Sneaking in Some Sanity Time

It may be one of the busiest times of the year, with parties and friends and family, but it's been really nice to make time for some slower, quieter times., too.

While Peanut was hiking in Big Basin with his Ranger Explorers program one Saturday, Daddy-o and I signed up for a day of bird watching and nature journaling with John Muir Laws, who is one of my favorite naturalist people. I feel like we're pretty lucky that he lives in the Bay Area and there are occasional events that we can join with him.

And one of the best parts was spending a few hours with a bunch of other nature enthusiasts. We spent the morning at the Cosumnes River Preserve drawing ducks and other water birds, and then met up for a delicious potluck lunch (seriously, there was so much good food!) After lunch, someone from the Blue Point conservation group talked with us about bird migration and we shared our nature journals from the day.

And then it was on to the main event--driving out to where the Sandhill Cranes hang out in the winter. The feed in the fields in the delta area all day and then fly in to the flooded areas for the night. The fly in itself is supposed to be amazing, and I hope to see it soon, but it was a really cold day and after hours outside, we were so cold that we really didn't want to wait for an extra hour. But it was a really fun day and we'll be back for more cranes.

The next week I headed to the redwoods for a hike with a friend. I wanted to scout it out for one of my upcoming Nature Explorers groups, and also just really wanted to see some mushrooms.

We got lucky and found a couple of rough skinned newts, too.

And a bunch of banana slugs, of course.

And mushrooms!

This area has always been good in the winter, and it looks like we're going to get a lot of rain, so I think we should be good for my scheduled hike in a few weeks.

I love finding them as they are emerging. 

And the little tiny ones are always some of my favorites.

It was an excellent way to spend one of the last days of school. 

I'm sure there were plenty of other things I "should" have been doing, but this was more fun for sure.

And Daddy-o and I also went to the Oakland temple one morning. It takes a little scheduling to fit it in so we can make sure Peanut gets to seminary and Daddy-o can still get to work for a chunk of the day, but it was a nice start to the day.

We got there almost early enough to enjoy the Christmas lights that are all over the grounds. I think we'll make it back with family one evening.

As much as I enjoy a lot of the louder, crazier parts of Christmas, and all the time with family and friends, I also really appreciate the time that I get in nature and to actually reflect on what it is we're celebrating this season.

First Week of School

I don't know why school has to start so early, or HOW this child is already in high school?! But here we are, mid-August and doing the public school thing yet again. We had a nice year off from someone else dictating our schedule, and it was marvelous, but Peanut was ready and excited to try out the "real" school thing again.

He missed the orientation day because we were in the Channel Islands, but had a friend who took him around to show him the ropes and help him find his classes (and tell him which bathrooms to avoid at all costs, haha.) And by his reports, the first day wasn't too bad. He met a couple of kids in his classes, and then at lunch, he sat down somewhere, hoping that someone would join him, and a couple of the older kids who we had been camping with invited him to sit with their group, so he didn't even have to eat alone the first day. I'm grateful that for all the grief we give teens, they are sometimes kinder and more observant than we can hope for.

And while Peanut was experiencing school for the first time, we went with Bug to the temple as he prepares for his mission. It's a big step making official commitments and it was really great to be there with him on such a beautiful and Grandma was able to join us, too.

We had time to grab lunch and ice cream at Fenton's before we had to get back after school.

 There are things I miss from the early days of our family, but I also love the relationships we've built with our kids. I love watching them grow and figure out how to be adults and what type of person they want to be. I love that they still like spending time with us and want to include us in their choices and experiences. I love that they'll still come pile on our bed at the end of the day (even if sometimes I am more than ready to go to sleep and kick them out as quickly as I can, haha.) We're in a very different place than we were 10-15 years ago with diapers and naps and belly laughs and problems that could be kissed and snuggled away. It's not always easy, but it's also kind of beautiful.

Where It All Began

Started the morning with some pretty amazing doughnuts, and then drove down the coast to our old stomping grounds. The UCSD/La Jolla area will always feel like home. It's where this family started and everywhere we go is full of memories.

First stop--the La Jolla Institute, which was Daddy-o's home away from home during his college years. Our church runs religion classes near most colleges, but it's so much more than that. It's a place to park, a place to meet up with other students, to use the kitchen for lunch, to play a game of pool or foosball. They have evening activities and dinners and just really try to give the students a place to feel like they have family. The picture doesn't do the view justice, but the apartment above the institute has an amazing view. It's in this really nice neighborhood just west of campus, with a view of the ocean and private access to Black's Beach.

It would be so fun if both these kids ended up down here someday. No pressure, guys!

Then, we wandered around campus for awhile.

