The cousins came

Last Sunday I was talking to my sister in law.  She mentioned that my brother and her oldest son were going backpacking with her Dad and brothers and she was staying home with the little kids.  After I hung up I told my husband about the backpacking trip.  He called back and told her to come play at our house... and she did.  She told me that my husband is crazy.  I know, but it's a good kind of crazy.  She packed up the kids and hit the road early Monday morning making the 15 hour drive in one day. 

 

 

I'm so glad they came.  We had a fantastic week.  We picked Buddy Boy up after school and headed to the beach.  It was the best beach day we've had all summer.  This is the time of year it finally warms up a bit.  Now that summer is offically over, it's beach weather.  Since it was a Tuesday afternoon there weren't the typical summer weekend crowds.  It really was the perfect beach day.

 

 
The most amazing things were the dolphins and the seal that we saw swimming extremely close to shore.  It's one thing to see them at aquariums or lounging on the dock, but to see them swimming and playing in the surf was fantastic.

 
After a burrito dinner on the beach watching the volleyball players, we walked out to Watkins lighthouse.  The little guy cousin has a thing for lighthouses so we couldn't pass up the chance to get up close and personal with one.

 

One afternoon the girls kept busy making an art museum in the back yard.

 

It started with their own art, but soon anything "pretty" was put on display as well.  Scarves, tea pots, plates...

 

We took some of their designs and made feezer paper stencils for t-shirts.  They finished them on the day we walked through the Japanese gardens on our way to Happy Hollow. 

 

My girl loves her cousins.

 

 

Oh, Happy Hollow, what a great afternoon.  Being there with the cousins made it much more fun.  Since we were there later on a Friday afternoon the place was practically deserted.  We saw some animals, but the rides were the highlight for the kids.  Buddy Boy finally worked up enough courage to ride the roller coaster.  Perhaps seeing the three year old jump in line pushed him just a bit.  Right before leaving we rode the little roller coaster three times in a row since no one else was waiting in line.  We were all squealing and laughing so much it was just silly.

 

I hope they'll come back again.  We're only 15 hours away.

Sunflowers

I love growing sunflowers in the yard.  They get so tall so fast.  Once they bloomed the bees loved them.

Then something else started loving them as well.  I don't know what it is, but it works at night.

First day of second grade

The obligatory first day of school photo.  I think there's a stow away Teddy Panda under that shirt.  And the hair is being "adventurous".  He likes it that way.

Buddy Boy was looking forward to school and had a great first day.  I was afraid he might not like it because he's had a pretty care free summer.  Fortunately it turned out great.  His best friend is even in his class again.

Mr. Chris, the teacher, sent home a getting to know you questionnaire.  I let Buddy Boy help me fill it out.  Buddy Boy says that his strengths are: Minecraft, recess, reading, swimming, and gum chewing.  He lists his hobbies and interests as gold, Minecraft, astronomy, history, and the human body.  He said he may struggle with mathematics with big numbers.  Numbers over 30 or so.  He said that his expectations for 2nd grade were engineering and less math.  Unfortunately, I think math is kind of a given in second grade.

Here's to a great start in second grade.

Summer wrap up

School is starting Monday so it's time for a summer wrap up.  My posts have been a little sparse since we have been out and about having a good time so here it all is in one giant post. 

We've spent a lot of time at Grammie and GranDad's pool.  Buddy Boy's swimming has really taken off.  He is a little, or not so little, fish.  He loves it.  It's good to see him enjoy it so much after a few false starts with other sports, (gymnastics, soccer, basketball...).  He enjoyed watching bits of the Olympic swimming.  He liked the races and they both liked the synchronized swimming.  My Girl's favorite event of the Games was gymnastics, especially the rhythmic gymnastics with the ribbon.

We took a day to go to the City and visited the Aquarium by the Bay on Pier 39.  It isn't a big place, but it was just right for our little day trip.  The aquarium in Monterey is great, but almost more than you can really take in in a day.  The kids loved the jelly fish and the moving walkway through the tank tunnel where sharks swim over your head and sea stars stick to the sides.



