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.

Round-To-It Recommends: Produce Bag

Like a lot of people, I started carrying my own shopping bags a while ago (remember to clean them out after carrying meat!), but I didn't have a solution for carrying my produce. I had tried just piling everything into a bag, but stuff was getting smushed and it took the checkers forever to sort it all out when they were ringing it up. There are bags that you can buy, but that would just add to the pile of bags already in my trunk - there had to be a better solution.

I finally hit on an idea a couple of weeks ago that has been working really well, and it uses a bag that we already had hanging around. It's a divided wine carrier bag! The bag has 6 sections, each of which is large enough to hold two or three apples, pears, or peaches, a bunch of green onions, a bunch of broccoli, or just about any other produce we buy. It's easy for the checkers because the same items are stacked together and all the food is protected and easy to carry.

I now manage to use plastic bags just for meat, which I don't buy all that often. If I could find a bag that was really easy to clean, I'd stop using them for it, too. Maybe my insulated cooler bag would do the trick...

Sweet Mustard Roast Beef

I was at the grocery store this morning, standing in the produce section (one ear cocked for the sounds of my kids screaming at each other as they did their part of the shopping - more on that later), and trying to figure out what the heck to fix for dinner that we hadn't eaten in the last week.  I was paging through one of my go-to blogs, "A Year of Slow Cooking", and came across this recipe.  Sounded easy enough and I was definitely in the mood for a crockpot dinner, so I gave it a go tonight.

Wow.  This was REALLY good and super easy.  It took about 3 minutes to prep, 6 hours to cook, and no time at all to serve.  I used Stephanie's suggestions of mashed potatoes and green beans to go with the meat and it was the perfect combination.  Mike got home a bit late, so the kids ate first and they devoured about 2/3 of this.  All three of them loved it!  Mike and I ate after they went to bed and found we had just enough for the two of us.  I would probably use a little bigger roast the next time, knowing how much we all enjoyed it.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 large russet potatoes
2 Tbs. butter
2-3 Tbs. sour cream
1-2 Tbs. green onions, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into 1 inch cubes.
Put potatoes into a pot and add enough water to cover by 1/2 inch.
Boil potatoes until tender, 15-20 minutes.
Drain potatoes and put into a bowl.  Mash to desired consistency.
Add butter and mix until incorporated (add more if desired).
Add sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
Add green onions to taste.
Let potatoes sit for 5-10 minutes to allow onions to flavor potatoes; reheat if necessary before serving.

You could also use this recipe (see Topping) if you prefer a lower-fat version and like the flavor of parsnips.

Round-To-It Recommends: Walden West

Our older kids just finished a week of camp at Walden West Science Center in Saratoga, CA.  It was an incredible experience for both of them and they both said they'd love to go back next year.

Their main camps are day camps (they do offer backpacking trips for kids 12-16), the summer camp for kids ages 7-12 and the Wild Things camp for kids ages 5-7.  Both are held at the Walden West facility in the Saratoga hills, with buses taking the kids from a local elementary school and returning them in the afternoon.  The older kids have the option of camping out on Thursday night, if they choose.

The focus of the camps at both levels is environmental awareness and providing an outdoor experience.  So many kids today spend the vast majority of their time indoors and these camps hope to counteract that by showing kids the beauty and excitement of the natural areas that are so accessable to us.  Most of the activities are traditional camp activities: hiking, gardening, swimming, arts and crafts, games, songs, climbing wall, and ropes course.  The camp songs are a bit different from most of those that I've heard since they focus on things like the importance of worms, banana slugs, and scat, but the silly actions and enthusiasm of the counselors and campers are exactly what you'd expect!  There is a good balance between planned group activities, like hikes, and individual choice, where the kids have a number of options for how to use their time.  Our kids spent a good amount of time in the pool, but also tried archery, crafts, and group games that they had never played before. 

