Camping at Joshua Tree!

Ack! It's been too long since I've blogged. So I'll finally try to catch up with some updates.

Last month we spent a couple of nights camping at Joshua Tree National Park. We spent a Sunday and Monday night camping there, so it ended up not being very crowded and we got a great campsite in a corner away from other people. The best part was that the "backyard" of our campsite was acres and acres of slabs of rock to run around on. The kids were totally enthralled with all the adventure and exploration, which made us so happy.

It's a long story as to why, but we ended up pretending that Easter was on Monday morning instead of Sunday, so Tori packed all of the Easter eggs and then we hid them after the kids went to bed. Joshua Tree is not a very conducive environment for hiding Easter eggs, but we did our best and the kids were super excited. The only hard part was keeping their squeals of joy at a manageable level of noise given that it was 7am and noise carries in the desert!

The kids with their loot on faux Easter morning. Now try to imagine hiding plastic eggs in that environment!

On one of our many rock scrambling adventures!

Zadie showing off her moves.

Off to the River We Go!

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a kid, I associated it with hanging out on my grandparents' boat dock in East Texas and watching the fireworks late at night.

Now our family officially has a new tradition for the 4th of July. This is at least the sixth year in a row we've gone to Tori's Dad's house in Tulare County to celebrate the holiday. It's a de facto family reunion and an extravaganza with a zip line, enormous slip-and-slide, river floats, and kickball games.

I love the games and the physicality of the whole weekend. Tori's favorite part (in addition to being with family!) is having someone else cook for her for four whole days!

Annual photo op with Tori's family. Only Uncle Hank was missing this year!

Charlie's cousins DJ and Kisean palling around on the Polaris.

The famous slip-and-slide into the river!

Skip Thinks He's Getting a Horse for His Birthday

Skip's first time on a horse. This was Sleepy.

Zadie with my dad's cousin Mark, who owns a working ranch and is a roper with excellent roping horses (that hopefully my kids' didn't screw up!)

I think I've mentioned before that Skip really think he's a cowboy. My dad outfits him with Wranglers, boots, and cowboy shirts and I have to admit he pulls it off pretty well. He's got the swagger and everything. Sadly for him, he lives in L.A. with parents who have zero equestrian ties and so he's about as far off from being a cowboy as he can get. I feel kind of worried about when that reality sets in.

He actually had his first experience "riding" a horse when my parents took the kids to the ranch recently (I think Zadie sat on a horse when she was younger for a bit). My dad's cousin Mark and his wife were kind enough to go through a great deal of hassle and hauled horses down from their ranch to meet up with Skip and Zadie and their cousins. And then they let all the kids take turns riding the horses in the corral.

Both Skip and Zadie absolutely loved this experience and it was the highlight of their whole trip. They came home talking about good ol' Walter and Sleepy, their two favorite horses.

Now Skip thinks he's getting a horse for his birthday. My dad thinks it's karma since I badgered my parents so much about buying me a horse. I was very persistent and truly couldn't understand how they could stand in the way of my life's calling. Not to mention my older brother had a horse named Lightning when I was very little (maybe someday I'll devote a blog post to all the really cool experiences my older brother got to have that I'm still very jealous of!). Anyway, I've been trying to explain to Skip that there's no way in the world that he's getting a horse for his birthday, so hopefully he won't be disappointed.

If so, I blame my father.

Skip and Zadie in South Texas

The kids love cruising around in my parents' electric golf cart. He even lets them drive!

Skip loves his Granddaddy Hal. This is the two of them at Max's Cafe in Tilden, Texas.

Wow, it's been a very long time since I've posted. I wanted to post some nice photos from Skip and Zadie's trip to the ranch with my parents, but getting those photos off my mom's camera (which is in San Diego) proved to be quite the challenge. So then I just got in a rut and stopped posting. But I'm just going to post some cell phone photos and hope this conveys some of the trip.

What a special experience for Skip and Zadie to be taken to the ranch with their grandparents. And with their cousins Sophie and Izzy, too!

