Swimming With Dolphins: July 2010

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Monday, July 19, 2010

One day on a whim, the kids and I decided to stop at this nearby farm that raises alpacas. We'd driven by Northwest Alpacas many times over the years and was always curious about it. As it turned out, their store was no actively selling their wares, but held events there now and then. Two men welcomed us and allowed the kids to see some of their newest additions, some baby alpacas and their mamas. So adorable! Since they were pretty skittish, we could only observe them from behind the fence. Still, they were too cute! I was thankful for their kindness and for going out of their way to share their time with us.

Mama and baby

Gazing at them grazing

Giddyup!

Summer Stuff

Summer is definitely in full swing around here and we've been doing a variety of things to stay busy. The kids have swimming lessons twice a week for a total of five weeks. In fact, this week is their final week of lessons. According to the aquatic center where they attend, K is an "electric eel" or beginner level under Red Cross guidelines. N is a "goldfish" or intermediate level. Regardless, they are both fish and love being in the water anytime they get the chance. Some of the parents there insist that their kids take lesson after lesson, but that can get expensive and become a little overkill in MHO. So we do it once a year each summer to keep it fresh and fun for them. As long as Nand K learn and continue to love it, that's what matters to me.

In early July, K also started her tumbling and trampoline class at a local gymnastics program. While she is still learning coordination, she seems to be a natural. This class is the perfect way for her to channel all that extra energy. I mean the girl never stops hopping or climbing on things, which is how she earned her nickname of "monkey." They play games, learn basic tumbling moves such as somersaults and cartwheels, and then practice various jumps on the trampoline such as tucks and straddles. I must say that as I sit and watch her with envy during class. Gymnastics was a big part of my childhood and I still love the sport to this day. I am hopeful that we can get her involved in gymnastics on a regular basis (costs moolah) at some point. We keep hoping that for N and his martial arts too. We shall see down the road.

Some other activities they've been participating in has included a day with friends at their Vacation Bible School, visiting Grandma J, going to various parks with moi, and berry-picking at nearby farm we love. Once a week, we try to meet up at a local waterpark with some good friends and let the kids cut loose a little. We love this newly renovated park that is all-inclusive. In addition to tennis courts, they have a fountain, very unique playgrounds, a creekbed, a sandpit, and even a couple of picnic tables. The kids never seem to get bored there, so we keep coming back. I'm still on a mission to keep checking out new parks in the area to change it up now and then. I will say that sunscreen is a must as there is very little shade available, so thank goodness for water. I have lobster burn to prove it. Ouch!

Of course, there has been lots of progre

ss made on the homefront. On our down days, I try to tackle the clutter and purge as much of it as possible. Some days I make lots of headway, while others not so much. Overall, I've truly made an enormous dent in the amount of junk and made the people of Goodwill very happy in the process. I should stick to one room until it's done, but since there was so much clutter in every room I just couldn't stick to that gameplan. Instead, I've whittled the eyesore piles to more manageable levels in most rooms to reduce my own anxiety. Ah, so much to do and never enough time to do it all! I'll eventually post some pictures when I feel it is truly blogworthy. When I came home today, I saw that the landscapers had removed some of our bushes, a clear sign that it is almost our turn for neighborhood construction project to start on our building. Ugh. I've been observing it all unfold across the way at my neighbor's home that share our greenspace. That's one of the reasons I try to keep busy and we're out many days out of the week. The constant construction stresses me out and it's hard to feel at peace with all of that going on around you.

At least the sunshine is shining, the kids are healthy and happy, I get to spend lots of time with them, and that's enough to be grateful for.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Happy Belated Birthday America!

Life has been keeping us busy as usual, hence this belated post celebrating our nation's birthday. Our 4th of July was a pretty quiet, since we actually made the 6+ hour drive back from our trip to the Redwoods that same day. By the time we returned, we were very tired. We waited until dusk and then let the kids twirl some sparklers. Many of our neighbors were either out or staying inside, so the street was fairly deserted. Although a few trickled out to enjoy our little fireworks show towards the end. I usually prefer being around lots of family and friends on this holiday, but that was just not to be this year due to the timing of our vacation.

After the kids finished with their sparklers, DH began setting off some of the bigger and brighter fireworks. He even took a moment to show N how to safely light the fuse on a couple, and I think he felt very trustworthy and grownup as a result. Lately, he's been wanting to order off the adult menu and be treated as older, so I'm glad he got that boost of self-esteem. Even though it was sleepier holiday for us than normal, we still had a wonderful time as a family.

Twirling their sparklers

Bright light!

They were trying to make a torch by combining their sparklers.

DH showing N how to safely use the butane lighter.

N lighting his first firework.

There she goes...

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Redwoods Trip

For the last few years, I've been wanting to go to the Redwoods with my family. Hubby did not grow up camping or going on roadtrips, so it took him awhile to come around to the idea. He prefers airplanes and hotels, so you might say he's more of a cityboy. So when the opportunity arose for us to finally go this summer, we compromised. We drove down to Crescent City, CA (located just outside the Redwoods National Forest) and stayed in a Best Western Northwoods Inn. Money was pretty tight, so this was going to be a whirlwind 4th of July weekend. Hubby took off early from work on Thursday afternoon so we could get packed and ready to go. I spent the day cleaning the house, running errands, and packing.

