Family Weekend

First water polo tournament of Bean's last season made a good excuse to head to San Diego for the weekend. Bean played great-- scored a goal against the UCSD A team and had some amazing defensive moves. They only won one of the three games, but they played really well.

After the games on Saturday, we went down to Sunset Cliffs, which turned out to be a very popular place for Valentine's--so many couples having picnics and we even caught a proposal.

Family Valentine's Day together!

Love the beautiful clouds, even if it did subdue the sunset.

And then we went down to Chula Vista for some Tacos El Gordo. The lines were crazy long, but waiting in that line, looking around at all the people from all over--just made me grateful for this America, with tacos and diversity and communities of people from all over the world. This is the America I choose. (And those tacos are dang good.)

Sunday morning, we were back at the pool for the best game of their tournament, even if they came up a little short. Bean skipped out on the last one so we could go to church with her and meet all of her friends. She's got such a great life down here.

We went to La Jolla Shores after church for the low tide.

I was hoping for some nudibranchs and maybe even an octopus, which we didn't find,

but there were lots of great worm holes,

and I did find my first tidepool lobster!

He cruised along this rock, and then crossed over to a spot of thicker algae and tucked himself in where he could hide.

These little family moments are always so great. I miss the days when it was easy to all be together, and we are definitely missing Bug these days, but it's also fun to see the lives that our kids are making for themselves as they go out into the world.

More Friends

We were so happy that the Prussos, who used to live down the street from us, came back to the Bay Area for Christmas this year. We got to have dinner with them and our other friends, the Cheneys, on Sunday, before we left for Utah the next morning. It's been a busy week or two of parties, family, celebrations, and SO MUCH FOOD, but it's so fun to spend time with all the people we love over the holidays. We've both hosted and attended several parties or gatherings this past month or so and it just feels like non-stop fun.

Pool Time

We've had a couple of parties at the pool this week.

Several members came together to for the 4th of July, with a BBQ and swim time. It was actually surprisingly cool which made it feel perfect to sit in the shade near the pool, and not get in, haha. Peanut and his friend who joined us swam, and some of the other adults got in later, but I was okay sitting this one out.

And on Tuesday, we had our Park Day Pool Party. Good turn out and so much fun for all ages.

I'm so glad that we get to do this. It's the best few hours. I can't believe we only have a few more weeks of park days before Peanut starts high school! He's feeling a little stressed by it, too, but I think once he starts, he'll be okay..

Closing Out the Summer

It's become our tradition to celebrate the summer holidays at Manresa State Beach with friends. We've been on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day for the past couple of years and it's such a great way to enjoy summer!

The kids spent hours in the water, which was a little warmer than normal. 

They boogie boarded and tried to surf, which wasn't easy because the waves were pretty small. I even got out there for an hour or so of boogie boarding--had to get my one day of being the fun mom in this summer, and convinced a few of the other moms to come in, too.

It was a beautiful day--sunshine all around and so many friends to hang out with. I always hate when September comes and I know that our summer fun really is ending, but even with all the work we've had going on this summer, it's been a pretty amazing few months.

 

My Favorite Time of Year

It doesn't get better than this, especially when this is my view from my spot on the couch. I spend a lot of time by this tree, now :)

We decorated this weekend so Bean could be part of it. It felt good to get the house picked up after a lot of chaos the past few weeks, and then we trashed it again with all the Christmas stuff, haha.

This view, too. 🥰

I love having all of my kids here. It's been louder, more tense at times, crazier, and more fun. 

Bean had to head back Sunday afternoon, but it's only 2.5 weeks until she's home for a month! 

Halloween Fun

I don't feel like we really got into the Halloween thing this year--costumes weren't very involved and ended up not being quite what we'd originally planned, we never got most of the decorations out, and kids didn't make plans until the last minute, but we did have a couple fun activities, so I don't think it was disappointing for anyone particularly. 

Peanut had big plans for a medieval family costume theme this year and had gathered up the parts for his knight costume weeks ago, but when it came down to it, Daddy-o had to work the Saturday of the church Trunk-or-Treat and Bug wasn't feeling great and came late, so Peanut and I were the only ones who started off dressed up, and we didn't even get a picture. But I did get a couple pictures of our trunk which was a medieval magic shop.

And we decided that every good magic shop needs to have a dragon rabbit. Luckily, no one had any shillings because for some reason, she was priced really low, and I didn't want to let her go.

She was the hit of the trunk-or-treat for sure and had a lot of return visitors.

I was happy to be able to pull out all the Harry Potter potions and my science class skeletons to complete the look.

From what I heard, Peanut had a good time at the party (I was on trunk duty and Poppy sitting pretty much the whole time) and Daddy-o and Bug showed up for the last hour.

And as a total break from tradition, we did not go trick-or-treating as a family. With Bean gone, it doesn't seem like a big deal to further split up the remaining two kids. Peanut and Daddy-o headed out with some friends in the local neighborhood, Bug met up with his friends to go hit up all the neighborhoods they thought they'd get the best candy in, and I stayed home with a pretty bad cough. Not our best Halloween, but everyone seemed happy enough.

 

Labor Day at the Beach

I've never been brave enough to go to the beach on a holiday before, but several families from our ward were planning to brave the crowds so we decided to try it this year, and I'm so glad we did. The weather was absolutely perfect, we got there before 10 a.m. and had no issues getting parking, and beach days with friends are so much fun!

Peanut decided that he likes to boogie board and went out several different times throughout the day. He gets cold after 20 or 30 minutes, but it was still really fun to see him out there.

I got in for awhile, too. It was a warm enough day that it was fun being in the water and boogie boarding is always fun.

