Catchup and the 20 foot Christmas tree

Back when my family lived in Santa Barbara we were far from the wealthiest house on the block. SB was filled with the über-rich and famous and I was lucky enough to make friends with a handful of them.

One day I had an after school choir practice at a classmate's house. She lived up the hills in one of the better parts of town. I remember we were rehearsing for the Christmas concert (back when we could actually call it a Christmas concert as opposed to a 'holiday' concert) and she had the tallest Christmas tree I had ever seen. The house had a two story living room and the tree went well past the top of the stairs. It was awesome.

When I got home that night I told my dad about it and he just kinda laughed. There was no way a tree that size would ever fit in our house (or in any of our houses since). I just had to enjoy that luxury of others and believe me I did.

I thought about that Christmas tree yesterday when we were over at a friend's house for a BBQ. J has one of the 20 foot tree type houses and I'm always in awe of how beautiful it is. This weekend however we snuck over to her neighbor's yard for a quick swim. Her neighbors were out of town and did give her permission to use the pool, but I felt a bit like an escaped convict sneaking thru her back yard, which is a mini forest, and dipping into the water.

The neighbor's house is very nice (tho I prefer J's) but the pool and the view are to die for! It's got a gorgeous view of Chester County without all the shopping malls, business parks and traffic jams. And since we had perfect weather yesterday you could see for miles. It was breathtaking. The pool was equally as impressive. I paused several times to remind myself to savor the moment. Cha had a fabulous day but I'm certain she didn't realize what a treat it was.

Last night we went to the Limerick fireworks with friends. We were with four families and the kids did very well together. Cha was a bit afraid of the loud booms but she watched and didn't cry. Matt, Cha and I snuggled together and watched the beautiful colors. It was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Last weekend we went to Ocean City, Maryland with a couple of friends. It was two of my girlfriends and I with our three kids. With all the rain we've had recently I thought for sure the weekend would be a bust but we didn't see a single drop. Cha loved, loved, loved the ocean and insisted on jumping in all the waves. It scared me a bit thinking about how fearless she is. She kept asking to go deeper and deeper and I was afraid that she might feel comfortable running in there without me. I debated with myself whether it was better to keep her in the shallow water or allow her to experience the big waves. I am usually a cautious mom, especially when Matt's not around to lend a hand, but I decided that I wasn't doing her any favors by keeping her in a cage. The two of us had so much fun jumping the waves together and laughed as they knocked us to the ground. We sat on the sand and let the water splash onto our legs and up to our waists and enjoyed every minute. It was one of the year's highlights and totally worth all the time it took trying to get the sand out of our bottoms!

We are going back to Ocean City at the end of the month with another couple. They have a daughter Cha's age and they are very cute together. They were together at the fireworks last night and had fun pretend sleeping. I'm wondering if we can get away with putting the two of them in a room by themselves. That will give the adults some peace and quiet. I can't wait to get back to the beach and play with my little girl.

Three weeks ago we planted vegetables in the back yard. I thought they were doing great until I saw Andrea's garden this weekend. She started with seeds a month ago and her corn is already waist high. I've got garden-envy. I hope my little slice of dirt puts out.

: )