My parents spent four days with them in Texas (and a few more before that in San Diego) and the kids had  a great time going on rides, playing with other family members, having water gun fights, and riding horses (more on that soon).

It makes me very happy that my kids get these very special opportunities to be with their grandparents and to be connected to this piece of land that's been in the family for so long.

Dear Old Friends

Just having a trendy micro-brew in Longmont, Colorado. No big deal.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I require a lot of adult time to keep myself happy and healthy. I follow the "secure your oxygen mask first and then assist your child" philosophy of parenting. They really do have a point with that.

I recently spent a great weekend with some dear old Peace Corps friends in Colorado. I've already written about my two closest friends from Peace Corps, so these folks need no introduction! My friend Erin was visiting from Kenya with her brand-new baby and so of course Jenna and I had to go visit during her limited engagement here in the U.S.A. 

I really love being with these two people. It just so happens that I loved my Peace Corps experience, but even if I hadn't loved it (which some people don't), it would still have been worth it just to get to know these wonderful, slightly crazy, individuals.

Solo Trip to Grand Canyon

One of the things I most appreciate about my new career with the National Park Service is the opportunity for learning and development.  Though I loved working for the Peace Corps, training opportunities were pretty rare given the fact that the five-year rule caused so much turnover among staff.  Guess there's not much point in investing in the long-term development of your employees if they're cycled out so quickly.  

The National Park Service offers a five-part training series for new permanent employees.  Three of those portions are online, but the other two include a 10-day course at the Grand Canyon and a four-day course in Washington, D.C.  I was so thrilled when I learned about this because I'm the kind of person who loves training and big group experiences (I realized at training that not all people do!).  

Thanks to Tori and the help of my parents, I was able to be away from home for nearly two weeks.  The training was excellent and made me think a lot about long-term goals with the agency.  And of course, outside of the training, it was pretty amazing to spend time with 47 other adults.  Beautiful hikes, good conversations, and snowy adventures were had by all!

In preparation for my big solo trip, I downloaded books and podcasts and planned on doing voluminous amount of reading, writing, and learning.  I definitely learned a great deal related to my work, but I didn't read one page of my book and I didn't write one blog post.  So it was a bit of a fail in that respect, but mostly because I was busy socializing and enjoying my adult time in other ways.

Hopefully Tori will get a permanent job with the National Park Service at some point (she's on a term contract right now) and then I can repay the favor.

Colorado Road Trip: The Wonders of Older Cousins!

Zadie and Skip building a fort with their cousins Lauren (left) and Callie (right).  Tori and I got to cozy up inside the house while the cousins took them on outdoor adventures!

The very best part of our trip to Colorado was seeing how well the kids played with their Colorado cousins. Yes, it warms the heart to see your children playing so joyfully with kinfolk.  Even better, it meant that we could just relax all day long while the kids were thoroughly entertained by their older cousins -- we even got to go out to brunch one time while they babysat!

My uncle John is hands-down my very favorite uncle.  That's easy to say since my mom is one of four girls and my dad only has one brother.  But even if I had a slew of uncles, it's hard to imagine liking an uncle more than I like my uncle John.  He's kind of like my dad, except totally different.

He and his wife Connie have four kids ages 8 through 12, which was good for me to think about when I used to feel sorry for myself (self-inflicted, I know!).  They definitely had it even worse than we did.  Then again, they have three perfect little girls and one decently-behaved boy, so I think we've got the edge in that department.  Little boys are about twice as much work as little girls and I think Charlie was the work of three normal little babies!

Anyway, John and Connie's kids are really sweet and down-to-earth.  Zadie adored Lauren and followed her around like a little puppy.  She also slept next to her every single night and pretty much didn't give anyone else the time of day.  Skip split his time pretty equally with the three girls and also wrestled and played roughly with little John.  As for Charlie, naturally it took the special gifts of Callie to entertain him for hours on end.  It was total heaven to see our kids so completely entertained and occupied with their cousins!

