Trackers

You've probably already read the whole train trip rundown on South Bay Sparkle, but I somehow don't think I managed to capture the total glee that we all experienced on that trip. From the moment we boarded and saw our family cabin, until the moment we hopped off the train in Seattle, we kept looking around and congratulating ourselves on our cozy good fortune. That was a fun trip.

In fact, there was no one time when we felt claustrophobic or tired of our surroundings. Somehow both the days went by so fast we barely noticed...and we still felt like we were having a great time right up until the end. When we got off the train, right before we saw the cousins, Luke stopped by the window outside our room to give it one last wistful look. Until next year! (?)

In Seattle, you probably already heard about the raspberry picking from Jolly Tomato but you may not have heard about this crazy bunch of berries. (How did they all fit in there anyway?)

...And once we got home, Julie and Zach teamed up to make an incredibly delicious (and incredibly beautiful) gluten-free raspberry-peach pie. Zach did such a good job on the lattice crust that I decided to make a second post out of it on Jolly Tomato. ("It's easy - First you do the crisses, then you do the crosses.")

The weather was actually cooler than expected in Seattle, but we still took an afternoon out for a lake swim. Luke, Helena, and Antonia took the big kid "swim test" to get access to the floating dock. And although it took me several rounds, I finally got a picture of Luke taking a giant leap off the diving board:

On Day 2 we were supposed to go kayaking but it was too windy, so we spent the day at the innovations museum and we went to a special chocolate tasting there. That museum had just about something for everyone (Retro video games? Check. Inventor's building laboratory? Check.) and we probably could have gone again a second day without any complaints.

Nevertheless, the weather improved (declined?) by Sunday and although we had a light rain, there was no wind so we got the all-clear for the kayaks. We split up into three boats: Julie-Antonia, Jeanne-Luke, and Eric-Zach-Helena. It took us all a little bit of time to get used to rowing with our partners, but pretty soon we were maneuvering like pros. Luke was thrilled to kayak up and down some of the little water "streets" to see Seattle's famous boathouses.

We also paddled over to Gas Works Park, where we ate our picnic lunch and climbed on the "no climbing" structures. (Hey, everyone does it!)

...and then we finally paddled back to the landing spot, slightly damp but exuberant.

What do you think - does a day like this call for some pie? High five to that!

See you again soon, Seattle!

Island Time

So, did I mention we visited this little-known island called Hawaii? It's such a cool place; I hope for the locals' sake that it catches on soon. Anyway, if you want to read the technical play-by-play on the trip, you can check out South Bay Sparkle. But if you want to know the real inside story on the people, the personalities, the emotions... then read on.

I'll start with Luke, arriving in Hawaii, and discovering that *his* new drink is passion orange guava juice, known locally as POG. Happily, the Gold Lounge on our hotel floor kept a steady supply of POG available at all times, so he could POG to his heart's content.

The hotel was amazingly flexible in that it had every imaginable activity to cater to the kids, but we never got the feeling that it was swarming with kids. It felt just private and secluded enough that it probably was perfect for the many honeymooners who were there at the time. Speaking of honeymooners, it was 15 years since Dave and I were last on the Big Island. It was almost exactly the same this time, except we brought two additional small people with us.

What did we do at the hotel all day? We snorkeled. Between Dave and Luke, I think they saw every single creature in our little lagoon. Then we kayaked, we canoed, we fished, we paddleboarded, we boogieboarded, we swam in the pool and roasted in the hot tub.

Oh, and did I mention there were rocks? Lava rocks and coral as far as the eye could see...a beautiful black and white seascape and hiking grounds.

This area is rich in archeological finds, including petroglyphs.

And it was agony - agony! - for Zach to learn from our driver that the volcano goddess Pele will place a curse on anyone who takes lava rock from the island. (Of course a little piece wound up in our laundry once we got home - I'll let you know how that turns out.)

But that didn't stop Zach from spending as much time as he could exploring every cave, nook, and cranny. I liked this shot because he was illuminated, Indiana Jones-like, from a "window" hole on the top of the lava cave.

The final activity that was voted hands-down the most exhilarating fun, was our jet ski adventure. It started out a little dicey, with some random guy jetting us out in a motorboat to a little floating dock "island" about a mile out. But once everyone got on the jet ski, all cares were thrown aside.

And then, of course, there was the famous and unbelievably memorable giant trampoline in the middle of the ocean. Holy cow, was that fun. And the water was so warm that we couldn't resist jumping in the water, clambering back up, jumping in, clambering back up, on endless repeat.

