Boston Trip

We had a vacation within a vacation this year! Early Friday morning we hopped on yet another plane, this time bound for Boston. It was a very quick trip, but we squeezed in a lot of meaningful activities. Just after we arrived, we drove out to the LDS temple and did work for Reed's ancestors. It was my first time doing sealings -- what a beautiful ordinance. We caught the last endowment session of the night, too. 

The next morning we hopped in our little rental car and drove out to visit Reed's cousin Jeff and his family. Just as we pulled up in front of their home, I hit the curb and popped our tire. (Ironically, we had just been joking about how aggressively the guy at the rental counter had tried to up-sell us on the insurance.) Reed and I just sat in the car staring at one another in shock as the tire let out a prolonged squeal, like the air leaking out of a balloon.

Thankfully, we had a maintenance number to call, and plenty of fun activities to distract us while the tire was switched out. It started with a lovely brunch of waffles, bacon, and homemade maple syrup with Jeff & Saydi and their awesome kids. It was so fun getting to hear about the goings and comings of the Shumway kids. Next, we set out to hunt for a Christmas tree! Saydi led the caravan to an awesome tree farm up north.

The drive was amazing. Massachusetts really did not get the short end of the stick when it comes to natural beauty. It was cold when we reached the tree farm. I've never had the experience of sawing down my own tree, but Reed took his turn along with the kids, and soon we were hauling our conquest via bobsled over to the tractor-trailor for a ride back down the hill to our car.

We ended our outing with popcorn & hot cocoa in front of the fireplace while Christmas music played. Perfect! It was a brief visit, but a wonderful one. I'm so glad we got the chance to check in with the Boston Shumways. Thanks for a fun (and incredibly merry) day, guys!

Sunday in Salt Lake

We spent Sunday with Reed's parents and went to church in Salt Lake. Rosemary made a delicious dinner and Richard and I brainstormed over genealogy. The best was seeing Cal bonding with Grandpa. He absolutely loves the time he gets to spend with the Olsens. We were so glad Richard was in town this time around!

Richey Reunion at Bear Lake

The last stop on our summer roadtrip was Bear Lake in Northern Utah for the Richey family reunion. We arrived a day before the group festivities began, so we made the best of the wait by exploring the Minnetonka Cave. 

 There were a million stairs to climb between the rooms. Cal was a trooper on the way up, but a little bit of a chicken on the way back down.

 After the fun morning at the caves, we spent the weekend hanging out at the sweet condo my parents reserved for us (thank you, Mom and Dad!), playing at the lake (which was interrupted by a wild rainstorm -- head for the hills!), a hilarious show at the Pickleville Playhouse, and family meals all together. Cal loved the Pickleville show; here he is on Daddy's lap in the audience:

 One of my favorite parts of the reunion was the skit night. Each nuclear family put on a skit depicting a family story. The Mark Richeys acted out a typical cousin dinner at Grandma Richey's house, complete with a rendition of "God Bless the USA" like Grandma always loved. I also loved Suzie's skit, which reenacted the time Grandma faced off with a group of Hell's Angels while moving her sister-in-law out of her house.

Cal loved the "down time" moments, when he and Carson got to watch Scooby Doo or Marmaduke on the downstairs DVD player. These two are such good little friends.

Thanks for a wonderful reunion, Richey Family! Love you all!

Epic Summer Roadtrip

Epic. The word doesn't begin to describe the trip my family pulled off this summer. Just weeks after Hannah got back from a service trip to the Dominican Republic, and a day after my family returned from Nauvoo, Cal and I hitched a ride with my parents up to our family's place in Waterton, Alberta.I know I've posted about Waterton before, so I'll just hit some of the highlights of the trip.

Cal was anxious to try out his new binoculars from Aunt Meredith & Uncle Scott & Carson, so he took them everywhere we went. He'd say, "Mommy! Need my 'noculars!"

They were actually quite useful, and several other family members used them as the trip progressed. Anytime someone would spot wildlife, someone would say, "Cal, can I use your 'noculars?"

