Another Trip Around the Sun

So glad we got to celebrate this guy's birthday this weekend. Most of the weekend was spent with water polo and hikes and other things he didn't necessarily pick, but he's a good sport about that stuff. As long as we feed him well, he's good with the day;) He went for a lemon bundt cake this year and it was tasty.

We had a pretty relaxing day--church, a little Wii gaming in the afternoon, and good food all around.

We are all so appreciative of everything Daddy-o does for us--he works hard and makes it to most of the kids things and supports me in pretty much whatever I want to do, going along with all my crazy plans and activities (well, still working on a couple of my more extreme travel plans, but I have high hopes that I'm going to win him over ;).)

Happy Birthday to the. . . 

best guesser in the neighborhood,

weekend chef,

long distance driver,

heavy lifter (in more ways than one),

supporter of kids' sports, 4-H, church activities, 

dishwasher,

fixer of all the things,

gardener,

pie maker,

hard worker,

man who loves us all. 

Saturday Tournament

I know we're lucky to live in a pretty mellow climate, but sometimes the whole year-round-outdoor-pool thing is painful. Bug had a tournament in Novato with an early start time and it was only in the low 40s, which is pretty cold to be sitting by a pool. As you can see, it was plenty warm enough for the boys in the water (but I did feel for them when they had to get out.)

It did warm up enough that we could see the pool by the time our team played their first game, and by mid afternoon, I was able to turn off my heated vest, haha (seriously, I'm loving this Christmas gift!)

Got lucky and captured one of Bug's goals on video! Good break away after winning the spring.

We snuck away between games for a little hike. The Bay Area Ridge Trail goes through Novato, so I got my first ridge trail mileage of 2023.

And found mushrooms, of course.

First wildflowers of the year, too (milkmaids).

And this really cool jack-o'-lantern mushroom, which is bioluminescent (but we'd have to come back at night to see that). 

Not a bad day!

Fun-filled Friday

Field trip Fridays are always fun, and even the storms that forced a change of locations this week couldn't stop us from having a great mushroom hunting hike today.

The kids always have such great eyes for these things.

We found quite a few different ones,

and were even able to identify a few (like these cramp balls--who names these things?!)

This one is probably a coral tooth fungus.

One of the things I love about this class is getting the parents involved, too. The kids are definitely not the only ones enjoying these hikes and explorations.

Mica cap.

And a fun, but unidentifiable (by me) cluster.

We went about 1.5 miles to this big rock which felt like a good turn-around spot.

Of course, my kid had to climb it while we were there. 

I had been disappointed at the change in location because even though El Corte de Madera is a cool area, just north on the ridge, La Purisima is incredible and last year was one of the best mushroom and banana slug hikes I've ever taken, so I was pretty excited when the kids found a banana slug on the way back.

He was the first one for a couple of people.

I found a second one a little farther on, but most of the kids had run ahead by that point, so they missed this one.

After we finished the main hike, Peanut and I made a short stop at the Methusaleh tree which I've seen on the map for a couple years now. It's just off the road, so no hike involved and I've been wanting to see it.

It is a very large tree--I think the oldest/biggest in the Bay Area (at least that is marked anywhere.) Not as big as some of the ones we see up north, but still cool to have this here.

And then, the fun was not over! Peanut wanted to make another meal. His last Yummy Crate was all about pasta, so after the lasagna, it was time to try ravioli.

Making the dough was a group effort--takes a lot of kneading.

We were glad when Bug got home from school in time to help.

But making the pastas were so cute!

Another win! I love that he likes cooking so much. 

 

Just a Glimpse

Finished a new puzzle.

Went for a walk.

Love that there is water this year.

Rescued a water-drenched stop watch with rice.

Helped Peanut with the supplies for his potions class.

(They died the kitchen green.)

Played with our food in science.

It's been a fun few days. We had to say goodbye to Rara and Unkie last weekend which is never fun, but with school and activities picking up, we've had good distractions. 

Wet Weekend

With Rara and Unkie in town, Bean still home from school, and a rainy weekend ahead of us, we decided it was the perfect time to go check out the art museum on Stanford's campus. The Golden Spike from the ceremony celebrating the completion of the transcontinental railroad is in an exhibit here and I wanted to bring Peanut sometime in connection with our CA history study, but there is a lot of great art here, as well.

We spent a couple hours wandering around,

checking out paintings, sculptures, 

and interesting exhibits.

 We don't go to art museums very often (because honestly, most of us prefer science if we have to chose), but it's fun to mix it up sometimes.

Other than that, we had a lot of time hanging out at home, playing games, and visiting.

 

Peanut pulled out his second Yummy crate and made us lasagna for dinner one night.

It was delicious!

And I caught this sweet moment from church on Sunday. Turning 12 this year means new responsibilities at church for Peanut and it was his first time passing the sacrament. I love that his big brother was there to make sure he knew what he was doing before the service got started. It's crazy how fast these boys are growing up.

King Tides at Pescadero

Even though my ankle was not quite ready for rock scrambling, I was excited about the extreme low tides this weekend. 

There were a lot more rocks exposed when we arrived at Pescadero. It's not my first choice for tidepooling, but Fitzgerald was damaged by the storms we've been having, so they aren't open at the moment.

Unkie came with Peanut and I to explore and see what we could find.

Lots of snails, barnacles, limpets, and mussels.

It was cool to see so many tidepools.

Lots of anemones, too.

Honestly, because I was having a hard time getting around on the rocks, I didn't actually get to see anything more than what I can see at normal low tides--it was just too hard to balance on the uneven surfaces. But it was still cool to see.

And Peanut had a blast scrambling all over the place.

He found a bunch of sea stars, too.

Beautiful afternoon at the beach. I can't wait for next year's King Tides when I will be more mobile and can hopefully get to Fitzgerald. And we'll hope there will also not be so much storm damage--lots of traffic getting here because of partial road closures from sink holes and general chaos because of this weather that we are just not used to.