1 At the airport on day 1 of travel - only to find out after getting checked in that the flight would be delayed 8 hrs, which turned into 24 hrs. Gave us time to repack and consolidate so we could carpool from Spokane to Poulsbo with a girl we met in the terminal! Her mother met us at Fairchild and took 4 adults, 4 kids and all our luggage in her minivan over 300 miles to Poulsbo, arriving at 3am. Amazing!
2 So here we are on day 2, actually in flight now :) That's my new friend and her two kids. You can see we are hot. The plane starts out at over 100 F then cools to less than 40 at your feet and maybe 60 by your head. The temp runs a gradient from nose to tail, and feet to head. It's very hard to dress for!
3 I would sit and looking one way my nose would be cold (looking toward Ben), but look the other way and literally it would be warm.
4 Jump seats seem pretty comfortable and there's plenty of legroom, lots of space to put your stuff in easy reach. But today I have bruises on my hamstrings where the metal bar hit them - lots of sitting I guess.
5 Ben hiding with his puppy fleece that Grammie made him!
6 Now reading construction sticker book that Grandpa Bill got him. Thanks, Dad!
7 Finally, passed out a couple hours and a meal later.
8 And still flying over ocean. Gorgeous day.
9 Sam took this. Like my hair? I'm pretty sketchy looking on the planes.
10 It's a tad static-ey.
11 Now take this one, Mom!
12 Playing his ukulele. It's so loud you can barely hear it sitting next to him!
13
14 Looking to the back of the plane, there's a couple crew racks they can sleep in, and oxygen canisters in case we lose pressure at 40,000 ft. In the wooden boxes are some cargo and a ladder to operate the boom (this is a refueling plane).
15 Here's Stephanie, my new friend Tracy's mom. I brought tie-downs for the stroller - I'd gotten the make and model of her mom's minivan then called a Kia dealer in Honolulu and had him measure the specs for storage so we'd know if we could manage this after a long plane ride and at 8pm with kids running all over. I had a backup plan but it would not have been nearly as fun. Stephanie was a woman after my own heart - dug right in and got stuff tied down. She did a fantastic job doing a long drive over a mountain pass to get us home safely. Thanks again, super mom!
16 Here's Isabelle and Sam having a blast running the hand blowers while we're like "OK!!! It's time to GO!!!"
17 On our way now - the group shot! Hard to keep these kids still after all this sitting! The guy in the pictures is Lance, also hitching a ride with us and keeping Stephanie alert all the way home. We dropped him off near McChord - he's getting married!
18 The next morning, eating a Clif bar I'd found while we wait for Enterprise to come get me and take us to our car!
19 Sam found a slug. He's saying "Mom, come take a look! He's orange! That must be what Washington (said with emphasis) slugs look like. Not brown like in Hawaii. He's saying hi!"
20 Still talking about the orange slug! So cute taking it all in. Whenever we arrive somewhere new, Sam comes alive and so vibrant. He seems to really thrive on new adventures and thanks me constantly for taking him to simple things, like "That was a really good breakfast we had! Thanks for taking me to breakfast, mom!"
21 This is the home where Sam was born! We hope to see Edie while we're here. She travels a lot. More than we do! Although, we have flown over 50,000 miles this year. Not bad!
22 Dave, do you remember these wooden stump pieces we brought up from Coronado and thought they'd look good in the garden? They are still there and DO look good!
23 Fall colors! Lots of maple leaves. Sam likes them.
24 Walking to breakfast at Hot Shots Java, just like old times.
25
26 But the Washington wind really packs a punch. It moved my stroller WITH THE BRAKES ON. Ben is bundled, but it's 60 degrees. People here have their big-time winter parkas on. I had to ask another mom if I was dressing my kids appropriately since they (and I) felt fine. I seem to adjust instantly to new climates. It's very strange. But I get cold when it's a few degrees cooler in Hawaii. Odd.
27 Vilkommen til Poulsbo! had to get them Viking helmets :)
28 Causing a stir on Front street. People commenting on my rig, the kids buzzing about with helmets on, Ben screaming when I dare interrupt him and pick him up to move on...oy.
29 Walking on a neat path to a playground. Love this look on Sam's face. He is chatting chatting about the path, the trees, the leaves, the water, the breakfast. Taking it all in.
30 The celebrity! Ang's baby shower! She was totally surprised by it and her friends did an amazing job putting it all together. It was so neat being there for my friend and celebrating the new life on its way. We pray for her baby every single night.
31 At the playground I always took Sam. So fun to see it again. It seems smaller to me, maybe because it seemed so big compared to Sam when we was Ben's age. Now Sam is huge and Ben is the little guy (although he wouldn't agree with that).
32 This ride was a big hit, and quite difficult to document whilst keeping everyone safe!
33 My two guys running around. Turned into a nice day.
34 Sept 2005 - Sam is 9 months old in this picture, going down the slide at the Lions Park in Poulsbo. Thanks for sending, mom!
35 Here is little 9 month old Sam! Now we're back at the same playground and he can't get enough of the merry-go-round, running and running and spinning whomever can hang on tight enough.
36 At JJ's Fish House for the best clam chowder on the planet!!! Sam was so gracious here, too, saying "Thank you for taking me back here, mom! I like this chowder VERY much, do YOU?" He even called Dad to say where we were and left a message.
37 Out for a jog on our old route! I managed to forget a fresh battery this morning, so I only got two pictures :)
38 This is a little trailer I'd love to call my own. Nice spot on Liberty Bay. Hard to tell from here but they have such cute little bridges and gardens around the trailer. It's like a Craftsman-style trailer home, or something. Is that an Airstream, Dave?
39 Sam working on his travel Lego set - a cement mixer - by the afternoon light.
40 Different exposure so you can see the Washington sky. Pretty classic for this time of year. Over the weekend, when we got in, Seattle recorded record rainfall - most in 13 years!