They also enjoyed getting up close and personal with the octopus.  If you aren't very big, you can climb under the tank and poke your head up into the bubble inside.

Here is photographic proof that I was there too.  I was the only one who wanted to touch the ray in the touch pool.  It was a strange little animal.  I swear it was poking it's head out of the water to get a better look at the people.

One day instead of vacuuming the living room as I had planned, we made teddy bears.  Buddy Boy had seen the pattern in a kid's craft book and really wanted one.  I had left over brown cotton fleece from a jacket I made for myself.  We used the wrong side so it would be a bit softer and fuzzier.  They each helped with the sewing by sitting in front of me and pushing the pedal while I guided the fabric around the curves.  They got better at the stop and go as we went along.  Fortunately my machine has a half speed setting.  My Girl has a bit of a lead foot.  The bears are named Cocoa and Strawberry Shortcake.  Cocoa and Teddy Panda are great friends, but Cocoa tends to get lost a little more easily.  That's not good.

Our friends from Israel were in town for their annual visit to Grandma and Grandpa so we got to spend time swimming and playing games together.  One afternoon we even tie dyed shirts.  They turned out great.

My Girl has announced that she is only going to wear white t-shirts that are either plain or that have designs on the front.  No colored shirts and nothing pretty or fancy, only coool clothes allowed.  One morning after being awake for all of about 3 minutes she said she wanted to make a rock star t-shirt.  Fortunately we had a several old white t-shirts from when Buddy Boy was that size, freezer paper, and paint.  By 8:00 am she had her rock star shirt.  Depending on the context she also looks like one of Dr. Seuss's Sneetches, or a Dallas Cowboys fan.  Later she informed me that she IS a rock star and needed a guitar shirt.  So we made one of those as well.  We even stitched little guitar strings with silver thread.  One of these days we may even make concert t-shirts for her band, the Fireflies.

 The garden is gaining steam.  The green beans are doing fantastic and the tomatoes are starting.  I planted four different varieties, sun gold, early girl, better boy, and Amish paste.  The sun gold are a prolific super delicious golden orange cherry tomato.  The Amish paste are an indeterminate cousin to a Roma.  Yummy yum.  Since I'm the only one who really likes fresh tomatoes there is a lot of marinara in our future.  That is the reason for the paste tomatoes.  While Grammie and GranDad are out of town we have been watching their garden.  I'm not sure what variety this monster is, but it is HUGE.  It isn't quite the two and a half pounds you see on the scale.  The head and bunny ear arm are adding a bit of weight.  I didn't notice that when I snapped the picture, but it clears the two pound mark at 2.015 pounds.  We also have it's smaller relative that weighs in at a pound and a half. 

Perhaps Buddy Boy caught wind of the Curiosity space mission to Mars or maybe not, but he decided that he needed to go to Mars.  My Girl said she didn't want to go, but he told her that she didn't get to because he was taking Teddy Panda.  Here he is taking pictures of a martian.  Strangely, Mars looks a lot like our back yard, only redder and slightly out of focus.

We spent our last day of vacation at the beach.  It was finally a beautiful sunny day.  Summers there can be cold and foggy.  The real beach season is just starting.  We build the lost city of Atlantis and played in the surf.  The water was unusually warm, which means it wasn't freezing cold.  Sadly, I forgot to take my sunglasses off when I went in a little deeper and I lost them when I got knocked over by a very sea weedy wave.  Oh well, that's the way it goes some times.  It's been years since I've done much more than sit in the sand with a wee one.  For some reason this just confirms to me that I need more sea water in my life, not less.

I started off the summer rather apprehensively, but it has been good overall.  It was better when I let go of the idea that a lot of academic stuff ought to happen.  We went on field trips and visited Happy Hollow.  There was plenty of reading.  Buddy Boy loves to read.  My Girl is reading on her own now as well.  We did a little math by playing Black Jack and doing Bedtime Math.  There wasn't much writing except what happened during play.  So there were some secret spy notes and party invitations.  Buddy Boy did complete writing a game in Scratch.  It is pretty basic, but I'll brag and say it is great for a self taught 7 year old.  He also spent a fair amount of time immersed in Minecraft.  I don't mind.  As far as games go it is a good one and he respects the limits we put on it.  He knows that he has to keep up his bike riding or he won't be able to play. 

