So it wasn't until noon that we managed to get into the car with everything in it and on it. (Not everything, of course--but we didn't forget much.) Boy, was it a weird feeling driving out of the garage.
It didn't take long at all to get to the border. It was also only about a 40 min queue to see the customs officer. Unfortunately, we had to go into the building (as we knew we would), and we were then impressed with how occupied the twenty-plus officers could appear to be when they were quite clearly serving no one. But they looked semi-purposeful as they walked to and fro on their official business, ignoring us. Anyway, when people served us they were helpful, if slow, and it was only two hours or so to process eight pieces of paper (!). I don't blame them. The way Tivona kept attacking the gate, it was pretty clear they considered her a high risk.
Before we knew it, it was past 3pm and we were just getting started. We'd booked into an extended stay hotel in Olympia, Washington, so we had a clear target. The drive was super smooth, but we got hungry and had to stop off for Pizza Hut. Ljuba and I hadn't been to that classy establishment in a decade or so; we didn't realize how much of a dive it can be. The girls liked the pizza well enough, though, and we supplemented with our veggies when we got in. Then we were on the road again, in the same routine that we had established in Australia and NZ, except that we were packing up and relocating every day.
From Olympia we drove 5.5 hours to Roseburg, Oregon, this time arriving earlier in the evening, and with a little more time to do other things. Then down to Arcata (near Eureka), CA, to visit Nathan Gregory, a good friend of ours from Princeton. It was truly lovely to see him and his dog Dozer, for all of us. After I told Taya about them, she was so excited to see the two of them. She kept pointing to big dogs and saying, "That looks like a big friendly dog--is that Dozer?" After several false alarms (starting fifty miles earlier in other towns), we together spotted a big bearded man with a big yellow dog--bingo! Taya had only just met Nathan and she was telling him, "I saw a big dog and I asked my Dada if that was Dozer." It was amazing to me that she could have such a vision for and excitement about a person and dog that she'd never even met before--Nathan and Dozer were real for Taya from the first time I told her about them, well before she met them. Here's a picture of me, Tiva, Nathan, and Taya, with Lj behind the camera.
And here's one of our family of four plus Dozer, thanks to Nathan.
Both of the girls loved that big friendly man and dog. Tivona loved playing with and organizing Dozer's toys. She kept putting them away for him, all dozen of them, back into the bin. She got upset at one point, because she wanted to put one away, and Dozer was playing with it. Eventually she picked up the courage to face-off with him. We all had a chuckle with that. We don't have a good picture of it, but here's one of Taya and Dozer.
From Arcata we drove into the central valley and down to Davis, where we reconnected with Brian and Mary in their big, beautiful home. Like Nathan, it had been way too long since we'd seen them, and it was super to see them again. T'n'T hit it off with them, too, and also with Louie, their French bulldog. And Lj and I thoroughly enjoyed our adult-conversation dinner, after we had the girls in bed. Here's Taya and Brian the next morning, in the park.
And here's Taya walking with Mary.
And here's Ljuba with Tiva.
Next stop was Mountain View, with Marian, Melanie and Cody. It was wonderful to see them, too! We definitely miss hanging out with them as we did in our California days, and now we've got kids almost the same age.
And Taya enjoyed playing with their toys, including this guitar.
As Tivona got more mobile, she took a page from Taya's book and got obsessed with carrying around a bag and packing it. It didn't matter that the bag, around her neck, nearly reached her toes. Here's a 68s everyday-life video of Tiva wrestling with bags in our Mountain View hotel.
Tiva playing with the lunch bag
Taya, of course, has reached her own new heights. Like in razzing us. As when Mama walked around to the right side of the car to help Taya in (Tiva's, not Taya's, side).
Taya: "Mama, you don't know which side, apparently!"
Before we knew it, we were there, on the rugged South California coast. Oh, what beauty!
Settling in was a bit chaotic. Hugely chaotic for me. We arrived on Friday afternoon just before the office closed at 5pm, and dumped our car-full of stuff into our apartment. In the next two days we had to figure out where things were, make our apartment livable, stock our pantry, fridge, and freezer, AND I had to create my syllabus and prepare for first class on Monday afternoon. That was a hard weekend!
Of course, we did our best to insulate the girls from all that, and they had a ball despite our shopping frenzies and mountains of mayhem (stuff, stuff, and more stuff). It wasn't possible to completely insulate them, of course: little ones probably can't go from staying at home for much of their lives to sleeping in 15 different places in two months without a bit of anxiety. So Taya woke up several nights crying for her bunny when she slipped away from her headlock/embrace. But they were still affectionate with us, like Tiva was after she was woken by Taya on one of those occasions. I had Tiva in my arms, and was comforting her, and Tiva said, "Dada," and looked up and puckered up her lips. I kissed her, then she said, "Mama," and puckered up for Mama, and "Taya!"
It was nice to have them so sweet, since we didn't have any time for ourselves for weeks. No blogging during that month! But here's Tiva playing with the same lunch box in our apartment.
