Holly's Haircut

Holly has the most perfect shade of blonde hair, but it really won't grow and thicken worth beans. We tried to grow out her bangs this summer, but finally gave up. There were just too many different layers and lengths and it required too much daily effort to keep it out of her eyes.

 

 

It was getting fairly long in the back, but it just looked scraggly all the time since it's so thin. So, we decided to go back to bangs and trim the back to be the same length as her front layer.

Before:

After:

Pretty cute, eh?

Now she actually looks like someone cares about her, instead of just being a little rag-a-muffin every day.

 

Prepare for Take-off

Anyone who has driven up and down Highway 101 in the San Francisco Bay Area has seen the giant blimp hangars at the Nasa Ames Center at Moffet Field. The largest, known as Hangar One, was built in the 1930s as a naval airship station for the USS Macon. When we got an invitation from one of Damon's former co-workers, who now works at Ames, to attend an event there, we went!

The event was a science night highlighting NASA's latest lunar mission: LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer). The big moment of the evening was watching the launch of LADEE on the Minotaur V rocket from Virginia on a gigantic screen. (The image below is from an earlier Mars Curiosity Rover landing event at Ames.)

We got to Ames when it was still light and carried our blankets to the large grassy area in front of the screen. As we traveled from the parking lots to the grass along with many others carrying their lawn chairs and blankets, Damon said, "It's like the nerd county fair."  It kind of was.

Damon let out a loud cheer when the Minotaur V was featured, since the company that he worked for in Arizona--Orbital Sciences--was part of the team that made it.

 

Someone sitting near us had worked on part of LADEE, and I believe that most of the people in the crowd had some connection to it, so there was definitely excitement in the air as each stage of the launch was successfully completed. After watching the rocket take off and then stream across the screen, we made our way to the car via Hangar One. It was all lit up and everyone was invited to go inside.

It's HUGE. It sits on 8 acres and could accommodate six football fields inside. We felt very tiny.

Outside the hangar were a few planes and helicopters to look at.

 

It was a truly distinctive Silicon Valley experience.

Note: The first two images in this post are not my own. The first can be found at http://www.blimpinfo.com/uncategorized/google-founders-offer-100-percent-funding-to-save-hangar-one-nasa-considering-offer/. The second can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/ames/events/ladee-science-night/#.Um2Kkfmkrzl.

White Salmon Trip & Roy Webster Swim

After just nine days of school we took a trip we'd been planning for a year: we returned to White Salmon for Labor Day weekend so I could swim the Columbia River.

Unlike our summer vacation road trip, this one set off with a more auspicious beginning: our minivan hit 200,000 miles!!

The euphoria, however, was short-lived. We'd actually been hoping to buy a "new" car before the trip and have the old van in someone else's hands before making the 700-mile drive to Washington. When the check engine light came on somewhere between Klamath Falls and Bend, we knew that car-shopping effort had not been misplaced. Still, we kept on truckin' and eventually made it to Bend in the wee hours of the morning. Damon's boss had graciously offered the use of his vacation rental there, so we had a comfortable free place to spend the night before our Safeway breakfast and final 3 hours on to White Salmon.

Immediately after crossing over the Hood River Bridge, we stopped for lunch at Killer Burger (home of the famous peanut butter and pickle burger) in Bingen and I couldn't resist snapping this photo of a logging truck rumbling past on Hwy 14.

Our next scheduled stop was at the schools so Adah and Maggie could meet up with some friends. We had enough time to drive through town  past our house. Then we parked just up the street from the elementary school, and as we strolled down to the front of the school I said to Damon, "Being here feels so . . . normal." "I know," he agreed.

I spent the afternoon at my friend Marisa's house while Holly and Gunnar played with her son Jack. Damon visited his old work place. We had dinner with other friends before finally landing at our weekend hosts' house for the night. Wayne and Jody Goodrich put us up for the whole weekend.

Saturday morning we stopped by the White Salmon library to see the best children's librarian in the world: Heidi.  After that we went to Mountain View Orchards, which is owned by our friend Lyle McAlexander. We picked peaches and bought apples from their bins.

 

Everywhere we went that weekend (Thriftway, Wal-Mart, the library, etc) we ran into someone we knew...even at the orchard. My friend, Brooke Whittle, who'd be swimming the river with me on Monday, also happened to be there picking peaches at the same time! I still really miss that small-town aspect of our White Salmon days--just knowing people almost everywhere we went.

