Yosemite May 2011

We decided on a little long weekend in Yosemite. It was quick, but much fun was had by all.

There was still snow on the ground and we had a small snowball fight, and a bit of "skiing on my shoes" (Ryan)



It appears one practice and one game a week have improved Evan's throwing form. Look at that follow through!



This is at Mirror Lake, just seconds before Evan fell face first into said Lake. A few more seconds later, there were tears. Icy cold snow melt tears.

Playing "Pooh Sticks".


Can boys walk through the woods with out balancing on fallen trees? I don't think so!


Lower Yosemite Falls, Evan and his ever present Red Umbrella.


Discussing hydrology. The boys don't yet really swim, or kayak, but they know how to read the water!!!


A moment of pure brotherly love. (or something, either way, at least they are both laughing)


Below Bridalveil Falls, it was wet, wet, wet! The trail up was full of water and we had some wet toes.


Off on an adventure.


Bridalveil Falls, amazingly big this time of year!!!!

We also managed to get to Vernal Falls, not all the way to the top, but to the steps, it was just too hazardous to take two five year old squirmy boys up those steep wet steps!!! Maybe next year.

It was a lovely vacation, our cabin was cute and quiet, aside from Ryan's snoring, and the deer came feet away from us. The South Fork of the Merced was a short walk from our front door, and every night the boys went down to the "creek" to look for rocks.

I just love being in nature with the boys, watching them, seeing amazing things through their eyes. Good times, Good times.

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Evan: I am working on some serious art work here.

OUR Magic "Tree"house

We had a bit of a construction project out in the backyard a few weekends ago. It started well.


And then a rock got in the way. There was a lot of banging, sledgehammering, and sawing? Eventually the rock gave in.


There was a lot of standing around, looking at things. There were many trips to various home improvement centers. There were lots of laughs. There were lots of offers of help.


In the end there were two very excited boys, and Ryan and Evan were pretty happy too.






There have been dinners in our new magic tree house/pirate ship/hunting cabin/fishing boat.

There will be many childhood memories made.

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Oh, and some T-ball video, just because it is really cute.

More images from the holidays

New Year's Eve traditions continue...

During my childhood, I spent almost every New Year's Eve at my cousin's house. We would play games, eat tons of cookies, and food, and play. all. night. long. Some of my fondest memories come from those ultra late nights. (we'd go home in the very wee hours of the morning) For the last couple of years we've started the tradition with the boys, and my cousin's kids. It was a fun night watching the next generation of New Year's Eve-ers, although my boys were begging to go home to bed by 9:30 and we finally gave in and took them home at 10. Maybe next year.





This photo cracks me up, because it was the best, of about 30 pictures in the series. I am not exaggerating. In all of the other 29, SOMEONE was looking away, down, making a funny face, or blinking, and that was just Grammie and Poppa. (I kid) Getting 3 kids 5 and under to look and smile for the camera is quite a challenge. (Alison you are worth every penny)


Again, Auntie Shelley, will you please sit still?!?!? =)



And this is just in here because it was a cute moment and kind of reminds me of a sitcom from the late 60's, early 70's...anyone?, anyone?

Future Foodies of America or It's Time to Rethink the Children's Menu

My Mother in Law has been in town (more on that later) and today we had to take her to the airport so she could continue her tour of grand kids in Sacramento. We decided that a trip to Balboa Park on the airport would be a great way to end our week of fun. Our goal was the Reuben H. Fleet Museum, but as we pulled up there were three school buses unloading what looked like thousands of school kids. Much to my boys disappointment, I opted for the "let's just walk around the park and play" approach. (Note to self. Never go to Balboa Park on free Tuesdays, ever.)

We played, walked around and then decided to stop for lunch. At the Prado. Carol and I decided to split some appetizers, and the boys chose Macaroni and Cheese off the kids menu. The boys happily got started on the mac and cheese when it arrived and were eating well. UNTIL...