These teens had a great time, too. They spent a lot of time surfing, boogie boarding, playing spike ball, and pausing to eat. Bug actually spend almost the entire day in the water--about 7 hours of surfing, or waiting for his turn with one of the surf boards. He also had some excitement when one of the guys got hit on the head with his fin, got a huge gash, and then almost fainted in the water. As soon as Bug realized he was actually hurt and not just messing around, he grabbed him and pulled him into the shallow water where the friend's dad came to help. He ended up needing a trip to the hospital and several staples, but no concussion. Bug got his first (and hopefully only) ocean rescue!

It was busy, but not even that crowded. We'll have to remember that Manresa on a holiday is totally doable.

 

A Little Holiday

Valentine's Day seemed like a good day for a Poetry Tea Time. We haven't made this happen this year, even though it's always a favorite activity, but it's been hard to fit in extras most weeks.

We enjoyed a few poems, a new blood orange bread from Trader Joes, and tea, of course.

We also got out for a quick bike ride through the park to see all the almond blossoms in full bloom.

Morning sunlight is supposed to be great for our bodies and minds, and I do think it makes a difference on the days we get out early.

These blooms are so beautiful--just wish they lasted longer.

And this was too funny--sweet bunny looking longingly out the window. She wants to be out there so badly.

 

Arts and Crafts

Just a little February fun.

Peanut and I made these felted hearts and then I strung them into a garland for our mantle. We don't typically do much decorating other than at Christmas, but this was really fun.

And Nana had avalentine's art lesson with wood packers. I love these lessons with Nana, probably more than Peanut, honestly. He gets frustrated when things don't turn out how he wants.

I think this turned out adorable!

And I finally finished my redwood cross-stitch. It's not perfect, but it was a lot of fun having this project to work on while supporting Henry through his math this year.

Goodbye, 2020!

Last sunrise of the 2020. I'm glad I got up early enough to see the year out in this way because I've seen a LOT of sunrises this year with all my early morning walks, so it seemed right.

This was the only photo I took on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. We had a pretty low key celebration. Daddy-o and I were both working all day on NYE (he had several move in/move outs to oversee so was in the office for a full day and I had a ton of printing to do for science kits) while the kids watched movies, played Mario Kart, drew, and read.

We did a snacky dinner, worked on a puzzle, more Wii games, learned how to play Rook (game #4 from our Christmas stash--I'm really proud of us for only having one un-played game left from our new games! Now if we can only catch up on all the thrift store finds I bought in 2019, haha.)

At 11, we started the movie Soul, which meant that we had to take an intermission to ring in the New Year, and then didn't get to bed until after 1 so we could finish it, so it turns out I can still stay up until 1 if I have to. I'd been joking that since we didn't have anyone over this year, 

I was going to bed at 12:05😁.

New Year's Day was very lazy. The kids didn't wake up until 11.  I had worn everyone out with our big day of hiking on Tuesday, so had already promised I wouldn't make anyone go for a New Years hike this year. And no one had any plans of even getting dressed until the G family mentioned that they'd be down at the church again to play, so everyone did end up leaving the house for a couple hours. 

Otherwise, there was lots of reading, movies, and drawing going on again. The kids got a knock-off Apple Pen for Christmas and bought a drawing app for the iPad and have been having so much fun learning what they can do with it. It's a pretty amazing app--you almost don't have to know how to draw at all to make incredible pictures!

Here's to hoping that 2021 brings hope and healing and happiness.

Celebrating the Shortest Day

The kids and I went for a solstice hike and found fog! It was perfect for the first day of winter. We may not get snow, but fog and the damp cold feel very wintery to us.

I chose a section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail near the John Muir National Historic Site. We climbed Mt. Wanda, where he roamed with his daughters when he lived there. I think we would have had beautiful views if it hadn't been foggy, but we'll have to check it out on another day.

Mushrooms! I'm always excited to find fungi :).

After lunch, it had mostly cleared up and we did get a view of the hills with Mt. Diablo in the background from the hilltops on the other side of John Muir's home. We never made it close enough or high enough to get the Bay View that is there, but we had heard fog horns all morning and could see a layer of fog over what I think must have been the edge of the Suisun bay.

We did see a LOT of cows. Some were right next to the trail and made us a little nervous, but they mostly just stared at us.

The spot where the trail goes under the freeway and right past the John Muir site has murals from spots that John Muir loved. It was a fun surprise when we came to this spot. I still want to come back some time when the house and grounds are open so we can see the orchards and other parts of the property, but with all the shut downs around the state right now, we knew this would be a hiking only day.

We finished off our day with roasting hot dogs over the fire and a warm bistro salad that I've fallen in love with (and convinced everyone else that it's pretty tasty, too.) Daddy-o had to go inside after dinner to teach an English class that he's been doing on Monday nights through our church (though attendance was pretty light--he's hoping it's just because of the holidays and that people will come back in January, but the person over the program is convinced that the consistency is important so they will continue to hold class each week no matter the time of year, and for the few who did come, it probably is very important.)

The kids and I stayed outside by the fire, reading a couple of books about winter and advent, and then telling jokes and playing games. There was a lot of laughing, a lot of being cold, and a lot of sugar consumed. It wasn't the same as our solstice parties we've had the past couple of years, but same as the evening I spent camping alone with the kids this summer, I realized that when we invite other families to join us, I pretty much don't interact with my kids. They're with their friends, I'm talking with mine. This year has been full of traditions with the twist of turning them into true family time, and I kind of like it. Having a balance would be best of all, but for now, we'll keep embracing all the dedicated family events.

And finally, Bean and Peanut continued their celebration by sleeping out in the backyard to get their hour requirements in the range of doable for the last 10 days of the year while the rest of us went in to get warm, haha. They actually slept very cozily in our smallest tent and didn't get up until after 10 the next morning, so I'd say they were comfortable enough!

The days only get longer from here!