Camping

The last camping trip we went on was when Samuel was 5 months old. So it's been awhile. We decided to ease ourselves back in by going on the Stroller Hikes annual camping trip. This is the first time we have been able to attend due to traveling, itty bitty infants and Steve's general disinterest with camping where there would be MANY other screaming children.

We definitely had some concerns at the beginning of the trip, foremost of which was my possible stress fracture in my left foot due to hard trail running in my Vibram Five Fingers (won't be doing that for awhile, but I also don't think I actually have a stress fracture), Steve's bad back which was aggravated by a fake tackle by a coworker the day before we left for the trip, and concern that one or both of the kids wouldn't be able to sleep away from home.

In the end, not walking on my foot for two days before the trip, plenty of drugs for Steve's back, and two kids who were thrilled to sleep in a tent WITH MOMMY AND DADDY ALL NIGHT, meant we had a very nice time.

There were lots of fun things to do.

Like building and painting birdhouses.

Going on a scavenger hunt.

Digging in the dirt.

Roasting marshmallows - which was probably, hands down, Samuel's very favorite.

Mmm. S'mores.

Sitting and staring at the fire - also a huge favorite for Samuel and Steve.

Relaxing with a book.

And, NOT being in charge of cooking OR cleaning. Did I say not being in charge? Let me revise that. NOT cooking or cleaning ANYTHING for the duration of the trip. To be honest, I did make 17 cups of Mexican rice the day before, and brought ground flaxseed and blueberries for breakfast, but our contribution to the group dinner and breakfast began and ended with those tasks.

Our peerless leader.

The Weber Family Swimming Summer Camp

I told Wendy today that I am not going to enroll Samuel or Shira in camp next summer, we are just going over to her house everyday for the Weber Swim Camp.

At least once a week (and many times twice) we have been heading over to Zvi's house for some pool action. This morning Samuel told me he wanted to go swimming and asked if we could go to Rinconada. I responded by saying we could, but would he rather go there or to Zvi's pool? The answer was a resounding "Zvi's!"

How can you go wrong? Everyone who shows up brings a snack to share, Wendy orders pizza, and the kids get out of the water only to pee, and shove an occasional food item in their mouth.

And it's a terrible time for me too, of course. I sit in a pool chair, try to make sure nobody drowns, and chat with whomever is sitting next to me.

We're going back tomorrow, of course.

This post is long overdue, but what kind of blog post can you have without pictures? Wendy was kind enough to pull out her underwater camera and the older kids took some great pictures of Samuel and Shira.

By the way, Samuel can totally swim now, but will only do it if he feels very comfortable. We're almost there.

Weekend at Bubbie and Popsie's

I can't really write much because I wasn't involved in the making of Samuel's and Shira's weekend. Steve and I drove the kids down on Thursday night, got up on Friday and mosied our way up the coast. Spent a night in Big Sur, breakfasted in Carmel and headed home (and bought a car when we got there!)

My understanding is that the first thing Samuel said as Steve and I pulled out of Bubbie's and Popsie's driveway, leaving them on the lawn playing croquet, was to say to Bubbie, "We are going to Chuck E. Cheese's, right?"

There was a lot of pool time, Chuck E. Cheese, of course, sugar cereal and fancy hair ties.

Jr. Museum and Zoo

It has been awhile since we hit up the Jr. Museum and Zoo, but Samuel asked for "that place with the balls that go around and around", and it seemed like just the right diversion for our lazy summer week with no camp.

We went one day last week, but Samuel had such a good time, the only way I was able to get him to leave was by promising that we would return soon. Besides, we forgot to see the bats, which Samuel had been asking about and we had to leave early because Shira was falling asleep on the floor. So I did promise a return.

The kids had a better time than I've ever seen them have there before. Shira is now old enough to really interact with the exhibits and animals, and the familiarity and small size seemed just right for Samuel's mood.

We spent an enormous amount of time with the animals, before we even got to the balls. Shira was thrilled with the goose which honked at us. Samuel was satisfied with the dark bat cave.

And Shira loves to run up and down this bridge.

But then we spent a bunch of time in this little spot, ostensibly to eat snacks, but mostly to climb onto and jump off of logs.

We made sure to spend plenty of time with the balls. I realized that it has taken me the last three years of coming to this place to finally pay enough attention to understand how all of the different permutations of the machine work. I think I may only be a year or so ahead of Samuel on that front (maybe less). What does that say about me? Or about my foggy mommy brains being sucked out my breasts? Sigh.

I managed to herd the kids out of the museum at 4:45pm, only to be defeated by the log balancing maze. Sigh again.

Radishes!

The radishes were a definite success this year.

We've been having some issues with kids who like to pick things. One who likes to pick anything that is ripe, whether we are planning on using it or not. The other who likes to pick anything, especially green strawberries and any fruit that is within reach, ripe or not.

Samuel picked twice as many radishes as you see here one day, and two days later decided to pick another bunch just as big. Using up the radishes was a cinch since we love them in salad, but those greens, oy. I did manage to use them up, first in a strawberry and radish green salad which we shared with our neighbors at a barbecue on the 4th of July, and the rest went into strawberry/yogurt popscicles that Samuel and Shira sucked down, as usual.

Wrecking Ball

Pine cone (picked up while bus/walking to Daddy's office) + string (from CSA shade) = WRECKING BALL

Pre Haircut Hairdo

Samuel had enough of Shira getting all the fun hairdos and requested 4 pigtails today. He wore them this way to Torah for Tots and a couple of hours later got a "short cut" as he calls it.