Grandparents to the rescue

Oct 3- Oct 13. With Morgan on a 2 week trip to Houston & environs, and having also been gone for 10 days in September I was feeling a little overwhelmed at the prospect of managing on my own, especially with the pregnancy fatigue.

Enter, Mom aka Grandma. I am pretty certain I, and therefore Baby 2, would not have eaten any vegetables for the last 14 days if Grandma hadn't been cooking dinner for us every day. Also, lunch, and breakfast! We also had a lot of fun.

Claire spent every morning with Grandma while mommy went to work, and we also had some fun weekend adventures, like to the library, farmer's market. We also had dinner at Patty & Rob's house, where Claire was delighted by the two resident cats. She also was a big hit there. She was being an angel child, playing ball with 90+ year old Ora and basically being a charmer. When we left, Patty asked for a hug, and Claire gave it willingly, and added "and a kiss" and gave both hugs and kisses to Patty & Rob. It was too cute.

It was also great because Dad aka Grandpa was able to come up for both weekends from Redlands, an 8 hour drive. Claire noted that Grandpa's arms are "fuzzy," which I remember thinking when I was a kid too!

We also had a visit from Uncle Robert and Aunt Rachel, and we went to the massive playground at Coyote Point. Fun was had by all.

We also celebrated Mom's Birthday. Claire helped Grandma blow out the candles:

Check out the other photos from Grandma and Grandpa's visit, link above left as "Grandma and Grandpa's Visit."

We also took a fun trip to Half Moon Bay to visit the pumpkin farm and ride the train. Check out these picks in "Half Moon Bay - 2008" links above left.

When Grandma left, Claire came with us to the airport to drop her off. Now, when Claire sees a plane she waves and says "Grandma come back!"

North Coast Trip

September 27-28. Claire loves to go on adventures. When it is the weekend, she'll get very serious and come up to me and says, "Mommy, I want to go on a 'venture." An adventure is pretty much anything that is not the normal trips - library, grocery store, Maria's house, park. You can pose any kind of outing as an adventure and she will be excited about it.

In this case, we decided to go camping along the North Coast of California. We decided to stay in Hendy State Park in Boonville California, which is a nice campground with Redwoods. We stopped at a fruit stand along the way and bought these apples called "pink pearls" which were pink on the inside, and tart. They were just Claire's size and she liked them very much. She just ate them like an adult - I had to watch that she didn't eat right through the core.

We took a hike through the redwoods and stayed in the tent that night. The next day we set out for Fort Bragg. We stopped in Mendocino on the way, and went down to the beach from the Mendocino headlands. It was a beautiful day. The tide was low and we were able to see crabs, sea urchins, sea anenomes and starfish! One of the beaches had a lot of driftwood, which someone had crafted into teepees which Claire enjoyed exploring. There was also a fresh spring grotto, where water fell from the cliff. It was beautiful. Claire was not too enthused about the ocean but she liked everything else. There were also berries everywhere in Mendocino.

We made it to Fort Bragg, which is home of the "Skunk train" - a steam engine that travels from Fort Bragg to Winters, California. We missed the one departure for the day but that turned out to be okay because Claire is a little young for a 6 hour round trip train ride to be all that thrilling. Instead we had lunch at the North Coast Brewery Grill. For some reason it was just the most delicious food I'd had and it was very satisfying.

Next we went to another beach, just north of Fort Bragg. There were long boardwalks which Claire loved to run on. Running running running. There were tide pools but they were not as good as the ones at Mendocino.

After the beach we called it a day and headed on the long drive home! It was well worth the drive and we had a great time. Check out our photos (link top left, called "North Coast").

Claire's Second Birthday

September 5. Claire is 2 years old! The day started with balloons, including an Elmo balloon that when you tap it, sings happy birthday. And you can tap it and it will sing it again! And again! And again! Claire likes to hold the balloon and dance in front of the TV watching her reflection.

We had a birthday party at Sylvan Park with Claire & Maria's friends from the park. Claire plays there every day. Her closest friend is named Sophia, who will be 2 years old in November. Lorenzo is a big 2 1/2 year old boy who used to play in the park but now goes to pre-school so only comes on Fridays. Matthew is 3 years old, and his sister Samantha is 8. They go to school but play in the afternoons sometimes. Trent and Harlan are 20 month old twins. Claire seems to be a ringleader - she goes her own way and Lorenzo and Sophia tend to follow.

We had a pink cake with sprinkles (baked by Morgan, frosted by Kim), and three kinds of homemade salsa, fruit, juices, vitamin water and chips from Maria. Rounding out the party was Laura (Sophia's mom), Serena (Lorenzo's mom), Irma (Trent & Harlan's nanny), Marta (Matthew & Samantha's nanny).

We also brought the bubble making grill. This is essentially a fan, where you "grill" bubble making shapes by dipping it in the bubble soap and putting it on the grill of the fan, producing bubbles.

A good time was had by all - but it was a hot day and a lot of excitement. By the end of the party, Claire sat in a stroller (not hers) said, "I'm ready to go home." Clever girl!

See photos, above left.

