Yosemite

Mike got the chance to go to a conference that was being held in Yosemite.  When he found out about it, he asked me if I wanted to go and if I thought I could find a babysitter for the kids for the weekend.  I got in touch with our long-time sitter to see if she was going to be in town for the weekend, and she was able to work out her travel schedule to be in the area - and she was willing to stay with our crazy crew for two days.  It also happened to fall on the weekend before my birthday, so we had the chance to make it a celebration as well.

We left Friday morning to drive to the park, which took about 3 hours.  It had been ten years since my last trip to Yosemite, and we were only able to spend a couple of hours then, so I didn't really remember a lot about the area.  Driving down into the valley was once again overwhelmingly beautiful and the weather was simply gorgeous on top of it.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the Yosemite Lodge, since that was where Mike's conference was being held, and then he went off to his afternoon meetings, leaving me to my own devices for a few hours.

I checked out the shops at the Lodge and then went to the Ahwahnee, where we were staying.  It's one of the historic, old National Park lodges and is a beautiful building with stunning views.  I changed into my running clothes and took off on the trails that led from the hotel to Yosemite Falls for the most incredibly beautiful run I've ever done.  It was probably not the best workout I've ever had because I kept stopping to take pictures with my phone, but it was amazing to be running up the trail to the bottom of the falls and back through the trees with views of Half Dome and waterfalls and cliffs all around me.

I got cleaned up and then picked Mike up when he was done with his meetings and we went back to our hotel for the evening.  There was a cocktail reception which gave Mike the chance to meet a bunch of the speakers and participants in the conference and then we had a late dinner in the Ahwahnee dining room.  Mike gave me my birthday present just before we went down for the reception - a beautiful multi-colored sapphire bracelet that matches my earrings and necklace.  I absolutely love it and will wear it often, I'm sure.

On Saturday, Mike had meetings all morning, so the wife of one of his partners and I had breakfast together and then went out for a hike.  We left from the hotel and followed a trail to Mirror Lake, which is normally a fairly easy walk, but was treacherous this time because of the the snow and ice covering it.  We managed to get out to the lake without falling and were treated to a beautiful view of the back side of Half Dome and the lake and meadows covered in snow and ice.  We followed a different path back, which ended up being even more slippery than the one on the way out, but ran alongside Tenaya Creek, so we got to see small rapids and hear the water rushing most of the way back.  In all, it took us about two hours and was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

Mike came back to the hotel with the other partner from his firm and the two of them, his wife, and I all had lunch in the bar.  We then went back to our rooms for some down time before meeting up for the afternoon hike.  When we got back together, the four of us drove to Curry Village and then walked to the trailhead for a hike to Vernal Falls.  We were expecting to be picking our way through snow and ice again, and we did have to do a bit of that on the way from the parking lot, but the trail itself was completely clear and dry.  The way up to the falls was a fairly steep, but paved path, so it wasn't too bad a hike.  The views were just stunning and the trail ran on a cliff up above a river that was flowing fast from the recent snow melt, so we were constantly looking both up and down trying to take it all in.  We met up with a bunch of other people from the conference on a bridge below the falls where we got our first view of Vernal Falls itself.  We decided to continue up to the bottom of the falls as long as the trail continued to be clear.  There were a few spots where the snow covered portions of the trial, but we were able to make our way around it and up the steps cut out of the rock to the bottom of the falls.

The hike back down was much easier than going up and we eventually made it back to the car and then the hotel.  After taking a break and cleaning up, we went down to the cocktail reception and then to dinner in the dining room again.  We skipped dessert and had truffles in the room instead, a lovely and relaxing way to end an action-packed day.

We woke up the next morning and looked out the window to discover that five inches of snow had fallen overnight!  It was still snowing, so we decided that since we weren't hungry yet after last night's dinner, we'd skip the buffet and head back home early.  We made a quick stop at the Village Store for some doughnuts to get us going and then started the slow drive out of the valley.  The scenery was only enhanced by the snow and it was overwhelmingly beautiful to see the valley and the falls covered in the new snow.  Unfortunately, the National Parks Service plows were not particularly effective, so driving up the hill was treacherous at times.  As soon as we passed through the park exit, the roads were clear and the rest of the drive was easy.  We stopped for lunch at the Oakdale Cheese Company and picked up grilled ham and gouda sandwiches and some fantastic cheese curds that were super squeaky!

We got home without a problem and the kids were happy to see us.  It was a wonderful weekend, a great way to celebrate my birthday, and a much-needed break from ordinary life.  We're hoping we can go back some time soon - even for a day trip - and take the kids so that they can see this amazing place that is right in our backyard.  It's truly a national treasure and one we want to be sure to explore and share with them.

I'm Impressed! and the Tail (Tale) of the Rat

For a couple of days we had a really foul smell in the garage. I was pretty sure it was from something dead, but didn't know what or where. I did notice that my car still smelled even when we were out and about, which definitely wasn't a good sign. Last night, I finally took to sniffing around the garage to see if I could figure out where the smell was coming from. Sure enough, it was from my car, the front passenger side. I wasn't willing to try to find the source at night, so I left it until today.

