Beachin'

It's been a hot summer boy, and the Carbalandlubbers are ready to visit the sea once again.

Thanks to B-Wayne and Linda for providing the cottage, year after year, from which we can C-H-I-L-L.

Destination: Outer Banks, North Carolina. Land of the first Wright Brothers Flight -- and the famous Brew-Thru Drive-In Beer Store.

So till I post again, we'll be there.

What My Kids Like .... For Now

A couple weeks ago, my man Jake came for a visit. He makes movies for PIXAR, and for the last few years he's been working on the newest film, WALL E. After it's release, they gave him leave to visit friends and family. So he came on the train with WALL- E goodies, and took the boys to the film. Eliot sat on his lap for the whole movie -- and Talon was transfixed. Talon became WALL- E's biggest fan.

It went quickly from discussing the finer points of the film, to drawing the robots over and over, to, "Daddy, people don't know it, but I'm really a Robot inside. And I can do things.."

"Really?"

"Yep. And I have a directive."

"Oh?"

"All robots have one, mine is to search for robot parts and build more robots"

Wow. So we found an old drill case and began searching for machine parts, or taking other things apart (ski bindings, sprinklers). When we though there were enough, Talon was ready to build. I figured we could make a cool robot statue with some hot glue, but Talon didn't understand.

"I want our robot to do stuff, like follow me around and look for dinosaur bones"

I told him that it would be tough to build a robot like that-- that it would take a lot of school and college, but he's going for it -- and still collecting parts in the meantime.

WALL E the robot had a friend in the film, a cockroach. Talon found a plastic one amidst his toys and carries it everywhere. But the antennae broke off and I fear it may get lost -- so if you're wondering what he needs for Christmas, he'd love a six-pack of plastic roaches. And of course more robot parts.


As for Eliot, he is neck deep in the fascinating world of insects. Early on, it was a love-hate relationship. He would scream when he saw one, but be unable to take his eyes off of it. Now, it's pure love. He 'adopts' every bug he sees -- including worms and spiders. If one of his makeshift terrariums are unavailable, he'll carry the bug in his pocket, or his clenched fist, until he finds a 'home' for it. Of all the bugs, 'whoawy poawies' are his favorite. He's collected thousands of them. Each night at dinner, when we say what we are thankful for, Eliot always expresses his gratitude for one bug or another. Last night, it was "dead beetles" He helped his momma collect a tin of worms to fish with, but then refused to let them be used as bait. Here's a kid who can fall on his face on the sidewalk, get up bleeding and smiling --- but cries like a wild animal when his mom tried to put a worm on the hook.... Awesome.



And little Lucas (Lukito)? He likes his mamma. At first, I thought it was just breasts that he was into, so I did a google image search to try to find some suitable enough to post on this blog. But after looking at pages of internet breasts, none of them seemed right. I realized I couldn't just post a picture of any old breasts (or young ones). Lucas loves only his mamma's breasts. And I can't post a picture of those girls. More accurately though, he loves his whole momma -- as much as any human could love another. He loves her so much that he cries whenever he's away from her-- he just cries and cries. But when she goes to him, his faces changes from utter despair to one of complete contentment. Here she is 7 months pregnant. "the good old days" for little Lucas -- when he was still surrounded by her. She's a great mom, and casually drops whatever she's doing to nourish him when he needs it. Are Talon and Eliot (and Dad-O) jealous of Lucas' constant affections -- not really. She's enough woman for all of us.

Sweet Summeritme!

There's nothing like a summer in the Rockies. At least that's what they say. While technically, we ARE in the Rocky Mountains -- it's been a couple months since I've actually ventured up and out into the forest. Nope, we've been hunkered in, in our hole of toddlers, toys, bottles and boys. We have been out to the park or the store -- I go out to find money and food-- but mostly we've been here. Luckily, here ain't bad. The mountain air and sunshine still graces the back yard.

A friend asked me yesterday, "How are ya?"
"what?...oh...I have no Idea. And you?"

Sounds like a simple question, I know. To me it was like an astro-physics final. I have no idea HOW I AM? Lucas was born on June 2nd, and since then everything has been like a dream you can barely remember. Whatever rhythm we were drumming was lost. Sleep comes at random times and intervals, fruit and flowers are everywhere. We all spend the day working, cleaning, exploring, cooking and creating -- but nothing ever seems to get done.

On one level, we are deeply contented. We feel so blessed, it's almost overwhelming. There is frequent laughter in the house, and uproarious fun being had. But at the same time, we are frazzled and terrified. There are tears of loneliness and despair, short tempers, piles of laundry and dishes. We're freaking out a little.

Whatever our passions and talents and hobbies, we've forgotten them for the short term. We're too busy avoiding hot wheels, reading stories, cooking breakfast, nursing the baby and hanging laundry on the line.

So I don't know how I am. I'm on the space shuttle, I'm lost in the woods, I'm in the Fun House. It's freaky, but it's fun..

New Bike.

Sometimes the world is just, and the good people get rewarded for their efforts. After years of refurbished dumpster road-bikes, a summer of scrubbing windows, and the FINAL labor and delivery, we scraped together the cash to buy Cora a NEW bike. This will be her getaway driver when she wants to flee from Boytown. She's rugged-strong and lightning-hot. And now, so is her bike.

Out of the Baby Cave

Yep. Time to come out. It's Summertime. Seems we've been hiding away for a long time. Indeed, this blog was last updated nearly a year ago. When we were in Mexico. It was on the drive home that we decided our family was fit for five. It's an odd number. So the year has been spent planning, conceiving, growing and birthing the baby in this picture. Say Hello to Lucas Dayne Carballeira. We're calling him Lukito while he is so little. More about him later.

So the Carballeira Blog (Carballog) is back. I feel the need to write stuff down, more so for myself than anyone else. I feel like if I don't, the next decade will be gone at the dash of a sand crab and down a hole. Those buggers are fast. But I'll also write for you all-- my pals, my families -- and the odd rest of you. It's incredible how much help and love you've rained upon us this year. I owe you more than a blog for that. You can expect the usual stuff-- reflections on our culture, our kids and our extra and ordinary lives. But I'll also try to make it goofy sometimes too. I'll update this blog every week, however simply. It's good to be back.