We left early Friday morning, around 6am. We were very proud of ourselves for staying on schedule since we often get delayed when getting ready to go somewhere. For breakfast, we grabbed something quick from Mcdonald's and hit the road. DH insisted on doing the driving, so I got to play DJ with the ipod. Our new truck was so comfortable to ride in. We actually bought the truck with this trip in mind, so I was glad we made the leap of faith. We also borrowed my MIL's DVD player to help keep the kids happy, but mostly we played road games. For example, the alphabet sign game is where you look for each letter of the alphabet (in order) on signs, but it has each letter must begin the word for it to count. This is a great learning game for the kids too.

Crossing the border into California was exciting for the kids as they haven't been out of state much. When we crossed, we had to go through the border inspection station, where they ask you to declare any fruit you might have. The trip down was just under 6 hours, so we got into Crescent City, CA around noonish. We ate some lunch before checking into our hotel. It was located across the way from the harbor, so we liked it even though it wasn't right on the beach. If we wanted a hotel with oceanviews, we would have paid a pretty penny for that and figured we wouldn't be in our room enough to care.

The day was already half over, so we opted to check out a local tourist spot, Battery Point Lighthouse. It wasn't very tall by lighthouse standards, but it was still quite an amazing view. Due to the tide coming in, we couldn't go inside. After checking out the lighthouse, we drove up and around the town and picked up some necessities from the local Walmart. We discovered a local park that resembled an old pioneer fort, so of course we had to stop and play for awhile. Before we knew it, dinner time had rolled around. Everyone was quite tired from the trip down, so we returned to the hotel to go swimming and relax.

Saturday was our big day. We had an early breakfast and were ready for the Trees of Mystery before 9am. Our goal was to avoid the crowds if possible. Thankfully, we one of the few families there and so we took advantage by taking lots of pictures. I've had so many photographs obstructed or ruined by random people milling around, so it was very nice. I hadn't been to the Redwoods since my family took a trip down the California coast when I was 2 or 3 years old, so this was totally nostalgic for me. Paul Bunyan and Babe were still very tall, even though I'd grown a few inches since back then. The kids were excited to see the ginormous statues and couldn't wait to get inside the forest.

We entered the Trees of Mystery and admired all the unique trees along the way and learned all kinds of fascinating facts. I just couldn't get over how these giant trees towered over the land. We hiked up to the embarkation station of the Sky Trail gondolas. Now I find it odd that I grew up skiing and riding chairlifts that swung high above the ground AND had no safety bar to hold you in. However, I got on this gondola and was immediately scared. Maybe it was that the whole thing was encased in mainly glass or that we were looking eye to eye with the forest canopy. Whatever it was, I struggled to keep my vertigo in check so as not to freak out the kids. I am not good with heights AT ALL, but I managed to get through the ride to the top. It took me a few minutes to go to the edge of the viewing platform to take pictures. Once I got over my fear, I got some beautiful shots. You have the option of hiking back down if you are advanced enough, but after taking one look at how steep it was, I figured I'd take my chances with the gondola. The ride back down was much smoother and I was grateful to be back down below.

Afterwards, we toured the Trail of Tall Tales and listened to recordings of Paul Bunyan's many adventures and enjoyed the many wood carvings. Of course, we had to shop for souvenirs and look inside the End of the Trail Museum. K picked out a stuffed animal version of Babe, N chose a Trees of Mystery coffee cup that was quite large, and I got some magnets (a traveling tradition) and a unique morning glory turgquoise necklace made by the Zuni tribe. As I was picking out this last item, I met the daughter from the family for whom the Brotherhood Station (Sky Trail) was named for. Her mother was the original curator of the native american museum there. She was truly lovely to speak with. DH couldn't find anything he wanted, so he left empty-handed.

By this time, we were ready for lunch and ate at the Forest Cafe across the road. The ceiling was covered in foliage (fake) on one side and resembled the bottom of a river on the other. I was ready to really do some hiking off the beaten path, so we asked some locals where to go. We went in search of a place called Stout Grove. Now it was no easy task getting to this place, since you have to drive through a very bumpy, narrow, windy, woodsy, dirt road that takes you deep 4-6 miles into the Redwoods.

We hiked along some trails, admired some hidden treasures, and finally found the Smith River. We were told it is one of the last freeflowing rivers left in the world and the water is very pure. I thought it was absolutely gorgeous and is really something you have to see in person to fully appreciate. I was so proud of DH for indulging me with this and the plethora of photo opps really made my day. The kids got a kick out of climbing all the ginormous trees.

As if we hadn't done enough already, we went to down to the harbor. The kids wanted to go on the pier and watch the people crabbing. So many people do this that the ropes from their crab cages had worn deep grooves into the wood. A little surf shop caught DH's eye, so we shopped for some goodies for him there. We ate at a little seafood cafe right there in the harbor. We were all dragging, but we had one last stop to make for the day. DH drove us out to the bluffs right outside of town to see another lighthouse located offshore. The wind had picked up dramatically and the walk out to the edge was unreal. The kids were miserable and cold, even though the sun was shining. DH had to carry K on his back to keep her going. We just couldn't believe how crazy the winds were up there on the bluffs. DH and I lost our footing several times. Unfortunately, the fog was settling in and so it I couldn't get a clear picture of the lighthouse. Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for more swimming and more relaxing.

The next morning we packed up, ate breakfast, and headed home. This time, we took our time driving home and made several stops. We even took the kids on a tour of Eugene, OR, the city where DH and I met and is also home of my alma mater...University of Oregon. We hadn't been back there in years, so it was very surreal and lots of changes. The trip was awesome and we made many memories. This is the biggest family vacation we've been on to date and can only hope many more lie ahead.