Our appetizers arrived. Apparently, my kids like

panko crusted jumbo lump crabcakes (Evan)

diced jicama-lime slaw, avocado-serrano chili puree, chipotle aioli

and

crispy calamari fries (Ryan)

tossed in a sweet & spicy korean soy bean chili sauce, napa cabbage slaw

much better than Mac and Cheese.

Carol and I basically shared one crab cake and about ten calamari fries, some garnish and the complementary flat bread.

I love my little foodies.

Genetics are funny

A few years ago my cousin asked me what it was like to finally have a BLOOD relative. To see my features reflected in someone else. I hadn't really thought of my children in that way. I think I was just too tired to think that deeply.

Lately, I've noticed little bits of genetics cropping up. Not the obvious stuff, like looks, but little things, odd things that make me laugh.

When I was a child, I loved vinegar. When we made Easter eggs or salad dressing, I would lick the measuring spoon. I know. Totally weird.

Ryan, loves vinegar. I made some pickled cucumbers, and he loves them, but what he loves the most, is drinking the pickling juice. That HAD to come from me.

Evan was changing his clothes and I happened to look at his shoulder, and he has a little bump on one shoulder. Just like me.

Evan's new favorite breakfast is fried egg sandwiches. When I was pregnant and right after the boys were born, I ate two fried egg sandwiches almost every day.

Ryan is turning into my difficult sleeper. He seems to have a tough time falling asleep, and when he wakes up in the middle of the night or some crazy time like five in the freaking morning, he cannot go back to sleep. I'm sorry for that one bud. You have no idea how sorry I am.

Oh, and believe me there are Scott genes in there too. Oh, boy!

Ryan LOVES ketchup, crushed red peppers and very spicy food. That totally, totally, totally comes from Scott.

Both boys have a passion for baseball hats. Their collection is rivaling Scott's.

Both boys, but especially Ryan, are very athletic. Naturally. That's Scott.

And then there's the stuff that comes from both of us, and the boys had no chance, poor things.

Competitiveness- WOW. This one is off the charts. Sorry guys. It is getting so intense that we are having lots of discussions about how to be a gracious looser, or not play at all. It's not just the normal stuff either. We compete over everything. Who gets in the car the fastest. (this one has led to tears on many occasions) Who sleeps the longest. Who gets dressed the fastest. Who eats the fastest. It's always important who wins. I'm trying to use this to my advantage, but working on the gracious looser aspect is making it a wash.

Love of sports- I'm not sure they could be any more sports crazy. CRA-ZY I tell you. I think I spend 80 percent of my day explaining the complexities of any given sport. Which reminds me I need a lacrosse expert soon. We were in the pro shop of our ice rink today, and Evan started pointing to all of the hats on the wall and naming the team and the city. If he didn't know it, (there was only one) Ryan did. I hope we aren't wasting valuable brain space on this kind of knowledge, but it IS pretty cool to have a kid who can name almost all of the NHL logos by sight, oh and don't even get me started on baseball or football.

I understand what my cousin was getting at. When you see yourself reflected back at you, it's unbelievable. It's funny, and odd, and sometimes just plain magical, and it always takes my breath away.

More images from vacation

We went marching, all in a row.

Evan: "I caught a MEDIUM sized blue gail" (that's a blue gill to the rest of us)


We caught some bass too.


In true fisherman style. Evan holds the fish by the mouth with his thumb.


Madison caught her first fish too.


We were infinitely patient posing for ten thousand pictures.

We splashed in the Tuolumne River, and played "Set Sail to Piglet's House"


We frolicked in Tuolumne Meadow.


We hiked up the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, and were so tuckered out, we spent the ride home passed out cold.



We saw Half Dome from various angles.

We had lots of fun at Snow Creek Ranch, and in Yosemite!

Firsts from vacation

We caught our first fish....







We saw our first waterfall...


We posed on our first fallen tree in Yosemite.


We played Pooh Sticks...

What we've been up to lately

Going. Constantly.

We've been going to this great park almost every week. The boys love this open field and I mean love it. They run, kick, and throw balls of every type for hours. They tackle, wrestle, and dribble...oh and laugh as they tumble to the ground in a heap.