Zadie had such a great time that she ended up extending her time with them.  Because their family was also heading to San Diego for Thanksgiving, Zadie rode with Connie and two of the kids to go to San Diego and then stayed with them in San Diego for five whole days until we arrived to claim her.  That Zadie is very independent and never once got sad or lonely for her moms.  And certainly not her brothers.  She loved all her time with her older cousins and all the special attention she got from John and Connie!

Colorado Road Trip: Snow!

I arrived in Denver the same day as Tori and the kids, although I took the easy way out and traveled by plane (flying without children is so fun!).  We got in on a Friday night and it snowed most of Saturday, which was pretty exciting for our kids, and Zadie most of all.  They've definitely seen snow before, but I don't think they've actually seen it in verb form.  Zadie kept running around screaming like it was the most exciting thing in the world, while her Denver cousins just kind of chuckled at her like she was crazy (more on that later).

Anyway, Zadie was super excited about the miniature snowman she made (see below).  Other snow activities included sledding, building a fort, and throwing snowballs.

She was pretty proud of this creation.  Don't ask me where she found those perfect little glasses!

This was after most of the snow had already melted, but how cool is it that you can see all these elk bugling right outside the guest room window at my uncle's house?!  We city folk were quite impressed.

Colorado Road Trip: A Few Nights in Moab

Skip scrambling at Arches National Park!

Uncle Mike let Skip drive this very old-school tractor all around their property and he was in heaven.

I like the colors in this photo.

Tori's destination was my uncle's house outside of Denver, but she stopped the first night in Las Vegas and stayed over at a friend of her sister.  Tori doesn't flinch at staying with people she doesn't know very well, that's for sure.

The second and third nights she stayed with Uncle Mike and Aunt Mary, who live in Moab, Utah.  Uncle Mike is Tori's mother's brother, and so naturally he's a great guy who is very outdoorsy and fun.  Although I wasn't there, Tori said that Uncle Mike was great about engaging the boys in the outdoors and on the tractor.  And apparently Zadie gardened with Aunt Mary for four whole hours and said she wanted to garden at our house when they got back because it was the most fun thing in the world.

I went through Moab once on a road trip in college, but I would love to go back and stay with Mike and Mary.  They used to actually run a bed and breakfast in Moab, so they know just how to treat their guests.  Tori said they had grilled salmon and healthy veggies and of course Tori loves it when other people cook for her (since I do not).

Tori and the kids got in two very nice visits in Moab, once on the way to Denver and once on the way back.  Thanks to Mike and Mary for hosting our family!

Colorado Road Trip: The Car My Grandma Gave Us

On long road trips, Tori keeps a cooler stocked with food in the front seat and then straps a little screen across the seat backs for the special treat of a movie!

I want to do a series of posts about a road trip Tori recently took our kids on.  Since she will be starting a new job and quitting her current occupation of being a stay-at-home mom, she wanted to hit the road for one last hurrah before she gets hemmed in by a lack of vacation time and too many work commitments.

The subject of this particular post is our family workhorse, the Honda Civic. We love this car so much.  It used to be my grandma's car and she loved driving around the streets of Jacksonville, Texas and checking in on things around town.  This habit of passing the time through driving intensified as she got older and a little lonely, but even when I was a kid some of my clearest memories are of driving around with her looking at certain houses while she told us stories about the people who lived there, or who used to live there.  It's a small town and she had lived there for quite some time, so she had some pretty good stories to tell.  

Since she worked as an assistant in an accountant's office, she also had special access to people's financial situations and I especially remember her pointing out the modest homes and old cars of people who she knew to be extremely wealthy ("oil money," she would say), but who never cared to show it.  Those were my favorite stories, I think partly because I felt like she and I were in on some big secret that nobody else knew about (and to some extent we were since all the information she shared with me was highly confidential!).  

