Kauai - July 9, 2011

After breakfast, we got packed up and drove over to Ke'e Beach, which is as far as you can go on the north end of the island.  The last time we were in Kauai, we spent a lot of time at this beach because it's calm and warm since there's a protective reef just offshore.  It seemed like a good spot to get the kids back into snorkeling since it had been two years since they'd had the chance to do it and our youngest had been too little the last time.  Mike and I knew the snorkeling was just okay there, but figured the kids wouldn't really care as long as they saw something.

The older two headed for the water right away and took off for some rocks to the side of the beach.  They immediately started exclaiming over the fish that were swimming around them and spent a long time looking around the rocks and swimming back and forth between them and the beach.  Our little one had been hesitant to swim at the beach in the past, but decided that this time it was a fine idea, so she was diving down to gather rocks and check out the little fish that were coming closer in to the beach.  Mike took the older kids out to check out the reef when they were ready to swim a bit farther, which they both thought was really cool.

After spending the morning swimming and playing in the sand, we dragged the kids out of the water and they tore into the snacks we brought like they'd never seen food.  While they were occupied, Mike and I got the gear packed up and we wrangled the kids and stuff up to the showers to rinse off the sand and salt, which turned out to be unnecessary since Mother Nature decided to do it for us.  We then went into Hanalei for lunch at Bubba's, followed by the kids' first experience with shave ice.  They now agree, by the way, that there's no going back to snow cones!

After lunch, we thought we'd go see a couple of other beaches and decide if we wanted to spend more time at one of them.  We ended up not staying at either one, since one was very rough (although our son was game to try boogie boarding anyway) and our youngest was asleep at the other.  We did stop by the Kilauea Lighthouse, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we only got to see it from a distance.

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at the grocery for some dinner and then enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the bluff behind the condo.  After a busy day, it was a lovely way to end.

Kauai - July 8, 2011

We took our time getting up (okay, I took my time getting up, while Mike dealt with the kids) and had a lazy breakfast in the condo.  When we finally got ourselves organized, we drove down the road a bit to do a hike to a (large) tidepool called Queen's Bath.  We actually did this the last time we were here, with our son in a backpack for the hike down and back.  This time, all three kids managed it on their own, even though it was a bit slippery from the rain the night before.  Once we got down to Queen's Bath, they jumped right in and started swimming around to check it out, with our little one hopping in after her brother and sister.  They thought it was the coolest thing they'd ever done and they had a blast sitting in the water that flowed over the rocks, swimming around checking out the fish, and jumping off the rocks (our son) into the pool.  On the hike back up, we stopped to rinse off in the waterfall that flows next to the path, just like Mike and our son did the last time.

We headed into Hanalei for lunch and ate at the Hanalei Gourmet, which we remembered being pretty good last time.  It was even better this trip and our youngest discovered her new favorite sandwich - peanut butter and banana with honey.  From there, we went over to Blackpot Beach on Hanalei Bay and checked out the pier.  The signs say no jumping or diving from the pier, but there were lots of people doing exactly that, so our son wanted to give it a try.  Needless to say, he was occupied for a long time jumping in and climbing back out (it's about a 10-foot drop to the water).  His sister had to give it a try, too, of course, and the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon out there.  Our little one was happily walking the beach, singing and playing a game of pretend while I sat and watched from the beach.  Mike supervised the shenanigans on the pier from the water.

We finally dragged them all out of the water and got them cleaned up enough to head back to the condo.  We stopped at the grocery on the way back to pick up a frozen pizza for the kids and a roasted chicken for us and enjoyed a quiet dinner at our place.  Bedtime was quick and easy after that!

Kauai - July 7, 2011

I'll bet you thought I'd abandoned this blog!  Well, I'm back!  With baseball and soccer and baseball and gymnastics and swimming and baseball and school and baseball this spring, my spare time was pretty limited, so I didn't even attempt to keep up with blogging.  I do hope to at least finish posting pictures from our trip to Orlando back in February, but for now, I'll be working on stuff from our current trip to Kauai.

We haven't been to Kauai in about eight years, since I was pregnant with our older daughter and our son was not yet two.  We'd been wanting to go back, so when we were able to purchase a week at a condo in Princeville in a fundraising auction, we jumped at the chance.  The kids have been excited to see a new island, but really weren't sure about what to expect.