On Saturday night we had dinner with our next-door neighbors, Jim and Cheri Anderson and their kids. (No photos!) We sure miss them and enjoyed catching up and spying over the fence into our own yard. As we stood in the Andersons' yard looking across at our house, now occupied by another nice family, I told Cheri, "You know, it doesn't feel like that's my house. I'm okay." She said, "Well, I still feel like it's your house!" They were such fantastic neighbors.

Sunday we got to attend church at our old ward, where again, it just felt very normal. We even sat on the same pew in the chapel where we used to sit! Most of the people we knew and loved were still there, but a few had also moved away. That afternoon the Goodriches hosted a spaghetti dinner with many of our good friends and we just got to hang out, visit, and catch up.

Monday morning was the big event, the real reason we'd come to White Salmon that weekend: the 71st Annual Roy Webster Cross-Channel Swim.

There were four of us planning to jump in together (below, left to right): me, Brooke Whittle, Lee Goodrich (Wayne's oldest brother; he flew in from Utah for this), and Ryan Van Sickle. Jody, who swam it with me two years ago, opted out this year, but she did volunteer to get up at 4:30 in the morning and drive us to the Hood River Marina. This photo was taken just after we checked in and were assigned to a flight. 

Each flight consisted of 10 people who would all jump off the Sternwheeler at the same time. (That boat lit up with the red lights across the marina is the Sternwheeler.) We were in Flight 14. That means there were 130 people who wold jump off before us. There were another 352 after us.

Swimmers in the water! Small sailboats, kayaks, and paddle boarders line the course to offer encouragement, resting spots, and rescue, as necessary. My good friend Yolanda and her husband were part of their volunteer crew in their kayaks. She's not a swimmer, but we convinced her to get up early and participate in this way and it was fun to see her as I swam past.

The water was actually pretty warm this year--I think they announced on the boat that it was 71 degrees, and a cheer went up from the crowd of swimmers. Still, I was in a full wet suit and appreciated the extra buoyancy. I felt better prepared this year than 2 years ago, both because I knew what to expect and because I think I trained more. I still don't know how fast I swam (since I don't know what time I jumped in), but I feel like I did better than last time, and that was my main goal. I was in flight 14 and I passed some people in flight 8, so that was also an indication that I was doing well.

 

Here's Lee with Roy Webster. Lee was the first of our foursome out of the water. I passed him at one point when he stopped at a boat to adjust his goggles, but he must have then motored passed me. He has done Iron Man competitions, and was sure fun to get to know during the weekend.

Here's Ryan. I totally beat him. I was proud of that since Jody had pegged Lee or Ryan to come out first.

Jillaire and Brooke! I'm so glad she did this with me. I really wanted to do the swim again, but if I hadn't had a friend also doing it with me, I don't know if I would have signed up. I think she felt the same way. Throughout the summer we texted each other about our training efforts, giving tips like, "Don't eat a McMuffin before swimming," or "You must get a spandex swim cap! It won't pull your hair!" Important stuff, and even though we were far apart it made it a fun joint effort. Brooke is a great friend.

However speedy I may or may not have been, it was--once again--too fast for my family. They got there too late to see me come out of the water! They misjudged the timing of when we'd jump off and how long it would take us in the water. Jody feels bad, as her whole family also missed Lee coming out, and she had been with us in the morning and then returned to her house to direct everyone out the door.

It's okay with me. It just gives me another reason to go back next year. One of these times Damon will see me come out of the river!

On the way back from the swim, we stopped by our house on Green Street to check in with our renters, and we also visited our neighbors across the street. The whole weekend we took every opportunity to see old friends, even if it was just for a moment, and we were so happy to find most people at home & with time to chat.

After a nap (for me) back at the Goodriches' we spent our afternoon in the White Salmon park meeting up with more friends. We had made an open invitation to all our friends via Facebook and at church on Sunday to just come and hang out with us at the park. Lots of people showed up and my childhood friend Katie even came out from Vancouver! It was really a great way to finish our trip. We left from there for dinner at Beneventi's (local pizza joint) & then onto Bend for the night before the full-day drive to Sunnyvale on Tuesday.

It was a whirlwind weekend cramming in so many social calls and events, but we really did get to see so many people & favorite places; there's very little that we missed. It was a great visit to a place that was our home for seven years.

Fresh from the Farm

Last Wednesday morning we found a box of fruits and vegetables on our front porch. A few days earlier we had signed up with Farm Fresh To You, which is kind of a CSA (click here for a good definition of CSA). Unlike more common CSA programs where you buy a share in a single farm, this program sources food from several different farms. This gives us a little more variety and hopefully makes it so we never get 15 pounds of kale at a single time.  We can exclude certain things if we really don't ever want to get them. Also, we can choose to get deliveries once a week, twice a month, or once a month, and can choose what size of box we get.