Although my grandma wasn't driving me in the Honda when I was a kid (it's a 2000), I feel connected to those memories through this car.  And I still logged many miles driving around Jacksonville with her in the Honda, which she loved dearly.  In small town East Texas, it's big American cars that rule the road, so her Honda Civic really stood out (my uncle had taken her all the way to Dallas to buy it).  Grandma was always talking about her "little car" and how she liked being able to zip in and out of places -- she couldn't imagine why people liked to drive those big wasteful cars.  She was very proud of it and talked about it constantly.

When her children insisted she stop driving, my aunts and uncles were kind enough to gently nudge my grandma to give the car to me, partly as a thank-you for having spent a year living in Jacksonville with her.  It was a very special gift, not only in the sense that it's a whole car (!), but also because I know how much my grandma loved it and how hard it was for her to give it up.  I think we've done a pretty good job of getting the most out of it and cherishing it as much as she did.

Though she's now suffering from severe dementia, for the longest time talking with her about the Honda was the easiest way to connect with her -- she would always have a twinkle in her eye when she talked about that car.  And although she was of course upset that she wasn't able to drive anymore, she seemed genuinely happy that my family was now getting so much use out of it.

In some ways, I think our little Honda Civic has a lot in common with my grandma, which I guess is kind of a funny thing to say about a Japanese sedan built in 2000, given that my grandma is an 86-year-old woman who grew up on a dairy farm in East Texas riding horses and milking cows.  But both are about the most hard-working, no-frills, reliable, and "best of class" models that ever existed.

For about a year after we first got the car, I could still smell my grandma's make-up and face cream every time I got in.  With time and children, of course, that smell has gone away.  But I can still see some of her make-up smudges on the steering wheel and on the door, and whenever they catch my eye I always smile at the memory of my grandma driving this very same car.  Grandma would probably be horrified at how dirty the car gets, but I think she'd really love to see our three kids squeezed in there like sardines and if she were driving around with me she'd probably point at the other cars and say that people didn't need those big old cars just for hauling around a couple of kids!

The Fun Mom at Her Favorite Park on Earth!

The Greatest City on Earth

Tori and I first met in San Francisco and ever since I talked her into moving away from there (for a small town in East Texas, no less!), she's been trying to talk me into moving back to what she calls "the greatest city on earth."  Although I love San Francisco, it's almost hard to visit because Tori gets so obsessed with planning our future life there (especially if we happen to visit during beautiful weather).  Still, she talked me into spending our four-day Labor Day weekend there.

I wasn't positive how it was going to go since we've never really experienced the greatest city on earth with three kids in tow, but Tori had a secret weapon.  She convinced my nephew Nick, who goes to school at San Francisco State, to spend every single minute of the long weekend with us.  Nick is not only a great person to spend time with, but also happens to be the best helper in the world.  It was like we had a full-time assistant with us.  Thank you, Nick!!

Highlights of the trip were sunny days at Mission Dolores Park (Tori's all-time favorite spot in the city), a date night at the sushi restaurant where we had our very first date nine years ago, and catching up with old friends.

Family photo at the drum circle in Golden Gate Park, which used to be my old stomping grounds.

Handmade ice cream in the Mission.

Nick and Tori are always so cute together.  I'm a little jealous because she's a much more fun auntie than I am!

Obligatory ride on the cable car -- the conductor let Zadie ring the bell!

Tori wanted to be sure and show the kids all the cool murals in the Mission.

6 Days with the Grandparents!

Trying out the tree in the front yard of my parents' new house.  Skip and Zadie are on the left and their cousins Izzy and Sophie are on the right.

As soon as Tori found out I was traveling to Washington, D.C. for a work trip, she started scheming about how she could join me.  My parents agreed to watch Skip and Zadie from Wednesday through Sunday, so we were very excited about that.  Tori was originally planning on taking Charlie with her and touring him around, but then she decided to ask her sister if she would watch Charlie during that time (she has a boy who gets along well with Charlie).  So it ended up that Tori got her big trip to D.C. and she got it kid-free!