I had to take our youngest to gymnastics this morning, so I didn't bother with it until I got home. I parked outside of the garage over the outside drain, thinking (hoping) I might be able to wash whatever it was out of the car. Then I looked underneath and saw...

a tail. A long, gray, hairless tail, hanging almost to the ground, coming out from right behind my front wheel. I ran inside, squealing and hopping around like a lunatic, with a serious case of the willies! EW EW EW EW EW! I've seen dead things before, but for some reason, this just seriously grossed me out. Maybe it was knowing that I was going to have to somehow get it out from under my car that made it so nasty.

I left the car sitting outside for a while, trying to steel myself for dealing with a dead rat. The kids, of course, had to know all the details of what was going on and had to go check it out for themselves, and none of them seemed as freaked out about it as I was. As I procrastinated longer and longer, our older daughter started to offer to pull the rat out for me - seriously?! That was an offer I couldn't refuse. She insisted that I give her a pair of gloves and she'd take care of it for me.

So, of course, I did. She put on my dish gloves (pink with yellow flowers around the cuffs, very fashionable), lay down under the car, reached right in and pulled out - the tail. Yes, just the tail, detached from the rest of the rat. EW EW EW EW EW! She picked it up and calmly put it into the trash bag that I was holding at arm's length, and asked, "Do you want me to crawl under there and try to get the rest of it?" Uh, no. But I was beyond impressed with how she handled the whole thing. Her brother wouldn't even come outside. Her sister just kept saying, "It's okay, Mommy, it's already dead." She then took off the gloves and went on her merry way.

That still left me with a tailless dead rat under my car and needing to find a way to get it out from it's hiding place. At which point one of our neighbors came down the driveway to witness the whole spectacle and the girls glommed onto her to find out every detail of what she was doing (gathering lavender for Christmas gifts apparently) and tell her the entire rat story in great detail. Poor woman thought she'd be able to calmly walk down the driveway to gather her flowers - HA!

I looked under the car again and finally figured out exactly where the rat was laying (saw it's little dead face staring back at me - EW!). It was going to require something long to reach under there and scoop it out. I got one of the kids' shovels from the sandbox (the one with the longest handle!) and managed to push it out onto the driveway, but it was so floppy that I couldn't easily scoop it up. Figures. I had to slide it up against the tire to get the shovel underneath it and finally pick the darn thing up. I scooped it into a trash bag and put an end to the whole rat saga. I did spend some time hosing out the area where it was laying, and the driveway, and the shovel, and the gloves...

Now the car doesn't stink, the garage doesn't stink, and I have a new respect for my daughter. And no, I don't have pictures to share from this adventure!

Dog Days Giants Game

Every year, the San Francisco Giants hold one game where fans can bring their dogs.  We finally got ourselves organized enough to get to the game, along with three other Leo families (one couple with two Leos just happened to be there, without knowing ahead of time that we had organized a group to go). 

It turned out to be a beautiful day - sunny, but with a lovely breeze that kept it from getting too hot.  I took the girls and Zatarain up to the park on my own since our son had his first baseball game of the the fall season the same day.  He and Mike planned on meeting us at the game after his game finished.  We met up with the Leo people outside of the park and we all lined up to participate in the dog parade before the game.  The San Francisco SPCA had provided water bowls and wading pools to keep the dogs cool and there were people coming by as we waited to give out swag, keeping the kids happy, too.  One of the families has two girls who have become good friends with our girls over the last couple of years, so they were all excited to spend the day together.  It was a bit like herding cats trying to keep track of the four girls plus the dogs, in addition to answering the inevitable questions about the dogs, but we managed to keep from losing anyone or causing irreparable damage with tangled leashes.

When the line finally started to move, we all got to parade around the warning track with the dogs.  We had our moment of fame on the big screen as we passed by the cameras.  A couple of Arizona Diamondbacks players were warming up as we passed by and one of them handed our youngest a baseball; she was beside herself and refused to let anyone else carry it for her until we were done with the parade.  There were a few people in the stands who recognized the dogs as Leonbergers and were excited to see them walk past.  It was fun for all of us to get to be down on the field, although we got less air time than we thought we would.

We all headed to our seats and enjoyed the game.  We took turns taking the kids to the bathroom, watching them play on the slides, getting food, standing with the dogs in the shade, getting water for the dogs, and just generally trying to make order our of chaos.  Every time the crowd cheered, the dogs in the stands would bark and bounce around, adding to the excitement.  The kids ate tons of junk food and were thrilled about it.  Since our seats were right below the slides, the older girls were given the freedom to play on them on their own, as long as they checked in with us occasionally.  They loved that and were very good about stopping by every once in a while.  It definitely made the game more enjoyable for them since they didn't  have to sit in their seats being bored by the game.  That, in turn, made it much more pleasant for the adults as well!  The little girls went back and forth between the slides and the seats with one of us and made friends with all of the dogs and people around us.  The game was actually exciting and the Giants won, making it an even better day.

Mike and our son got to the stadium just as the game ended, so they got in line for the "Kids Run the Bases" and we met them there.  The moms took the 5 kids back onto the field while the two Mikes waited outside with the dogs.  Our son took off for a true run around the bases, the two older girls trotted around together, and the little girls walked behind them.  They all had a great time, although our son lamented the fact that he had to miss the game because of his (which they won 14-7, with him pitching the final inning, getting two strike-outs).