41 All done!
42 More fun with Viking helmets (Sam keeps thinking I'm saying "biking"!).
43 A new liquor store - five kinds of barley wine! Wow! I'm having some now.
44 Out to dinner at Tizley's EuroPub. Long wait for dinner due to the big party you can see over Ben's shoulder - a 97th birthday. The waitress helped me by bringing crackers, then oranges and apples. The spaetzel was to die for. So good!
45 No one choked on sausages this time. :)
46 Going on a hike up Green Mountain - one of my favorite haunts when Sam was a baby. I so enjoyed hiking with Rebecca, Jenni, Ang and Molly. What a great gang - miss you guys and all our chats about what panties are best with yoga pants (Molly!) and all sorts of interesting facts.
47 This is the log that took me out while mountain biking down the trail several years ago. Sam was very intrigued by mommy having a big scar from a mountain biking incident.
48 Goofy faces are such fun! We all cracked up after previewing this one :)
49 So we're hiking up and hiking up, I'm listening for anything that sounds big, as I always do while in the woods (not something you really need to think about in Hawaii, but anywhere else I tune my ears in pretty good, keep Sam close, and make sure we're all talking loudly. That is rarely a problem with 'ole Ben in the pack...). So I hear a rustle off to my right and almost bug out before I see this girl crouched in the underbrush! Turns out she's picking mushrooms to eat. Centralia, she says. I get confused and think her name is Centralia, but no it's Heike, which is even more astounding to me, that she's out on a hike and her name is Heike (pronounced "Hike-a"). Kathy - what does Heike mean? Is it German? Sam was pretty intrigued, too. We all learned about edible mushrooms vs poisonous and a way to distinguish - look for a ring around the stem. If you see a ring, stay away. Generally speaking, poisonous mushrooms tend to cause diarrhea, not generally death. And while dose-response is very individual (allergies/size, etc.) you have to eat a good chomp vs just touch the mushroom then put fingers in the mouth. Still...I'm not eager to pick and eat wild mushrooms.
50 We hiked and hiked, catching views of the lake. We followed Heike up and stayed with her most of the way. Sam would call out "Heike!" and look for her, then Ben would yell "Heitha!"
51 Such a cute pose! Sorry, handsome, not cute. Geez.
52 At the top. Thanks for the shot, Heike! She was very impressed with Mr. Sam. It's a 5 mile hike (roundtrip) and just over 1000' elevation gain. He did fantastic! Really astounding. We were up in an hour and a half.
53 Here's one of the edible mushrooms. These vein things also mean something. I really need to read a book on this or make a friend who is a mycologist.
54 There she is again :)
55 Eating snacks at our old bench!
56 So amazing to be back with him! He says he remembers it "ALL" - not sure he does, but maybe?
57 On Green Mt summit - July 2006 (Sam is 18 months here). Thanks Mom!
58 Ben's hands were pretty cold. Glad I had enough gear for all of us. Thankfully it didn't rain a drop. But unfortunately not much of a view, either.
59 On our way back down. Ben hiked halfway down, and caused much havoc and laughter along the way.
60 Sam spotted this trash on the way up and picked it up on the way down, carrying it all the way to a trash pile. Nice guy. He said "We are forest cleaners."
61 Back at the parking lot. There was a group of three people, standing around drinking cans of beer and chatting. Kinda hard-working country-folk-looking people, but beer at 3pm in a parking lot? I dunno - I kept a watchful eye on them and went about my business. They were all curious about me and the kids, and keeping them safe from the cougars on the trail (not a real concern, don't worry) and such. I wanted to say I'm more concerned about folk like you! ha! Sam had to go to the bathroom and the porta-john experience was interesting - "Will it make a noise? How does it work? Will it suck you IN?"
62 Snapping away as the boys enjoyed a post-hike snack. Look at these two, doing the same thing! We were all laughing and having a good time. I deleted most of the redundant shots, but in looking at the thumbnails across my screen, it was a good mosaic of the day and time with them - smiles, stories, questions, experiences, pulling together, learning, hard work, fresh air...
63 "Mom, take a picture of my EYE. Like THIS."
64 Oreo smiles are the best!
65 Yes!
66 Thanks, Dad, for this 7-in-1 gadget! We used it today :)
67 Ah ha! I get it! Sunglasses! Doesn't he look like a serious little ranger?
68 Fall colors here - peak is later in October than it is in the Northeast.
69 Decided to get Mexican for dinner. Had nachos. Pretty much all you need for dinner is in a plate of nachos, really. Protein (chicken), fiber (beans), calcium (cheese)...the boys enjoyed it after the hike. This is the Poulsbo waterfront - gorgeous evening sky that I've been telling them about all these years while reading "Hush Little Baby." This is what I came back for. So we're having dessert here.
70 Sam says he likes sour things best. Really? Something new I learned about him today.
71 He saw these kids climbing up on the big rock (Doug, do you remember jumping off this on one of your visits?) and of course wanted up there, too.
72 He made it! With a little help from some nice new friends. What a big guy. Really. Huge day...what a blessing.
73 Last full day in Poulsbo off to a foggy start as we walk into town for breakfast. We're trying all the different spots to see if they still "agree" with us :) Sam looks so Joe-Cool with hands in pockets. It's 51 degrees and we're all feeling fine with the cool weather. Sam says fog is made by small bits of grey sand that go up into the air that you can't even feel.
74 Hiking another wonderful trail on Bainbridge this time. They've done a lot of work on the trails, making them wider, grading them with gravel, and putting up signs (it was a tad tricky before unless you knew them well!). There was a sign at the start saying that some kind of owl lives in the woods and it's aggressive toward people. Yikes. It said "use caution." Like what does that mean? Look up frequently and wave a stick if you see a silent, large creature swooping down on you? Heavens.
