Ellie Turns Eight - The Friend Party Edition

I'm falling painfully behind in blogging yet again. It seems that teaching, having a baby, working on the final class for my M.S. and serving as the visiting teaching coordinator makes blogging take last place in the list of my daily priorities. Not to mention birthdays and holidays and the other things that go on, or Jim working on his dissertation proposal. Life is cray-cray - as the kids say.

One of the highlights of this fall has been Ellie's eighth birthday. Her mom let her choose whether she wanted to get baptized in Cali or in Oregon. She chose Oregon since she "has more friends" here. We were thrilled, to say the least! Any time that little girl can be out here is a good time. It did mean that I was in charge of both her baptism and birthday party planning, which gave me ample reason to stress out. I am, after all, a "little bit Monica" as my husband pointed out. I felt a lot of pressure not the least of which was because I had never met her mother and naturally she would be here. I have always felt like I had to be extra on top of things because the way her mom felt about me could influence how she felt about Ellie spending time with us, and I didn't want to cost Jim any time with her.

Long story short, I spent a lot of time planning and trying to get things just perfect. I'm pretty proud of the fact that for the most part I rolled with the punches on the things that didn't quite pan out like expected.

She asked for a Lego party. We had a Lego relay race, played Lego bingo, and I spent way more hours than I'd like to admit drawing this Lego block photo backdrop. 

It's a testament to the fact that I let things slide that I didn't keep rehanging it so the seam was perfectly level and matched up.

We had a yellow Lego head pinata that made me cry because it wasn't as Pinterest-worthy as I'd intended, but when Ellie had a blast smashing it open with three wallops that was all forgotten.

I spray-painted baby food jars to look like Lego heads and filled them with candy blox to use as bingo markers, but the paint clearly hadn't cured as much as I thought because all the lids ended up glued on from the paint. We spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get them open.

We served pizza, fruit kabobs, juice boxes dolled up to look like Lego blocks, mini cupcakes, and way too many flavors of ice cream for one party.

The cousins were able to come down, and every single friend who was invited made it. We ended up with fourteen kids and it was a blast. Honestly, just feed kids and let them run amok and they are happy as can be. All the grownups behaved themselves and it was a really pleasant evening, despite some of the potentially awkward moments that could have surfaced with biological parents and step-parents, grandparents, and step-grandparents crammed into the same room. Ellie was spoiled silly and she was so happy that everyone had come. It turned out fantastic.

San Fran in a Million Pics

I had never been to San Francisco. It was one of those places that seemed everyone I knew had been to and looked crazy fun, but hadn't been granted priority status. After Ellie headed home at the end of Summer and Aeryn headed to her dad's, Jim and I headed out on a little mini-vacay. Of course the tater tot came along.

We were able to check off another National Park on the list; #34 for us (I think) was Pinnacles National Park in California. It's a fairly recent addition to the park list, and frankly it was a little less impressive to me. I think being the first new park we've seen since Alaska last fall worked against it since the Kenai Fjords totally blew my mind.

Yup. It pretty much looks like this.

I had packed for San Fran, which was supposed to be cool and gray much like home. I hadn't thought about what it would be like wearing cool weather clothes in the scorching hot, dry, miserable desert. It was nice to check it off, but I confess it isn't one that I feel compelled to revisit in the summer. Perhaps another season would be better.

I kind of love Golden Gate Park. I love how big it is and how much variety there is. It's similar to how I feel about Millennium Park in Chicago just with a lot more "park" to it.

We walked all over and made the little dude sit in an umbrella stroller for seemingly unending periods of time, after he'd already sat in a car for hours.  He handled it like a champ despite the fact that he had pinkeye and his eyes kept trying to glue themselves shut. When we finally let him out to roam he was ecstatic.

Of course we had to head to Ghirardelli and get ice cream. It's a good thing we were ok with getting it to-go, or else we'd probably still be in line waiting for a table.

The highlight of the trip (for me anyway) was biking across the Golden Gate Bridge. We happened to be there at the tail end of Europe's summer vacation and there were more tourists than I could have imagined. That caused a bit of confusion with our bike rentals but once it was all figured out we headed on our way. I may have had a bit of a bad attitude at times because I haven't been terribly active for the last year and am completely out of shape. It was harder than I expected at the beginning, but once we made it onto the bridge it was smooth sailing. At least it was smooth if you don't count the wind that tried to knock us over each time we'd come around a turn.

Proof that the little man was there. He will never be able to say that he was 38 before ever making it to San Francisco.

This is where I remind myself why I carry a real camera. The iPhone is so convenient and little that I often rely on it instead of carrying a nicer camera. Half the pictures in this are from my phone and half are from the dslr. I'll let you guess which are which, but it probably won't be too difficult to determine.

Tate loves when daddy tosses him in the air. Actually, Tate just loves daddy. For a time he was a mama's boy and I was perfectly ok with that. Now that I'm working and he has more time with Jim it has completely changed (at least I'm blaming it on that). It's not uncommon for him to crawl over me just to get to his dad now. I can't say I blame him. He's got a pretty remarkable dad.

Timed family shots aren't as easy to accomplish as they once were. Tate latched on to my hair and fortunately all I did was laugh even though it wasn't the most comfortable situation.

I had hoped to walk the bridge the next morning on the pedestrian friendly side to view the skyline as the day had been clear and the colors vivid when we were biking, it just wasn't easy to see from the bike friendly side of the bridge. Morning traffic was crazy and the sky was quite hazy so we decided to just head out, but I had taken this one from the park on our way up to the bridge so I feel I got that covered, even it is far less stunning.