There were a few bumps of varying size along the way, but overall we had some really good times.  I almost, but not quite, wish there was more.

The Tech

This week we went to the Tech museum.  We all had a really fun time.  I had heard on the radio that they were having a special Maker Faire exibit until August 17th.  Maker Faire is a fair/festival where people make all sorts of cool and crazy thing and show them off.  I haven't been, but it sounds like fun.  It's on the list for when the kids are a little older.

I forgot to take my camera and the battery on my phone died, so no pictures of the kids playing, but maybe that's better.  Sometimes it's better to enjoy rather than try to document everything.  We made multiple kinds of robots, played with Bloxes, and Little Bits.  They didn't have the Squishy Circuits out, but it looked cool.  It was a great time.

Summer eats

Cold fruity things are great for the summer.  A friend gave us an ice cream freezer.  (I think it was an unused wedding gift.)  So we proceeded to freeze things.  Our first attempt was the watermelon-limeade combo I've made in the past.  Second into the freezer was TJ's Rio Ruby Grapefruit juice.  It is really good frozen, a little sweet, a little sour, and just a bit bitter.  Sounds strange, but it's a good combo.  You can see that one in the back of the photo. 

My mom used to make a frozen raspberry buttermilk shake sort of thing.  The front image is blueberry buttermilk "ice cream".  It's just what it sounds like, blueberries, buttermilk, and sugar in a blender, frozen.  It tastes a lot like blueberry cheesecake to me.  You get a pretty yogurty-cheesy taste.  I like it, but it isn't for everyone. 

I had the buttermilk because I have been making my sister-in-law's waffle recipe.  I swore I would never make waffles that involved separating eggs and beating egg whites, but these are worth the effort.  I sprinkle chocolate chips on once it is scooped on to the waffle iron.  That isn't in the recipe, but it's a great addition.  With the chips we skip sticky syrup and jam.

Happy eating!

Wendy's wonderful waffles

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs separated
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda.
Whisk egg yolks.
Whisk butter and buttermilkjin with yolks.
Add dry ingredients.
Beat egg whites and fold into batter.

Summer so far

I approached summer this year with a bit of anxiety.  I'm not sure why.  It just seemed like a big long black hole.  It's hard to believe that summer is more than half way over.  So far we've done a couple of local field trips, gone on a great road trip to Utah, and watched every episode of Mythbusters broadcast as well a a few more from Netflix.  We spend a lot of time reading and playing Legos.  We got a box from Amazon that included a Whirley Pop pan and a new game called Labyrinth.  We've played it almost daily since then.  It's a good game for big and little people.

The week after our trip we had a week of camp for the kids, Ancient Rome camp for Buddy Boy and games, songs, crafts, and pony rides at the park with friends for My Girl.  Buddy Boy HATES games, songs, and crafts if there isn't a point to it.  He LOVED Ancient Rome camp.  Each day they had art, history, and science all related to ancient Rome.  It was perfect for him.  My Girl has also had a taste of tap and ballet class.  She goes back and forth about whether she likes it or not, but always leaves smiling.

We've made paper glasses with red cellophane lenses and a transmogrifier. (Read more Calvin and Hobbes if you're unfamiliar with this important scientific instrument.)  I was actually a trout for a few minutes.  Luckily, I was transmogrified back pretty quickly.  Buddy Boy spent some time as a panda.

Our house is still for sale, but I've calmed down about it.  After two weeks there haven't been any offers so we may be here longer than I thought.  One good side effect of the open house and showings is that the house is nice and clean, the garage less so.