When we met back up with the guys, we said our good-byes and headed off to the cars.  It was a fun day and amazingly well-organized.  We found out later that there were about 800 dogs there - I never would have guessed there were that many!  I would definitely do it again next year, and our son said next year he's going no matter what else is happening that day.

End-of-Summer Getaway

Early this summer, friends of ours invited us to go camping up in the wine country. Our first camping trip came about because of that invitation, since we didn't want to look like complete fools when we went with them.  We felt pretty good about how we handled things the first time, so we were ready when the day finally arrived to meet up with our friends and one other family.

Leading up to the weekend, Mike managed to get sick, so we weren't sure if he was going to join us. I planned on taking the kids no matter what, but he rallied for the trip and we all went up together.  The traffic going up was terrible, so it took us about an hour and a half longer to get there than we had planned.  We still had plenty of daylight, though, and got ourselves set up and settled without too much trouble.  Our friends were making dinner that night, so we were able to hang out and chat while they cooked and got things ready for all of us.

Between the three families, we had seven kids ranging in age from three to nine.  We were the only ones with girls, so there was quite the pack of wild boys running around the whole weekend.  Our son and one other boy brought toy light sabers (I have no idea why), so the main game for the entire weekend was a roving Star Wars battle.  Our campsites were just up the hill from the Russian River, so the kids spent a lot of time battling the forces of good and evil on the banks of the river.  We were all pretty relaxed about letting the big kids take off on their own as long as they let us know where they were going, so we didn't see much of them for most of the weekend.  They were thrilled to have that kind of freedom and took advantage of the opportunity.

We had a lovely dinner together and after cleaning up and waiting for the logs to burn down, everyone gathered around the fire for s'mores (mainly just the marshmallows, but there were some ingenious attempts at putting pieces of chocolate between the marshmallows and toasting the whole mess together).  Our kids finally collapsed into bed and immediately fell asleep, while we lingered a while longer around the campfire at our own site.  Mike and I were not as lucky with regards to sleep as the kids - our air mattress had a very slow leak and we ended up on the ground (and in pain) by morning, with very little sleep in between.

Saturday dawned gray and cold, but a hot breakfast and a nice shower perked me up at least.  We all moved pretty slowly that morning, so by the time we were cleaned up after breakfast, it was late morning and we still didn't have a specific plan for the rest of the day.  The kids, of course, took off on their own adventures, with a game of baseball and a scavenger hunt sandwiched in between their battles.  We realized that morning, as Mike was going through the cooler, that I had forgotten to get the ribs we were planning on making for dinner out of the freezer, so a trip to the grocery store had to happen at some point.  As all of the adults sat around chatting, we realized it didn't make any sense to pull the kids away from their fun to pack them back into the car, so we gave up on any plans for exploring the area and decided to stay at the campground.  The men all headed for the store and we moms eventually made our way down to the river to see what the kids were up to.

When the guys got back, Mike took our kids swimming in the river since the skies had finally cleared up and the air had warmed up a bit.  I did my darndest to try to find the leak in our mattress while they were gone, but had no luck.  It was our turn to make dinner, so while we got started on the cooking, one of the dads took their younger son on the hayride, which passed right by our campsites.  It was fun for the little guy to pass everyone and get to do something special while his big brother looked on.

We had a successful dinner and pulled out the s'more stuff for dessert once again.  One of the other moms also brought glow sticks, so the kids had a really fun time putting those together to make jumpropes, hoops, necklaces, and bracelets and they looked really cool as it got darker.  Our little one collapsed from exhaustion, so I put her to bed before dessert (she actually fell asleep in the car when I took her along to try to find cell service so I could check my voicemail and make sure there weren't any problems with the cats).  The other kids went to bed and we stayed up to do the dishes and put off the misery of sleeping on our mattress for as long as possible.

We did eventually go to bed and it was awful once again, but it meant we were up early and able to get a jump on packing up.  We had an easy breakfast of doughnuts and muffins and while we packed, the kids did their own thing.  There was a group of boys who arrived the day before and were riding around the sites on their bikes (Mike referred to them as a primordial biker gang) and our boys and theirs were having issues.  Our kids couldn't seem to understand that standing in the road and staring after them simply invited them to return and continue bugging our kids, so I finally had to tell our kids that the next time they interacted with the other boys in any way, they would all have to sit on the picnic benches until we were all ready to leave.  That convinced them to leave well enough alone and it was relatively peaceful until we left.

Since it was lunch time when we pulled out of the campground, we decided to stop at Korbel Winery and have lunch at their deli on the way out.  The food was really good and it was a lovely last destination for the trip.  We all said our goodbyes and headed for home from there, hoping to get back mid-afternoon and have time to unpack and relax since school was starting the next day.

No such luck.  We hit horrific traffic due to a wildfire and construction early on and then hit even worse traffic after crossing over the bridge.  In all, with a stop for lunch and two stops for the bathroom (one of which was in the scariest Walgreen's I've ever experienced), it took us six hours to get home, when it should have been just over two.  I made the kids a quick dinner, got them cleaned up, and put them to bed as early as possible.  I'm still trying to get through cleaning, sorting, and storing all the gear a week later.