The older campers all chose nature names for the week, to go along with the nature names of all of the counselors.  Our son was "Python" and his counselor was "Big Brown Bat".  Our daughter's counsleors were "Clam Chowder", "Aurora",  and "Poppy", to name a few.  According to a friend, whose sixteen-year-old daughter has been going to Walden West since she was nine, the kids often keep their nature names from year to year.  Her daughter has been "Blue Jay" for the last seven years.

The two big events for our son this week were the climbing wall and the campout.  He had never done either, but wasn't particularly nervous about them.  His group did the wall on Wednesday afternoon, spending the whole afternoon giving the kids the chance to try climbing multiple times.  His only disappointment was that there was no way to actually climb on top of the wall when he got there - apparently there wasn't any place to put his hands or feet when he tried.  The campout was the first time he had spent a night away from home - not for any partcular reason, he's just never had the opportunity.  It was also the first time he'd slept out under the stars, which he didn't speak so highly of.  It was pretty darn chilly last night (maybe 50 degrees) and really damp, so everything was pretty wet during the night.  They woke up to ground fog, making the morning "freaky", in his words.  He did enjoy being away for the night, though, eating with the group of kids in the lodge, and just generally being responsible for himself.

Our daughter's week was less dramatic, but she loved the experience and true to her nature, got to know absolutely everyone in the program.  She also liked the fact that they got to choose their afternoon activities and often tried multiple things in one afternoon.  This afternoon when we asked her how her day was, she replied, "It was okay."  That was a luke-warm response compared to the lengthy explanations we had been getting, so we questioned her about why it was only "okay".  She said, "It was only okay because it was the last day and I won't get to see my friends any more."  Testimony enough for us that it was a great experience for her, too.

I went up for the evening program on Thursday night and it was very clear that there were many families whose kids had been attending the camps there for years.  That spoke volumes to me about the quality and draw of their programs and I definitely see us being in those ranks as all of our kids make their way through the programs.  For them, it's less the importance of getting time outside since we do spend a good amount of time doing outdoor activities.  It's really more the traditional camp experience of goofy counselors, meeting new kids, and experiencing a good amount of independence that make it a really worthwhile week.

Our Son Is 9!

I can't believe it was nine years ago that we had our very first little bundle of joy!  It was all so surreal and so new and overwhelming.  Now it's nine years and two additional kids later and he's incredibly far away from being that little baby.  He's tall and skinny, with red hair, crazy teeth, and freckles.  He's gone from an obsession with waterfalls as a toddler (made our trip to Kauai when he was two a lot of fun!) to obsessions with airplanes and baseball.  He spends his free time building baseball stadiums in his room; reading about the history of the San Francisco Giants; drawing detailed pictures of baseball stadiums; reading about the history, design, and engineering of aircraft, especially the 747; drawing detailed pictures of aircraft and aircraft carriers; and playing baseball.  One of his most recent passions has been learning to pitch, so he got a book at the library and memorized the different grips, which pitches they produce, and how they are supposed to be thrown and has been practicing them. He has absolutely no control over them yet - they're as likely to go three feet wide as they are they to go over the plate - but he's determined to figure out how to make them work.

So happy birthday, kiddo!  We hope it's been a good one, we wish you much love as you head into your next year, and we look forward to the new adventures you'll bring to our lives as you head into fourth grade.

The Second One Is Out

Our older daughter lost her first tooth while we were camping about 3 weeks ago.  The tooth next to it was getting loose, too, but we thought it would be a while before it finally came out.  Wrong!  She woke me up at 4:15 this morning with her loud whisper (she's incapable of speaking quietly, no matter what the circumstances), "Mom, I lost my tooth!"

It took me a bit to process that information - it's not what you typically hear from your child in the middle of the night.  Apparently, she woke up and was wiggling it with her tongue and it just fell out.  We weren't able to find it in her bed at that point, but she wasn't bothered by that. She went back to sleep and shared the excitement with everyone else in the morning.  She and her brother searched for the tooth again in the morning, and they did manage to find it tucked down next to her mattress.

So the tooth fairy will be paying a visit again tonight.  Luckily, she doesn't have any others loose, or it'd be pretty tough for her to eat! And the tooth fairy would be needing to take out a loan to keep up with her.

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.