We went for the Monster Mix box--their largest available. So, what's in season in northern California right now?

5 Rome apples

6 Gala apples

2 bunches of carrots

2 pomegranates

2 bunches of Crimson grapes

2 Eureka lemons

3 beets

1 acorn squash

1 bunch of Dino kale 

1 bunch of radishes

1 bunch of baby broccoli

1 bunch of spinach

8 sweet fingerling potatoes (They're tiny!)

3 artichokes

1 head of garlic

We used some of the kale on Wednesday night for a delicious bean, sausage, and kale soup that the whole family loves (even if they won't all eat the kale part of the soup). Thursday I used the carrots in a homemade chicken noodle soup. And on Friday night I made beet greens. I cooked them with onions, garlic, a little water & sugar, and then a splash of balsamic vinegar on top. Crispy bacon was mixed in at the end. They were really good! Maggie and Gunnar both liked them a lot. Adah did not. I think Holly thought they were okay. Damon and I also both liked them. I think that recipe would be good with any green leafy veggie.

I've been trying to eat more seasonally for several years now, so this is going to be a fun new experiment for us. We'll get vegetables that I've never bought, but am willing to try. Then, if we really don't like it we can exclude it for next time. Also, all of this gets delivered to our door! We still have to see if this will be a good economic route. It all depends on how long everything will last and whether or not I still need to supplement with a lot of produce from the grocery store.

I can't wait to see what comes in the next box! (And I might not be able to wait a whole month; I might need to order one sooner.)

A Superstar Start to School

After last year's crazy school year, we are totally thrilled to have all of our children at the SAME SCHOOL. There was some question about whether or not Gunnar would make it into kindergarten at our local school (he was number 7 in line when we enrolled him in May), but enough other kids moved to other schools that he made it in!

I was sure it would happen. Last year was so difficult for me juggling two schools, and then everything with our move to Sunnyvale fell into place that I just knew the school situation had to work out. I chose to have faith that I would receive this blessing. I really do look on it as a blessing. I used to take it for granted that all my children would be able to attend our neighborhood school, but after our experience in Milpitas I know that isn't always the case. This summer I just believed Gunnar would get into our local school. I never even bothered to find out where the next closest school was. I knew I wouldn't have to know.

Now, enough of that.  Onto the first day of school & the obligatory front porch pictures.

Here's Adah, off to fifth grade with Mr. Murphy.

Maggie is in third grade, but is in a class of 3rd and 4th graders with TWO teachers: Ms. Arcoleo and Mrs. Shumaker.

Gunnar is in kindergarten with Mrs. Riley. For his first 3 weeks of school he got out at 11:51, but now he stays until 2:10. It's considered all-day kindergarten. The girls stay until 2:50, so it's not quite as all-day as them.

And here's Holly, never one to miss out on a photo-op.

Here's the gang setting off from our driveway. Damon always joins us on the first day of school.

Down the street and around the corner from our house is a park. The school is just through those trees on the other side of the park. I like that half of our route to school is on paths with no automobile traffic. And it's nice and shady in the afternoon heat.

Here's Gunnar standing outside of his classroom, having found his name.

And here he is settled in at his table for coloring. His spot on the carpet behind him is in the orange row. Orange is his favorite color. How did Mrs. Riley know?

Adah and the other 5th graders got right down to business with instructions on the screen.

Maggie was the last one to get dropped off. We made it there just after the bell rang because none of the classrooms opened until the first bell rang at 8:20. The second bell rings at 8:30, and that's when school starts, so she got right in her desk and ready to go!

At this school they don't even want anyone on campus until 8:20. At Whitson in White Salmon the kids could play on the playground for up to 30 minutes before school started! We're getting used to it. I've just learned that there's really no benefit to getting ready early. If we leave early we just have to wait at the edge of campus anyway. We aim to arrive at 8:20, but I know we always have that 10-minute cushion if we're running late. It takes us about 10 minutes to walk, but we can do it in less time if we hustle (or ride scooters or bikes, which we just started doing last week).

Gunnar had a great morning--his first day was extra-short--but had a sad little moment right at the end. The teacher and her helper were handing out these "I just loved my first day of kindergarten" necklaces and they overlooked Gunnar. When I met him at the back of his classroom he crumpled into my lap and almost couldn't talk for nearly crying. He was sad and upset but had held it together until that moment. As soon as I figured out the problem we were able to get him his necklace and assure him that they hadn't meant to forget him.

