one crazy summer

This has been a crazy summer. Last time you heard from me we were in the middle of packing up and moving and our house looked like this for the week before graduation:

So accurate. Rhoda just watching TV all day while we packed up and ran errands and cried a little inside for leaving Philly. Thanks be to my mom for coming to hang out for a week and watching Rhoda while I got a dent in the packing and to Robbie's parents who drove with Robbie cross-country with all our worldly possessions. Next time I really hope we just spring for professional movers and save us all the physical/emotional toll of moving.

Then, there was graduation!!

It was such a great day. The group picture is Robbie with his Lauder classmates at the end of their informal graduation ceremony after the big Wharton ceremony. Robbie traveled/lived with them and since there are only like 60 people in the Lauder class (compared to the 900 in the Wharton class) it was just really easy to get to know all of them better and they were some of our closest friends in Philly. I cried at the end of the day because I felt like we didn't get enough time with all of our friends before we had to leave (THE NEXT DAY). But, packing beckons I guess. 

Us on the front steps of our house on Pine Street just before I turned in our keys. Sob, sob. Fortunately I just had to drive down to Virginia to spend the week with Eliza before flying out to California so that didn't really feel like I was *really* permanently moving...

I was in town just in time to go to Ida's "Grandfriends Day" at her school, which meant I got to eat snacks and sit in a tiny chair next to her desk and just see what an afternoon at Ida's school is like. It was super cute. Also Ida asking me if I wanted to go made me melt a little.

Rhoda and I flew with Eliza and Polly to LA for my niece's mission farewell, which was great. I love hanging out in Malibu on a beautiful summer weekend and I love hanging out with my siblings. I think we've really hit our stride in adulthood. We also got to visit my two grandmas—Grandma Helen (above) is turning 101 next week! I also spent the week in Monrovia while Robbie was in Boston for work training, and after he got back we drove up to Redwood City together and started unpacking.

Somewhere in there I went to my sister Phoebe's house in Oregon to babysit her three younger kids for the week while she was on trek. These pictures pretty accurately sum up the week (passing the time with Snapchat + driving a minivan).

When Phoebe got back we flew down to LA together to go to my Grandma Mary's funeral. She passed away less than a week after I left Monrovia. She had been very ill with bone cancer that she was diagnosed with in January and her body finally succumbed to the cancer months later. I was really happy that she was fairly coherent during both of our visits while I was home, but I was also really relieved that she was going to be free from suffering after all that time. I still can't believe how well she was handling such a tremendous amount of physical pain. The funeral was amazing and honored her memory so well. I miss her a lot and think of her every day.

Settling in to life here has been really great. The first month with all the travel and the emotional state I was in after my grandma died was a little crazy but we've hit a pretty good groove. I've been SUPER busy! Everyone's busy but I'm not used to being this busy with a kid at home. I started working from home super part time for a small business in Philly, and I also decided to start taking piano students and I've got two (!) starting in a couple of weeks. And then Rhoda starts preschool next month (!!). I hadn't been planning on putting her in preschool till next year because she's not 3 till November but Robbie and I talked about it for a long time and we both decided it was going to be best for all of us. Also, preschool here = $$ = I needed to add to our family's income so it all worked out pretty well.

Some other pictures of life here...

Rhoda dressed how my grandmas dress (no, seriously)

A little Sunday stroll/dinner at Mori Point

Major perk of living in the RWC—my cousin Karl and his wife Laura (and their awesome dog Louie) live like 10 minutes away and we see them all the time. It's the best.

Another major perk—living by lots of dear old friends and getting to hang out with them whenever we want! For some reason everyone just wants to live here. I invite all of you to follow their example so we can be neighbors.

My parents came for a visit (that's my dad hidden under that yellow blanket—why is he so tiny) and it coincided with Robbie's birthday. Also, my dad helped me with like a dozen house projects. Thanks, Dad.

And I leave you with this picture of Rhoda who somehow made it to the floor one night in her sleep. I'm feeling the same way after this update. Phew! See you guys in six months!

i know it's gonna be a lovely day

Sigh, DC:

Since we're leaving the east coast soon I'm hurrying to soak up all the perks that spring in the east has to offer. Everyone keeps reminding me that California is really beautiful all the time, but that's the beauty of spring out here! It's not beautiful here all the time, and feeling the renewal of spring here is really an amazing feeling. Especially when it's randomly 80 degrees in March, as has happened a few times this month.

I drove down to DC last Friday with my friend Ashlie and our kids in the hopes that we could get some good blossom-peeping in. I haven't been to the Tidal Basin as a tourist before and usually walked there from our house or work, so I wasn't prepared for the traffic on a beautiful day that also happened to be Good Friday, but I think it was worth the quick trip. We also got to meet up with my dear friend Linnea (who took these beautiful pictures) and her sweet daughter Annika.

So skeptical.

I wish I could bottle up days like this.

my name is jonas

So I mentioned that we had an epic snow storm a couple of weeks ago, which reminded me that having a huge snow storm and subsequent snow days are things I'll miss a lot about east coast living. Granted, I've only experienced snow days as a government employee and a mom of a kid that isn't in school yet, so the novelty hasn't worn off on me yet. The novelty really starts wearing off a few days later when you're trying to get around town and you discover that not everyone has been as diligent as you have about shoveling your sidewalk. PEOPLE! Please just shovel your sidewalks. Do it for the strollers.

