CRAZY Jousting!

I took some of the kids and their friends to Kearney Park today for the Renaissance Festival - absolutely CRAZY!!!

And Then There Was The Toy Closet!

Before:

After:

I Know This Dosn't Seem Like A Big Deal.........

......but sometimes it FEELS like a big deal! How long have I been looking at this broken shelf? How many times have I had to rearrange the books I was using to prop it up because I was actually going to read one of them?

Well, it is fixed now! I wish I could take a picture of the blanket of dust that was all over this stuff too. I tried, but despite it's uncanny ability to propagate, I wasn't able to capture it digitally.

Llama Packing - Nelson Lake

Friday afternoon my friend, DaNae, and I hiked up to Nelson Lake with Dunnigan and Folly. We camped out over night, heared some wolves howling at about 2:00 am, and ran into two scout groups. Aside from a little moaning from Dunnigan, things went pretty well. Can't wait to do some more! Clear the trails - here comes Jill!

What Do You Do When You Are Done Taking Your Son For An Xray?

After a week of being stalled by a nasty cold, I thought I was finally going to get something done today. Unfortunately, Boone decided to try and jump down almost an entire flight of stairs last night. After some deliberation, I took him to the doctor this morning and shot half my day getting x-rays. After all that, it turns out it is not broken (yah?!?). So, scraping up the last little bit of my day, I began the kitchen desk reorganization project!

What Do You Do When Your Baby Goes To Kindergarten?

Clean the Refrigerator!

(I bring you the careful documentation of my goal to wage war on the clutter of my home)

Before:

and

After:

Walla!

Grand Canyon/Phantom Ranch Adventure!

On Tuesday of this week, I took my three older boys and we headed to the Grand Canyon. Early in the morning, on Wednesday, we began the decent into the Canyon by way of the Bright Angel Trail. After about 10 miles of hiking we crossed the Colorado River and arrived at Phantom Ranch. We stayed over night there in some dorms, got some hearty food, and hiked out early Thursday morning. We did awesome! We hiked the 10 miles up 4,460 feet in about 6 hours!

When the hike was over, and we looked down into the abyss, we knew we had really done something!

In Honor of my First Born's Graduation

Through some kind of cosmic twist in the fabric of time, my first born son is graduating from High School in two days. Eighteen years worth of hard work and worries have produced a young man prepared to go out into the world. I remind myself that that is what I wanted all along.

Llama Hike on the Upper Kings River

Today I took Gavin and my nephew, James, with me on a hike with the S.O.L.O group.  We drove up past Trimmer and met up, then bounced along a dirt road for too many miles to the trailhead.  We had lunch along the river.  And then hiked back.  

The Panda Elephant

We discovered a new animal at the zoo today - the Panda Elephant (otherwise known as the Tapir).  I think Boone's name is a better fit.

Highlights From Catalina

Saturday, April 11th, we took the Catalina Express Ferry over to Santa Catalina Island.  It was a rough ride and four out of the eight of us lost our breakfast along the way.  Poor David even asked if he was going to die.  It left me wondering what would have happened to me if I had been born in the last century in Europe and had tried to take a boat to the new world, if I can't even handle a 1 hour ferry ride!    We rented a unique little rustic cabin only a block from the beach.  I loved it because it was already so old and quirky there wasn't much my kids could do to damage it.  The whole house was so crooked none of the doors would stay open without the use of a rock. 
We did some hiking and some shopping.

 We made homemade easter baskets out of paper and the kids all got Catalina souveiners from the Easter Bunny! We rode the Catalina trolley up to  the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden.  

We did some snorkeling.
We took a glass-bottom boat tour.

     We even attended church on the top floor of a local bank.  We were the only attendees, aside from the missionaries.  The Ferry ride back on Monday was much smoother - fun was had by all!

The Plastic Egg

When I was young.........That is how this type of a commentary on the passage of time should begin.  But I never even participated in an Easter Egg hunt when I was young!  We hunted for our Easter Baskets.  I guess my parents figured that was hunt enough.  I never even saw a plastic egg until I went to college.  Did I live a sheltered life?  Or is that an East Coast - West Coast thing?  Anyway, my biggest problem with plastic eggs is not that they are plastic.  It is that they won't stay shut!

Kearney Mansion

Did you know that Kearney Park was designed by the same man that designed Central Park in New York City?  Neither did I, but I know now.  Did you know that a four year old is a dangerous thing during a 45 minute long historical house tour?  I did too, but I was still dumb enough to take him!

It's Not Over

Just a reminder to everyone to stay informed on Proposition 8.  It is not over by any means.  I believe that the people of California have an inalienable right to control their constitution.  Check out protectmarriage.com for updates.

California High School Tennis Tournament Champions

The Buchanan Boys Varsity Tennis team has been battling it out this weekend.  They played three matches on Friday and three matches on Saturday.  In the end, they were champions!  Seth did great!  In one of the matches, Seth won it for his team in a set tiebreaker.  (Mom was knitting and trying not to look).  I took this picture during warm-ups because I didn't want to disturb him during his match play, but he still looks pretty intense!

Pedro's Pack

One step farther along the trail!

Today was a big day, both for Pedro and I.  Rudy Stauffer came down from Placerville to help me learn the basics of llama packing.  I'm a little overwhelmed, but very excited.  I have been wanting to do this for over a decade.  Pedro was a little nervous at first, (so was I).  But he responded well to the pack when he was tied.  When I tried to lead him for the first time he freaked out and went running all over my back orchard.  He only stopped when he tried to run between two fences and got stuck.  He tried spitting at the packs to see if they would go away.  When he realized they weren't going anywhere he finally calmed down.  I led him around and then we took the pack off.  It remains to be seen what he does the next time I take it out of the barn (probably he will freak out on sight).

Dinner Party

Happy Valentine's Day!

I set my table like this once a year.  You got it, on Valentine's day!

Sledding

On New Year's Day we took the kids up to a snow park to go sledding.  Lots of fun was had by all.  Eric took this picture of David.  I love it because of the expression on his face and the way the flying chunks of snow stand out in the light.  It makes me feel all light hearted and kid-like just looking at it!