Our son's favorite part of any trip is the flight, but he was disappointed that we were flying out of San Jose this time instead of San Fransicso and he wouldn't get the chance to see the planes from the international flights.  The rest of us were thrilled that we didn't have to get up an hour earlier and the dog was happy that he got to spend an additional night at home instead of having to go to day care the day before.  Our son got over it, though, when we flew into Honolulu and he got to see the planes there when we changed flights.

The flights were uneventful (thank goodness!) and the kids did really well. It was quick and easy to get our luggage and rental car and we were off to the condo without any trouble.  We debated stopping on the way for food, but the kids weren't hungry and just wanted to get to our condo, so made our way north to Princeville.  Two of them fell asleep and the third was dozing, so by the time we got to our place, they were ready to go again. 

We got unpacked and threw on bathing suits to spend some time in the pool and let the kids burn off some energy after being cooped up for so long.  The pool here is really cool, with 2 pools for swimming, one kiddie/splash pool with a waterfall, and a spa that's been perfect for loosening up my back, which I tweaked the day before we left.  After some time in the pool and showers, we headed to Hanalei to find some dinner.

Hanalei has a small shopping area, with a number of stores and probably 8 restaurants.  At the Hanalei Surf Shop, we got to talking to the guy behind the desk and found out that he does stand-up paddleboard (SUP) lessons, so we decided to schedule a morning with him for four of us to learn how to paddle (our youngest is too little to manage a paddle yet).  We then wandered across the street to the nearest restaurant, called Kalypso, for some dinner.  The food was surprisingly good (I had chesse ravioli with local mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes that was terrific) and by the time we finished the kids were barely keeping their eyes open.

So far, so good!

Magic Kingdom - February 23, 2011

Our son was feeling much better after a good night's sleep, so we headed off to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World for the day.  The kids were excited, which made the hour-long ride a bit challenging, and they kept asking about what they'd see and what we were going to do once we got to the park.  After parking the car (telling our older daughter to remember we parked in Daisy 31 - she always keeps track of our parking spots), we took the tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  Honestly, the monorail is one of my favorite parts of Disney, so I would have been happy to ride around the circuit and head home, but there probably would have been a mutiny if I'd tried, so we followed the crowd to the park entrance when the train stopped.

We headed for Space Mountain first and while we waited, my mom took our youngest on the other rides in Tomorrowland.  Our line was supposed to be 40 minutes, but when we were about halfway through, there was a "meteor shower" and they shut down the ride.  We got Fastpasses to go back later, hoping that they'd get the ride fixed by then, and then went to meet my mom when she and our little one got off of the race cars.  It was time for lunch at that point, so we grabbed a bite before heading out for the rest of the park.

Splash Mountain was next on the agenda.  My dad offered to stay with our little one, hoping she'd go on the train with him while the rest of us waited for the ride.  She was, to be polite, less than accommodating, so they ended up hanging out by the bottom of the main hill watching for us to come down.  The wait was pretty long, but worth it, especially since it was our older daughter's first time to ride it  and she absolutely loved it. 

For the rest of the afternoon, we split up and got back together off and on, with my mom and the girls mainly staying in Fantasyland and our son and I doing the bigger rides, like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then heading back to Space Mountain after meeting up with my dad.  We did get to ride it this time, and with no wait since we had the Fastpasses.  Our son loved it and it was fun to be on the ride with him when he rode it for the first time.

We all got back together and did Pirates of the Carribbean, the girls and I did the Magic Carpets, and we all did the Jungle Cruise.  By then, it was time to go back to Splash Mountain to use those Fastpasses, and the kids and I challenged each other to go down the big hill with our hands in the air (our son and I did it) and I managed to stay dry this time.  My mom and dad and our youngest were waiting for us along the parade route, so we met up with them and waited to see the Electrical Light Parade.

I love that parade, but it was really magical to watch the girls see it for the first time.  They were entranced - you could see the wonder on their faces - and they kept exclaiming over which character was coming down the street next.  Our son was fading at that point, so he wasn't as excited as his sisters.  When the parade ended, we started to head for the exit, and as we got to Cinderella's castle, a light show on the outside of the castle started.  It was really amazing - the effects made it look like the outside of the castle was changing brick by brick at times - and our little one turned to me at one point and said, "Mom, the castle is magic!".  That moment made the whole day worthwhile.