After we were completely rocked-out and waterlogged, we dried off and took the shuttle bus to the nearby shopping center where they had a 4D movie theater. Yes, 4D. That means that the seats moved and shook, and you get blasts of air or sprays of water in concert with what's on the screen. Each movie is only about 8 minutes long, so you can sit there and watch a whole bunch at a time.

Now you know that I'm generally in charge of finding restaurants and planning activities but Dave is in charge of the science. That's why on Sunday night we found ourselves zooming up Mauna Kea through the clouds and up to the visitors' center at 9,500 feet just in time for sunset. Here's our felfie (family selfie, for those who are scratching their heads). Just after this was taken, it got truly dark and we were able to see billions of stars, and even large swaths of the Milky Way.

After six glorious days at our hotel, we took off to drive around the island. We hung out at an amazing macadamia nut farm (see Jolly Tomato), and we made it all the way to Volcanoes National Park. We got there, tired, toward the end of the day, and it took every ounce of willpower to get back outside (in light rain) to see the volcano at night. But when we did get out there - wha-wha-whuh? - Nighttime rainbow. Unbelievable. The glow from the lava illuminated the sky enough to show a nighttime rainbow over the volcano. Absolutely unreal.

Oh, and here we are in the lava tube the next day:

Are you tired yet? Because I was. How much vacationing can one person take? This shot is from the last day, on the long drive back to the airport in Kona. I think "Exhausted in Paradise" pretty much sums it up.

Loss

We are one less than before.

Three days after I posted here last, Dave's dad left us, peacefully, for a place of eternal rest.

It's nearly impossible to think of him as gone, because we see little snippets that remind us of him every day: The endless varieties of fruit we keep on the fridge and on the counter. The knowing smile Dave gives me as he cleans my car windshield. Dave and Zach watching the Indy 500 together. Luke's seemingly limitless patience as he waits for me to make a decision in the shoe section.

We are diminished in number, true, but our hearts are swelled with love, our minds are enriched with memories, and our lives are sweeter with traditions and traits that he passed along.

Zach is convinced that he is back with us, in the form of another creature - and if that's the case, I know he is watching us with a characteristic twinkle in his eye, and probably a happy tear or two.

As the summer begins, Dave and I are going through transitions of our own. I quit my job last week and I'm getting ready to embark on a new web project that Dave and I have been developing in the background for the last few months. We're about to head to Hawaii for Dave's first few days of "vacation" all year (even though he'll most certainly be on the phone). The boys are in motion - literally and figuratively - growing in leaps and bounds and ready to enjoy the fullness of summer ahead. And even though we all continue to feel a sense of loss, we have comfort in feeling Dick's presence and love that is around us every day. How lucky we were to have him as part of our family!

We will miss you here, Dick, but you will always be in our hearts.

Hyper speed

And...we're back! Seems like just yesterday, or not, that we were all in this space together. Where did the time go? No, seriously, where did it go, because I need it back. Since I last checked in, we've been to Montecito and Terranea, Zach and Dave have gotten a year older, and our marriage has gotten a year sweeter.

So, to rewind back in order, first the boys and my parents and I went to Montecito for spring break. We stayed at this amazing hacienda ("estancia") that had so many gates I was compelled to photograph all of them.

And we had a special Argentine barbecue that yielded some amazing steaks, plus it came in handy for marshmallow roasting. (I don't know why this picture always makes me laugh, but it does.)

And then we all basically chilled out in various relaxing spots throughout the hacienda (I'm sorry, estancia).

Two weeks later we had our annual Eastover egg hunt:

...and then Luke aged 10 years overnight to become 70s Guy for Decade Night at cotillion. By the way, last year he declared he would "NEVER, EVER" go to cotillion, and this year he loves it and at one point was named King of Cotillion. He was not-so-secretly pleased with this outfit because all the girls were telling him how cool he looked.