We both had a great time.  Although I was working during the day, it was nice to stay in a hotel room (which we never do on our own dime) and to get out on dates at night.  And one of Tori's best friends lives in D.C. so we stayed with her family over the weekend and had a great dinner party with other Peace Corps friends.

Obviously while you're away from your kids you wonder how they're doing, so I was really happy to hear that Skip and Zadie were really well-behaved for my parents and were getting along well their cousins.  Big relief.  They were staying at my parents' new house in Solana Beach and were wearing themselves out at the beach everyday.  Skip has always been an early riser -- he wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. every single day -- but he was so worn out from his daily activities (and not taking a nap) that he woke up between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. each morning.  My parents had to check on him to make sure he was still breathing!

I was most nervous about how Charlie would do since he's not exactly a roll-with-the-punches kind of baby.  Apparently he woke up crying in the middle of the first night, but after that was totally fine and got along great with his cousin Gavin.  

So, many thanks to my parents and my sister-in-law Katie for watching our kids and making this very special trip happen.  It was fun to see the kids after their time away and see them so excited to tell us all about what they had been doing (well, Charlie didn't have a lot to say but he clearly enjoyed himself!).  

Annual 4th of July Trip

For the fourth year in a row, we celebrated the 4th of July at Tori's dad's house in the Central Valley.  Whenever I say that people, they make a funny face like, "Why would you want to go to the Central Valley for the Fourth of July?"  Yes, it's very hot, but it's actually quite pleasant when you spend all your time under huge oak trees or floating down the river.  Her dad has a great piece of land and a beautiful home and it's actually a wonderful place for the kids to run around.  And Tori loves the fact that her step-mom cooks every single meal the whole time we're there (that's not as big of a deal to me since that's my daily reality).


Here are some photos from the weekend...this year was significant in that we had 11 kids ages four and under!

Grandpa Mike makes an incredible slip-and-slide into the river and lubricates it with environmentally-friendly soap.  I think Tori's brother Zach gets the speed record (and he did a flip at the end).

Tori's step-sister is in beauty school and gave the girls matching hairdos.

We can fit a lot of people in the Polaris (I'm the dark spot in the far left corner).

Here is the whole gang, though sadly this year we missed Adam's family and we definitely missed Opal.

On the Farm in Oregon: The Long Way Home

I mentioned earlier that Tori decided to drive the kids all the way to Washington state, and now she is making her way back home.  She doesn't drive in very long stretches, usually about four hours each day.  She spent a few days with her brother in Portland (the scene of the piercings), and also a few days with our friends Amy and Jenelle at their family's small farm near Ashland.  I'm told the kids loved driving this little tractor around, getting eggs from the henhouse, and running around with Amy and Jenelle's two kids.

Thanks to Amy, Jenelle, and Ronnie for hosting my family for a few days!

They're now staying with friends in Modesto and tomorrow I'll meet up with them out in the Central Valley, where we always spend the Fourth of July.

One More Memory from Port Angeles

I always say that I love my children the most when we're at the beach.

So when I got to pick the outing for my last day in Port Angeles, I chose a trip to the mouth of the Elwha River and the surrounding "beach."  It's not really a beach from a Southern California perspective, but what it lacked in white sand it made up for in flotsam.  And little kids really enjoy flotsam.  All three had a great time picking through a wide and curious assortment of rocks, sticks, logs, seaweed, and shells.  I think we could have stayed much longer, but I had to get back to catch my bus.


Right before we left, we checked out this welcoming little structure, which Grandma Linda called a surf shack.  Talk about an amazing little fort.  I like to think about the people who built this little shack and how excited they must have been when they found that one huge curved piece of wood that makes the perfect entryway.  


I hope our kids remember these sort of adventures.  I mean, as opposed to many other memories they could have of the time they spend with me when I might be grumpy or frustrated or overwhelmed.  I feel very confident they'll remember Tori as being fun and lovable, but hopefully they'll have some fun memories of me socked away in there somewhere.  And hopefully this will be one of them.

