, we are settling into our new routine of mommy working from home, and commuting every other week for a day or so.  My first lesson in the work/home balance came early on when a work email I needed to deal with came in just as we were walking out the door.  I sat down for 10 minutes to respond and marveled how Lyell and Whitney were playing so quietly together in the bedroom.  In the midst of my marveling it occurred to me that the munchkins were being just a little too quiet.  Sure enough, when I entered the bedroom Lyell was holding an empty pack of gum and the floor was littered with empty gum wrappers.    When I asked him how many sticks of gum he ate, Lyell paused for a minute then said, "Twenty one."

Aside from the large ball of gum that may or may not be in my son's stomach for the next seven years, we seem to approaching a nice equilibrium of mommy working part time, doing preschool together two days a week, and still having days filled with adventure and early childhood discovery outside in our beloved mountain community.

Just a week ago, we celebrated Whitney's second birthday.  Two years is such a milestone, as Whitney seems to have become her own little person overnight.  She is now jabbering away in somewhat choppy sentences which make perfect sense to her and Pink Bear.  Lyell now understands the meaning of the word "echo" as Whitney repeats almost everything that he says.  My favorite thing to do with Whitney is to have her chose a book to read to me.  One of her top choices is Good Night Gorilla, which she narrates with animation and drama, and I can decipher about 55% of what comes out of her mouth.  The beautiful part is that she knows exactly what she is saying and loves telling me the story over and over (especially the part when the gorilla lets the lion out of his cage- we all have to scream, and then laugh and laugh :)

Whitney had a Pajama Party, in honor of her favorite article of clothing.  For Easter the following weekend, I managed to bribe and cajole her into a fancy dress, but Whitney would much prefer a wardrobe filled with footsie jammies.  Here are a few shots from these big days:

Whitney and our neighbor Eliza make Whitney's party bag.

Our playroom is transformed into Pajama Party Headquarters.

Whitney's friends join her in decorating bags.

All the kids gather to read the special book that calls the Magical Sleep Fairy to come and visit our Pajama Party.

The Magical Sleep Fairy arrives and delivers sleep fairy dust to all the children.  Now it's time for the Pajama Parade and the Toothbrush Hunt!

Hunting for Toothbrushes in the backyard- and let the general frolicking begin...

Frolicking continues until it's time for... 

Carrot cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday.

Classic Whitney, Age 2.  Froggy jammies and Pink Bear.

And another Whitney classic- cowboy boots on, swinging in her special swing.

Here we are one week later, all dressed up and awaiting the infamous Easter Bunny.

Whitney was not a fan of the Easter Bunny.  "Go away, Big Bunny. Go away from me." This picture just about sums it up.

Whitney was, however, a fan of finding plastic eggs in the grass that contained candy.

Lyell was a fan of the whole Easter experience, and after all that sugar he preformed a lengthy airplane flying demonstration for us.

Family Eater Pic

I'll leave you with a few more shots of St. Patricks Day, one of our two ski days we managed to pull of this year, and my favorite cousins picture of all time- the tire swing!!!

We send much, much love and big bunches of virtual wildflowers to all of you, near and far.