And then THIS adorable guy turned SEVEN YEARS OLD. Hold me. Wasn't he just a little bundle in a stroller? He is so sweet and funny I just can't resist giving him a big squeeze every time I see him. Me: "Do you looooooove me?" Zach (exasperated sigh): "Well of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

On Zach's birthday night I had an invitation to a behind-the-scenes event at Dodger Stadium. Instead of forcing Zach through something that he probably wouldn't enjoy, I had Zach and Dave stay home and entertain a series of Zach's friends who came over to the house. Meanwhile, Luke and I went ahead and met Tommy Lasorda:

And of course as EVERYONE knows, the day after Zach's birthday is Dave's and my anniversary. (Insert image of cooing doves pulling a banner draped with flowers, and then cut to me with big cartoon hearts popping out of my eyes.) We took off as soon as I got home from work and headed out to Terranea, where we had a most romantic dinner looking out over the ocean.

And then the next day, Dave brought the boys out and we all celebrated together in the hot tub. Why? Because it was outrageously windy and only the most insane people (OK, Luke and Zach) were venturing into the regular pool.

And then some more time passed and next thing you knew I was gone again, this time to San Antonio for Unk's jubilee celebration. It was a great weekend because I got to spend some nice grown-up time with my parents and my sister and my uncle.

And that brings us up to date! Sorry if anyone got whiplash... and stay tuned until next time when I try to capture the entire summer in one post!

Brothers

Here's Luke, my major leaguer. He's a great pitcher, a solid hitter, and a speedy runner - a triple threat, if you will. Thanks to Bill-o for the great shot that captures some of that steely determination.

Incidentally, Luke's baseball is great for Zach because Luke's teammate's little brother Chase is one of Zach's best friends. That means that the interminable - oops, I mean compelling - games and practices just fly by while the Zach and Chase play together on the sidelines. Yesterday Chase and Zach were playing basketball, when suddenly the game came to a complete halt because they found a fuzzy caterpillar on the court:

Later Chase told Dave: "Zach and I are like brothers. We like the same things, we like to hang out, and we never argue."
To which Dave responded, "Uh...so you're not really like brothers at all."

Bragtime

For Luke's California mission project, he created a version of Mission Santa Cruz on Minecraft. This took him many, many hours and it involved no help whatsoever from his parents. Yes, a few other kids did their missions on the computer too. But what Luke created was so cool, and so detailed, and so incredible, that it had everyone agape.

At Night at the Missions last week (all the kids show off their mission creations to the parents) Luke attracted a steady crowd of people, especially girls (!), and most notably, the principal. 

The principal was so impressed with Luke's mission and thoughtful presentation (and his stated desire to become an architect) that we got an email from her later that night. Our local assemblyman was going to be at school the next day and she asked Luke and three other kids to bring their mission presentations back to show the assemblyman. (Do you see my heart pounding out of my chest, cartoon-style, with pride yet?) 

So he showed his mission to the assemblyman on Friday...and THEN this morning the principal came up to Dave to tell her how proud she was of Luke. She told Dave "how articulate and calm Luke was in the presence of an important person. The assemblyman is not too tech-savvy and he was extremely impressed." Do you see me just collapsing on the floor with pride? 

The final cake-topper: He got an A (and heaps of compliments) from his teacher on both the model and the report. Atta boy.  

Gap Days

What's going on? Oy. If I tried to tell you, say, an issue that we were facing, by the time I'd write about it on here it would already be ancient history. So one solution is to stick with generalities. Another solution is to try to write what's going on with the caveat that it may be out of date by the time any given person may read it.

I guess I could have posted at some point about worrying about losing our favorite babysitter ever. Lauren got engaged and moved to go to graduate school and live near her fiance. Could it have been a huge mess without a reliable babysitter? Definitely. But we have been blessed with amazing, wonderful caretakers, and as soon as Lauren left, the amazing Kiara stepped right up and filled in without missing a beat on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Kiara, you may remember, was one of the counselors at Zach's beach camp who kept telling me every day how much she loved Zach, until I finally asked if she would babysit.) So what could have been a mess turned into a smooth and easy transition, and the boys absolutely adore her.

It's a good thing, too, because Dave has been super-busy (and happy) gaining a near-monopoly on local real estate. The amazing thing about Dave is his super-human discipline, and even though he works insane hours (up answering emails by 6am; continuing to work through 10pm) he still manages to keep on top of things like running and just recently completed a half marathon.

Meanwhile, I've been holding down the fort managing the little stuff like laundry, grocery shopping, playdates, and bill-paying...plus the occasional blog event or farm trip that keeps me entertained. Our weekend in the casita at Terranea was spectacular, of course, and two friends of Luke's were able to join us on the second night for dinner and s'mores by the fire. Incidentally, it could have been a disaster with Zach hanging out as a third wheel to the 10-year-old boys. But that night we happened to run into the family of one of Zach's best friends who were also staying at the resort. We got both Zach and his friend Strider into the kids' club that night, and they had a blast. Couldn't have worked out better if we planned it.