Aside from the miserable trips up and back and the fact that there was only one bathroom in our part of the campground and it was about a quarter of a mile away (I swear I walked about a million miles over the course of the weekend!) and only had two toilets and two showers and a number of other negatives, we had a really good time.  It was a lot of fun to camp with these two families, the kids did really well together, and it was great to be able to just let the kids run around outside and do their own thing for long stretches of time.  We'd love to do it again - just somewhere else next time.

Birthday at the Ballpark

One of our son's birthday presents was tickets to a San Francisco Giants game.  Mike chose this game in particular because the give-away that day was orange jerseys for the first 7,500 kids.  That's one of the coolest things they've given out, so we made plans to be there for the game.  It also turned out to be a game with the Giants' biggest rivals right now, the San Diego Padres, so it was a popular game for multiple reasons.

We got to the stadium as soon as the gates opened, since we weren't sure if the kids would get their jerseys if we got there closer to game time (it would have been fine).  The lines to get in were huge - unlike anything we'd ever seen before - but once the gates opened, they moved quickly and there were plenty of jerseys to go around.  We had about two hours before the game started, so we headed for the batting and pitching cages to let the older kids try their hands at those.  Our daughter managed to hit a good number of balls in the batting cage - I think that was her first time in a cage and she wasn't at all intimidated.  Our son loves to throw in the pitching cage because they have a radar gun and he can see how fast he's throwing.  His fastest so far is 47 mph, but Sunday he only managed 37 mph.  Still seems awfully fast to me!

We then headed up to the slides, where we discovered the down side to the the jersey give-away - all the kids looked exactly the same and it was incredibly difficult to find our kids in the sea of orange.  I had written my cell number on our daughters' arms (I forgot to put their ID bands on before we left) and it turned out to be a good thing.  When the two older kids got off of the slides, they couldn't find us and we hadn't seen them come down.  They stood in one place looking for us and a kind lady noticed them alone and asked if they wanted to borrow her cell phone to call us.  Our son knows my cell number, but having the number written down gave them confidence to call me.  We were only about 20 feet away from each other, but with the crowds we just didn't see each other.  I walked over and found them and thanked the woman for helping them out - she has kids, too, so she understood - and we met back up with Mike and our youngest to find our seats.

The game itself was uneventful.  The Giants lost, unfortunately, but our son enjoyed being there anyway.  We made about a zillion trips to the bathroom over the course of the game, making me completely insane.  We did end up leaving at the top of the 9th inning to make our way down to the field.  After Sunday day games, they allow the kids to run the bases, so we wanted to get in line for them to be able to take their turn.  It was a highlight for all of them to run around a major league field, so we were glad we made the effort.

Our son said it was a great birthday gift and he really enjoyed himself.  I'm not sure his sisters enjoyed it quite as much, but it was a fun family day out, the weather was beautiful, and it's truly one of the greatest ballparks anywhere.

Our First Camping Trip

Well, not exactly, but the first one with all five of us.  Mike and I did some camping before the kids and then made a few trips when the older kids were very young, but our last trip was when our older daughter was about a year old.  We'd never tried it with all three kids and had always gone with a group before, so this was a new experience for us.

We did have quite a bit of equipment already, luckily.  We had the Taj Ma-tent, our three-room dome tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and the like.  We needed things like a camp sink, gear box, flashlights, lanterns, and a stove (which we borrowed from a friend).  Once we were geared up, it was just a matter of finding room for it all in the van, along with leaving room for three kids and us.  We decided to leave the dog for this trip since we hadn't done this before and the only place he was allowed was in the campground itself and not on any of the trails or down by the river.  It was a good thing, too, because there wasn't an inch of extra room in the car!

Once we were loaded and ready to head out, it was a two-hour drive down to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park along one of the most picturesque roads in the country.  We knew nothing about the campground before we got there - I reserved the spot simply because it was where we could get two consecutive nights in a campground that wasn't too far away.  It turned out to be fantastic and our site was one of the best in the park.  We were at the end of the road, so there was very little traffic and the kids could run around without us having to worry too much about them.  We were also right on the Big Sur River, so our site overlooked the river and there was a path down the hill right from our site.  It was wonderful to go to bed at night and be able to hear the water flowing by.

We took the time the week before to practice setting up the tent, so once we got there and checked out the site, it wasn't too much trouble to get it set up.  The kids headed for the river to throw rocks in the water and check out the paths and we got the car unloaded and settled in for the evening.  Dinner was ribs grilled over the fire with s'mores for dessert.  After getting everyone cleaned up a bit, we put the kids to bed - they fell asleep immediately - and Mike and I hung out by the fire for bit longer.  We finally hit the sack, too, knowing that the kids were likely to be up with the sun.

Our first big rookie mistake - forgetting to throw the trash out before going to bed.  When Mike got up to go to the bathroom during the night, he was greeted by a couple of skunks who had discovered our bag of goodies and were having a nocturnal feast.  Luckily, they weren't at all concerned with us and didn't bother to spray us or any of the gear.  They did make a mess, but that wasn't a big deal.  Lesson learned and we made sure to put the trash out before going to bed the next night.

