Longest Night

Shortest day of the year/longest night means it's time for our solstice celebration. 

We ended up with a new fire pit for the occasion because earlier in the day when I was cleaning out the logs we'd thrown in a few months ago, the whole bottom started disintegrating! We got a few years of use out of it before it finally rusted through, and we can't really ask for more from a freebie we picked up off the side of the road.

We had a fun group--5 families including a couple of grandma's here for the holidays. Lots of good soups, salad, and bread, too many cookies, and so much fun. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions--love ringing in winter with a warm fire and friends.

Santa even paid us a visit, haha.

Peanut decided to put his gnome beard to use, stuffed his belly, and invited the kids to come sit on his lap. (The kids were all paid actors, though.)

And now the days only get longer!

On the Sunday Before Christmas

Sunday hike with my girl.

The fog was amazing. All the hiking around Livermore gets so much more beautiful after the rain starts. These hills are just gorgeous when they turn green.

Such a cool mushroom.

We wandered around the hills for a few miles, soaking in our soon-to-be winter weather. 

And then, we had our advent dinner. We're currently a week behind because last Sunday was too busy, so we still haven't lit the 4th candle, but figure we can do an extra one this week. Peanut shared the message with us this week--a story on service, and had us make scarves like in the book. Except we didn't have big enough pieces of fleece to make human scarves, so we made them for our animals--which probably isn't really a good service for them, considering they HATE them, haha. But it was fun, and a great idea.

Finally Got Some Rain!

It's been a pretty dry winter so far, but the rain the other day has meant a few days of fun walks down by (and in) the creek.

It was roaring on Thursday when we first went to check out the water level.

And then had calmed down to a more normal level by the time the rest of the family was able to get down there today.

This kid puts his rainboots to the test!

And sometimes has to then dump a bunch of water out because he went a little too deep, haha.

But he's been a good wet weather explorer.

And rain means green grass everywhere!

We found this beautiful little spot near the creek. Not every adventure we go on has to be far, or an all day event. This one is about a mile from our house, just a quick walk on the bike path.

Other people must like to play here, too. There were a lot of these structures built in the area.

Peanut just made himself at home.

Lots of logs and fallen trees here.

Nice when we can bring the rest of the family along.

Peanut appreciates having someone to play with.

Sword fighting on the logs. No one got hurt, miracle of miracles.

Hoping we see a lot more of this.

Winter Tidepooling

Spent the day at the Pescadero tidepools to take advantage of a low tide, and beautiful January weather.

I will never get tired of winter along the coast.

And I will never get tired of exploring at tide pools.

Lots of urchins, snails, and other little critters.

Mussels, gooseneck barnacle, and a chiton.

Beach days are good days. We are so lucky to live so close to these amazing places.

WInter Solstice, Observed

Because the actual shortest day of the year was spent at Grandma and Grandpas house, we moved our solstice party to the 23rd this year. We had clear skies and cold weather, perfect for hanging out by the fire and drinking hot chocolate.

17 kids meant lots of chaos, noise, and shenanigans (we had 3 spilled hot chocolates in the house in about 15 minutes time!), but I think they all had a blast. They played the piano and ukuleles, swung on the hammock, pulled out board games, and ran around the house in circles, literally, haha.

I got this cute picture of my mom with her buddy for the evening. Apparently, little A brought out some coloring stuff and plopped down by my mom and then told her stories for a really long time. 

Such a great celebration for the return of the sun--can't wait for the days to start feeling longer!

Ski Trip 2019

With all the snow that California has gotten this year, the kids have been begging to go skiing again. Well, some of the kids. Peanut is still very anti-cold. I had hoped this would be the year that we could all go up to the snow together, but after he had a freak out a couple weeks ago on a chilly morning down here in the Bay Area, Daddy-o and I decided that it wasn't worth it to try taking him.

And that is how these three ended up getting to enjoy one of the most awesome powder days at Dodge Ridge, while I hung out at home with the little guy (and powder days are a little lost on these guys because they are still beginners--Bug came home and complained about how the deep snow was really annoying and made it hard to ski. If he only knew. . .) 