The snow storm (aka Winter Storm Jonas) started on a Friday night and didn't let up until late Saturday night—here was the view we woke up to (after Robbie shoveled our back steps):

The snowfall was timed perfectly because the wind had let up quite a bit in the morning before nap time, so we bundled up and headed to play in the snow at Rittenhouse Square (a few blocks from our house).

Really uncertain about snow pants at first, but warmed up to them later (she wanted to wear them pretty much every day the next week)

sleigh ride from Hannah Hamill on Vimeo.

We happened to walk outside when our neighbors were coming back inside with a rickety old sled, which Robbie pulled us on all the way to the park (Rhoda wouldn't sit on the sled by herself for more than a few seconds). Probably the best way to get around a city in a snow storm, especially with no cars on the road.

This is how you play in the snow, right?

Picking up some snow storm nourishment at a cafe

snow shoveling from Hannah Hamill on Vimeo.

Rhoda spent over an hour outside with Robbie while he shoveled our walk, which was awesome. She couldn't get enough of it! Also I can't get enough of toddler snow pants bum.

art museum sledding from Hannah Hamill on Vimeo.

The next day we trudged through the snow to the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, where it's a tradition to sled after a big storm. The best sledding/snowboarding/biking? happened during the actual storm—I heard there were 400-500 people there! Not even close to as many people showed up when we were there, but the weather was pretty much perfect and we got in some sled time thanks to a nice man who lent us a sled to test out. Not the most comfortable sled ride in my experience, but it was fun! I was super jealous of our DC friends who got to experience sledding down Capitol Hill (which was never allowed during the years we lived there), but at least we got to check the steps off our Philly to-do list.

And now, the snow is melted except for some dirty chunks hiding out in the shade on a few corners that probably won't go away till April. Gotta love winter.

in an old house in philly all covered with vines

Last year, after I'd already made our Halloween costumes, I came up with this year's costume idea. Fortunately, Rhoda's just as into Madeline this year as she was last year (if not more so) so I kept it relatively simple and didn't deviate from my plan so I could get started early on our costumes. I found two pretty simple tutorials online to make Rhoda's outfit (this tunic + this cape) and spent a couple of days in October watching Jane the Virgin and going on a sewing frenzy. After scouring the internet for a yellow toddler hat and plain black Mary Janes I felt like I had the perfect ensemble for the tinest Madeline.

I was Miss Clavel and Robbie was the tiger in the zoo ("to the tiger in the zoo, Madeline just said 'Pooh-pooh!'") My veil was just a rectangle of fabric sewn onto a headband, and Robbie borrowed the tiger costume from a classmate. Also, a lot of times none of us were instantly recognizable. I can understand the confusion about Robbie the tiger/Tigger/Tony the Tiger (a little obscure...) and me the nun, especially in a city where everyone is Catholic, but come on! What's with you people not reading Madeline to your kids??

We got a ton of mileage out of our costumes this year. We had a party for the school's kids club, a Halloween party at church, and before trick-or-treating in our neighborhood (which is the BEST on Halloween) we had donuts and cider at our friends' house. Basically by the time Sunday rolled around we were all in a sleep-deprived sugary haze.

Posin'

Talking about important toddler things (candy) with her equestrian friend Harper

The best kid

Making the mistake of waiting too long to take a picture resulted in this episode

PS—further evidence that Rhoda is a mini-Robbie:

vc/bc

Well, now that I've started playing catch up I JUST CAN'T STOP. So here are some more old pictures to share.

We took a trip a couple weekends ago to Vancouver (the Canadian one) to celebrate Robbie's birthday! There's nothing we love more than celebrating each other's birthdays in America's Hat (we went to Montreal right after my birthday in 2012). After a late start and maybe setting off a siren at the border when we drove away when we weren't supposed to, we finally made it to our hotel around 11 pm and promptly passed out. We woke up early(ish) the next morning to drive to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is in the north part of the city. My birthday gift to Robbie was that he wouldn't have to plan anything for the weekend (I was about 90% successful there) but he did mention he wanted to go see the bridge. It was pretty cool and in a beautiful forest, but it did have some tones of National Parks Service meets Disneyland. It costs about $35 each for adults and there are lots of attractions in the park like birds of prey (on leashes, not just flying around), bands playing old-timey music, and plenty of suspension bridges to get freaked out on. I'm glad we went early because the main bridge was flooded with people by the time we left and it's hard to get excited about pretty views when you feel like you're going to fly over a bridge into the river below.

(the end of the photos from my non-phone camera)

Don't look too closely, Robbie's closing his eyes

We totally look like gold prospectors

Rhoda's gotten really good at saying "totem pole"

With our certificate of completion, which we got after getting stamps at a bunch of points in the park (this is what I mean about nature Disneyland)

Can't get mad about a little rain when you're in a drought! Thanks for taking one for the team, Rhoda.

After the park we drove back into town for a bowl of freaking delicious ramen. I'm always craving ramen but the rain and gloomy weather made it especially appropriate. Most of the food scene in Vancouver is of the Asian variety so we really didn't have much of a choice anyway. Post-lunch and post-naps we took a little walk over to Stanley Park, which was just across the bay from our hotel.

Post-ramen partying

I'm serious about the totem poles

The next day, after we went to church, we stopped by Granville Island for lunch and a little exploring. It was probably my favorite part of the trip! We got there before the lunch rush and got to meander through the market without too many crowds. There was so much good food to choose from that it got a little overwhelming so we ended up eating... lots of food. No biggie.

Cool art installation on some old silos

Rhoda probably being excited about birds/ferries/bridges

Our drive back was uneventful and we didn't accidentally try to illegally rush over the border again. Thanks, Canada, for continuing to be my favorite country!