75 And no sooner than we'd started in the trail, my ears primed (this time for winged creatures), I heard a loud rustling. I spied this man lurking in the woods. He soon stood up with a bag full of guess what? Yes, centralias again! I couldn't help but take his picture, too. Then I had to ask - so, what is your name? You would NOT believe it - Micah!!! So Heike and Micah are mushroom hunters. Is there a secret society here? He says they retail for $20/lb. wow.
76 Anyway - that discovery over we headed off confident that our eyes would not be pecked out by owls. They sleep during the day anyway, don't they? Perhaps not with my crew around.
77 Sam picked this up for Matt and Melodie's garden. It's our custom to bring found objects back from every hike. I hope they like it. He hiked with this 5 lb stick for 2 miles.
78 Ben said "HI!" to every tree. He hiked about 1.5 miles as well - I was surprised. He did get tired toward the end but still wanted "DOWN!"
79 Riding a horsie!
80 Ben about to get bucked off by "horsie" :)
81 A huge rock with little cairns on it on the upper loop of the trail. Tonight we're off to dinner with John and Christine and their kids - friends from the NR-1 CT days!
82 Out at dinner with John, Christine, Austin and Mallory at Silver City Brewing Company in Silverdale WA. So great to see them again! John will never be the same again after seeing Ben go after ketchup like this.
83 Sam decided to color his plate? Never thought of doing that before...
84 Austin is huge now!
85 Hauling the kids out to the car for me - so nice to have big kids to help!
86 Mallory and Ben hit it off super well :)
87 My dear friend, Christine! Such an awesome person. We loved seeing you guys and hope to see you in Hawaii soon!!!
88 Hey John!
89 The whole gang :)
90 Thanks for wrangling for me!
91 Mallory is a gorgeous girl now!
92 There's Chrissy with my little guy! Love to see you with him! ha ha :)
93 Driving to Port Townsend to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island. Fall colors!
94 Had 45 min to kill waiting for the ferry so we suited up and went for a sight-seeing jog :)
95 This is where we first took Sam for a day trip - a brewery in Port Townsend. Mom and Dad's first "Sam"pler - get it?
96 Dave thinks Ben has super funny faces wearing all these winter clothes :)
97 Continuing to take it all in.
98 Pretty marina.
99 Old Bell Tower used to call firefighters to the station.
100 Loved this church.
101 On the ferry now, eating lunch. Sun came out! I am wearing sun glasses for the first time in days!
102 Playing hide-n-seek on the way to base to register for our space-a flight to North Island (Coronado CA) in a couple days.
103 Now up at Josh and Ang's at the tip of Fidalgo Island - Anacortes. Loved the Concord grape vine! Amazing! Ang is due in Dec and looks so beautiful! She is a wonderfully calm pregnant mom despite moving and unpacking just a month before delivery. Yikes. I remember that with Sam.
104 A tree to climb!
105 Picking apples at Josh and Ang's place - these were truly delicious!
106 Mom, aren't these apples GOooooD!?
107 Josh is into brewing his own beer now - this was a Kolsch I think? Super good. I downed it fast after all the work involved in packing up, traveling, registering at base, unpacking, napping Ben, etc.
108 Making spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Josh asked Sam to cut some slices up. Then he asked "What is half of a half?" And Sam got it straight up! "A quarter!" he said. Right on!
109 I warned them - this is a wonderful dinner, but not exactly the easiest to clean up after. It was super delicious, though.
110 Did I do something?
111 This is the little screw-on chair that Ang remembers seeing Sam sit in at the table with us, too. Glad I had it with me - almost didn't make the cut this time but I've been using it pretty consistently.
112 Learing the fist bump!
113 Live long and prosper, Dad!
114 Romping time!
115 The cutest boots on the planet! Really for Ang's baby but we "borrowed" our present back to test them out. Isn't this playground amazing? It was designed by the same group, leathers assoc., in Ithaca NY that designed the Aikahi playground near us.
116 Lattes while the boys play :)
117
118 Sam has grown strong enough to do the rings now! All the way across! wow.
119 Neat pirate ship. This is still the same playground! Amazing. The best on the planet, so far as we can tell from our extensive research ;)
120 A "ferry" boat in the design, too.
121 Our own little ferry boat ride while waiting for the gang to get ready to go out to dinner.
122 Flying to Coronado. The crew is cleaning up their plane after a week of travels, including a pick-up in a combat area. Really amazing to hear all that they do and how many layers of people are involved in fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and elsewhere. We keep them all in our prayers. There's so little we can do to help the effort to stabilize the society from here, but prayers and keen interest in supporting education and literacy are some things we can do.
123 Ben finally sacked out. It was crazy catching this plane. It was delayed coming into WA so we weren't even sure if we were going to fly out but at the last minute were told to head down there anyway in case the crew decided to go on home. With rain in WA, I figured they would head to sunny SoCal, and they did. We really scrambled, but we made it!
124 Some nice quiet time on the plane with Sam, doing some reading together.
125 We drove up to San Juan Capistrano (SJC) last night and were in bed by about 11pm. All had a good sleep and were up this morning fixing up the grass that the raccoons dug up looking for grubs. Ben is a good stomper, and Sam is a good fixer.
126 Yay! We're at mom and Richard's in San Juan Capistrano! At a playground in the morning.
127 Look at this guy shimmying up a pole now!
128 Out to lunch at the old-town train station. Yum!
129 Here we all are on the patio - our first whole day in southern Cal. Richard has done an amazing job on his home, which he bought out of foreclosure 13 years ago. Everything you see in these pictures he's done to the outside.