Mike and I were awakened by the blue jay alarm at 6:00 the next morning.  I have no idea what set them off, but they were tremendously loud and sitting in the tree right above our site and it sounded like there were about a bazillion of them all squawking at the same time.  That was the only time we heard them in a group like that.  The kids, on the other hand, had no trouble sleeping through it and finally woke up around 8:00.

We took our time getting going.  Our older daughter provided the excitement for the morning by letting Mike pull out her first tooth before breakfast, so she was excited all day, making sure she showed her gap to everyone we came across.  We finally made our way down to Julia Pfeiffer State Park, which was about 15 minutes down the road.  We saw the famous waterfall that falls directly onto the beach and hiked up into the hills to another waterfall.  The kids loved climbing over logs and hiking up the trails and it was a beautiful, quiet redwood forest.  After the hikes, we found a cafe near our campground for lunch and then headed back to our site for the rest of the afternoon.

The kids had been begging to go swim in the river, so we walked a bit up from our site where the water was deeper and let them give it a go.  Even though they're really strong swimmers, they're not used to moving water, so they were a bit freaked out by actually swimming in the river.  They did have a good time playing in the water and our son got brave enough to to back float and let the current carry him for a bit, which he thought was very cool.  After getting dressed, I gave them t-shirts to decorate as their souvenirs of the trip, and they've worn them proudly since then.  Dinner was burgers grilled over the fire, with more s'mores for dessert.  We all went to bed earlier and hoped for a better night's sleep.

It didn't happen.  The kids slept fine again - I swear they could sleep through absolutely anything - but we were up about every hour because the kids in the tent next to us kept waking up howling.  I really felt for their parents, but we were less than happy with the lack of sleep.

The next morning was breakfast, taking down the tent, and packing everything back into the car.  We decided to check out Pfeiffer Beach on our way out, which was really beautiful with neat rock arches and purple sand.  We didn't want to get back too late, so we didn't stay long, much to the kids' chagrin.  Next time we'll plan on actually hanging out at the beach, because it was a great spot.

We got home without a problem and started the process of cleaning everything, doing laundry, and repacking and organizing all the gear for next time.  We're doing another trip at the end of August, so we'll be ready to go when it's time to pack up next time.  It was a really fun couple of days and a great chance for the kids to be outside and be dirty and run around without any kind of a schedule or ourside distractions.  They loved it and can't wait to go again and we will definitely go back to that campground and that site in particular, because it was just ideal.

Gilroy Gardens

We met our friends, the Shafers, at Gilroy Gardens today. Gilroy Gardens is a botanical-themed amusement park that is geared toward younger kids, so it was perfect for our crew. The weather was great - warm, but not unbearable - and the park has tons of shade, so it was really lovely to be out there all day. We were there from opening to closing, rode most of the rides, the kids played in the water area for a long time after lunch, and everyone got along for the most part.

All-in-all, it was a really great way to spend the day!

Pre-July 4th Beach Day

Each month we have a get-together at the beach for the local Leonbergers and their owners. The number of dogs and people varies, but there is one other family that joins us almost every month. Our kids are close in age and all get along really well, so we can just turn them loose together and they make their own fun in the water and sand. It's been a godsend for us, because for so long we were the only ones with kids and our guys were kind of tired of only having each other as playmates. Now they look forward to heading out there each month and so do we!

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Today was Mike's birthday, so he decided to play hookey, I cancelled our normal Friday stuff, and we headed to the beach. It was a warm day by us, but clear, cool, and windy at the beach. That didn't stop the kids from heading into the water and Zatarain, of course, was in heaven!

We didn't get to stay too long since our daughter had soccer and our son had baseball practice, but it was a lovely outing and we all had a wonderful time.

Spring Has Sprung

We had our monthly Leonberger get-together at the beach this past weekend. We lucked out with an absolutely stellar day - sunny, blue skies, and warm - and we were all ready for some outside time after all of the cold, gray days we've had this winter. The kids can't resist the chance to get in the water, even when it's in the 50s, and Sunday was no different. They were running in and out of the water, jumping off of the big rock, playing in the sand, and just generally being the beach kids they are.

Zatarain had a fabulous time, as well. He swam and swam and swam, chasing his ball in and out of the water, for about 3 hours. At one point, he lost sight of both me and his ball and ended up swimming around for probably close to 10 minutes while I kept directing him from the shore. He did eventually find his ball, after coming in to shore and then chasing a rock that Mike threw out towards the ball. Silly dog. Bella and Goulash joined him playing on the beach and we ended up with 3 very tired pups.

After our time on the beach, we headed over to the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company for a late lunch with our friends, Mike and Mandy and their girls, Allanna and Daniela, who own Bella, and with Ian and Mo, who own Goulash. Ian joined us for lunch last month and the experience didn't scare him off, so that says a lot about his constitution! We took over about half of the back patio, the kids spread out and played and colored, and we had a really lovely lunch. Fun conversation and good food and tired dogs. It was a great end to a really fun day.

Christmas Cookies

My parents were here for a week to help out while I was on the couch after my surgery. They left super early this morning, so we're readjusting to life on our own, putting things back where they belong, doing laundry, and getting back to doing the normal routine on our own.

