After a 4.6 mile bike/run down to the beach on a bike path, we all relaxed under Richard's corkscrew will tree, like the chickens taking a dust bath! Dave napped on that lounge chair, so now Ben is checking it out with Eagle. 🙂

We are on Spring Break, visiting mom and Richard in southern California! It is SUNNY! Our legs are WHITE! We haven’t seen them in 9 months. None of us can see in the sun, so we grasp frantically for our sunglasses 🙂 Our neighbors are taking care of our chickens and we have gotten nearly daily reports on their doings – so sweet to hear from them as they learn chicken-tending first-hand! We are on day 3 here and Ben just woke up from a 13 hour rest, catching up after several days of fun! Now we’re off to figure out what to do with the day. The original plan was San Diego for the zoo! Sam just finished building a huge Lego Technic flatbed truck with over 1,000 pieces – he spent a total of about 6 hours on it yesterday, never taking a break for food or water! I had to bring it to him and literally put food and water to his lips – such a dedicated worker! He is tireless and focused. And we still managed to get our bike/run adventure in with all that building 🙂 We have had so many laughs – one of them made me nearly choke to death on a melon. That inspired me to actually look up whether one can literally “die laughing” and it is true – apparently someone in Britain died laughing watching a goofy TV show “The Goodies”. Who knows if true or not, but it made me laugh again! My friend Ang asked how my experience with security at the airport went…so reprinted here for your enjoyment is my recounting of a fruitless attempt to get through security without causing a scene:

three violations:

1. left sam’s bag unattended at security and had to go back through and get it

2. forgot to take my own shoes off, was standing there dumbly all smiles thinkin’ I’d just licked this one and gotten everything right only to be told by the lady “ah, ma’am, your shoes?”

3. my purse  had to be scanned and rescanned then inspected – finally figured out it was the bones I had stashed in there – seal jaw bone and crab claw (huge).

Sam and Holly Ramona - Merlin doesn't like it when another "rooster" picks up one of his hens!

Sam to Merlin after fending off his posturing advances with a long pole: “I question why you PECK MY FEET!” (From Madagascar) I just died laughing.

Ben to Merlin upon seeing him mate one hen a second time: “Merlin! It’s not time to mate again!”

And earlier today at the market, Ben was holding Eagle up to the racks of salmon at the fish counter at T&C making Eagle talk: “Oh! I like salmon!” (This is Grownup Eagle talking.) Then he throws his whole body back and laughs a ridiculous belly laugh – a fake laugh that he’s been cultivating for a few days now. We got lots of looks! Ben is just so outrageous sometimes that he makes me laugh even though it’s embarrassing!

Do you remember this picture? The great bone mystery was resolved today!

I got a call this morning that my dentist had a cancellation for 9am – could I make it? Yes! I was overdue. So off Ben and I went. I hadn’t eaten anything yet but had exercised – figured that was perfect, nothing in my teeth. Ben was so good at the appointment, reading a book, talking to Grownup Eagle, checking out the window with Eagle for “mice” (pine cones), and chatting up the hygienist. Well – it all got very funny when she was asking him questions while I was unable to refute anything! She said “So Ben do you go to preschool?” He leaned back and bellowed out in a gruff voice “NOOO-HO-HO!” with a big smile on. “I go to preschool in my HOME!” I giggled with mouth propped open. Then she said “Soooo…does your mama work with you then?” “Yes!” I was hoping she wouldn’t ask any other questions which I might need to correct as his clarity is not so good – related to breakfast 90 min prior, he only got part of it correct – waffles with jam. But forgot the white creamy stuff – yogurt! I was hoping he wouldn’t just pop out with strange stories which might get misconstrued, like doing pushups right in front of the Pavilion in town in lieu of timeout  or something.  Anyway, from there we went to Bay Hay for more bedding for the chickens, coffee (should have been a half-caff but I have my doubts now) and a carrot muffin. All fired up on caffeine and very little food (remember that bit about not eating before the dentist?) we decided it was high time to figure out what this bone was. So we gassed up the truck and began our query with the Wildlife Shelter. Turns out it is NOT a CLAW! The biologist there very kindly redirected me to the right taxonomy – the class of Mammalia. Hmmm…mystery thickens. So off to the vet – who is very nice. I disrupted their staff meeting because they were all curious, helping Google various jaw bones. We finally settled on a young seal. So interesting! Which brings me back to my own jaws. The xray revealed some interesting stuff on the roots of my teeth which are likely benign tumors. (I always review my own x-rays – one just never knows, and I have learned by experience that you are not necessarily told things unless you ask – these tumors have likely been there for years but it would have been good if I had resident knowledge of that vs tracking down x rays from three moves ago!) Anyway – I sent this jaw to my dentist for laughs. The poor guy is probably wondering…and as my mom just said on the phone she can just picture my red hairs all standing straight up with caffeine all the way out to the tips (redheads are very sensitive to drugs – we metabolize them differently so that often they are more bioavailable than the norm). I hope I settle down by the time Dave gets home…off to chicken chores and figuring out how to cook trout!