The fireworks started right after that, so we stayed for those, too, and then made our way - with the rest of the throng - to the exit.  We took the monorail back to the ticket center and then the tram to the car to finally get ourselves out.  We hadn't eaten yet, so we stopped at McDonald's on the way out and then headed for home.  Our youngest was asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot and the other two dozed as we drove.  The little one didn't completely wake up when we got home and had a massive meltdown when I tried to get her changed for bed - it was like trying to put a nightgown on an octopus.  I finally got her, and the other two, to bed and ended a wonderful, but exhausting day.

Orlando - February 22, 2011

The kids have their winter break this week and since it had been five years since our last trip to Florida, we decided it was time to take everyone down there again.  The kids and I had a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Orlando, which went very well.  They got kind of sick of just watching TV, so the girls made about a hundred trips to the bathroom to entertain themselves, but aside from that, it was a fairly easy flight.  My parents picked us up at the airport and we headed toward their house, stopping for dinner on the way.  The two older kids are still recovering from a miserable virus that hit both of them and me last week, so they were fading quickly by the time we got to dinner.  We ate as quickly as we could and got them home to bed right away, with the hope that they would get a good night's sleep and feel better the next day.

It was a long night.  Our son shared a bed with me and every time he woke up coughing, he woke me up.  Our little one was up twice, not sure where she was or what was going on, so she was crying and unhappy.  Our older daughter woke up with a headache and cough at one point, so I gave her meds for those in the middle of the night.  They were all up at about 8:00 this morning and my mom was up with them, so I finally went to sleep for a bit while she gave them breakfast and kept them entertained.

Our son was still feeling under the weather, so we decided to hang out at my parents' house for the day to let him rest and hopefully get his strength back so we can do some fun stuff in the next few days.  The kids all tried going in the pool, but the water is still pretty chilly since this is the first warm weather they've had all winter.  Our son gave up and went back inside to play with his planes and watch TV, while the girls entertained themselves "rescuing" things from the pool with the net and brush and playing with the hose on the screens.  The weather this afternoon was so lovely that I had to get outside, so my mom and I took the girls to the park for a little while to let them burn off a bit of energy before dinner.

Our son was the first one to bed tonight and I'm hoping he'll sleep well and have more energy for tomorrow.  Our little one managed to snooker my dad into letting her out of bed for a trip to their bathroom, but then fell asleep quickly, too.  Our older daughter got to spend some time reading with my mom and then she was off to bed.  We're hoping everyone will wake up feeling well because we're planning on doing the Magic Kingdom for the day tomorrow and it would not be fun to be dragging sick kids around there all day.

San Diego , USS Midway - December 28, 2010

Every time we go to San Diego, our son insists on visiting the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that's docked near downtown and has been turned into a museum.  Since our youngest is old enough to actually tour the ship now, we've all gone the last couple times, and the girls have been excited to go and not just indulging their brother.  We decided to get a membership this time since we do tend to make it down at least a couple of times a year and it's a great organization to support.

There are new things to see just about every time we tour the ship, and this time was no different.  They had added a family audio tour, so we let the older kids get the headsets and listen to the recording as we wandered around the ship.  They were fascinated by the information they heard, so it was worth having them wear them.  Our youngest was disappointed that she couldn't listen, too, but she did enjoy climbing around the ship and up and down the ladders.

We had lunch at the cafe onboard, which we hadn't done before, and the food was pretty good.  We finished the day up on the flight deck, where Mike took the big kids up to tour the tower and our little one and I hung out in a helicopter.  She spent her time serving pretend food, flying us to exotic locales, and chatting with other kids who came in.  When I finally convinced her to go outside, she checked out the information on signal flags and wandered around the deck until the others came back out to meet us.

It was a fun day for all of us and we stayed until they closed the ship down for the night.  We then headed back to the house for dinner with Mike's parents and then off to bed.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I know it's 4 days after Christmas, but I'm just now finding the time to sit down and do this.  It was a crazy few weeks leading up to the holidays, with sports still going, school activities, and our normal nuttiness on top of the kids' excitement over Christmas.  I do have to say that it seemed less frantic somehow than in years past, though I'm not sure why exactly.

