A Walk in the Woods

In mid-March we met up with a few friends at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to enjoy a leisurely stroll through the forest. I had expected more of a hike, but the trails were well-groomed and fairly flat, so we were able to really take our time exploring and marveling at the giant trees. We picnicked at some tables set in a grove of redwoods.  

 

Here's one that the everyone could go inside! Adah was the photographer and the other kids are here with one of their friends.

 

 

 

 

Do you see the spider webs in the crevices of this tree? Adah spotted this and took the picture. Damon & I only saw it when we saw the photos later at home. So cool.

We eventually happened upon a little river and the kids and dads had fun throwing and skipping rocks.  It amazes me how throwing rocks in water is a source of endless entertainment.

 

When a horsewoman rode by on the trail above us, Damon asked if she'd bring the horse down to the water, not expecting her to agree. Well, she plunged right down the slope to the water's bank, and then that horse would not budge. We were waiting there for a good 30 minutes as she repeatedly tried to coax the horse off the bank and into the water.

Eventually, she hopped off and tried to lead him in, asking Damon to give him a little flick from behind, something he wasn't too keen to do. We were all feeling awkward and Damon guilty by this point. Since the horse was still being trained, the woman was determined to not let it win, and we felt obligated to stay and watch. However, she eventually had to take him back up to the trail where she proceeded to find another entry into the river. We found her a short time later, with the horse up to its shoulders in the water, presumably learning that there was nothing to be afraid of.

We finished our visit to Cowell State Park by discovering a sandy beach by the little river. Our friends who'd invited us on the outing had been to the park before, but never seen this beach. Some other kids were swimming there and ours eventually turned wading into being wet up to their waists! There was a rope swing that was a big hit. This would be a fun place to revisit when properly equipped with swimming attire. Our children, who insisted they wouldn't mind the drive home in their wet, sandy pants, were not too happy with the realities of their discomfort when the time came. Still, we made it home just fine for baths, dinner, and bedtime after a full day.

The Kazam Cafe

About a month ago, after coming home from a full day's outing, Adah and Gunnar worked together to set up the Kazam Cafe. Adah was the chef, and Gunnar was the waiter.

The chair was roping off the cafe--please wait to be seated, you know--until she was ready for us.  And, everyone had to stay out of the kitchen:

The menu:

Here's the inside of the menu, where we were instructed to choose something from each group (A or B, on the right and left sides). This pretty much represents the entirety of Adah's cooking repertoire. Not bad for 10 years old. Do you like the section "The Sand-which-is on the Seashore"? Get it? (Read it aloud.)

 

You can't read this one very well, sorry. It says at the bottom, "FAMILIES MUST decide on a certain meal." In other words, we all had to agree on our order so that she was just making one dinner. : ) We chose "Salad Surprizes" and "Special Spagetti."  Adah's still learning a bit about the restaurant business. She knew that meals were prepared to order, but didn't understand that that meant the kitchen had many things staged and ready for final preparation. We were excused from the table while she got our dinner cooked, as she didn't even have water heating in the pot yet. Nevertheless, it was such a treat to have Adah mastermind our meal and to include her little brother in the process. The spaghetti and salad were just perfect that night.

Adah's Piano Recital

Adah began piano lessons here in California in January. We were lucky enough to find a piano teacher right across the street! It is so convenient and easy for me to just send her out the door. Damon actually discovered the teacher because her next door neighbor was playing the piano and Damon knocked on the door to ask where they took lessons.

After just  a few weeks of lessons with the new teacher, Li Ping, it was already recital time! Because of some scheduling confusion and miscommunication we only found out about the recital about three days before it happened. Adah knew it was coming up and was prepared to play, but we had to really scramble to fit it into our already overly-scheduled Saturday.

We finally made it to the recital hall at Santa Clara University and got to listen to Adah play all of her pieces perfectly! Shortly after she played, we all had to sneak out to make it to the next event, but Adah stayed and got a ride home with her teacher, who took these photos for us at the end of the recital.

Adah is progressing well in her piano studies under Li Ping. Adah is a great performer and has always been able to learn difficult songs and play them with feeling. She's quite good at memorizing pieces and never had to rely much on reading music. Li Ping is really working on that with Adah, which can be a struggle at times, but I'm grateful that she's learning that skill. It will combine with her natural talents for memorization and playing by ear to really broaden her options and abilities as a pianist. I'm proud of Adah's commitment to playing and practicing, even when it's frustrating for her. Well done, Adah!