While they were here, my mom did some baking with the kids while I directed from the couch. She made chocolate chip cookies with our youngest on Thursday while her brother and sister were in school and then did Christmas cookies on Saturday and Sunday with the whole crew. It was a huge mess, as baking with kids usually is, but they had a great time with all the steps of the process. I have to say, my mom has the patience of Job when doing that kind of stuff - probably why she was such a great school teacher - and it just doesn't phase her when the flour ends up on the floor or there are piles of sprinkles on a single cookie or someone's hands end up covered in food coloring.

We'll be eating cookies for weeks, I think, but the memories the kids will have are more than worth the calories!

Birthday Bash

Our son's birthday party was this weekend. Because he has a summer birthday, he chooses to have his party outside each year. This year, like last year, he asked to have it at the beach. We all love spending a day at the beach, so we're more than happy to plan a party there. It's really one of the easiest parties to put together - just bring food and the entertainment is provided by the location.

This year, Mike grilled Fred's steak to make steak sandwiches. It was fantastic and every bite was eaten right away. We also had hot dogs for the kids, fruit, vegetables, brownies (our son doesn't like cake) and we made ice cream there. We used an Ice Cream Ball last year and it was so much fun, that we bought a second one to be able to make more at the same time this year. It's a great way to have ice cream at a picnic.

I got down to the beach at 8:15 that morning to get a covered picnic area. By the time I got there, all of the pavilions were taken and we were only able to get 2 picnic tables and a grill. Luckily, we had a sandy area right next to us, so we were able to spread out there. Mike stopped at Target on his way down (he brought the kids a bit later) and got 2 shade tents and a tarp and we created our own pavilion. It worked out fine, even if it wasn't exactly what we had planned.

The kids played baseball in the sand, did some boogie boarding, built sand castles, and just generally played for the day. There were dolphins just offshore all day, feeding and playing, so we had an impromptu show for everyone as well. Our guests came and left at various times, until it was just us and one other family. Our kids were all playing in the sand and we were talking until one of us looked at a watch and realized it was 6;45 and we really needed to do something about dinner. Mike noticed that one of the nearby grills was still hot, so he added more charcoal, got it cranked up, and we pulled out the leftover hot dogs, fruit, and brownies and made dinner for us and the kids. We finally left the beach at 8:15 when the rangers came through and told us we had to go.

It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun. Check out the pictures below to see what we did.

Family Day at the Ballpark

Our son has been to several baseball games this summer and has become a big baseball fan. His sister had heard all about these trips and was dying to go to one, too. We finally managed to find a home weekend day game that we could bring everyone to, so this Saturday, we all went up to AT&T Park to watch the Giants and the Cincinnati Reds.


I've been to a couple of baseball games, but it's been a very long time since the last one and I'd never been to this field. First off, this is a beautiful ballpark. Parking for it is in an old wharf building on San Francisco Bay and as you walk to the park, you look over McCovey Cove into the park. Just an amazing view before you even get to the park. The ballpark itself is great - a really neat building, with great seating, a kids' play area, and LOTS of bathrooms. All critical features when you're taking young kids to a ball game.
















We got to the game early enough for the kids to play a bit and burn a little energy after the long ride up (We got stuck in traffic caused by street sweeping, on the highway, on a Saturday morning. I still have to ask if that was really necessary.). Our son tried out the batting cage, which he apparently does every time, and he and his sister did the slides - our youngest was too small to go on them - both of which they really enjoyed. Then we headed to our seats to get settled before the game started.


The game itself was fine. The older kids had pizza and the little on had a hot dog, they all drank lots of lemonade - it was HOT in our seats since we were in the sun the whole time - and they finished off with ice cream and snow cones. I believe we set a record for the most number of trips to the bathroom during a baseball game. At one point the score went from 1-0 to 4-2 and I have no idea how it happened. Let's just say that going to a ball game with 3 kids, 2 of whom have no real interest in the game, is not the most conducive way to see one. We managed to stay for the whole game, though, which the Giants won, giving a great ending to a fun trip.

Our youngest passed the time by drawing

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Last weekend, we took a trip down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's about a 90-minute drive for us, which to the kids means they get to watch videos on the way there and back. A win-win in their book - the aquarium and TV in the car! We've had a membership there for years now, so we never feel like we have to see or do anything in particular when we go. This time, that was a good thing since the place was packed. We hadn't seen it like that in a couple of years, mainly because we tend to time our trips for afternoons during the week. This was a Saturday during the summer, reminding us that Monterey is, actually, a tourist town.

The one exhibit we really wanted to see was the newest one to open - The Secret Lives of Seahorses. Our older daughter absolutely loves seahorses - they've fascinated her for as long as we can remember - so we knew that was the one thing we needed to see this trip. It was well worth dealing with the crowds to see. The sheer numbers of seahorses and variety of species they had on display were amazing, including leafy seadragons, which are a particular favorite of mine. There was a video - on a VERY large screen - showing a male seahorse giving birth to babies. Our kids then had to recreate that scene for us, which would have been extremely embarrassing in any other location! Luckily, the people around us just thought it was funny. If you're in the area and have a chance to see this, it's fascinating.