Tivona packs her lunch bag and walks
Another thing that changed hugely in a very short time was Tiva's reading. Through most of Australia and NZ, Tiva was very particular about books. Most of the time, she would reject all but one or two books. Fortunately, which books were acceptable rotated somewhat, but there were many books that she never wanted to read. And sometimes, she would reject all books on offer. Around this time, though, she started accepting a far wider range of books, seeking potty-time to read more books, seeking books out for non-potty time, and reading on her own, as she does in the 85s special-moment video below. That is, until Dada comes along and tries to inject a little testosterone into this family that is rapidly becoming too bookish, tackling her over and over. ;)
Tivona reads Baby Words, gets tackled, and does squats
Tivona also became much more aware of her bodily functions. One night she called, "Pauh, pauh!" for potty. We weren't sure if she was just trying to get us into the bathroom for reading, but she almost immediately let out a big fart, then announced, "Toot!"
In the beginning, it was frustrating how little time we got to spend in the nice parts of our surroundings. It seemed stupid to come so far to such a beautiful place and spend our time in stores and our apartment. Every day we did get outside twice--both before and after nap--but quite often it was brief and very local. But this improved, and we got to spend more time on the beach, at the bluffs, etc. Here's Taya playing with some cordgrass.
Here are the two of them playing together.
And here's Tiva on her own.
This is the beauty we were immersed in. For the first few weeks, Taya told us hundreds of times a day how much she loved Santa Barbara and the sun (and the lack of rain). It made us worry about returning to Vancouver winters….
The girls got a kick out of seeing this tree frog, especially because it seemed to think that we couldn't see it and wouldn't see it if it stood stock still.
We did also have some occasion to be social, which was wonderful. We had an amazing dinner at the house of one of my sabbatical hosts, Steve Gaines and his wife Peggy, also with Chris Costello and his family. All were really warm and wonderful. Unfortunately, somehow we haven't managed to get together again yet. Partly because we've had other people to see, too, and lots of visitors. The following weekend we had an amazing evening at Satie and Jeff's place in the hills. On the way back, we asked T'n'T if they enjoyed seeing Satie and Jeff. Taya raved about them ("Ya, they were really wonderful. Jeff took us upstairs and showed us …. and Satie …."), and Tiva said "Pee-poh!"
Taya: "Tiva, you say 'Pee-PULLLLL, not Pee-POH'"
TK: "Pee-poh!
TS: "Tiva, you say 'Pee-PULLLL, not Pee-POH'"
Repeat 10x
TK: "Pee-pul, pee-pul, pee-pul!"
Sometimes, when she can handle the didactic lessons, it's clear that Tivona really is learning from her older sister!
Another really wonderful change in Tivona and Taya was how they began to seek each other out for play and cuddling. This was one moment in a long, long hug they both thoroughly enjoyed.
After observing how Tiva loved to put things in other things and cart it all around, Ljuba told me that she thought Tiva would really enjoy a toy like a shopping cart. In the housing complex's swap shop, I found this Tonka truck and immediately knew it would be great for her.
I didn't realize just how great! She immediately fell in love with this truck, and took it everywhere, as you can see in the 14s special-moment video below.
Tivona the dainty truck-driver
Taya and Tivona are both a bit fascinated by our computers. Watch them typing away on Ljuba's iPad keyboard in this 31s everyday-life video below.
Little hackers
Without the benefit of bookshelves and toy bins, and with the addition of temporary toys in the form of all kinds of cardboard boxes, paper cut-outs, etc., it sometimes felt like we were living in a zoo. It especially felt that way in moments like the one we captured below.
Oh, the outside is so much better! The girls loved it out there, too. But we have to be careful. I know it might look like a bit of a take-down on Tiva in the 15s everyday-life video below, but I wasn't messing around. See, those aren't minuscule waves washing up to the grass there, but rather large waves, down a big cliff.
Taya and Tivona at the bluffs
I mentioned how Tivona had a few favourite books that she wanted us to read over and over again? Here's one that came with us to Australia, and out here, and has been read hundreds of times. It sounds like "Hooo-ay-ya" when Tiva requests it ("Whoever You Are", by Mem Fox).
Although Tivona is generally very affectionate, she sometimes plays hard-to-get, like in this 22s special-moment video below.
No kisses!
After spending many hundreds of dollars equipping our car to bring down our bikes, we were determined to get a trailer to take the girls riding. Finally Tivona's head was big enough to fit in a helmet! Unfortunately, it was on the smallest setting, which meant that there was a lot of helmet poking out the back of her head, pushing into the mesh in the back of her seat, and forcing her head forward and down. Clearly uncomfortable. We couldn't blame her for crying for much of her first few rides. See the look of dread? And does it look like Taya is plotting something? Well, she might just have been--many of those first few rides were full-out brawls most of the way, with shoving and pulling, grunting and screaming. But Taya was also often a very helpful big sister, getting and holding things for her little sister, and only occasionally eating choice bits of Tiva's snack. ;)
Although there might have been trepidation about cycling, there didn't seem to be any about February in Santa Barbara and Arizona--up next!