So right now, Zach is... a social butterfly. When it's time to go to school he cannot be contained; he runs ahead of the rest of us to make sure he gets maximum playground time with  his friends before school starts. Last weekend a friend invited him over to play on Saturday. On Sunday, the mom texted me to ask sheepishly, "Could Zach come over again? Jimmy wants to play with him more." This week he met up with his friend Chase at the park a few times, and they promised each other they would hang out on Saturday. Saturday rolled around and they had a play date that turned into a movie...that finally turned into a sleepover because they were having too much fun to break it up. Part of it is his go-along and get-along personality; he's happy to jump up at a moment's notice or latch on to a last-minute cobbled-together plan. When you consider all of the events we've had to drag him to on his brother's behalf, it's no wonder that he's the most laid back and easily entertained of any of us.

Luke is...focused. He is extremely driven to stay in good shape, eat healthy foods, and stay on top of his work. He finished his report on Mission Santa Cruz with great aplomb; he's been building a model on Minecraft (yes! a school-approved use of Minecraft) to finish the assignment. Has he mentioned to you that he wants to be an architect? He's been studying the houses around us with as much rigor as his dad, and will solemnly tell you that he prefers Spanish or contemporary styling. One of my friends told me that she thought ever since she first knew him in kindergarten that he would be a great architect. "He's a great builder, of course, with all the Legos...But he's also a great listener and I can really see him talking to clients, listening to all of the things that they say, and then delivering what they want."

Luke is also car-obsessed and will spend hours building models of cars online. When Dave's client told him that she was going to need to buy a car, Dave put Luke on the task of researching and finding the perfect car for him. And...one of the three cars that he finally presented to her was the car that she wound up buying. Dave gave Luke a little "commission" for his good work, and the client has promised Luke a test drive. 

So I'm going to wrap this up by saying, tentatively, cautiously, that...we're happy. Everyone is doing pretty darned well. Of course there are big and small things we'd love to change. But as far as a once-a-month check in on this forum goes, things are good. Let's keep it that way.

Foursome

Wait - Was I supposed to write something on here? I thought it just got filled in all by itself.

Anyway, the kids got taller, Dave and I got more tired, and we tucked away a few days of 2014 under our belt. Our first vacation of 2014 (vacation already!?!) was a road trip up to San Francisco by way of the mission at Santa Cruz (fourth grade project). It took FOREVER to get through Friday afternoon traffic up to Santa Cruz, and we wound up stopping overnight in some cow town on the way up but we finally made it to Stop #1 on Saturday morning. (I'm getting much more efficient with pictures; I'm packaging them in foursomes.)

They say that Santa Cruz is one of the *least* interesting missions to visit because there's the least left of it, but I found it pretty darned interesting. I hope to get to a few more before fourth grade is over.

Then it was off to the City By the Bay for a crazy-cool weekend in this fun hotel apartment that we "won" at a silent auction last year. The residence is located INSIDE the old Ghirardelli factory (the "Cocoa Building" to be precise) and it has two bedrooms, two baths, a beautiful kitchen and living room, exposed brick walls, a bay view, and every amenity you could ask for including a Town Car at your service.

The first morning we went to Alcatraz, which Luke feared, because as you remember, "creepy museums" are his least favorite thing. And yet who listened to the audio tour of the Alcatraz escape not once, not twice, but three times, as we all waited patiently for him to finish?

Here is a surprisingly grim photo montage of Alcatraz that Dave made:

Although this montage is technically correct, it is quite sterile compared to the actual island, which has all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies, as well as fascinating gardens. I thought I would add in this shot I took, looking out from the guard door in the Alcatraz recreation yard. You can just barely make out the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance:

.
..and Dave showing the boys the view:

...and Luke stuck in the prison cell:

...and, upon return back to the city, the sea lions lounging at Pier 39 (which Zach could have watched all day, like TV):

And then we piled in the car again to head over the Golden Gate Bridge and out onto the vista point with the view finders. Worth noting: Beautiful weather, highs in the 70s all weekend.

Wouldn't it be fun to take a road trip with us? Well now you can, with this brief snippet of life in the car with the four of us, driving down Lombard Street ("I smell bacon!"). Believe me, it's as good as (if not better) than being there.