We hadn't planned on staying for the entire afternoon, but the kids were enjoying themselves and were being very good, so we just kept moving from place to place. We finally realized it was dinner time and the aquarium was staying open until 8:00 and offering dinner at the restaurant, so we managed to get a table and eat before leaving. The food was okay, but the kids were remarkably well-behaved for the whole meal, which lasted about an hour and a half. Even the server commented on how good they were the whole time. The kids thought it was very cool to be in the aquarium when it was closed and can't wait for the chance to go back and do it all again.

Waterworld

I took the kids to their first water park today. We have one that is about 20 minutes from our house, but it's in a questionable neighborhood, so I head to the one that's about an hour and a half away when i feel like a day of waterslides. Aside from the bother of driving that far, it's a fun way to spend a hot day.

Our little one was not at all impressed. As soon as I put sunscreen on her, she wiped it in her eyes and spent the whole rest of the day with running, red eyes and a very bad attitude. The only time she was really happy was during lunch and when she finally fell asleep in the parking lot as we headed home. My normally insanely water-loving child wanted nothing to do with the water or the slides, so she spent the day standing in the water in the kiddie areas or sitting in the stroller.

The other two had a great time, though. Our daughter loved the kid areas, with the smaller slides and even got over her disappointment of having to wear a life jacket in the wave pool (anyone under 48 inches tall has to wear one, no matter how well they swim) once she realized how much fun it was to bounce around in the waves. Our son was happy to try out some of the bigger slides on his own. He ended up in the wrong line at one point and went down his first speed slide. He didn't like it - he said it was scary and really hurt - but I was seriously impressed he even tried it. He did love the regular body slides, though, and did then several times.

So even though our little one didn't enjoy herself, it was a good day. The older kids said they definitely wanted to go back again, so we'll have to make another trip up there in the future.

Great America

We went to Great America (the amusement park that is 5 minutes from our house) for the day yesterday. I took the kids in the morning and Mike joined us after his lunch meeting for the rest of the afternoon. The last couple of years it's been basically useless for me to take the kids on my own, because our son wanted to do the bigger rides, but needed an adult to go with him and the girls were too little to do much of anything. This year, our son is tall enough to do most of the rides, with the exception of the most dramatic coasters, on his own and he is very set up with himself over that. It makes my life dramatically easier because I can let him go on a bigger ride while I take the girls on something more tame in the same general area. The same was true in the water park - he went on the big slides on his own and I watched the girls on the smaller slides and in the pool.

It was a very fun day for all of us. It was great to have Mike there for the afternoon so we could divide an conquer and everyone got to do the things they wanted. It was a long day - we were there 10:30 to 7:15 - and our little one fell asleep as soon as she got into the car. The kids can't wait to go back and do it all again and it was so much fun that I'm actually willing to go back, too.

Reading Time

Each afternoon my kids spend some time doing independent reading. Our son has really gotten into Harry Potter (he is loving Prisoner of Azkaban right now) and our older daughter is finally able to sit down and read on her own for a bit. We still do reading time together in the evenings, but this is their chance to tune out on their own for a bit.

We actually went to the library yesterday. For most people, this wouldn't be worthy of mentioning, but I happen to dislike libraries. The thought of reading a book that has been handled by so many other people, and the smell of those books, makes my stomach turn. But I figured my kids really should understand what a library is and how to find books, so I got the two older ones their own library cards and let them loose on the stacks. Our daughter had a bit of trouble with the concept of just borrowing the books - she didn't understand why you have to give them back - but she was really excited by the news that you're allowed to check out 40 (!) books/videos/CDs at a time. No way that will happen - I am not going to try to keep track of 40 library items in my house! They did get a few books, though - horses and Star Wars were the hot themes this time - and are happily reading them. Hopefully this will give them the chance to read some things they may not have seen before since the book stores only have newer titles. And I'll just have to invest in the industrial-sized bottles of Purell to read with them.

Maui - Day 6

The kids wanted to check out a different beach, so we packed up our stuff and headed for Wailea Beach. The boogie boarding tends to be better there, so our son was very excited about the morning. We managed to find a parking spot (which was remarkable for a Saturday morning) and hauled all of our stuff down to the beach. We set up camp against the rocks at the far end of the beach so we would have some shade, and it turned out that the family set up next to us was from Sunnyvale and the dad works about a mile from our house. Small world!

Mike let me go out to snorkel first, so I swam out along the rocks to get past the break. The visibility was terrible, so I continued out to see if I could find some clear water. I ended up in a swarm of jellyfish instead. I'm not easily freaked out while in the water, but jellyfish in the tropics can be really bad news, so I quickly turned around and swam back in. There were no ill effects from the jellies, but we stayed close to shore for the rest of the morning anyway.

There were some great waves, so Mike and I took turns on the boogie boards. Our son had one to himself and happily spent the whole morning riding waves. We all got some great rides and the waves got progressively bigger as the morning went on. I was in my element and had a great time! Our older daughter spent her time snorkeling in the shallows and picking up rocks and bits of coral that she found on the bottom, while our youngest hung out with Mike in the water.

All in all, it was a great morning. We finally got hungry, so we left the beach and went to Maui Tacos (again). The family that was next to us overheard us and decided it sounded good, too, so we ended up seeing them there. Our older daughter didn't really want tacos, so I took her next door to the natural food market to put together a salad. She's the only 5-year-old I can think of who would happily choose a salad over tacos!