Then he was all smiles and ready to show me his stuff on the monkey bars. The kindergarteners have their own playground, and fortunately we can play there after school while waiting for older siblings to get out.

Holly was clearly worn out by the first day of school. She actually was there as long as Gunnar was because there was a parent meeting with the principal in the cafeteria. I expected it to last 30 minutes, but she kept us there until just after 10:00 (90 minutes)! That's when the kindergarteners got out and she had promised the teachers to keep us occupied so we wouldn't be peering in the windows and distracting our kids. : ) 

At the end of the big kids' day we returned to the school to pick them up & I took a photo of the new students by the school sign. We hadn't passed by there in the morning since by entering through the park we come at the school from the side rather than the front entrance. These California schools are all open-air hallways, so there's no real front door anyway.

They are the Superstars at their school (and I'm not just talking about my kids, here). It's the mascot, which seems like kind of a silly mascot to me. Yet, it's been a pretty super year so far, so I guess I can't argue. The children all really like their teachers and are making friends in their classes. I'm making friends among the other moms in the schoolyard. It's such a difference from last year for me especially; it's pretty much impossible to meet anyone in the drop-off lane & so easy when you can walk your kids to school. I'm so grateful for these blessings.

Happy Day at Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow is a small zoo and amusement park in San Jose. We got a membership there and have enjoyed going several times. It's easy enough for me to take the kids on my own and I've done that a few times in addition to a couple of whole-family visits. We also went with Uncle Justin in August when he was visiting us for a few days on his way home from his job in China. The photos in this post came from a day when we met up with some of our friends. We got there early and did most of the rides before seeing any friends.

Our first stop was at this racetrack where the kids pedaled little carts around a track. They're allowed to go around three times.

We cut Holly off at one lap since it took her as long as the other kids' three laps. She didn't mind.

When we returned a week later with Justin, the "ride operator" wouldn't let Adah and Maggie go! He said they were too tall. We insisted that they'd done it just a few days before, but he was adamant. They were just skimming the height limit. It was a real disappointment after having done it so recently.  I guess the girl the first day wasn't paying close attention. (There was no line, so maybe she just didn't see the need to be a stickler. There was no line the second time either, but he was strict.)

Here they are in blissful ignorance of their gigantic statures that would prohibit any future rides.

After doing several rides, including our favorite, the Fruit Express mini-roller coaster, we went to the zoo area for an animal encounter. Zoo keeper Sean brought out several animals for us to meet. The first was this leopard gecko: 

Holly & Gunnar take a turn touching it. (Gunnar is in the white hat.)

I believe this is a ball python.

And here's an opossum. It was smelly!  Adah and Maggie were at the encounter also, but by the time the opossum came out they were too hot and had moved away to a shady spot. Holly and Gunnar stuck through the whole thing and got to touch all the animals and learn some fun facts. I'm sure Gunnar still remembers many of them. He has a great mind for animal facts.

Later in the afternoon we went to the bigger summer animal show. There were birds of prey that came swooping over the audience, a cute armadillo that looked like a cantaloupe when it was rolled up, a honey bear, a meerkat, this crocodile,

and a cute little joey (baby kangaroo).

We ended our visit where we began it: at the Carousel. Holly is still short enough that I have to stay near her during the ride, so I never managed to get any photos of Adah or Maggie, who always seemed to choose animals on the other side.

Even though this merry-go-round has all sorts of exotic, endangered, and even extinct (a triceratops) animals on it, Holly always chose a horse. Maggie always tried for the manatee or dolphin. Some of our other favorites are the bald eagle and the lemur.

 

For some reason, after our full day at Happy Hollow I thought it would be a good time to go to Target and buy school supplies. I chose some fun crayons for Holly so she wouldn't feel too left out, but then she continually showed me something new and asked, "Can I have this for my birthday?" She was being agreeable and not having a fit about me not buying her everything right then, but she was interrupting me about every 90 seconds! It was really hard to keep track of the three big kids with their three different lists. Of course, Adah and Maggie could read their own lists, but they still needed help finding things on the shelves and making the most economical choices. It was a bit overwhelming for me. Lesson learned: next year leave Holly home or take Damon with us.

Still, they were all so excited about getting geared up for school and we came right home and began sorting everything and packing backpacks...which is where Damon found us when he got home from work.