From all reports, they had an amazing day. Our church had organized this trip on the kids' day off after the trimester ended, so there were a bunch of friends up there to ski with, and not a whole lot of other people. Our kids were very happy to not have any lines to wait in at the lifts.

And it sounds like everyone did well--I'm glad that our kids feel comfortable on skis now. Bean even said she thinks she's ready to try snowboarding :)

There has been SO much snow the last couple months. And it snowed the whole week before they went up. As sad as I was to miss out on the powder, I did get to be cozy and warm in our house, while I watched an online homeschool conference I'd signed up for. And Peanut got to have a 4 hour playdate with a fellow Wild Kratts lover, so we didn't have a bad day.

After the skiing, Bean caught a ride home with friends, and Daddy-o and Bug stayed in this cabin with the Scouts from church. They had decided to tack on a little overnighter, and I think they all had a good time playing in the snow, watching a movie, and just being together.

On the way home, they stopped by Columbia, the old Gold Rush town, for a little while. It's nice that Daddy-o, who misses out on so many of our field trips, was able to do this whole trip.

By Saturday afternoon, when everyone was back home, we had a bunch of tired, very sore, very happy people. (That soreness was another thing I was happy to miss out on, even if it meant I had to miss out on the happy part. Snowboarding hurts so much more these days than I remember--I'm getting old!)  

This Week

This week has been full of rainbows. Lots of rain, but lots of beautiful skies right afterwards, too. And I'll be honest, the rain is welcome. Not only do we need it, but I need a few weeks of CA winter. I don't want it to be cold, but I love a reason to stay home more, slow down a little, cancel some plans, and not feel guilty at all. When the weather is beautiful all winter, I feel an obligation to keep going hard, with lots of outdoor activities, just like we do the rest of the year, but at the same time, I'm usually longing for time snuggled on the couch, reading a good book, or baking with the kids.

Some of that baking meant scones and sugar cookies for a Poetry Tea Time Wednesday afternoon. 

And all that home time meant we actually got to finish a full game of Monopoly. It only took a little over a week. And we squeezed in a few rounds of  some other games as well. All made possible by a couple rainy weekends.

We still had our normal school and activity obligations, but somehow, there just seems to be more time for indoor hygge when it's wet and chilly out.

Before the Rain Returns

Bug and I snuck in a hike at Sycamore Grove Friday morning before the rain came back.

We had a lot that we could have been working on at home, but there's always stuff to do at home, and with all the storms that we have had lately, and are coming the next two weeks, I feel like we should get outside and hike any time the trails aren't too muddy. Plus, I didn't want to walk this guy in the rain later. I feel bad taking him for his normal 30 minutes if I do it too early in the day--that leaves him a really long afternoon on his own (and means his owners are coming home to a crazy dog--not what they are paying me for), but if I can take him for a few miles, then it doesn't really matter what time of day.

There's still snow in the distance to the south--so crazy that it stuck around all week!

Dandan is crazy, and so much fun. He was literally bouncing around the parking lot when we first got there. He tried to climb trees after Bug, leapt at every dog, squirrel, cow, and bird that went by. We always laugh more, and hike faster, when we bring him along.

Almost, But Not Quite There

We saw the forecast for a chance of snow mixed with the rain this a.m. and I was SO hopeful--hoping for a miracle of an actual snow storm that would close down everything for today. Pretty much unheard of, but a girl can dream, right?

Instead, we got cold weather and snow-topped hills behind the green all around us. Beautiful, yes. But still a Tuesday that felt like a Monday because we were at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all day yesterday. Instead of a snow day, I've got one kid home sick, one off at the testing that he abhors, and one who was late to school and alternated claims that he hates himself for being late with the declaration that he would NOT be getting a late slip but would sneak in without anyone seeing him the whole way there. There's no big consequence for HIM for being late (I, on the other hand, will be getting a nasty letter this week because of his tardy/absent record, which isn't even that bad, but they are sticklers, apparently. But I'm a stickler for the value of fieldtrips and celebrating family occasions, so we'll just keep being absent here and there.)

And while it is seeming the most winter-like we've had this year, the trees are blooming like crazy--last week was most definitely spring-like weather. That's what we get for not having real winter--

bi-polar seasons.