On Christmas Eve, Mike had to finish his shopping, so I had the kids for the day.  We did a couple of errands in the morning and then I had a Pilates class at noon.  Once we got back from the Y, we all cleaned up and got ready for mass.  We had to be there early because our older daughter was singing in the choir, so it did make for a bit of a long afternoon.  The church was packed, as usual, and it was about the looudest mass I've ever been to, but we all survived and then headed home for dinner.

Our friends came over with their two boys that evening, as they have for the past few years.  We did a Dungeness crab extravaganza, with a bunch of cold, cracked crab for an appetizer and steamed, hot crab for dinner.  We also had some wonderful caviar and cheeses before the meal and a ginger spice cake with homemade butterscotch topping for dessert.  Yum!  It was a fun night and once again, we chatted late into the evening.

I still had a mountain of wrapping to do, so I knew it was going to be a LATE night.  I swear every year that I'm going to get it done ahead of time and every year I end up doing it that night.  Best laid plans, I guess.  I finally got it all done and the stockings ready and the gifts under the tree by about 2:30.  We desperately hoped that the kids would take pity on us and sleep in a bit, since they had gotten to bed late as well.

Our youngest woke up at her usual 6:45 on Christmas morning, but I was able to convince her that it was still night since it was dark out yet and she managed to go back to sleep.  Her brother and sister woke up at about 7:45 and proceeded to head downstairs and check out the tree and sort the gifts into piles while they waited for the rest of us to get up. Good thing I got my pictures of the tree the night before!  The little one woke up the second time at about 8:30, so we all got up and got the day started.

We opened the gifts in our stockings first, to take the edge off and give breakfast time to cook.  Mike fixed the traditional breakfast casserole, which he and I love and the kids refuse to eat - too bad for them! They did sit through part of 'A Christmas Story", which Mike and I think is hysterical and we have on most of the day on Christmas.  The kids didn't really get it, but they were willing to watch it if it was the only thing on.  After breakfast, it was on to the presents under the tree.

The kids were all very happy with their gifts.  The highlights: an iPod Touch for our son, an American Girl horse for our older daughter, and a unicorn Pillow Pet for our younger daughter (her main present didn't arrive in time, so I told her she'd get it after our trip).  Mike gave me two iPad covers from the leather company we fell in love with last year, Saddleback Leather, plus a new camera since I killed the old one about a month ago.  I gave him a very large briefcase from Saddleback that will hold all of his work stuff and then some. 

The rest of the day was spent just hanging out at home.  The weather was awful - rainy and windy - so there was no desire to go outside.  We all stayed in our pajamas for most of the day.  The girls and I made chocolate chip cookies, which I'd been promising them we'd do, but I just had hadn't found the time to make them.  We did a dinner of leftovers and got everyone to bed at a reasonable time.

It was a lovely Christmas and went by all too fast, as usual.  I always hate when Christmas is over because it's my favorite time of the year and I absolutely love the whole build-up to the day.  It helps that we're now on vacation in San Diego and enjoying spending time with Mike's parents.  We did it last year for the first time and had a great time, so we decided to make it a tradition.

From our crazy family to yours, a belated Merry Christmas and a very happy new year!  May you all have a wonderful 2011!

Family Reunion - Sunday

Our older daughter's birthday was today!  She was very excited to FINALLY be turning seven, but was a little disappointed that she'd be spending the day on a plane.  She knew that she'd be able to open her presents when we got home, though, so that seemed to make things better.

We had to be out of the house by 10:00, so most of the morning was devoted to packing.  Mike's sister made a breakfast casserole the day before, so we all had a very tasty breakfast before leaving.  We took a few last pictures outside and then everyone headed out in their various directions.  We went right to the airport to catch our flight to Atlanta.  The flight was oversold by a lot and we tried to get bumped since they were offering $600 per person in travel vouchers, but they weren't able to get all of us to San Francisco on other flights.  I did offer to send the kids on their own, but the woman at the desk declined - I wonder why?

The flights were fine and the kids did really well even though we didn't have the individual TV screens this time.  We found out that the first officer on the flight was also celebrating his birthday that day, so he made sure to wish our daughter his best as we were getting off of the plane. 

We grabbed a quick dinner and then let our kiddo open her gifts.  There were a couple that had been delivered to Mike's office while we were gone (the one she'd really been hoping for), so she got to open those the next day.