So much nostalgia for Daddy-o. And I realized that my year at UCSD was really spent in just one little part of campus and I recognized almost nothing, haha. Grad students do NOT have the same experience as undergrads, I think.

The Geissel library. One of the few that actually allows non-students in.

We found the Dr. Suess room which has some fun originals.

This area with hammocks set up won me over. How much more San Diego can a school get? I just love the laid-back vibe.

Peanut, finding cool trees wherever we go.

We scouted out the science buildings, of course.

This campus has changed so much in the last 20 years. It's kind of crazy how many buildings they've added. But it means there are a lot of new dorms and other buildings, which is probably a big plus.

After we finished at the school, we borrowed the key to the beach and drove down to show Bean where she could hang out to study. Pretty cool having all this coastline with not too many people on it.

Then, we drove around our old neighborhoods, and made a quick stop at the temple, where Daddy-o and I got married.

And finally, we ended our crazy road trip part of this week. Staying in a new hotel (and often pretty awful hotel) each night is rough. We decided once we got to San Diego, we'd splurge a little and booked a couple nights at the Bahia, which is a resort on Mission Bay I'd been to a couple times in high school.

There's a definite tropical feel to the resort and we loved having this patio right behind our room--perfect spot to listen to the water and watch the ducks.

We took a quick tour around the grounds.

Found the Bahia Belle. It doesn't run during the week, so no bay cruise for us, but maybe someday.

My people.

Pretty awesome sky. The sunset, just a few minutes later, was gorgeous. And of course we were on the other side of all the buildings by then, haha. 

Two of Daddy-o's old roommates came down with their families for a bonfire on the bay next to our hotel.

We hung out for 6 hours, just catching up and remembering all the crazy stuff these boys used to do.

At one point, Peanut and J's youngest son came running over to us demanding that we follow them because "We found the coolest thing ever!" Then, they showed us how the sand right by the water flashed blue when they jumped up and down on it. Bioluminescence! They were even more excited when they realized that they could run around in the water and make it happen in a lot bigger way. I've only seen it one other time, and it was so fun that they just stumbled across it. 

 

December Adventures

It's been a month of hiking (and catching a beautiful sunset at Del Valle).

Sometimes it's just the kids and I, but we love it when Daddy-o gets to come with us.

Peanut and I continued our Christmas Carol study with a chalk pastel of some symbols that represent the story. Peanut was very taken with this book and has loved all the different versions of the story.

We've taken a LOT of walks to see the lights around our neighborhood, and to get those 1000 hours outside.

I can't always convince anyone else to do a chalk pastel lesson, and this is one I wanted to do last winter and never got around to, so I sat down one evening with Nana from You Are an Artist and did this one on my own. I love little birds.

Our city put together a geocache style hunt that took us around the city, including a couple new spots that we hadn't visited before. It also has gotten us out for a really long walk one evening and a bike ride another.

Peanut and I made "snow" from baking soda and shaving cream and had fun playing with our artic animals.

We haven't baked quite as much as we usually do, and haven't done any marathon baking days, but I almost like this better. I made snickerdoodles one day. A few days later, Daddy-o and Peanut made Mexican wedding cookies, and then the kids had a gingerbread man baking zoom call with friends one day. It's meant that we've had a pretty steady stream of cookies all month.

Bean was with them most of the call, but then she had to go.

I love how the cookies turned out. We usually make buttercream frosting because I think it tastes better, but royal icing is the way to go for pretty cookies. 

There have been a lot of games played, many outdoors. Really, in order to get those outside hours, we've been taking everything we can outside. Peanut had fun learning how to play chess.

Peanut and I collected sticks to make these fun decorations.

Peanut and I had a surprise visit with the Grinch when we were dropping off a food donation.

The kids and I also had a fun winter picnic in the backyard--hot chocolate with all the fixings, cookies, a nutcracker picture book. 

We even made some fun shrinky dinks while we were out there.

An outdoor dinner on one of the warmish evenings. And notice the tent in the background--the boys slept outside for 3 nights in a row in order to make a dent in those hours they needed. They were the three warmest nights of the month, but it was still a little chilly.

We went hiking near Berkeley one Saturday, grabbed dinner at a Jewish deli, and then stopped by the Oakland Temple on the way home to see the lights.

If I had to pick, I'd say lights and outdoors are our theme for the month. We have been on every street in our neighborhood, as well as a couple other neighborhoods as well. We went to visit another spot one evening to do a decoration scavenger hunt (we had to go somewhere that none of us were familiar with, or the boys and I who had done the most neighborhood walks would have had an advantage.) We had so much fun running around for 45 minutes seeing what we could find. Daddy-o and Bean found a couple more items than the boys and I did, but they were a couple minutes late getting back to the car, so we're calling it a tie (and excited for a re-match next year!)

It's been a pretty fabulous month.