130 Ben likes to talk to these statues.
131 Sammy picking tomatoes off the monster vines.
132 Can I eat this?
133 Ben is calling it "apple" :)
134 They are very excited about all the water features here.
135 Wow! Pumping water!
136 See Sam climbing the tree behind?
137
138 Talking to Daddy while pacing around and around the house, just like Daddy.
139 Dinner out on the patio...kalua pig!
140 Down at San Clemente beach.
141 Richard and Sam listening to the train go by behind them. Sam is really eager to ride a train, so we'll take a trip down to San Diego one of these days.
142 Buying Sam a bike to keep at Gramma's!
143 Testing it out in the parking lot. Look at the face!
144 Now out mountain biking just 1/4 mile from the home. There are some great trails here.
145 Look at this cool guy!
146 So quick to get back up to speed on his bike! I totally love that helmet.
147 Here's a movie of some trail riding. We had so much fun watching him!
148 Mom is doing a great job off-roading with Ben!
149 Collecting pineapple guavas in little baskets. This is Sam's BIG basket.
150
151 Sam and mom's big DATE - biking/running 4.9 miles down the San Juan Creek trail to the beach.
152 I couldn't believe we were crossing this thing - seemed like we were in a movie set or something!
153 Finally at our destination - Doheny Beach state park. Sam did a great job and we had fun figuring out where we were going.
154 Some sand time at the beach...
155 Mom, take a picture of my big rock!
156 He also built a big wall just like the thing we crossed over - an acqueduct?
157 More biking on his new bike! Such fun on these trails! Gramma even got on a bike to tool down with Richard and Sam.
158 Some fun at the park while I work and Ben naps.
159 They found a great rope swing, too!
160 Mom trying to rappel? Not so well! I need Uncle Tom!
161 Mountain biking with my buddy!
162 He showed me all his favorite routes and raised his hands with joy for me when I went down and up the first big ditch. He said "You DID it!" with arms thrown high. So sweet.
163 This is the big ditch we enjoyed so much. He hadn't seen me mountain bike before.
164 A little movie so you can see exactly where we were, Daddy...
165 Doing some tight circles in mom and Richard's street.
166 And racing home. This is a very quiet street, don't worry.
167 Dinner on the lanai with the awesome neighbors.
168 Fixing something...poor Richard is finding some new mysterious thing broken or not working properly every day...or something at risk of breaking if we're not careful!
169 Fixing the towel rack. Now, Dave, our boys seriously did not do this - I really don't think. It was loose already, Richard said. Maybe he's being generous...he has really been so wonderful and gracious about having us all here. He's more tolerant of the boys' boy-ness than I am!
170 At the petting zoo today...Ben got the hang of feeding a carrot really quickly!
171 He liked the guinea pigs a lot.
172 He kept saying "Mommy! Mommy!" I'm not sure why - maybe he thought I needed to see them? or he thought he was saying "bunny"? There were HUGE bunnies there as well.
173 And super funny chickens. Here is Sam with his favorite guinea pig.
174 And Ben doing what he does best...
175 Sam was soooo cute with this little guy.
176 Here he is with his little friend again.
177 Ben did not want to hold the guinea pigs, though.
178
179 And Sam got to ride a huge horse!
180 The little train was a hit, even though it was super little!
181 Hi!
182
183 Sam really liked this swing.
184 Give mommy kisses!
185
186 Here's mom's cool rowing machine and someone who wanted to row with me :)
187 Here's dinner time. Mom put oil cloth down to protect the table from the craziness that typically ensues. That's Randy, Richard's son.
188 Richard dove into the candy stash - we were all going to "test" some the night before Halloween. He found out he LOVES vanilla chocolate Kit Kats! (Here he's going "Wow! Those are GOOD!") In fact, I had him hide my stash of candy so I couldn't find them but guess who raided the KitKats...hmmmm!
189 Ice cream all over!
190 The cool playground we found in the Los Rios area of SJC. Very western looking.
191 There were climbing rocks and even a sand play area!
192 Ben peeking out of the play structure - he likes to say "winnow!"
193 Gramma and Richard met us at the park then we went to lunch.
194 Hugs :)
195 Sam really enjoyed these big play rocks.
196 Ben likes to climb around on the stroller, especially with the bike piled on top!
197 Doesn't he look like he's posing for the photo?
198 Now it's pumpkin carving time.
199 Ben talking to Daddy on the phone and pacing all over.
200 Both boys pace all over. Sam is telling Dad about one of our pumpkins which we tried to make look like a wave with surfers on it. Then he told Daddy about his Halloween costume and asked him "Is it Halloween in Hawaii? Do you have a costume?"
201 The wave pumpkin.
202 Helping clean mommy's feet :)
203 Look at this face!
204 Hmmm...it's getting me all wet now!
205 Feed mommy a "mannow"! (Tomato)
206 Feeding Gramma!
207 Sam used some garden stakes to pinch off some tomatoes.
208 Ben saying "mannows!" in his very serious way.
209 Gramma and Sam in the tomato patch!
210 Sam and Ben singing outside Target while I'm in getting Halloween gear.
211 Mom grabbed lots of good pictures of Trick-or-Treat time. Dave, most of these are for you (and anyone else who loves us enough to traipse through all of them!)
212 Richard loaned me some authentic Western wear so I could dress up, too!
213 Our pumpkins ready to welcome trick-or-treaters.
214 And we're off!
215 Don't ask what Sam is doing - we don't know ;)
216 Pointing at the almost-full moon!
217 Really checking out all the twitching, glowing skeletons and stuff.
218 Taking a candy and holding onto it. He goes "Snack?" when he gets a new one. He seemed to like going from house to house collecting dessert!
219 Sam was a trick-or-treat pro this year :)
220
221 Really nice people and safe neighborhood streets. Oh - gorgeous homes and landscaping, too.
222
223 Navigating steps and skeletons was a real trick for mommy with big Richard boots on and a little guy ready to fall down!