Side Note: We were pretty bummed that we didn't remember to bring our own camera, especially during the pre-recital photo op with all of the students. Adah was one of the younger students, happily grinning amidst a sea of dark-haired Asian kids. She was the only blonde and I think only one of two white children in the group. It was quite a representative image of our community's make-up.

The Poetry of Lake Tahoe

Maggie wrote this poem during our trip to Lake Tahoe.

Snow

Snow is fun; it melts in the sun.
In it you play any winter day.
Soft and white, penguin's delight.
Opposite of grass.
Shiny as glass.
Hard to drive in
Unless it is thin.
Build a snow fort
That will support
All those who love
The snow from above.

Lake Tahoe--Days 2, 3, & 4

We got a slow start to our first morning (but second day) in Lake Tahoe. It was nice to have a relaxing weekday morning compared to our usual frenzied efforts to get out of the door by 7:50. We had pancakes and continued to check out all the local snow play offerings before finally deciding to go cross-country skiing.

We found an excellent place to try it. It was run out of a yurt with no phone service (and probably no electricity for that matter).  Adah, Maggie, and I rented skis while Damon intended to just sled nearby with Gunnar and Holly. Since none of us had really done cross-country skiing (I used to downhill a couple times a winter) we figured--on the advice of a skiing friend in Washington--that trying to help the three oldest kids learn and tow Holly in a special sled would be too much for the parents.

It was such a great venue for our family because it was small enough that the car was close enough to go back and forth for food and gear changes. There was a large meadow just outside the yurt for practicing on the skis & where Holly and Gunnar could play in the snow when they tired of sledding. And, it turns out that our leisurely morning meant that by the time we were ready to rent skis we got the half-day rate!

Ready to give it a go!

Maggie wasn't so sure at first. I think she expected easy gliding, not the awkward movement and imbalance she initially experienced.

Gunnar was not so keen on the sledding at first. I never got the full story on his dissatisfaction, but I think it was related to having to carry his own sled.

They had to create their own path, but at least it wasn't as rough and bumpy as the day before!

Maggie eventually got the hang of skiing, declaring, "This is fun!" We mostly just went up a wide track and then came back down it, where we could get up a little more speed, which was my favorite part. I think I prefer the thrill of downhill skiing, but cross-country was still a lot of fun.

Adah did quite well and kept at it with almost no breaks, as far as I can remember. I'm sure she stopped for some food. She did try out poles, which the yurt employee discouraged for young beginners, and discovered that they just got in the way and she preferred being hands-free. Here's what she had to say about the day: "My lips got all sunburned and then we had Chinese for dinner and it made my lips hurt." Still, I think it was a good day in her book.

Another thing that made it such a great day was the perfect weather we enjoyed. It was sunny and quite warm--you know, for there being snow on the ground. Once we got moving we all shed our coats, as you can see.

When I was ready to take a break and eat, I encouraged Damon to go ahead and rent some skis and give it a try. I rested and then skied through the meadow where it was easy to still keep an eye on Gunnar and Holly and their snowman.  We never did pull out the camera again to get a photo of Damon on the skis. He did well and had fun going up and down the same track that the girls were going on. I eventually cut across the meadow and ventured into some fresher snow in some trees, but that was sure hard work!  The skiing was my favorite activity on our trip, and I hope to try it again--maybe with some real instruction.

We weren't so good with the camera on the rest of our trip. Damon on skis wasn't the only thing that didn't get photographed, although we got some great video footage of Gunnar slipping on the ice. Don't worry; he was fine. It's true America's Funniest Home Videos material. He actually loved it and said walking around on the ice was his favorite part of the trip.

On day 3 we set out to go sledding again at an actual sledding venue with some groomed hills. There are several in the area, and some can be pretty expensive with their per-sledder tube rentals; we found one that just had a parking fee. Everyone else must have thought it was a good idea, too, since the parking lot was full when we arrived and we were turned away. High in the mountains, we were surrounded by snow-covered hills. Unfortunately, most of them were also covered with trees. Eventually we found a parking spot in a turn-out with half a dozen other cars. We trudged through knee-deep snow (much deeper for Holly, making her not a fan of this sledding expedition) and cut our own sledding hill, which was lots of fun, but also required careful steering and braking.

Day 4 was Sunday and we packed up the house and went to church. Damon was eager to go since he served 4 months of his mission in Lake Tahoe. It turned out to be a regional broadcast for all the congregations in Nevada (and, obviously a little overlap into CA), but Damon still saw someone he recognized!

Here's the only photo we got of the great house that we rented:

These "animals in the zoo" were really playing in the spot beneath the sloped A-frame roof and a couch in the upstairs family room.

