July (Part 2)

After raving to my parents about how perfect July was last year, my parents timed their visit here for mid July. They were escaping a cold winter on NSW's south coast, and it was to be their first time in Seattle. It was my mum's second only trip ever to the US (she visited us once in L.A.), and my dad's first time ever overseas. Exciting stuff, right?

It took a lot to get them here. In the almost-five years that J and I lived in England, my parents never visited - but to be fair, I had much younger siblings then and it would have been far more expensive. I'm not completely delusional though. Having their two eldest grandchildren now living the US is a huge drawcard... but whatever the reason, I'm glad they came.

After me talking up Seattle at this time of year, the city decided to make a liar out of me. For a good chunk of my parents' first week with us, it was grey and mostly rained. Temperatures were not that much warmer than the part of Australia they'd just come from. They'd also had a two-day stopover in Hawaii, which didn't help matters, so I don't think their first impressions of Seattle were particularly favourable.

A couple of days after their jet lag hd worn off, we had a sunny afternoon so I took them to a nearby state park for a walk. They've both seen little but eucalyptus trees over the last fifty-odd years, so it was great for them to experience some classic Pacific Northwestern forest. This park is full of cedars and firs - incredibly majestic, and I still remember how those tall trees took my breath away the first time I encountered them in Vancouver more than fourteen years ago.

Later that week, after giving up on the wait for blue skies, we drove out to Snoqualmie. It's a town that J and I have taken the girls to several times, and we love it there. It's only a forty-five minute drive so it's an easy, short road trip to do but gives a sense of being well away from the city. It's also where much of Twin Peaks was filmed, so - geeks that J and I are - we always get a little kick out of seeing Snoqualmie Falls. In Snoqualmie, there's also a historical old railway museum, which the girls love, so we thought my dad might also enjoy seeing some of those old rattling trains because, let's face it, there's far less of that sort of thing in Australia.

Thankfully, the weather gods decided to smile upon us and make that the last grey, drizzly day for the remainder of my parents' visit. The next day we went on a lake cruise, where the sun gently eased out from behind the clouds, then gradually turned up the dial for heat and brightness over the next eight days. We spent much of it sightseeing: the city skyline and Lake Union from Gas Works Park, had dinner at the same seafood restaurant where J and I had celebrated our anniversary in May, checked out a classic car show that happened to be in our neighbourhood (because what fifty-something-Australians who love older American cars but have seen very few in real life wouldn't pass up the chance?), visited a fabulous hipster coffee joint downtown, took in Pike Place Market, and enjoyed sunsets at our local beach at Lake Washington.

A couple of days before my parents were due to leave, we celebrated the Faery's eighth birthday. EIGHT! Having two doting grandparents in town to help with the spoiling, she was in her element. We let her pick somewhere fun to go and - because we hadn't been on it yet - she chose the Seattle Great Wheel, down by Seattle's waterfront. The weather was amazing, the views were amazing, and I'd recommend it to anyone who might be considering it. The pier also had an arcade with old games, so a birthday carousel ride, along with air hockey, was a must. The day was topped off with dinner of her choice (pizza within walking distance of home) and chocolate cake. I felt bad because this was her first birthday that I hadn't baked her a special cake myself, but the days leading up had been a busy blur. Hopefully next year I can make it up to her... but I think she had a lovely day regardless. She is a darling, and I love the age she is. I have clear memories of my own eighth birthday, so it feels easy to get into her headspace and remember what it was like to be an eight-year-old girl. We promised her a low-key bowling party too, but that had to wait until August, when her best friend from L.A. was due to visit. Stay tuned...

Still green

Apparently it's autumn. Gone are the patriotic red, white and blue themes in the shops. Gone are the end-of-aisle displays for s'mores ingredients. No more cheap punnets of raspberries.

Instead, the shops are kitted out with garlands of bright orange leaves and pumpkins, and are all about apple cider, and flavoured cafe lattes with names such as pumpkin spiced and cinnamon gingerbread. Halloween decorations are beginning to breed, and mornings out and about will see people wearing their uggs with pride.

I have no doubt that elsewhere in America, trees are actually turning orange, and the days are much cooler now... but LA is yet to receive that memo. Here - it's still green. It's still very warm during the day. Today, half of my clan went for a swim. Summer? Not gone yet, people.

Last year was my very first proper Halloween. I was a little eager, and carved out several jack o'lanterns one week before the big day. They were pretty damn fantastic looking, if I may say so, especially for a first timer. A couple of days later, the mercury hit 30ºC, and my beautiful jack o'lanterns - still kept inside, not outside - began to curl in on themselves, slowly imploding. White furry mould began to grow inside and regretfully, I threw them away and started again.