224 This is a good costume for kids to wear - reflective!
225 These poor girls spilled all their candy out at the door! The boys were wide-eyed with that :)
226 Helping pick it up - no problem there!
227 They were fun!
228 And back at Gramma and Richard's place!
229 The loot!
230 Look at that face :)
231
232 Feed mommy!
233 Love the bandana :)
234 Sam is so serious practicing his biking. Look at the face!
235 Mom and Sam at the SJC train station. Very cute stop.
236 Love this picture of Sam, ready and waiting with our tickets in hand.
237 Here it comes! Ready?
238 The conductor!
239 On our way down to Oceanside to see Mike and Mary and have lunch at Ruby's out on the pier. Sam was really excited for a train ride. We're on the upper deck!
240 His hat says "Conductor"! Checking our tickets.
241 Sam checking him out pretty carefully.
242 Train runs right beside ocean! There is a great running/biking trail on the other side of the tracks.
243 San Onofre nuclear power plant.
244 Getting off in Oceanside, figuring out which way is best to the pier.
245 Big Sam!
246 On our way to the pier!
247 Love my little friends.
248 Thanks, mom, for the pictures!
249
250
251 Looking back north.
252 Almost there!
253 It's 10:30 and I'm starving! Yum!
254 Mike and Mary came, too! What a great surprise! I hadn't gotten his text that they were really coming so it was so fun to see them find us!
255 Like how I do the spaghetti twist to eat?
256 Crazy guy moving signs!
257 Talking to big Mike - no longer a little cousin! (He's our big Marine cousin!)
258 Some sand time is nice.
259 Nice playground right on the beach in Oceanside!
260 Ben climbs everything!
261 I'm gonna mess with you Gramma!
262 What are you thinking about, Gramma?
263 I see you!
264 And Sam is getting pretty gutsy now that he's strong enough to haul is big self around places he shouldn't!
265 Mike catching Ben at the bottom!
266 Mike and Mary!
267 I sneaked in for a shot!
268 Mike and Sam horsing around while waiting for our return train.
269 High five, bradah!
270 The photojournalist with her nephew!
271 The stairs on the train - going down to get off at SJC.
272 Ben gets scwatchies from "Omma" and doesn't dare move or they'll stop!
273 Neat full moon over "our" bike path.
274 Richard riding the ditch.
275 Ben loves this cane - he walks around like a blind person tapping it and pushing it, then all of a sudden he swings it high overhead and we all flee or yell or duck in fear!
276 Mom took a picture of the floor. We spend a lot of time on the floor cleaning up because Caff isn't here with us.
277 Sam and I were out on another huge Monday bike adventure. This time we checked out the bike path running north-south of the I5 and ended up at a huge playground as our reward.
278 Gramma and Richard found us along our way!
279 Biking over Trabuco Creek bridge. There are amazing trails and bike paths here, but today we found ourselves several times in questionable areas - like under a railroad pass (next picture) or in an area where there are few bikeways, or gang territory. We were just fine, but this is not my most favorite route.
280 Here's the railroad pass. The trail kinda dead-ended here so we popped up at an old folks home where the kitchen chef helped us up a steep embankment, after much amazement that we had popped up there. Then we biked down the railroad maintenance route (no where near the tracks, and fenced off - don't worry!).
281 Finally back to a bike path again and Ben is asleep. We've done 6 miles at this point.
282 Seeing lots of trains going by!
283 Now we're going down the bike path - which signs said were closed off for construction (but there were no closed gates so we just kept running since it was totally fine except for the vehicles parked in the way and another fence further down that we couldn't get around. These guys had taken a break for lunch when we popped up. "Habla ingles???" goes I and they were all very friendly and happy to help us get through a fence and on our way. Ben had a nice little ride.
284 So did Sam with his helper!
285 Here we go! Just wide enough for us!
286 7.8 miles later (our route: http://www.runningmap.com/?id=148067) we arrive at Creekside Park in Dana Point. What a park! Look at Sam rip off his helmet and charge out to the playground!
287 Gramma met us there again - she is so great to just hop in her car and find her way to us! Ben is having snacks now before he plays.
288 This is a fun train device that you wind up (see Sam?) and give your passenger a ride. It's hard work, though!
289 See the stroller with bike on top? That's how we maneuver our gear around once we arrive.
290 Look at this huge chair!
291 Relaxing under an "overpass" on some playground equipment!
292 All three of us piled up - and guess whose feet?!
293 Sam hopped up on top of the "train" this time.
294 Look how strong Ben is!
295 The playground is just huge!
296 Giving Ben a ride now...
297 All aboard!
298 Starting to think about lunch - it's almost 1pm now! Burgers and shakes for big adventurers await.
299 Doesn't Ben's arm look plastic here?
300 Mom giving Sam a huge push.
301 Such a model, huh?
302 The carnage after dinner - we're having a feast of Halloween loot!!!
303 Today (Tues) we went down to San Diego to catch up with old friends and new, and revisit my old stomping grounds (from 2003-2004). Here are Amy (coauthor of the book I helped edit) and Linn (former professor, mentor, friend and client supplier!). Linn has little Oliver in her pack - he is only 2 months old and she is just as amazing as I remember.
304 Amy brought these awesome plasma boards that go faster as you steer them. We decided to go for a spin before the boys got their hands on them.
305 Woohoo!
306 Sam and Ben really had a great time riding around. There were a few bumper car episodes but no one got hurt :)
307
308 On the way down to Coronado, Ben immediately crashed out. Amy had supplied bagels for us and the boys really chomped them down. Thank you, Amy!
309 Then we got to Coronado and I found JOHNNY, our former neighbor! I had left him voicemails over the years and this time I was like, "I'm coming to Coronado you crazy guy...I don't care if you're a SEAL or what, I'm gonna hunt you down and find you!" Turns out he just doesn't do voicemail - he had 35 unchecked messages on his phone today. We had such a great time catching up. He is truly a one-of-a-kind guy.