 Uncle Frank came to stay with us for a few nights, and got us set up with boating and kayaking. Here is Markie on the small skiff at Emerald bay. Look at the excited passenger!

 Hannah preferred to kayak. She and mom attempted to brave the open lake to get to Bertha Bay, but the wind was blowing so hard it blew them backward even as they paddled.

 Cal loved the hammock so much, and even told me he needed to sleep outside in his "special bed" one night. I tried to explain why he couldn't, without using the word "bear bait."

 My mom and sister and I climbed Crypt Lake one day while we were there. It's an intense 10.7 miles along steep shale cliffs, and then there's a cool part where you crawl through a tunnel in the mountainside before emerging at the secret lake at the top. I wish these pictures showed the drop off a little better!

 We were pretty worn out around mile 8, or at least I was! When we finally came around the corner of the last bend before the bay, we looked up, and like a rescuing angel, we saw Frank driving out to get us in his boat! Perfect timing! We ran down to the dock where all the hikers who'd taken the Miss Waterton ferry were waiting for their pickup. As my uncle pulled up to dock, a lady said, "Your ride's here? Lucky!" We felt like hiking royalty or something. Home, James!

 Cal actually got Frank to climb up into the treehouse with him. Super cute!

We saw TONS of wildlife while we were there, including bald eagles, deer, foxes, coyotes, buffalo, TEN BEARS, and even a white wolf! Here's a shot of one of the bears:

 We had a picture at Red Rock. Cal was very entertained with climbing all over the rocks and into the creek. He used his binoculars as a microscope to inspect the rocks, too!

 And of course, there were multiple trips to the candy store AND the big scoop.

On the way back to Utah, we stopped in Yellowstone, which I thought was completely fascinating! My favorite part was the "paint pots" -- totally alien-looking!  Cal whined A LOT about the stinky geysers.

We got to see Old Faithful erupt twice. I don't know who named that thing, but it was not "like clockwork." The second wait got particularly long, but we made it right with a trip to the ice cream counter after the spout.

 In between spouts, we all went in to watch what we hoped would be a scientific/educational video about the park. Turns out, it was more of a cheesy thing, with an excited host name Ranger Brandon suggesting activities we could do with our family. It was pretty boring, until the wildlife warning they tagged on the end, where everyone including my 4-year-old was treated to the visual horror of a woman being mauled and trampled by an angry bison. Everyone in the theatre was shouting, "OOOOHHH!!! OoooOOOoooh!" Thanks, Yellowstone!

Then, we were off to the Bar J Wranglers Chuckwagon dinner and show in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was AWESOME. They serve up a big, yummy BBQ dinner and then entertain their audience with fantastic singing and jokes. We loved it! And Cal got to go on a wagon ride while we were waiting for dinner.

We explored the town a little, and even tried on a few things, before heading down to Bear Lake for the Richey family reunion.

And of course, Cal immediately found a candy shop. :)

Cal's Birthday

Someone very important had a birthday recently.  Our little guy turned four the day we left for our epic summer vacation to Utah, Canada, and everywhere in between.  Cal was pretty convinced that the plane ride was all part of his birthday celebration, and thanks to a kind flight steward who made a birthday announcement over the intercom and had all the passengers sing, it was part of the celebration!

Cal was so excited and surprised when he heard his name over the intercom, and when everyone started singing, he stood up and turned around on his chair to smile at everyone.  He held up four fingers excitedly and everyone laughed. 

The plane ride passed without a hitch thanks to Heather's dry erase workbook.  Look how focused he is: 

We flew Allegiant into Provo, which was a new experience for us, but it worked out perfectly.  Cal and I rented a car and finally made it to the Martins' home in Lehi, where we threw a family party for this little nugget:

 Balloons, pizza, presents, a birthday crown -- Cal was so excited about it all.  He has been requesting a car cake for the last 6 months, so I tried my hand at this crazy creation:

 A little droopy, but not bad! Here are the cousins posing with the car cake (complete with special #4 candle, which Cal insisted on keeping). I love that these two are such good friends.