They also take naps.




We have been celebrating Theodore Geisel's birthday all month at school. They made these "Cat in the Hat" Hats and loved wearing them around the house. We've been working on rhyming a lot because well, it's Dr. Seuss. This morning Ryan came up with this:

One little puppy sitting in the bed
He turned to mama pup and said
"Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof"
what was in his head?


I wonder if that is how Dr. Seuss got started?

The other week we went to the lake with our friend Tobin and Mr. Philip. We decided that we should let the boys ride their bikes around the lake. Philip and I overestimated had no clue pushed our kids too far. For the record. 5 miles is too far. Anything over 3 miles not so much fun for anyone involved.

But it was seriously cute. Three little ones speeding down the path, stopping to look at cacti. What could be better?


On Monday we met my Mom in San Juan Capistrano for a little birthday lunch for me. We did this last year and it was so amazing to me how much the boys remembered about our trip. They told me all about how they were afraid on the train, but then cried because they didn't want to get off. They told me all about feeding the bunnies and guinea pigs, and they told me all about the red jeep they got to ride on.

We got there early, and the boys got some good quality time feeding lettuce, carrots, and broccoli to the animals. We rode the train, with no tears. And, as a total shock to me the boys both wanted to ride the horses. Just recently they had the opportunity to ride little tiny ponies at a friend's house and they both objected, LOUDLY. I was dumbfounded to see them both happy as little jockeys.


Yes, the whole place heard Evan's squeals of delight as he passed in front of this huge cactus.



Ryan's take: "look Evan a Cacti!"

Yesterday, Evan woke up from his nap to go pee pee. Which by the way is the only time they will tell me they have to go to the bathroom, when they are supposed to be sleeping. But a potty training update is well over due and this post is already kind of long. I was watching hockey and heard the call from Evan's room, I paused the game to take him to the potty. He took one look at the TV and said to me in his most stern voice, "What on Earth are you doing?" "No Watching TV!" "NO!" His little finger pointed at my nose. He followed up with, "will you pause it so I can see someone shoot a goal?" I was laughing so hard I'm not sure where the pee went.

Today, and I do not have pictures of this event...Evan lost his glasses.
He and Ryan were running down this big hill at the park and he fell, and off his glasses came. I guess. He got up and got to the bottom and turned around to me and said, "and I ran even when my glasses were off" What? Shoot, where did he fall, where was he exactly on this hill. They are glasses I should be able to find them pretty easily. Right? WRONG?

I LOVE the Amazing Race, and I have to admit I make fun of them when they are doing the "needle in a haystack" challenges and they get all frustrated because they can't find the needle. I always think or say. Calm down, take on the challenge methodically and it is no problem!

About a half an hour into looking for Evan's $250 glasses, I got a little panicky. GRANTED, it was time to go home and have lunch to keep the kids on schedule. But I have to admit, I got a bit frustrated. And heck it's only $250 bucks, not a million. So, I apologize to all I have ridiculed on the Amazing Race. It is hard to find something when you REALLY want to find it, and it is difficult. BUT, I also had two kids to watch WHILE I was searching every inch of that damn hillside for one pair of glasses.

I walked up and down the hill maybe 20 times. I crawled on my hands and knees. Moved almost every single blade of grass. Searched. Methodically walked over every inch. They were no where. And now, it was almost noon. I had resigned myself to calling off the search for now, we'd have to come back after naps, post signs and look some more. I walked almost to the top of the hill where the boys were playing so nicely, to collect them, and lo and behold, right there, almost at the summit, THE GLASSES!

Yeah, I was so sure that he'd lost them when he fell, I'd been concentrating on the bottom section of the hill, um, where he fell! Especially since he told me they fell off when he fell down. I guess they fell off his face before that.

lesson one: Don't take a almost 4 year old's word for anything.
lesson two: Give up sooner and walk up the hill farther to go home.
lesson three: I am VERY allergic to grass, who knew?
lesson four: Don't make fun of racers on the Amazing Race, or now I am better prepared for that road block!