santa fe

The other day we purchased our plane tickets for our return to Los Angeles.  Home.  From the moment I received our flight confirmation I have had a clock ticking inside my head.  We're going home in one month.  28 days to be exact.   Part of me is excited to be reunited with friends, visit our local haunts,  look out our kitchen window at our beautiful view of the hillside, sleep in my own bed.   But the other part of me is making a list of all the quintessential New Orleans experiences yet to be had!  The swamp tours, the plantations, the horse carriage rides around the French Quarter,  all the unconsumed beignets and cafe au lait!
Then I need to remind myself of what we have experienced here.
The day to day life in New Orleans.  Without a car most days we walk everywhere and have become intimately familiar with our Uptown neighborhood.  Shopkeepers greet us as we walk up Magazine St. ( How can they miss us with two such colorfully dressed kids with bright umbrellas?).  Greta started horseback riding lessons here,  we've traveled down the Mississippi on a paddleboat,  seen beautiful art and parks, eaten only the best food wherever we go.  The list goes on.
Honestly, the best memories for me are the little things.  Studying the charming and sometimes grand architecture, the shopkeepers that wave and say, "How y'all doin?", the neighbor kids who call for Greta and Henry every afternoon when they get home from school, the interesting flora and insects foreign to Southern California.
Somedays are quiet, somedays are full of exploration and new things.  We've fallen into a routine here, familiar faces and places, accents and Southern Hospitality.
Leaving New Orleans will be bitter sweet.  I don't think I'll cry like I did when we had to leave St. Simon's Island, but I will miss it here, that is for sure.
I 've also been pondering the unique opportunities we've had for travel the past year with Zach's job.  His work is brutal, he works long hours under extreme pressure sometimes, we miss out on a lot of fun with Papa, but make up for it on the weekends.
I want to the kids to remember and appreciate these trips we've had.  Santa Fe, New Mexico last year, and before New Orleans we spent two months on St. Simons Island, Georgia.  That place was like a dream.  So I thought of putting together slideshows of these trips with music we listened to while on our travels.  I'd also like to have books printed, something that they can tuck the letters they received from friends, and other fun things picked up along the way.  I guess you'd call that a scrapbook.

I spent the better part of my day yesterday going through photos of Santa Fe.  We returned from that trip exactly one year ago.  I thought it a good time to put this together.  It's my first ever attempt at this sort of thing.  Without further ado.

Santa Fe,  Spring 2010

santa fe, new mexico, spring 10 from rachel on Vimeo.