It was a fantastic vacation.  None of us were ready to leave, which is always a good sign!  We are already talking about where to go and what to do for our next reunion, in two years.

Family Reunion - Saturday

Mike's sister saw an ad for a doughnut place nearby that makes fresh doughnuts to order, so she and I made plans to get up early and pick some up for breakfast.  I woke up earlier than I needed to, so I got up and got dressed and was able to watch the most incredible sunrise over the beach.  There were lots of people out doing the same thing and it was a cool, clear morning so there wasn't anything to interrupt the view.  It was an amazing way to start the day!

We found the doughnut place and brought them back for everyone.  They were very good, but SO filling.  I felt like I needed the rest of the day to actually digest the ones I ate.  It was a cool enough morning that the kids didn't want to get in the pool, so I took our girls back to the shopping center at the end of the street to look through the rest of the stores we missed when we had to leave to get back for the boat trip.  I finally found the magnets our son needed, too, so it was worth the trip!  We got a couple of little souvenirs for them and went back to the house for the rest of the day.

The girls ended up out on the beach with Mike's sister-in-law, making drip castles, and our son went out to boogie board for a while.  When I saw that the waves were the best we've seen, I couldn't resist, so I got my suit on and grabbed a board to join him.  It was great fun and we spent over an hour out there riding whatever we could catch.  I finally got cold and passed the board off to Mike.

The rest of the crew came out to start the traditional bolo tournament.  I was paired with Mike's sister, but the two of us just couldn't manage to out-score the other teams, so we were eliminated early on.  The final rounds took place a little later in the day, after the boys returned the bike.  Once again, Jeremy and Mike were the bolo champions, retaining their title from two years ago.

Mike's sister made salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread for dinner.  After we ate, it was FINALLY time for the Cousins' Birthday, which the kids had been (im)patiently waiting for all day.  They passed out their presents to each other and opened them all at the same time.  Everyone seemed pretty happy with their gifts!  We all had cake for dessert and then started gathering our things to pack since we were leaving the next day.

Family Reunion - Friday

Mike and his brother decided that they wanted to rent a three-wheeled motorcycle for the day, so they left mid-morning to go pick it up.  While they were gone, our friend came back over for a little while before he had to head back home.  It was really good to hear about his family and learn about his boys and their life in Greenville.  By the time Mike got back, our friend had to leave, but he took a spin around the neighborhood on the bike to see what it was like and how it compares to the Harley he rides every day.

Mike and his brother and nephew all spent a good part of the day taking turns riding the bike around.  I went back to Harbor Town with Mike's parents to check out the shops, since I didn't get to see them yesterday.  I didn't find what I was looking for - magnets for our son's science homework - but I did find some ornaments and stocking stuffers for Christmas, so it was worth the trip.

We spent the afternoon boogie boarding and playing bolo on the beach.  The kids went from the beach to the pool to the house, as their little hearts desired.  We had reservations for dinner at 5:30, so we all got cleaned up and drove over to a restaurant called "Dye's Gullah Fixin's", with Mike's brother and sister-in-law on the bike.  The food was absolutely incredible - all southern favorites like fried chicken and catfish, boiled seafood, onion pie, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and a variety of other things.  It was all perfectly cooked and absolutely wonderful.  Since it was a buffet, we all ate WAY too much, but it was too hard to resist.  Mike rode the bike back to the house while the rest of us drove and we spent the rest of the evening watching baseball and digesting.  We did manage to motivate ourselves enough to take a walk on the beach after dark, which the kids thought was very cool.  They got to see tons of stars and the moon was gorgeous, making for a lovely walk. 

Family Reunion - Thursday

I got up at a reasonable hour this morning and went for a run to start my day.  Instead of going to the gym, I decided to go out on the road, which I haven't done in ages.  It's always harder for me to run on the road - I think I actually run faster when I don't have a machine setting my pace - so it was not easy to keep going for an hour.  I did manage to make it out and back, though, and felt pretty good by the time I was done.  I was really ready to be finished, though!

By the time I got back, the kids were up and in the pool.  We gave them some time to swim and I got cleaned up and then we headed out to find the Salty Dog store on a part of the island we hadn't seen before.  After checking out all the stores in the little shopping area, we all piled back into our cars and moved on to yet another shopping area, called Harbor Town.  We had lunch at The Crazy Crab there, which was delicious - the kids even asked if they could go back there some day, it was so good.  The rest of the family stayed to wander around the shops and we went back to the house to wait for a friend of ours to come visit.