Out for a great bike ride/jog then to the playground for HOURS, then to ice cream!

This is what Ben called it the other day, trying to remember the name of what we’ve been saying! He makes me recite it every morning after Sam heads off to school 🙂

Mom just sent this note – she has such a great way of capturing all the sights, sounds and experiences. Thanks for the memory mom – that was a sun-washed, salt-sprinkled memorable day for sure!

What memories we have. Double-stacked grandchildren in a jogging stroller pushed by Alli, the unbelievable traffic, our (Mom and Richard’s) $20 backyard parking spot near the market, Alli running the double-stacked stroller 2 miles thru creeping traffic, texting to find each other, masses of tanned humanity, bull horn-sounding announcers, astounding waves, a close-up pic of Kelly Slater, the emergency power boats careening around, Eddie Aikau T-shirts, warm water and sand, sunny skies, a surfer coming in safely but carrying only half a board,  . . . What else?

http://m.ocregister.com/travel/hawaii-342557-contest-big.html

Thanks for finding this, Richard!!!

At E Day (engineering day) sponsored by the Keyport Naval Undersea Museum. Great job hosting the event and attracting all those young engineers to inspire the next generation! Sam made an electromagnetic device, a straw cantilever and a few other events. It was really interesting. We bumped into at least 5 other families from school.

I don’t have much time to write because I am waiting for a contractor help me raise the chicken run roofline so I can stand up and walk around without a hunchback (we had to cover it at long last due to hawks swooping down for chicken nuggets). I also have some complicated work on my desk for later. I thought I’d record some little glimpses of life around here so I remember how much fun, and how stimulating these years are. In the kitchen every morning we continue learning the Gettysburg Address. I have it taped up to the pantry door so I can peek when I need help. Often, though, Sam is the one to act as prompter. I remember memorizing this in fourth grade. I also memorized Romans 12 in sixth grade. I think memorization is a great workout for the brain, and kids are really quite good at it with repeated exposures. Who knows what lessons will be embedded in these neural pathways, but I really enjoy filling their brains with high-fiber, low glycemic index stuff. Sometimes I also do “kitchen burpees” and the kids laugh like crazy as my head pops up above their counter horizon 🙂

At night I pray for the young patriots growing up all over this great nation who will take over leadership in the 21st century and hopefully improve upon our lead. I pray for their parents, and hope that we will all find the way to fill their lives and their hearts with real substance, remind them of the incredible efforts upon which this great nation was founded, give them real-world superheroes, and even supernatural ones (we’re reading about angels, too). I’m reading what is essentially a long essay by Friedman and Mandelbaum (That Used to be Us…) so I can relate to my peers, but not to disparage the authors (it’s a decent read) I think most of us know the lessons intuitively without reading this book. The contemplative American already knows that the answer lies in creativity and hard work, teamwork and optimism. I wonder whether affluence has bred laziness and aspirations of entitlement at unprecedented levels. Dave – feel free to  edit and correct me here. I am usually the one saying generalizations and opinions are essentially worthless. This is just the stuff I think about while I’m out chopping wood.

