F-L-Y-E-R-S, goooooOOOOO FLYERS!

We interupt the ongoing thread for an exciting update: we were invited to the Flyers game tonight, seats 4th row from the *ice*!!!!!! Ya, so this was our view (just a few minutes ago!), there was an empty seat after most people left their seats to watch the Eagles vs. Redskins (McNabb starting for the 'Skins), so there was an empty seat, then the woman who invited us to the game (check out the jersey name: Knapp; know any Amish hockey players?), then some corporate looking people, and then the ice, the game! Wow. It was so way fun; the Flyers scored twice in the first period and we got to see two goals scored right in front of us!!

Check out the new goalie:Me? That looks like me in all that goalie gear? Yeah, the score was 5-1 (Flyers, of course), so I asked the coach and he let me get some ice time.

We noticed a guy holding up a sign about 10 seats away from us. It looked like the sign was well done, but had seen several games (personally, I think he saw Chuck about to take his picture and posed). And by "well done", the signs are obviously hand made, like he has over the years used hundreds of Sharpies and spent many nights at home coloring.

Yeah, this guy is definitely posing; see that smile? (I think this sign is for short-handed goals numbers 4&5.).

I looked over and saw this guy *filing* his signs - he carries a filing box to every game, with his signs alphabetized, and he has this like 6th hockey sense about what sign to hold up and when. I mean, he wouldn't just hold up a sign that says, "You stink." His signs are more cerebral than that. I saw at least six different signs and this game wasn't even very exciting. He had signs to heckle the opposing goalie, the refs, signs to celebrate...there were dozens in his box. I think the Flyers organization should put this box in the Hall of Fame one day.

Side bonus: we stepped into Chickie and Pete's for more crab fries (big bucket, yum x 2), and watched the Flyers on a dozen TVs and the Eagles' complete routing of the Redskins on another dozen. It's so much fun to celebrate with Philadelphia fans (until they start burning stuff).

Back to Cali

So back to our crazy huge gonzo day of fun (during our Out West vacation, if you remember where we left off the last post). August 12th some of us Hawleys started off at Cousin Jimmy's in west Phx-ish (really, his house is most of the way to California so it made sense to spend the night there before heading for the 'other' coast.), so of course the kids went swimming at Jimmy's before breakfast. After breakfast, we pointed the car West and headed for San Diego (including a geology and geography lesson along the way - does that count for homeschooling?). We left off in Snoozeville, and will pick up the story when everyone woke up.

Our quest for the Left Coast ended at Coronado Island, a sweet spot for Chuck and I because we honeymooned in the palatial Hotel del Coronado (seen in the background of this picture, behind the two beauties. You probably didn't notice there was anything else in the picture - those girls really are quite stunning.)
The girls were first onto the beach and immediately noticed the shimmering glitter of some gold-ish specks in the sand. It was sparkly and magical. The girls really thought they were somewhere special. I don't know if you can see the sparkle on their feet but this was about the only way we could capture it in a photograph (click on the pic and maybe it will show up better in a bigger version).


This is the place, although Chuck and I don't look quite like I remembered the last time we were here (10 years ago!). This place really*is* magical, and we were lucky enough to get married in December when the entire town was dimly a-glow with twinkle lights and there was a huge and beautifully decorated Christmas tree rising several stories in the Hotel del. We received a Christmas ornament as a little gift while we were there and every Christmas it goes near the top of our tree.

I was thrilled to be back on Coronado Island and remember all the things that were special about the last time I was there - twinkle lights all over the town, Chuck and I flew a kite on Coronado beach and almost got arrested (seems the Navy pilots from the nearby airbase might be disturbed as they tried to land their multi-million dollar planes - oh dear, I've just given away a military secret, haven't I? Now our Navy pilots will be in serious danger on their missions as kids around the world fly kites to confuse them. Rats. Well, continuing the list...), there's a great breakfast place just around the corner from the hotel where you can get an extra helping of grits if you tell them you are from the South (they acted like my lack of accent was no big deal!), and the hotel itself was extravagant and ornate inside. A great reminder of my immense luck and happiness in this life!

Anyways, the beauty of the beach is a true wonder here. These rocks were coated with some kind of little creature that if pressed slightly would squirt a little stream of water...


...(okay, you must take away our homeschooling points since we didn't even bother to find out what kind of creatures were on the rocks or what was in the sand.... so....I've been sufficiently shamed and just found out on nationalgeographic.com that there is mica in the sand on Coronado Island, a mineral my kids love, but they seriously wanted to mine the beach while we were there - collect all those gold flecks and get rich; I'm sure they were thinking the adults were nuts for not cashing in on this obvious bounty, another reason to doubt that we know anything about running their world.).