After our last trip to Hilton Head, I got in touch with a friend of ours from high school, who happens to live in Greenville, South Carolina.  I let him know that we were going to be back, so he decided to come over to visit for the afternoon.  We spent some time hanging out on the beach and in the pool, catching up, since we hadn't seen each other in twenty years.  He joined us for dinner - enchiladas made by Mike's siter-in-law, which were wonderful! - and then hung out with the family while the kids made s'mores in the backyard for dessert.  He then went back to his hotel for the night and the rest of us ended our day.

Family Reunion - Wednesday

The dads were scheduled to play golf for the day, so they got up and out early to have a chance to go to the driving range for a bit before hitting the course.  I decided to sleep in instead of getting up to work out - it is vacation after all!  As soon as the kids were up, they had a bite of breakfast and were ready for the pool.  I had to foil their plans, though, and insist that they get some homework done.  It was not a popular decision, but they did it anyway and then headed for the water.

Just before lunch, I got my kids out and took them shopping.  They needed some time out of the water during the middle of the day since they were all getting a bit burnt no matter how much sunscreen we put on them.  The last time we got together, we did a "cousins' birthday", where the kids all drew each other's names and then got that person a birthday gift.  All of the kids (except our little one) remembered this from last time and really wanted to do a birthday celebration again, so we needed to get gifts for the cousins they picked. 

I took them to lunch at McDonald's, where our oldest remarked about the cashier, "Mom, she's so nice and friendly, not like at home."  I had to explain that customer service is a bit different in the south and that he should remember what it was like to have someone be so polite when helping him.  Hopefully it made at least a bit of an impression.  After that, we headed to Target to get the gifts and a few other things we needed, like pencils since our older daughter didn't bring one and needed it to do her homework (she had to borrow her cousin's) and everyone got a new book.  We then came back closer to the house to wander the little shopping center at the end of the street that has a bunch of gift shops.  Since the kids were incredibly patient for that, we all got ice cream at a little shop called Frozen Moo - I love that name!  It was good ice cream, too.  I realized while we were sitting there enjoying our ice cream that I was supposed to go out for a photo tour/boat ride that afternoon with the other moms and Mike's niece - I had completely forgotten about it!  I gathered the kids up and made a beeline for the car to try to get back in time to leave with them.

I did make it just in time and ran inside to gather my things to go, after making a quick phone call to set the details of a visit from a friend of ours the next day.  In the chaos, I managed to grab my camera, but forgot to take the battery out of the charger.  Of course, I discovered this on the boat as we were pulling away fron the dock.  It was a bit disappointing, but in the end turned out to be a good thing because I was able to look around and pay attention to the scenery instead of thinking about taking pictures, which often makes me miss out on the bigger scene.

The guy who runs the tours is a photographer who takes small groups out in his nineteen-foot, flat-bottom boat.  He has an outboard motor for getting places quickly and a little electric motor for getting up close to the birds or other animals without scaring them.  We headed into the inland waterway and almost immediately Mike's niece spotted some dolphins.  It turned out to be two mother-calf pairs, along with a male who stayed on the outskirts. The mothers and babies were swimming around and playing together, so we spent a long time sitting and watching them.  They would come within a couple of feet of the boat, so we got to see them really well.  We didn't want to leave, but we did want to see more of the area, so we moved on and motored further inland.

I got to see my first oyster beds on this trip.  The tide was going out, so they became more exposed the longer we were out there and they are impressive structures, with the shells all building on top of each other.  There were some wonderful birds out feeding, including willets, grackels, royal terns, great egrets, and two of my favorites, the great blue heron and the snowy egret.  We heard the hooting of a great horned owl, but didn't see it.  At our furthest point inland, we saw another pair of dolphins, a mother with an older calf, who were feeding.  We could see them herd the fish by pushing a wave of water ahead of them and then they'd swim up from underneath and grab the fish.  It was an amazing thing to watch and really fascinating to see how the mother was teaching the calf to do this.  After watching them for a few minutes, the dolphins swam off and we started back toward the dock since the no-see-ums were starting to come out.  My sister-in-law and I weren't getting bitten, but the others were, so it was time to get back.