Exploring the Olympic Peninsula

I'm nearing the end of my 10-day vacation in Seattle and (mostly) the Olympic Peninsula town of Port Angeles.  I think this is actually my fourth trip to Port Angeles, where Tori's mom lives, but somehow I don't feel like I've really become very familiar with the area.  I think maybe that's because the weather and also too many teensy children have kind of limited our explorations.

This trip, though, the kids are a little bigger and a little more fun to take on day trips.  We decided to nix our camping plans since the idea of camping with five kids ages four and under just sounded a little too hectic (we also have Tori's twin nieces with us).  Maybe next year!

Instead, we've taken some nice day trips around the area and in Olympic National Park.  Until yesterday, the weather has been great and it's been nice to see the amazing beauty of this part of the world.  I think it's a very appropriate consolation prize for their very unfortunate weather!

Zadie and Skip at Salt Creek Beach tidepools.  Very fun day!

We drove to Hurricane Ridge, about 5400 feet elevation in Olympic National Park and the kids were super excited to play in the snow -- for about 30 seconds before they started complaining about cold hands!  Love this photo of Zadie with Grams.

A few days earlier, I drove to Hurricane Ridge with just Charlie and had a grand ol' time showing him the deer and the mountains.  After we saw one deer, he would say, "Another one! Another one!"

This was during the 30-second interval when the kids were really excited about the snow and before they started complaining about being cold.  Then Grandma Linda treated us all to overpriced hot cocoa.

Charlie in Portland

Tori and the kids hit the road again earlier this week.  Tori piled our three kids and lots luggage, scooters, and an ice chest into our dear Honda Civic to begin her long journey to Seattle.  She was fortunate to have our friend Maya riding shotgun and helping with the kids for the first leg (to San Francisco), but since then she's been doing it all on her own and staying with family and friends along the way.

I thought this seemed like a really bad idea, but last night she told me that it's kind of nice to spend about 4-5 hours per day with the kids strapped into their seats while all she has to do is drive.  That's one way to look at it, I suppose.  She said it's tiring to drive that long and her butt hurts, but at least the kids mostly just sit there or sleep and they actually understand that she can't really meet their needs while she's driving.  The other help is that Skip and Zadie are allowed to use the iPad in 10-minute turns and they only get to use it on long car rides or airplane rides, so they find that very exciting and we have lots of cool games that help pass the time.  For this trip, Tori strapped a bungee cord across the front seat headrests and then hangs the iPad on there so that they can actually watch a movie -- just like those fancy people who have built-in DVD players!

Anyway, the point of this post was to share this sweet photo that Tori sent me yesterday.  They're spending the weekend in Portland with Tori's brother Adam and family.  I love this photo of Charlie.  He can certainly be sour, but mostly he's such a sweet child and I miss him very much!

Costa Rica: How About That Grandma Linda?

Three cheers to Grandma Linda for accompanying Tori to Costa Rica and filling in as a second parent for nearly two months.  It's hard enough to do this job when they're your own kids and you have to, but to volunteer (sort of) for this duty when you could otherwise be kayaking with friends or traveling kid-free is quite impressive!

No big deal.  Linda can handle four kids by herself (that's cousin Gavin in green).

Taking a much needed break.  I hear Linda isn't such a big fan of the Costa Rican heat.

Costa Rica: This Photo Makes Me Happy

Looking at this photo makes me really happy.  First, Zadie is so beautiful.  But more than being beautiful, she just looks so alive and fun.  What a little character she is.

I wasn't happy about the fact that Tori wanted to take the kids to Costa Rica for two months, but when I look at this picture of Zadie, I feel happy that she and her siblings got to have this wild experience.  I think it's been an amazingly fun time for them -- as Zadie reminds me every time we Skype, in Costa Rica she gets to have either an ice cream or a popsicle every day!  I'm not sure how much she and Skip will remember of all their adventures, but I'm pretty sure they'll remember the ice cream part.