The Family's First Backpacking Trip

25 miles, 3 days, 4500 feet in elevation
Start: Green Lakes, Hoover Wilderness
End: Glen Aulin, Tuolomne Meadows Yosemite

Theme Song (Kim): "Move Along Train, You've Got a Heavy Load" - Staple Singers
Theme Song (Claire): "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Song/ABC"- Claire
Theme Song (Morgan): Unknown

Though the terrain was not the most challenging, our packs were heavy and there was the added challenge of entertaining a two year old. My pack, was 40 pounds, carrying Claire (25 lbs), plus other gear. Morgan's pack was 65 pounds.

When she wasn't sleeping, or playing with the trinkets tied to the backpack, Claire liked to sing - Twinkle, twinkle little star, ABCs, and then words to the tune of twinkle, twinkle. "Raining raining raining" was one that I remember. She also would cry sometimes. Probably not more than in a usual day with mommy & daddy, but -- nearer. We set goals for ourselves, 60 minutes hiking, 10 minute breaks. Morgan would lie to us about how long it has been to reach other arbitrary stopping points that somehow lend more sense of accomplishment. In some ways, this was better as we did have to go a long way, and there was only one way to get there - walk.

We did not make things easier for ourselves by only going three miles the first day. This was somewhat based on the decision that I had made in my mind 1 1/2 miles into the hike that I would not go further than the planned first day. This thought was quite comforting to me as I struggled on through the first day. However, the lake we stayed at in the first night was beautiful. And the thought occurred to me that what else would we do with the time that I would feel was better spent than if not walking. I didn't believe that I couldn't physically do it - just that I didn't want the strain of caring for another person while purusing this pastime. But seeing the lake, seeing Claire so excited by the tent and the preparations. And so I started to get enthusiastic about the idea of doing the rest of the trip together as a family.

I thought of the family that we saw on a previous trip, with my brother, before Claire was born. This was a family of 5, girls age 9, 12, 15, doing a 200 mile, month long trip. The three of us were in awe of the "Iron Family" -- while we were congratulating ourselves on a hard day, there they would be going another couple miles. I realized that there's only one way to get to be an Iron Family -- and that's by backpacking.

So at the end of the day, or days (13 miles Day 2, 9 miles Day 3), I am very glad that we did this trip. There was much to like, and much to dislike, but there is no doubt that it was an accomplishment in the face of doubt, which feels like something.

Fun trip to Coyote Point

The weather was beautiful this weekend in the Northern part of the bay, so on Saturday we went to Coyote Point park and recreation area, which includes a nature museum as well as an animal shelter, beach, and huge playground. It is also on the bay, next to the San Francisco airport, so you get airplane flybys as an added benefit.

The Coyote Point Museum is quite fantastic. In addition to the exhibits that are apparent from our photos, there is also a bee exhibit, which has a pipe to the outside, and a real bee hive visible from both sides. Claire was quite fascinated by this.

We also did not have pictures from the animal shelter, but that was a fun way to look at cats, dogs, mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs.

On Sunday, we went for a 6-7 mile hike at Windy Hill Nature Preserve, at about 1700 ft of elevation gain. Morgan carried Claire in the backpack. This is more in the south part of the bay so it was quite warm. Claire walked some of the way herself. The summit included views of the bay, the foggy ocean, and a parade of motorcycles, bicycles, and a Corvette parade, driving through on the Skyline Blvd. Claire managed to fall asleep in the backpack, despite the sun and the swaying pack. At least she was wearing her hat and sunglasses. At the end of the hike, we stopped by a cool, shady creek and threw rocks into the water.

The last photo in the August photos is a movie of Claire wearing Bob's shoes from when Bob was a baby. Pretty cute! Enjoy.

Bike riding with Uncle Robert

Uncle Robert came for a visit on Saturday, where we went for a bike ride. Upon our return, Claire was eager to ride her bike, with a little help from Uncle Robert. See pictures, left.

July for Claire

July has been an exciting month for Claire. There are links to pictures of our adventures to the left side here and some descriptions of the highlights below!

Trip to Ohio Highlights:
Blueberries: Turns out the blueberry bushes were ripening. Claire picked berries with grandma. The next day, I went looking for the bushes with Claire but I didn't know exactly where they were. I was walking around and around the barn and then I noticed Claire was not following me. Here, she was standing right next to the bushes, waiting for me to catch on! We also had mulberries and wild cherries on the visit, with Morgan's help because they were high in the tree.

Swim lessons: Claire had daily lessons in swimming at the Steiner's recreation center, where I learned to swim. The outdoor pool had several slides and we had a sweet instructor, Clarissa, who Claire really liked. On the first day, we congregated on the stairs, then everyone moved into the pool. Everyone except Claire, that is! We slowly entered the water and after the first day we we made the transition from dry to wet more easily. Despite the hesitancy, Claire is a good kicker for her age, according to Clarissa.

Akron Zoo: I visited with my childhood friend and her daughter who is just a few months older than Claire. We made a trip to the Akron Zoo (see pics at link on the left "Akron Zoo").

The Barn and Backyard: Claire loved being in the yard. She enjoyed collecting grass clippings and making piles, going "round and round" the trees, and laying in the grass looking up at the sky. She was also very interested in the barn, and the tractors in it.

Sleeping In: By the miracle of grandparents, I slept in every morning!

Bunny Rabbit: Turns out the bunnies were out in full force. One rabbit took up habitation in the bushes right in front of the front door. Grandma and Claire enjoyed looking at the bunny quite a bit!