310 Here we are getting the boys out and so he can meet them. I was hugely pregnant with Sam when we lived in Coronado.
311
312
313 Our old house!
314 Sam had just knocked Ben over pretty good so Johnny is telling him that's not cool in his SEAL way.
315 This is Da Huli - Johnny's iguana. He is the same one that lived there 5 years ago and now he's huge!
316 Johnny squirting him with water - not exactly sure why.
317 Ben helping himself to a chair.
318 Then deciding Johnny is ok and he'll move in for a seat.
319 Johnny is talking to us about his work in the Mojave desert with the MARSOC training - training that people go through before deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan.
320 He is just a treasure and he can sure wrangle the boys into a picture!
321
322 Trying to wrangle kiddos into a shot!
323 Here they are...still squirming!
324 Johnny going - "You wanna tap out? I can show you that!" Ben's like - huh? I am not sure about that.
325 Ukulele time - Johnny used to live in Hawaii. I guess he still has a house at the North Shore.
326 I'm off for a run now with the boys - my old route, about 5 miles around the island.
327 First getting lunch. No looking at what we ate!
328 Ferry landing...
329
330
331 The boys loved the bridge and I enjoyed the smell of Il Fornaio as I ran by. Just like five years ago.
332 How do they make it so strong?
333 These houses are pretty fancy, aren't they, mom?
334 Hotel Del Coronado.
335 Peter - works for the City - told me that the dunes behind him actually spell CORONADO from above. How COOL is that? I didn't know that.
336
337 Such a great place. The cacti seem to love it here.
338 Our old house again. So nice to see it again. So many great memories. Remember B.O.B.?
339 Trying to get a shot - yet right into the sun! Poor kids!
340 Ben was wild at the ferry landing - running all over, almost taking a big guy out who'd been dodging him for a few steps (of course we were right there trying to run interference but he is fast!).
341 Both boys running around now, discussing something important, clearly.
342 Then all of a sudden we look up and the stroller is on the move! Look who's behind the wheel!
343 Mom and Sam...
344 And the big squirmy one. That's my tire pump.
345
346 One of my projects - working with State Education and the Environment Roundtable (SEER) to create environmental education curriculum for the State of CA. Here is one of my pieces in full production - I did about 20 California Connections pieces and learned so much in the process. It was nice to finally meet them.
347 Jayne - one of the project coordinators I worked closely with for about a year, almost two years ago now. I was traveling and pregnant with Ben for the duration of the project, and his first months of life.
348 Trying on my shirt on the way home.
349 Hiding!
350 Caught a great sunset after driving over the Ortega Hwy. Funniness ensued at dinner - so tired I thought I'd ordered a cheeseburger for Sam (his preference) but the words that actually came out were "grilled cheese" although I didn't know that until the "wrong" meal had arrived! Funny day and lots of good times!
351 Sam really wanted an "egg salad wrap - so Gramma made him a huge one! (I got almost half of it for my lunch when he filled up!)
352 Driving out to Palm Springs - Sam is plugging in the "Palm Springs Tramway" into the GPS.
353 Now he's teaching me about your "Kol Cow - a part of your body that traps blood and makes new cells."
354 The tram goes up 6000 feet!!! When it bumps over the little towers along the way it sways a bit. It's kinda freaky! Takes about 20 minutes to ride up. The floor rotates so you get a view all the way up from every angle.
355 At the top we had lunch then went on a hike. The evergreens smelled amazing!
356 Mom and Sam counting rings on the tree.
357 We took this trail for our walk.
358 Sam loves to find sticks - right now he's writing his name on the trail.
359 A picture we sent to Daddy!
360 Ben stopped to "ride" just about every tree in his path :)
361 Mom and Sam hiking around. We are close to the jet contrails!
362 Ben and I checking out the expansive view.
363 Taking a little rest break :)
364
365 Little Ben has a cold but his ears didn't seem to bother him on the ascent and he was a real trooper hiking all around. He crashed in the truck with an apple in his hand on the way back.
366 Summit smooch. A few days later he said "I love you, Mom." Wow.
367 Me on the way down - lots of people, yikes! I don't really like heights, crowds, noise, confined spaces, or germs. Oy...where's my flask of bourbon?!
368 Sam diggin' it though.
369 "I want to ride up again!"
370 Mom and Ben have been doing a lot of singing lately. He likes to sing loudly. Take a listen - his face turns bright red while he belts it out!
371 Tito Pig and Tita Bear visit for a day before going to Joel and Priya's wedding in LA.
372 Mary grew up with brothers - can you tell? She and Sam are playing football.
373 Look at that form!
374 Out for a bike ride. Looks like fall - bet you didn't think Southern California could be fall-like - sweaters, leaves and all, didya?
375 Sam is showing Doug and Mary his triangle of trails - this is the first leg, then go right at top of ditch to reconnect with bike path.
376 Second leg of triangle.
377PB070022 PB070022
378 Oh boy...here's what happened. (I might have encouraged him to do it - "Doug, I'll video you!").
379 Then Sam came barreling down and crashed into Doug's bike. "Why are you blocking the path?" he asks as Doug is trying to pick himself up.
380 Don't take a picture of me! I am not even awake yet! Aren't they cute? Husband and wife now! I am so proud to have Mary as a sister. Love you, Bear!
381 Ok this was crazy - Mom went to get ice for her Coke, but got a Halloween treat instead - it dropped right into her glass! Richard was a bit annoyed, thinking I'd set up the prank, but truly I didn't! I think it fell down into the ice dispenser from the top of the fridge and snaked down into the dispenser! Prichard, I'm innocent! Really! ("Prichard" is what Ben calls him.)