This year, I won't make the same mistake. In fact, with such a fearless, ahem, 'adventure-seeking' toddler around, I may pass on the carved pumpkins altogether. I'm pretty sure they'd only end up being moved around, sat on, licked, squashed, and whatever else Miss Pie thinks would be fun.

In the mean time, I need to sort out Halloween outfits for the girls. Martha Stewart I ain't, so they're going to be a mix of what we already have lying around, and store-bought. I love the small kiddy costumes in the shops, and I love the idea of adding to a growing dress-up box. It even makes me just a little green with envy. I'd have loved to have had an assortment of costumes when I was a kid... but I'm happy to live vicariously through the Faery and Miss Pie. That's what kids are for, right?

Urban nature trippin'

This morning, I took the girls along to check out a Japanese garden at one of our local parks. We first discovered this place about a year ago, but hadn't been back since last year. At the time, the Japanese tea house was closed to the public (it still is, mostly) and the gardens were only open during limited hours - ones that I never seemed to be able to fit in between Miss Pie's many naps.

I'm not entirely sure how I managed to forget about the gardens (given my love of all things Japanese) but a random chat to another mum at our usual park last week had her mentioning the koi pond in the Japanese garden at Brand Park, and how her toddler loved it... so we found ourselves there this morning. I didn't have my camera with me today, but the above photo is one I took last year.

It was a gorgeous day to go, and the three of us are suckers for small critters and wildlife, so we had fun admiring not only the koi and shimmery mallards, but the many turtles lazing on rocks, intensely coloured dragonflies, butterflies, and - exciting for me 'cause I can be a nerd - a bird of prey, perched in a tree near our car.

Once we got back home, the ornithologist in me came out - urged on by the Faery to find out what kind of bird we'd seen and heard. Don't you love the internet? It's fabulous for stoking those nerdy fires, I find. I came across a useful site for identifying birds, and narrowed what we'd seen (and heard) down to one of two. I'm pretty certain it was a Red-Tailed Hawk:

(Photo source)

Gorgeous, huh? It goes without saying that we saw squirrels and hummingbirds too, but I'll add a few samples below of some of the other critters which we admired.

- a Flame Skimmer (dragonfly):

(Photo source)

- a Western Tiger Swallowtail (butterfly)

(Photo source)

- a Western Scrub-Jay

(Photo source)

So pretty! And my kind of morning - sunshine, birds singing, trees rustling, alpine-scented air, cute critters... and the ability to hop back into the air-conditioned cocoon of our car when it's time to go home.

Where am I?

Wild iris, bird of paradise, eucalyptus, jacaranda, bottle brush and agapanthus.

Throw some bougainvillea, jasmine - and even wattle - into the mix,

as there are plenty of these around, too.

I could be walking down any street in Sydney, in November.

Instead, it's May in L.A.

I feel a little bit upside down.

Or should that be wrong side up?

Ten years ago

I confess. I watched The Wedding. Who doesn't want to see some real life fairy tale action?

Despite my earlier pondering over the media coverage of it, my curiosity got the better of me. I had to see The Dress. A mild bout of cough-induced insomnia saw me still awake at midnight, and I briefly toyed with the idea of watching the live broadcast - which I believe saw the ceremony airing at 4am West Coast time - but I quickly realised that would result in one zombiefied mumma for the rest of the day.

Instead, I set the DVR to record it, and in the morning I informed the Faery that rather than Sesame Street, our breakfast viewing would be The Wedding. And that's what we did - with my finger on fast forward for the more boring parts.

I surprised myself, and enjoyed the pomp and pageantry far more than expected. I may have even had a tear or two spring up. As for The Dress? I approve. Elegance personified.

I also had another reason for feeling sentimental over The Wedding.

You see, in two days' time (May 1st), J and I will be celebrating the fact that we got hitched ten years ago. In London, long before the world had heard of Kate Middleton.

Watching the London scenery on TV brought back memories of our own spring wedding in Cool Britannia. Of course, ours was a much simpler affair with just a handful of friends and family, at the local town hall, against the backdrop of the London May Day riots. It was practically an elopement, followed by a merry dinner of tapas and too much sangria - fourteen jugs between eleven of us. A fabulous night in Covent Garden, and then an equally fabulous week in Barcelona.

As spectacular as The Wedding was to watch, I am so glad that mine was such a simple day. Although, I imagine the roar of hundreds of thousands of spectators outside the abbey, cheering for you and your love, would be more than impressive. An everlasting memory, I'm sure.

However, I love the memories of our special day. My red dress. Impossibly green gardens. Grey skies. Tulips. Relaxed. Sweetness in the air. Black cabs. Laughter. Sangria. Love.

Lots of love.