News update

The Monday after I got home from a fabulously fun and relaxing trip our landlord informed us that he is listing our house for sale.  Ughh.  We had really hoped to be here another year or so.  I can't blame him.  He pays a pretty hefty sum each month to cover the mortgage in addition to what we pay in rent.  The housing market around here is just a little crazy.  So the house hunt for us begins.  The problem is that rents have increased dramatically in the two years since we moved in.  Not enough that they are equal to what you would pay for a mortgage, but enough that we can't really afford a place like where we are currently living.  We've looked at a bunch of places and it's a little depressing.  So in addition to looking for a new place to live I'm also looking for a part time teaching job.  With My Girl in school every day this fall I'll have a little time for work.  It isn't what I had planned, but it will be OK.  I have a couple of leads.  One job that I thought was a sure thing is now looking iffy, but there seem to be other things out there as well.  We'll see what happens.  Now I need to think about packing.

On the road

On sort of a last minute whim, I decided to drive to Utah with the kids to see the family.  It just worked out so that if I stayed for one week I could catch two different family reunions and catch up with cousins.  Some of them I haven't seen for a long time.  We took two days for the drive so we would be able to spend a night with friends along the way.  Because of these friends my kids want to move to Reno.  Friends, and the fact that it snows there and Buddy Boy wants to build a snowman and bring him to life.  Thank you, Calvin and Hobbes.

I invited myself to stay with my brother and sister-in-law.  What I didn't realize at the time was that my other brother's family would also be there.  It was great!  Thirteen kids under one roof for six days.  It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it worked out.  Everyone had a fantastic time.  My kids were in cousin heaven.

One day we dropped the big kids off at the amusement park.  My girl was quite upset that she couldn't go with them until I assured her that she could go with them when she was a teenager.  Only nine years to go.  We took the littler ones to the Air Force museum.  We picniced under the tail of a plane outside before going in.  The museum was quite interesting.  Buddy Boy has learned a bit about the Wright brothers and liked the replica they had of their first flyer.

Buddy Boy took the camera for a few minutes and snapped a couple of these.

I like that he took a picture of his reflection in one of the planes.  I'm not sure why it tickles me so much.

The highlight for the kids was the empty platform and podium.  My Girl spent quite a bit of time speachifying.  I couldn't quite hear what she was saying, but she had a lot to say and was taking it all very seriously.

We also went to the LDS Church museum of history and art.  The kids played and practiced their Mexican folk dancing in the kid room while the adults rotated out to see the art exhibits.  I really enjoyed seeing how the different artists interpreted the theme of the exhibits.

On the night of July 3rd we went to see the fireworks in town.  This was high on the list of things to do for the trip. My Girl really wanted to see fireworks that go "whoosh--kaboom!".  We had a good time with the crowd at the park, dancing with the band, eating three different flavors of popcorn, and playing games.  By the way, if you make kettle corn with coconut oil it tastes really good. 

On the 4th we went to another cousin party.  My uncle has a great yard, nice deck for eating and visiting, a pool, and a giant DIY slip-n-slide.

That night the neighbors put on a firework show that rivaled what we had seen at the park the night before.  It was quite a show.  I was only a little worried for my brother's roof.

We spent a rainy day picking up, going for a little umbrella walk, and running a few errands.  That night we jumped at the chance for free tickets to the un-rodeo.  What is an un-rodeo you ask?  It's the event that takes place in between the nights of the PRCA "real" rodeo.  It was pretty funny.  We saw BMX and ATV barrel racing, horse-drawn-wagon races, stick horse races, and last but not least steer milking.  Teams of two chased steers around the ring trying to rope them and get the ribbon off their tail.  We got rained out after the steer milking, so we missed the mutton bustin' and what must have been a pretty muddy hide race.  In spite of the rain it was worth every penny we paid for the tickets.

After all of that it was time to head home.  The kids were exhausted and even though I was having a great time I was ready to be home again.  Thanks to a DVD player in the car and McDonald's playlands all across Nevada we made it home.  It was a great trip.  Now that I've broken the ice and made the long drive, I'm willing to do it again... but not for awhile.

Some girls...

Some girls play with Barbies.  Others don't.  These are the real men Barbie dates when she is tired of Girly-Boy-Ken.

Yes, they drive a tank.

We just got back from a great trip to Utah.  More pics etc. later after I recover.