382 This is how it came out! Really!
383 Listening to music with Gramma. Look at these kids :)
384 Ben rarely sits still but he liked this quite a bit!
385 Now we're in LA for Joel's wedding! The last cousin to get married. I was wondering if this was a safe part of town, so I do what I usually do in big cities: roll up the windows, lock the doors, and pump the base of my music. Seems to send the right signal to folks that I'm totally urban (ha! NOT!).
386 Doug and Mary at the wedding. This is a YSL dress I think - it was gorgeous! Sorry I don't have a better shot of you, Mary!
387 The guests sat in a circle around the altar (at a restaurant called Cicada).
388 Andrew (cousin Deborah's husband) sending daughter Isabelle down the aisle.
389 Me and my brood at the cocktail hour. Keeping Ben contained was something else! I brought the puppy harness for that purpose, and Doug delivered drinks to me. The boys were very well behaved despite having a short nap and pretty decent colds.
390 Mary took my "puppy" for a walk.
391 Here's Deborah and Isabelle (who is 2). What fun to see her and finally meet Isabelle!
392 Pig and Bear again - love you two!
393 Sam and Ben playing the piano at the cocktail hour - people had enough drinks in them by now to not notice the "music" over the DJ's track.
394 We sneaked down to eyeball the setup, including dessert. WOW. Gorgeous, isn't it? There's a story about cousin Mike the Marine. We had to leave before the party wrapped up so I asked Mike to go on a covert op to get me a couple of items. You can imagine what the Krug family would have needed before leaving. Mike was so stealthy that neither his wife nor I managed to spot him carrying out this mission. Tasty...Thanks, Mike! Oh - another funny story during the speeches, Ben started "talking" a bit loudly and I dashed for the nearest door. Turned out to be the kitchen. I came flying in all smiles and was greeted warmly by the staff who were a bit surprised to see us barreling in. Then, no more than a couple minutes later, guess who else came barreling in? Andrew with Isabelle! We had a good laugh. Panic and head for the nearest door!
395 Doing "This is how the lady rides..." with Gramma at Starbucks.
396 "The Royal Hawaiian Motel" on La Brea in LA. Very funny. We're on our way to La Brea Tar Pits, a place I have vivid memories of visiting as a kid.
397 About to head in! Like Sam's party head? We didn't fix his hair this morning and it still has product in it from the wedding. He wanted it to stay this way. Plus, we'd had a wild night. I gave him a Camelback to sleep with in case he needed a drink to keep his coughs under control, but he fell asleep on the bite valve and flooded his bed. He woke up saying "Mom, the bed is all wet somehow!" Poor guy, and poor mommy!
398 Look at the little smile :)
399 The fishbowl where the paleontologists work to put together the thousands of bones found each year. Beginning in 1912, more than a million bones were unearthed each year.
400 404 wolf skulls...
401
402 Checking out the dire wolf skulls.
403
404 That tar is really sticky - I remember these pulls that demonstrate how thick the tar is.
405
406 Peeking down into the tar for a long time. By this time we'd seen all the movies about animals getting stuck, then chomped upon for an Ice Age dinner.
407 One of the pits...pretty incredible right in LA!
408 The tar was seeping up in the grass! Cool! We brought some home with us. Dave was laughing on the phone tonight, saying "That kid is so well traveled, with his rocks from Scotland, sticks from the Adirondacks, another stone from Macaroni Grill in Albany (!) and tar from LA.
409 Gooey!
410 Thought this was pretty self-evident!
411 Pit 91.
412 Showing the stick to Daddy in a cell phone picture.
413 Project 23 - bones in crates. These fossils were discovered while digging out a parking garage.
414 Sam sometimes does this weird move, shaking his "paws" when he meets people. He calls it the "dog and cat move" - funny that this sloth looks like he's doing it, too!
415 Old tar, new tar.
416 A stop at InNOut burger! Doesn't mom look like she's dressed for the part?
417 Crazy man!
418 A moment of peace with Ben. In the car on the way over, I smelled something stinky. I asked Ben "Is that poops or farts?" and Ben responded right away "Faaahts" with a big smile. Wow! And he was right, too. I was glad to not have to change him. He also learned to nod his head "yes" today. He is saying a lot of words.
419 Nice guy for a minute. Then he bellowed much of the way home until he took a nap.
420 Mom said "Take this picture for Davey! We can see the mountains!"
421 Sunset - hard to see, but nice.
422 Getting a horseback riding lesson in an English saddle! So exciting! I didn't know it but my helmet was askew the whole time - no laughing! It was just a little big. My mount is Leah - she is ranked 8th in the country among paralympic equestrian shows.
423 She's 17 and a tiny bit arthritic, so we took some time warming up first, and getting to know each other. My trainer is Cherilyn - she's been riding for years and trains hunter/jumper and dressage styles. She also likes mountain biking. We hit it off right away!
424 She had many kind things to say about my form being remarkably good for not riding in an English saddle in ... ahem ... how many years. Let's see...I'm breaking out the calculator now, it's that bad. OK - calculator says it's been 20 years. I got the right diagonal on the posting trot, held my hands, arms and shoulders correctly, leg position was right on...
425 A movie showing off a canter and trot transition! What fun!!! I think I will pursue lessons back in Hawaii. I really miss the communion between horse and rider that focusing on hunt-seat equitation (the art of riding horseback correctly). I miss the apparel, too!
426 Mom kept the boys happy by feeding them horse treats! They love "appos" :) It was just like old times having mom at the side of the ring with a camera clicking away! Thanks mom!
427 Sam got to ride for the cool-down!
428 So fun! I showed him how to hold the reins, too. He got his legs in position quite naturally, too! Maybe he'll want to be a horseman someday.