Well, there is *still* more to this day; afterall, the Hawleys really like to eat. More on that later!

Goin' back to Cali

And thus begins our road trip to San Diego - in total style!


Along the way, Melanie wanted to see what those dark lumps were all over the ground, so they got out, and Chuck confirmed that - Yep, those are rocks.

As we were driving along, someone in the car who was old enough to know better (who definitely should have known that we were headed WEST from AZ to CA) looked out to the right (facing North), over the mountains and said, "Is that Mexico over there?" So we pointed to the left (facing South) and said, "That's Mexico, on the other side of that wall." That person wanted a picture to remember that he/she had officially looked at Mexico.

Somewhere between Yuma and.... whatever is beyond Yuma before San Diego (mostly nothing), we went through Snoozeville, where all road trip excitement wore off.

Lucky me!

More affirmation that I am indeed a lucky woman -
I am surrounded by beauty every day.


Beauty, beauty and more beauty...

And a side of cheese...

Another day in AZ

We visited Chuck's cousin Jimmy in AZ. His poor wife wasn't even informed of our visit. We showed up to her house as she was unloading twins from her minivan, and she didn't even flinch - she laughed! We could tell it was at Jimmy and his knuckleheadedness; this wasn't the first time she was surprised by unannounced guests.

Jimmy was a good sport, playing with the kids while chatting with us and trying to make things up to his wife (I don't suppose there's any real "making it up" -
he's in the hole too deep, and probably just digging!).

Jimmy has a pool in his huge backyard, and has built up some rocks on one side, about 5 feet high. The girls *all* loved jumping from the rocks and making a big splash. Here's Melanie, soakin' in the bliss.

Here's that daredevil Allison. She wasn't a bit intimidated by jumping from something twice her height. She jumped right in and swam (somehow) to the side over and over and over.

More daring feats by our 3.5 y.o. - a jump with a twist.

In my mind I'm goin' to Arizona...

And we went there in a plane, too!

Chuck was excited to get back to his homeland.

Check out this cool house we saw while cruisin' around.
What an awesome mural painting. It was really well done - the colors perfectly match the landscape there.

Chuck's old house! Can you believe it's still standing? After all it had to put up with - housing Chuck as a kid?? can you imagine? - it should be given a pardon and allowed to rest.

Tree Monkey

Allison called to me from outside. I came running out because her voice had that little note of desperation that sends my heart into a slight panic. I looked all around for her and finally looked up. I don't know if you can tell or not from this picture, but way up in the tree, is a little climbing monkey, who was only 3 and a half years old when this picture was taken. That's me, standing on the ground, and she is about 5 feet above me in the tree. I couldn't reach her. And the limbs aren't strong enough to hold someone my size (or so they appear). Finally she climbed down, but my goodness - that girl is amazing! She climbs that high or higher to this day, striking fear in the heart of her mama, and thoroughly pleasing her papa.

Happy Beach time!

Going all the way back to June to find some sunshine and warmth (I've been cold since about mid-September). We took a trip to Ocean City NJ with a couple of the Goodsons. They were great fun to have about. Emma and Melanie boogie boarded for several hours straight. Allison likes to play in the waves with her Poppy Bear holding her but mostly she's a Sand Piper, digging and collecting aallll day.

This is obviously a feigned snarl - who snarls at the beach? Certainly not a Hawley;
beach time is all happiness.
Check out the freckles on this girl - so dang cute!

Here are the buds - they had so much fun together. We will miss Ems if her wicked parents make her move!

Running in Lancaster (last one, I promise!)

I just got these photos from a friend -

I was reminded of the bright vivid colors surrounding us as we ran.
Isn't this gorgeous?

And while I ran (but mostly afterwards) I was surrounded by these gorgeous women!

Women - hide your passwords!

To all my married friends - beware of husbands hijacking your blogs! They are unscrupulous posters of entirely unapproved material. Honestly, isn't naptime one of those "off the record" deals??

Running is tiring!

Whew! Its hard to run in the cold! (Don't worry, I'm not ACTUALLY dead, my lungs just feel that way ;)

Marathon runner!

Ok, yeah, well, some people are running a 1/2 marathon, and I'm running a 5k. But still, it's the first race I'm running, so it's pretty exciting for us!

Wish me luck, temp at start time is supposed to be near freezing, eek!