So even though I didn't have a camera, it was a wonderful trip.  Our guide was great, the animal life was fantastic, and it was a gorgeous evening.  It was definitely worth the time and money!

When we got back, the guys had dinner started.  Mike's brother had ordered caviar from a friend of his, so we had that for our appetizer.  We introduced Mike's niece and nephew to it, since they had never tried it before and we have been determined to get them to try new foods on this trip.  One liked it and one didn't, but they both at least gave it a try.  For dinner, we had Korean beef in lettuce cups, with fried rice and noodles from a local Chinese restaurant.  A mixing of cultures, but it all tasted really good together!  After cleaning up, I put our kids to bed and then a bunch of us took a walk on the beach.  It was still beautiful out, so we had a lovely stroll.

It was a long and busy day, but fun in a lot of ways.

Family Reunion - Tuesday

Today was the ultimate vacation day for the kids - nothing but beach and pool all day.  They weren't interrupted for anything silly like shopping or sight-seeing.  All they had to do was go from the water to the sand to the water as the spirit moved them.

I got up early to head to the gym for a cycling class, which was barely worth the effort, but I ran afterwards to make up for it.  Mike's sister, our youngest, and I did do some grocery shopping since brats and burgers were on the menu for the evening.  Other than that, it was all about enjoying the water!

Family Reunion - Sunday and Monday

Two years ago, Mike's family all got together in Hilton Head, SC for a week.  It was the first time in four years that everyone had gotten together, we had had another baby since then, and the kids had all changed tremendously and barely knew each other.  We decided at that point that we all needed to make the effort to get together more often, and picked every two years as the time frame.

So here we are, two years later, and we've rented the same house for the week.  The kids have all matched themselves up again as if they'd never been apart and the adults are all loving the opportunity to hang out and relax for a while.  The weather is gorgeous, the water is warm, and the house fits all of us comfortably with room to get away from the crowd if we want.

We flew into Savannah, Georgia yesterday (a really lovely little airport - I highly recommend it if you get the chance to fly out this way) after leaving the house at 4:00 in the morning.  It was a long day, but everyone did really well on the trip, with the exception of our youngest wetting her pants on the plane (I did actually pack a change of clothes for her, so it wasn't tragic, just seriously annoying).  The kids were in the pool as soon as we'd let them and stayed in until we dragged them out for dinner.  We all went to bed very late, but considering the time change, it wasn't surprising.

The kids were all up early this morning and in the pool right away.  I think they had breakfast, but I'm not really sure since I got the chance to sleep in - yay!  Mike's brother-in-law, nephew, and I went to a local gym after we had all eaten and got memberships for the week.  I ran five miles while they did weights.  It was a great way to start the week and I'll hopefully be able to keep up with my workouts for the rest of the week.  When we got back, the older kids were in the ocean boogie-boarding and our youngest was still in the pool.  I think, in all, our kids were in the water for about six hours today.  They should easily have gills by the end of the week.

Today was Mike's brother-in-law's birthday, so we all went out to dinner to celebrate.  It's always interesting to go to a restaurant with fifteen people.  The kids all did well, though, and there weren't any "incidents" over the course of the meal.  I do have to say, the hushpuppies were awesome and my escargot was really tasty.  You just don't get hushpuppies at restaurants in California, so it was fun to revisit my memories of eating out from my childhood.  The kids all went to bed right after dinner - the big  benefit of them swimming for most of the day!

And we've just had the opportunity to watch the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs!  Being the Giants, it had to come down to the bitter end, but it was incredibly exciting to see them pull it off!

First Days of School

As of last week, everyone is finally back in school.  The older two are absolutely loving their classes this year.  Our son keeps saying that he really wishes there weren't weekends because they're so boring and he'd rather be in school with his friends.  Our older daughter is being challenged from the get-go - finally! - and is thrilled by it.  They're both busy with their sports and our son joined the band this year to learn to play the trumpet, like his dad.  Our little one is in school three afternoons this year and while she complains about going every day, she actually loves being there and is the little princess ringleader of a couple of other girls.  She also enjoys her own activities outside of school, trying to keep up with her big brother and sister.

It's busy, but it's fun and it's been really great to see them progress and develop in the things they've chosen to do.  It keeps us motivated to keep up with them and make it all happen.

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.