As we left town we headed up to the Marin Headlands and drove the scenic loop. The day was cool and foggy and just plain perfect. I love this kind of weather. I love that the top of the bridge disappears into the fog. I love that I can now say I've been to San Fran. I loved this whole weekend, and I love that my hubby plans amazing experiences for us to have. My life is much more adventurous than it has ever been and I have the best company imaginable.

Friends

For the last year we've had the best neighbors. These girls have had a blast together in that time, but as is the case in grad school their mother graduated and they have moved on to new adventures. I already miss their smiling faces. The oldest has been really instrumental in helping Aeryn like reading and the youngest has been Ellie's biggest fan. I'm sure we will move forward like people always do, but it's really hard to realize that they aren't just on vacation.

I hope the girls will have happy memories from this time. They are old enough now that they will likely remember people and experiences that surround this crazy life. I sure hope so, we have met some truly amazing people.

Summer

Now that summer break has been over for about a month (or so) I figure I ought to get back on this blogging thing before I forget everything. I always try to get pics of the kids when we are together and this summer was no exception. The reality did not even come close to matching the vision in my head, but I suppose the goal of getting pics was met.

I'm so happy to have this picture. Tate doesn't do the scrunchy nose face anymore, but for a couple weeks it was his favorite thing. These silly kids stress me out and make me crazy sometimes, but they sure are pretty amazing. I'm so glad I get to be a mom.

Redwoods '14

The California Redwood forests are some of my favorite places in all the world. There is a tranquility I cannot describe. I love that the park includes both coast and forest so there is much to do and it is all awe inspiring.

No, I don't typically run around with my jeans rolled up all weird. We had been at the beach before zipping over to the sign. I'm still unsure how we succeeded in keeping the kids dry above mid-thigh.

Little dude liked the ocean. He loves water though so that isn't too surprising. We didn't make him get soaked in the cold water which probably helped.

The girls never tire of the ocean. Really, who does?

We visited the coast the night we arrived to catch it at high tide and then again the next morning where we caught low tide. It was really neat to point out the differences to the kids though I think all they cared about was frolicking free of parental hovering. The beach was rather clear of tidal detritus though, unfortunately.

The next morning we walked Stout Grove. It's one of our favorite areas in the park. This year we didn't do any real hikes, but seeing the massive trees in the grove is almost better than any hike we would do there. It never ceases to amaze me how massive they are.

This is such a common sight. The girls have to both be involved with everything regarding Tate. He handles it with greater patience than they do, or that I do for that matter.

And then he gets rescued by dad and he can continue being cute in peace.

The girls have so much fun taking pictures of each other. It is hilarious to watch the posing and shot set up that goes into it.

They were being silly and I just liked it.

Squished into "our" hollow tree. I love that we do this every year. It's really easy to see how the kids have grown and it's just a fun little tradition. Since we come every summer I feel like I don't ever have much to say about it other than "the trees were big and it was pretty!" I suppose that is accurate, and enough. 

Crater Lake '14

Seriously, I have no idea why the kids pick to go here every year. I mean, Crater Lake is beautiful, but there isn't a whole lot to do. We've hiked down to the water, up to Plaikni Falls, bought ice cream at the camp store, and a smattering of other things. For some reason the kids really like it and want to go every year.

You'd never have guessed it this year based on all the whining. It's a good thing they are so cute.

It's our first National Park experience as a party of 5! I was definitely a little nervous about camping with a baby. I mean, it's not like you have a great deal of privacy or soundproofing at your disposal if something goes awry. Luckily this kid is still pretty chill and was incredibly easy to maneuver.

He had lots of quality daddy-time.

Several times I found myself looking around camp and thinking "so this is what camping with kids looks like." We've done it so many times I shouldn't be surprised, but this year it really impacted me for some reason. Tate loved being in the playpen outside while I loved that I didn't have to try and keep him on a blanket in the fine volcanic ash soil that turns everything it touches a miserable shade of dark gray. There was always something interesting to look at and he stayed clean. Win/win.

Until bedtime that is...

He went to sleep really easily and all was well, until somewhere around 12:00 when he woke up with a scream. After a little hug he calmed down and went immediately back to sleep, only to wake up crying at 1:00ish because he was freezing and couldn't sleep. I had planned really well for all his camp needs except for adequate pajamas. Evidently in the wilderness it cools off at night. Who knew? So he slept the rest of the night in my sleeping bag while I attempted to stay warm, not squish him, and stop counting the moments until the sun rose. At least 4/5 of us got some sleep.

Ellie will not be fitting this chair very much longer. Aeryn has graduated to an adult chair, so now it seems we must convince Tate sometime in the next year or two that he is ok with purple flowers. This little giraffe is named "Oreo" and was won by Ellie in a duckling grab at the state fair. The girls went with a friend for her birthday and she's pretty pleased to have been the only one to get a large prize.

Somewhere behind the girls there is a lake... it just happens to be clouded by smoke from a few different forest fires. It was disappointing to miss the vivid blue we've come to expect, and a bit more so to realize that out of the four times we've visited only one was not in August (and therefore had a visible lake). Evidently we tend to be there smack in the middle of fire season.

The girls kept complaining about, well, pretty much everything. Whenever they whined about having nothing to do Jim told them to bike around the campground loop a certain number of times. They always responded with protest and disappointment, just to laugh and have fun as they rode around. Kids. What goes on in those little minds??

We didn't have a campfire because it was blazing hot already and we didn't want to further cook ourselves through, but that was a huge disappointment to the kids. This will probably be our last summer coming here, for a while at least. We have enjoyed it but it's time to mix up our routine a little.