 After dinner and cake, Cal got to open presents from the family. We scored a lot of educational toys to help with reading and writing this year. (Have I mentioned how excited we both are for Cal to start his preschool again this fall?)

 The next day, we rounded out our brief visit to the splash pad and gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was a hot day! Perfect for a little water fun. We stopped by the huge koi pond to feed the fish.

 Then it was time to say goodbye. Cal and I were off to Canada with my parents. The boys were sad to leave each other:

 Thanks for a wonderful birthday party, Olsen family! Cal loved it! And the funnest part, was that he got to do it all over again at Grandma Linebarger's house the next night, too. Grandma had a cake ready with hot wheels cars on the top, and there were more present from the Richey family. Thanks to everyone for being so good to my little nugget.

Weekend in Monterey

Remember how I said that there are endless places to explore in the Bay Area? Well, that saying was proven true yet again when I look a weekend trip to the Monterey Peninsula to explore. I had been down to the aquarium before, but it had been a while since I'd seen anything of the peninsula outside Cannery Row or my writers' conference at Asilomar.

The trip was short--just one night--but it was awesome. I hit the Gilroy outlets on the drive down the 101, and continued on my way with several bags in tow, which always makes me a little giddy. Dinner was at a hip Italian Place in Pacific Grove...

...which was quickly followed by a trip to Cannery Row for a Ghirardelli's Sundae!

We got two, of course: one carmel, and one chocolate. It wasn't gluttony, just necessity.

  

Cannery Row is fun at night, filled with twinkling little eclectic shops tucked in among stands of postcards and tourist keychains. I liked this particular place, decorated with Eastern-style lamps and home goods:

Thanks to air B&B, I had a comfy bed waiting for me in Seaside, complete with squawking chickens who got up much too early! :)

For breakfast, I drove down to Carmel and ate at Katy's Place, a quaint, cramped restaurant famous for its eggs Benedict. 

As delicious as they looked and smelled, very little can tempt me to forgo oatmeal in the morning, since I am an 80-year-old in disguise. (I got a taste of their famous eggs, don't worry!)

The walk down to the beach was delightful, passing all the boutiques and art galleries that give Carmel its posh feel. What a fun place to window shop and people watch. (And dog spot!)

The weather was typical Northern California perfect as I strolled up the sand toward Pebble Beach. 

I apparently had not had my fill of the coastline, because hiking at Point Lobos came next. Look me in the eyes and tell me this isn't exactly what you picture when you think about the Northern California coastline:

Historically, Point Lobos was an annual home of Portuguese whalers that hunted Grey whales December through May. I loved being able to stop in the little whaling museum to read all about the history. It makes me feel connected to a vast matrix of time and people, grounded in my area.

With my legs thoroughly worn out, it was time for a car ride, and the 17-mile-drive fit the bill exactly. All the stops along the way were beautiful: Pebble Beach Golf course...

...where I saw an otter in the wild!

He's the tiny speck just above the wave crest line:

The lone cypress, picturesque in its rocky isolation:

And of course, this uneasy warning sign at "The Restless Sea" lookout:

I returned home to Cupertino tired, sun-kissed, and revitalized.

You know, at first, I had sort of a bad attitude about living in the Bay Area. I missed my friends and family in Utah, and I missed how comfortable I was there. There are many adjustments to be made when one moves, and I felt like moving to the SF area had a lot more changes than normal. I'm still getting over the sticker shock out here; everything is just so expensive. Buying a house seemed like an impossibility, the streets were always crowded with people and traffic, I didn't have a network of people built up around me who made NorCal feel like home.

I am happily realizing that my attitudes have changed and are continually changing with regard to where we now live (and it's only taken 3 years...way to go, self).  Exploring the area has made me more aware and appreciative of the beauty and diversity at my fingertips. Wonderful and welcoming friends have rooted me to a community of sisters and families. This place that once felt like an old, sprawling, expensive city of strangers, is morphing into an area where my friends are, where beautiful things live, where my family has a future, where I am home.