We went back to the condo for the little one to nap. Our older daughter had been complaining about her ear hurting, so I took her to urgent care to get it checked out. We waited for an hour for the doctor to see her for approximately 60 seconds and diagnose her with exactly what I told him was happening. It was a lovely case of swimmer's ear, for which he prescribed ear drops and told her to stay out of the water for at least 2 days. Yeah, right. So we went back to the Safeway pharmacy for another prescription and more Motrin.

After we got back to the condo, we took everybody down to the pool for a while. We all swam for a bit and then went back up to the condo to get cleaned up for dinner. We went to Joe's Bar and Grill, which we've been to before, but it wasn't really as good this time. The food was just average and I ended up feeling pretty nauseous for the rest of the night, so it wasn't the highlight of the trip. The kids had fun riding the golf cart to and from the parking lot, so it wasn't a total loss.

Maui - Day 5 (Part 2)

It was only 12;30 when we got back to the marina, so we decided to go to the Maui Ocean Center for the afternoon. It's a remarkably good aquarium and we make a trip there every time we're on the island. The marina is about a block away, so it made sense to do them both the same day so we wouldn't have to make another trip up there.

The exhibits were basically the same as last year. They did add a tank with baby turtles, which had letters on their shells to identify them. The kids thought that was kind of fun. The octopus was out and swimming around it's exhibit, and our youngest was absolutely fascinated by that. She watched for probably 15 minutes as it swam up and down and dug around in the sand with it's tentacles. I love octopuses, so I was happy to stand there with her. Our son really enjoyed the marine mammal exhibit this time. There are a lot of hands-on activities in that room and because he reads so well, he was able to check them all out and understand the point of them all. His sisters were not nearly as interested, so we finally had to drag him out of there to head to the shark tank.

The largest tank at the aquarium is the shark tank. It has a big room with a large viewing window, and next to it, there is a tunnel where you can watch the animals swim over the top of you. There is also one spot in the floor that is plexiglas and you can watch the fish swim underneath you. The kids have all loved that window in the floor and they lay down and become road hazards as they look down. This tank also has a tiger shark, which is rare to see in an aquarium. It has been there for quite a while - we've seen it on at least 3 trips now - and it's a cool shark to watch.

We headed to the gift shop from there and the kids were each able to choose something from either there or the next store. Our older daughter got a pretty necklace and the other 2 decided to wait and choose something later. We got a couple of things for the people who took care of the cats for us as well.

We were done with the aquarium, so we walked over to the Pacific Whale Foundation store, another one of our standard stops. Our son and younger daughter both chose stuffed animals from here (an angelfish and a dolphin) and I got 2 new rash guards. They have some of the best rash guards I've found and I was needing a new one since one of the ones I brought was completely stretched out. Got one more gift and then we were done.

We headed back to the condo for a quiet evening. We went down to the pool to swim until sunset and then went back and made a frozen pizza for the kids. I went out and picked up sushi for Mike and me from Sansei to round out a very big day.

Maui - Day 5 (Part 1)

Something different today!

We decided on Thursday that it might be fun to try a snorkeling trip with the kids, since both older kids had become so comfortable in the water. Mike and I hadn't done the trip to Molokini in years, so we thought that if we could get a reservation for one of the boat trips, we'd give it a try. We had no trouble getting on a boat, so that's how we spent the morning.

I tend to get miserably seasick, so I wasn't completely enthusiastic about the trip to start out. I did take Bonine ahead of time and I felt fine the whole trip, luckily. It was a bit rocky getting out there, so I was glad I had taken the drugs. The kids enjoyed the boat ride and had no problem at all. The little one did end up falling off of a bench and scraping her knees, so we had to do some minor first aid, but that was the only hitch.

Once we got out to Molokini, everyone got in the water to snorkel. Mike and the two older kids went off together while I tried to deal with our youngest. She was less than thrilled with the idea of being out in the ocean, even with a life jacket and riding on a float, so she and I got back on the boat and waited for the others to return. The kids didn't want to stay in for very long; even with wetsuits, it was cold for them. So after a turn around the reef and seeing some of the fish, they, too, got back on the boat. Mike took some time to snorkel on his own while I rode herd on the kids and when he came back to the boat, the two older ones spent some time going down the slide and jumping off the side of the boat. Our son even did a flip off the side at one point! There was a group of guys and girls who were maybe in their early twenties who were doing tricks for each other, so our son had to follow their example. They were really nice and very sweet to the kids, so it was fun for all of them. Mike came back on the boat after a while and I went in to snorkel for a bit. It was super clear and neat to see the amount of coral along the walls, but the fish life wasn't any more exciting than what we were seeing right off of the beach by the condo.

On the way back to the marina, the boat stopped at an area just off the shore at the north end of Kihei where turtles tend to hang out. There were 24 of them that our son counted, and many of them were huge. Definitely the biggest turtles I've ever seen out there! That was probably the highlight, as far as sea life was concerned.

We all had a really good time on the boat and I'm glad we decided to do it. I think we even managed to avoid major sunburn out there, which with our complexions can be the biggest challenge.