All that aside, I am quite proud of my ability to memorize Gettysburg again! And Sam used the bow saw yesterday to saw through 3″ limbs – ALL BY HIMSELF! He worked through the initial frustration of getting that long, thin blade sunk into the wood a bit to get a groove going, then the tendency of it to bind up as he got nearly through. I was very proud of him. Too grubby to grab a picture, I am sorry to say. Finally, Sam remembered to pray for our friend who is deployed on the USS Lincoln right now. We learned the Gettysburg in honor of Lincoln’s example, and a contemporary hero serving on his namesake – you, Tres!

Prayers are with mom as she undergoes surgery today at 2p PST. LOVE YOU, mom!

“Who is Mister Rumpinpants?” Says Sam, lying on the floor laughing hysterically. The boys were completely out of their gourds tonight starting with dinner and all the way through bath and beyond. They are 30 hours into medication for sinus infections and the fog of fatigue and gloom is starting to lift. We were all in tears laughing in the office as Sam and Ben flopped around madly saying the weirdest things. At dinner Ben said “Salad and soup and potato salad and bread are ALL FOR FLAPPING AROUND THE HOUSE!” They were just bonkers. This after I cancelled a trip down to LA to be there for my Uncle Skene’s memorial service. This morning when I had to make the call to continue with the trip or abort Dave was feverish and looking like he was heading down the road of being really sick like he was once in Saratoga (same thing – sinus infection and fever and just completely wiped). So I decided I needed to stay and get well myself while getting everyone else back on their feet. By tonight Dave was still feeling awful, and  he is on his way to bed now (8:30p) but the twinkle in the boys’ eyes had started to come back and their mischief was unleashed! Sam’s statement about the “real mystery” had to do with Ben’s jammies – they were hidden on us!!! What cute boys. I am so thankful to see them starting to come back to life after weeks of trudging along. Blessings came in tears of laughter to kick of Lent. And we are all looking forward to a rescheduled trip down to see the family in early April!

A bit of a postscript here – Sam is standing next to me talking about his Lego projects. I wanted to share what he is currently working on for far-flung family who only get blurry images on Skype or pictures.

Sam finished this creation a few weeks ago (link below).  954 pieces, ages 10-16. He estimates that 99.5% of it he built on his own. I would concur – possibly I’d estimate 98%. Hours and hours spent focusing, then waiting because the company sent us two sets of the 2nd instruction book so we were missing the 3rd book. We had to wait at least a week to get a replacement. He was checking the mail daily in anticipation!

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Pick-up-Tow-Truck-9395

Now he wants to build the Lego Technic 8110 Unimog – 2048 pieces!!!!!

http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Mercedes-Benz-Unimog-U-400-8110?langid=1033&p=8110

A tug-o-war to kick off an afternoon of fun and games with 10 of Sam's classmates. Click for more pictures...

Dear Sam – very happy birthday to you! We can’t believe  you are 7 already, but then again, we certainly can. We have seen you grow and mature so much each year, and have so many happy memories it is equally hard to believe it’s been a mere 7 years. Haven’t you been a part of our lives from the start? We hope you had a really fun time with all those guys over today. They seemed to enjoy themselves and we had a lot of fun with them. I’m exhausted now. I had no idea just how much physical work it is to keep up with 11 guys. I really loved playing kick the football with them, and soccer. We hope you have a wonderful seventh year, and we look forward to seeing what you do next. Just for the record – in case you ever want to know what you were up to when you turned 7 – you are soooo excited about marble runs, you play your electric guitar really well and even have a portable amp to go with it now, you are a great student in school and reportedly only get the “sillies” every now and then but quiet right down when you do, and have fun at recess. You are a mature, loving and intelligent boy. We couldn’t be luckier parents – we respect  you and admire you, and love you so very much. Happy birthday!