429 Back to the barn we go.
430 Grooming is so much fun.
431 I even asked if I could pick the hooves! Yay!
432 Rest of Ben's "appo" for Leah! Thanks, girl! I had a fabulous time and am nicely sore from working the legs out pretty good. We did a no-stirrups drill, many gait change drills, and worked on collecting Leah a bit to get her moving forward brightly. It was an honor to ride her - her owner is in the hospital with a pressure sore (she lost mobility of her legs in a car accident but remains a fabulous rider and was selected for the 2008 Paralympics Equestrian Team). See Sam drinking it all in? It was so fun to show him around.
433 Here's Cherilyn! She was really great, and brought me right back to the "old" days of being trained. She said that these days the no-stirrup drills have gone by the wayside, unfortunately in her opinion. People rely too much on the stirrups for leg position but the way I was trained (and her style as well) is to develop very strong legs so the upper body has a solid base from which to work the horse's balance while the legs keep the horse moving forward with a bit of wrap around the belly. Anyway...it was fun to get the language back again and even more fun to hear "I knew you'd slip right into great form just by looking at you as you walked up - long legs, shorter torso and long arms make for a great equestrianne!" woo hoo!
434 Mom and Sam having some preschool time! So cute together :)
435 We went out to dinner at a Mexican place in San Clemente (La Siesta) to celebrate the close of the trip, my horseback riding, etc. I always want crunchy tacos and a margarita after riding. So we did! Above is my undoing. These were really STRONG! Or I've become a lightweight, or I was dehydrated...
436 Anyway - here we are after a margarita and a half! Ben had dumped his ice-water under the table, soaking the shoes of Mom, Richard AND Randy. Sam and I got away unscathed. Then he dumped a plate of rice under the table. Richard slipped the bus boy a fiver for me. The guy taking this picture must have had the same margarita reaction - he actually turned the camera OFF three times (instead of hitting the BIG button)! His wife finally took over. It was all very funny, and fortunately the restaurant was very loud so we had a good time without bothering anyone. The food was super, too.
437 Mom had to go back in for guess what...
438 Ben LOVES scratchies. Here he is having some neck scratchies from Gramma. She loves it, too!
439 And now for the tummy!
440 And which arm would you like next?
441 Oh, back too!
442 Going on a bike ride to a Veterans' Day ceremony in downtown SJC.
443 Look at mom go!
444 It was an honor to honor our vets, those near and dear as well as those departed or far away serving.
445 Um...someone thought he could see better from here.
446 Now on our way to a playground in the historic Los Rios section. Very cute.
447 This is where the train pulls up.
448 In Richard and Gramma's backyard.
449 And guess who popped in for a visit! How neat to see aunt CC right here at home! Thank you so much for making your way all the way over here to see us again! We love you!
450 A quiet moment in the garden before nap.
451 It's 7:30am and we're on our way down to Naval Air Station North Island (Coronado) for our trip home. I tried calling on our way down to be sure the flights were still "on" and they said "They MAY be!" By the time I got there, 2 of 3 flights had decided they weren't taking passengers.
452 But as you can see, we got on. Mom and Richard were a huge help keeping the kids corraled (it's a very small terminal with nothing for kids to do). We also got to enjoy the best breakfast burritos on the planet while there! I talked to the terminal manager - he has a lot of stories to share about preparing for a Presidential visit. Whew. Lots of work. And also shared stories about flying space-a with marine mammals on board! Apparently it's cold and smelly! The marine mammals which intercept enemy swimmers and help connect message wires to submarines in trouble are trained at SPAWAR in San Diego. Just amazing.
453 We are up in the cockpit at the invitation of crew member Glenda (pictured). She was so awesome! I'm holding Ben while Sam flies the plane!!!!
454 OMG! Can you believe it? I was really nervous that he would mess something up. Sorry it was too bright to get the sky and clouds below us in the shot. My photog friends (like Liisa!) would have managed it...
455 On our way back to our seat - this is the cargo area of this jet, a C40. Those little balls on the floor help roll cargo in and out. Glenda said they're fun to "ski" on during takeoff and landing!
456 This guy wanted to read Sam's book.
457 Almost there - maybe an hour to go? Ben slept 1 hour out of 6 1/2! Oy! Sam slept none. Mommy slept none. AND it was bumpy! But the flight crew were awesome...really amazing. Based out of Jacksonville, their name is the "Sunseekers" and funny enough the commander's last name is Striker, like the guy on "Airplane". He said, when we landed, "Thank you for choosing Sunseeker, we hope you fly with us again."
458 There's Wendy, my new friend! They live in Twentynine Palms (CA) and are staying at Bellows for part of their post-deployment leave. We hope to catch up with them while they're here. They have two little kids, ages 2 and 4.
459 Ben putting an earplug in, then he decided to chew it to see how it tasted. He thinks it's very funny to pick crumbs out of the back of his seat and pretend to eat them. GROSS! I pull his hand out of his mouth and he just cracks up!
460 Flying into Kaneohe Bay this time - the Marine Corps Base near our home. We couldn't see anything until we got below about 2000 feet - very cloudy. So fun to see our side of the island by air, and to land on the airstrip we always cross to get to Hale Koa beach.
461 Ben hiding under his helmet - his Halloween costume coming home with us :)
462 Finally here! Can't wait to see Dave!
463 So nice to be home! Sam is pushing all our gear to the truck. Like his hat, too? You are probably wondering what all that is: 1 bed (for Ben, 23 lbs), 1 bag (with all our clothes and shoes - only 38 lbs), diapers (and in this bag was also my flask of bourbon, plus kayak straps to tie the stroller down to the minivan we shared for 6 hours earlier in the trip), boys' books (plus Halloween costumes, a Camelback for Ben, crazy squishy ball with rubbery hairs that was a real treat to zip up! etc), plus car seats. All that for 125 lbs total. We pack light so we can fit on any plane.