As long as we're living in a non-snow climate, we think that just maybe we'll make this trip to Tahoe an annual event. We'll try to rent the same house and return during next year's February school vacation. As much as I love to travel and experience new places, I've kind of always wanted to have one of those family vacation spots where you return every year. Maybe this can be it for us.

Lake Tahoe: Day 1

The girls got a whole week off school in February and since we missed the snow, we decided to take a vacation to Lake Tahoe.  We found a great house to rent in South Lake Tahoe that had two bedrooms, a large loft family room (where the girls slept), two bathrooms, a well-outfitted kitchen, and a living room with a cozy gas stove. It was a perfect home base for meals, board games, warming up (and drying off) by the fire, and relaxing with movies.

It also had a large backyard--shared in common with several other houses--and we immediately went outside to play when we arrived in the early afternoon. The snow was a bit old (no soft powder) and not great for packing into snowmen, but we made snow angels and found a tiny mound that--with a big push from Mom--was good for a little ride in a sled.

One. . .

. . . two . . .

. . . three!

 

Also good for a penguin-style belly slide:

 

Maggie burrowed her legs underneath.

Adah preferred digging. I think she was trying to create a fort, although it wasn't really deep enough to make much of one. Two days later we went sledding higher up in the mountains in very deep snow and she again spent most of the time digging out a big hole for herself.

 

After "warming up" to the snow in the backyard, we headed out to a real sledding hill. Sadly, though, the one that was listed online was not all it boasted to be and we had to settle for another one that some others had carved out of a hillside.  You probably can't tell in these photos--too many shadows--but the hill was a pretty bumpy collection of jumps and what otherwise might be called moguls. It made for some rough rides that hurt my back, but the kids seemed to like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We concluded our sledding venture with a coyote sighting. Maggie saw it first and we watched it come across the road and crest the hill from another direction and then cross behind us and away. It looked pretty harmless--not likely to attack a pack of people--but I still gathered the children close to me until it was well out of sight.  And then, as the sun was beginning to set, we called it a day for our snow play and headed back to the house.

The Cycle Begins

One of my favorite things about our new home is sidewalks. While in most ways White Salmon--despite its lack of sidewalks--was infinitely more walkable (everything was close enough and traffic was light), we've found Milpitas to be more bikeable. The sidewalks create clear and safe boundaries for the kids, and there's a park with a pedestrian/bike-only entrance and completely paved loop path at the end of our street. Also, it's much flatter here; some of those steep hills in White Salmon and Bingen were just not conducive to biking--at least not at my level. So, really, maybe it's not the sidewalks that I like so much, but rather all of the things that go together to making it so easy to ride bikes here.

I've long told Damon that I want us to be a biking family. I love riding bikes but have found it difficult to do much of it since having children. I never was never ready to commit to the purchase or physical strain of a trailer, and even if I had a couple kids in the trailer, the older ones weren't ready to ride along where we could go. But, now, the time is here. Since moving to California, Gunnar has become completely independent on his bike (when we got here, he could ride a 2-wheeler, but still had trouble starting up on his own), meaning there's just one family member who'd be left out on a bike ride.

So, a few weeks ago I finally did what I'd been contemplating for months: I bought a bike seat for my bike for carrying Holly. We installed it immediately and took it out for a spin right away. Holly's first words: "This is fun!"  And I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to ride with the extra weight. I'd anticipated a period of balance-adjustments, but really didn't notice much of a difference at all.  Away we went!

We take advantage of the bike lanes, too (meaning not just sidewalks). Twice now, Adah, Maggie, and I have ridden over a mile along a somewhat busy road to a Saturday morning farmers' market. In these photos, we were about to embark on our second trip, this time taking Holly along.  It's a bit of a trek for the girls on their one-speed bikes, but they make it and then help carry home our purchases in their backpacks. I'm so proud of them, and they also feel such accomplishment for going on such a big ride and a family errand.

I'm not quite ready to take Gunnar out on the busy streets, and he was pretty disappointed that we were leaving him home with Daddy that Saturday morning.

 

Still, we have managed at least one whole-family bike ride through neighborhoods and parks, and I'm trying to take Holly and Gunnar on frequent rides, even if it's just to the park down the block and then around the loop in the park a few times. We even rode bikes to take Adah to school two times during a week of early releases (meaning we had extra time to pick her up via bike and then come home and get in the car to go get Maggie). Our next step is to get a bike rack for the car so that we can actually take our bikes to other places where we can find longer trails.

We're beginning to be that biking family I've always hoped we'd be!