Backpacking at Black Mountain

Totally awesome that a backpacking spot like this is about 10 miles from our house.

 All smiles before the two mile hike in.  

 Also, funny coincidence - the woman in the pink shirt behind us, happens to be the older sister of a boy I dated in high school.  We didn't recognize each other, and might not have figured out the connection on the trip, except we started talking about other local backpacking spots, Big Basin came up, I mentioned I grew up in Ben Lomond, she grew up in Boulder Creek, you can imagine where the conversation went from there.  Steve got a kick out of her talking about me being "the older woman" that her brother dated.

Who other than Debbie would bring a homemade ice cream maker on a backpacking trip?  Keep in mind she was carrying all of her gear, as well as a four person tent for her and her son.  Can you say hardcore?

Samuel and Shira chowing down on ice cream mid hike.  Hard to whine about hiking when you stop every quarter mile to check on your homemade ice cream.

 Whew, we made it.  Not sure I'll be hauling a 30 lb child plus a bunch of gear on my back anytime soon (or ever again).  Yes, you can carry just about anything for just two miles, but that doesn't mean it feels good. 

 We seemed to be on the same wave length, everyone brought a few Matchbox cars to share.  

 The group shot

 The motley crew of tents

 Breakfast on a log at sunrise

 And we're heading home again.

Note to self regarding backpacking food: split pea soup was yummy for Steve and I.  Shira and Samuel both enjoyed the black bean soup.  So far freeze dried food for the kids has been a bust - including the strawberries!  Couscous was delicious,  2 servings really is more than enough (1/2 cup), don't forget to add cayenne and cumin to the spices next time.  Quick cooking oats taste like cardboard, stick with the baby rolled oats, even if they do require a few extra minutes of cook time.  Make or buy some cloth snack bags so we don't use so many ziplocks.  10 Gummi Bears shared by two children goes a very long way for motivation.

Can Kindergarten be so soon?

Can't believe I just bought Samuel a lunchbox today.  Steve thinks we need to buy a backpack that is big enough to fit a folder in.  What other school supplies do we need that I have no idea about?  I've been waiting for this time for the last four and a half years, now that it's here, it feels like it came too soon.  Could I be a bigger cliche?

Kindergarten starts in four weeks.

New Climbing Gear

For their birthdays, Shira and Samuel each got climbing gear from Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota.   With the gorgeous weather, I have been loathe to go to the climbing gym, and we haven't made the opportunity to climb outdoors, so yesterday was the first chance Samuel and Shira got to put their new duds to work.

 Check out Samuel's first pair of climbing shoes and chalk bag.  Also note the difficulty of the climb - 5.6.

 I don't know if it was the shoes, or just being a few months older, but Samuel really worked some moves as he tried a few harder climbs.

 And he went to the top of every climb he tried.  

 Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Shira now has her very own harness and chalk bag as well.  

 Shira rocked all of her climbs, too, going much higher than she has ever been willing to go before.

 Here she is doing her favorite thing - swinging from the ropes.

The Purchase

When we went to Diddams to shop for cake toppers for Samuel's and Shira's birthday cakes, Samuel saw a toy that he wanted - a stomp rocket.  He asked if we could buy it.  I informed him that he could save his allowance for it.  He wanted to know how long he would have to save for.  I told him that he should have enough after his first week of summer camp.

So here we are, at the end of the first week of summer camp.  The promised date has arrived.  He begs Steve for his allowance a day early (Friday instead of Saturday).  When I walk in the door from my morning swim, I am bombarded by a five year old who wants to know if he has enough money and if we can go to the store TODAY to buy the somewhat patiently awaited stomp rocket.

To be honest, I have no clue if he has enough money.  I did a rough calculation at the time, and I no longer have any idea how much that stomp rocket cost.  We checked out Amazon, and he can afford it there, but only if we buy something else for super saver shipping.

So after our playdate this morning, and after I confirm with Shira that she really isn't going to take a nap today, we head to the bank to clean out Samuel's account, take the wooden Pinocchio bank with us, and set out to Diddams, at which point Shira announces that she's very tired and needs a nap.

Too late to turn back now, Samuel might never forgive me.  So we forged on, only to find that the particular stomp rocket (really, he already knows which ones are good and which ones aren't?  brand loyalty starts early) that he wants is about $5 out of his price range.  The same amount as Amazon if we don't have super saver shipping.

So off to Target.  Samuel saved his allowance for weeks, he has a goal for himself.  And we get to Target and they don't have the stomp rocket he wants and it's too expensive anyway.  He doesn't pitch a fit. Instead, he suggested that we go back to the Lego aisle as there were some items there he had his eye on.  Not once did he ask if I would buy him something.  Not once did he complain that he didn't have enough money to get what he wanted.

He took an enormous amount of pleasure simply looking at the different options that were available and deciding which item he wanted.  We looked at Lego and perused the sports aisles.  We made an emergency call to Steve to find out if the Lego pieces from the Cars movie were the "good guys" or "bad guys".  There were a few of items just out of Samuel's price range; I offered to loan him a couple of dollars.  He declined.  He did not want to be in debt to me.  We were in Target for an hour.  We even bought a baseball batting helmet and returned it without leaving the store.  He finally settled on two water squirters (one for him and one for Shira or a friend) and some dive toys for swimming.

We had such a good time.  Can I take any credit for how fantastic he is, or do I just get to take credit for the yucky stuff?

Shira's Birthday

For Shira's birthday we changed up our park and ice cream tradition by going to Santa Cruz instead of SF

 The fun thing about this park is that it uses being on a hillside as a way to get some pretty cool slides in.

 Now that Shira has discovered how easily she can control her speed on a slide using her feet as brakes, she is much less reticent to try even the steepest slides.

 And Samuel had no second thoughts about flying down these.  This one is fast enough to shoot you off the end - hence no pic of me on the slide.  My facial expression when I came down, shall we say, not the most flattering.

 Shira got her swing on.  It is her birthday, after all.

 And it turned out to be kind of the perfect place to fly a kite

 And did I mention that it was completely gorgeous?  Can't really beat a park with a view like this.

Pics of the ice cream eating are on the phone, not the camera :(  But it was organic, artisanal, handmade, in fresh waffle cones.  Yum.  My mint tasted like an herb garden.

The Aborted Haircut

 The before pictures (Samuel egged Shira on to not let us take a picture with all of her clothes properly placed)

And there was no point in an after picture, since the second the hairdresser approached her, Shira started crying and clinging to Steve.  Steve was the only one to get a hair cut that day.  Sorry honey, your 5 millionth haircut doesn't warrant a before or after picture.

The upside to the aborted haircutting mission is that Shira is keeping her end of the deal - if she doesn't want a haircut, she has to let us brush her hair every morning and at least put it in a ponytail.  Now she only looks like a ragamuffin some days because we're lazy rather than we're too beaten down to deal with the hysterical sobbing and chasing around the house that hair brushing used to require.

Uncle Micheal comes to town

 We had the special pleasure of Uncle Micheal's company a few weeks ago.  We enjoyed a lovely couple of meals with him, and the kids had a fantastic time playing with him (and the thoughtful toys that he brought),

playing piggies,

 reading stories,

 and just generally being sillies with him