The Last Day (day 3)

Sunday was our last day at camp.  We went up to the main cabin to watch the morning session of General Conference.  It was comfortable and great to get a little conference in.

After conference it was time to clean up and head out.  The kids ran around a bit while the adults sorted and packed.

Then it was all hands on deck for clean up.  When you rent cabins here you take on janitorial duties.  We cleaned our cabins, the out door kitchen and the bathrooms.  

The care takers of the camp (the Siselacks) came and gave the kids rides around in the four wheeler.  The kids were in heaven!

With camp clean and our stuff packed, we made our trips across the suspension bridge with our gear.  We rounded up the troops for some pictures.  We made a deal with the kids to keep them interested in cleaning up camp.  For every piece of trash the adults found they would have to do a push up.  I think we ended up finding 10 little scraps of stuff.  Will still made the kids follow through...but he did the push ups with them.  Then it was time for pictures in front of the gigantic tree.

We decided to make the short trip west to Highway 1 so we could take the coastal view for part of the drive home.  We stopped and made a little hike down to the beach to check out the ocean.  We weren't far from Glass Beach.  There was a fair amount of sea glass at this little beach from the glass beaches up north.  We saw otters and seals just off the beach where we were relaxing.  

We hit the road for home with most of us looking forward to the views we would enjoy on the drive down Highway 1.  Little did we know how windy Highway 1 was going to be and how carsick the kids were going to get.  It was MISERABLE!  At one lovely point, Adell started barfing in the back seat.  I scrambled to throw her some air sick bags that I keep in the car.  At the smell/sight/sound of Adell loosing it Colter started loosing it.  Barf everywhere.  It was not cool.  Will pulled over as soon as it was safe and we started cleaning up the kids and the barf and the van.  Not cool.  We made it to a little fish restaurant in Bodega Bay where we broke the Sabbath to eat.  The kids who had barfed needed a refill and the kids who had not needed some salty food to settle their own tummies.  From that point we gave up on Highway 1 and cut across to the 101.  Safe, wide, straight highway driving for us.  

It was one of the best camping trips I've ever been on.  I never want to sleep in a tent or cook on a camp stove again.  I am pretty sure this is the only way I want to camp...for the rest of my life.  

The Kid's Talent Show Act...

So here are five video clips from the Anderson Kid's talent show offering.  I cannot remember if it was called the "low budget super hero" or something else but it is so funny.  Seriously, I laugh every time I  watch the clips and am so proud of my creative kids!  They came up with the idea all on their own, practiced it and put the show on.  Really, it is totally worth your time to watch the clips.  I wish I had recorded the whole thing but you get a really good idea of the story.  The missing beginning is Lorien explaining that the kids love to put on movies and plays together.  Out in the woods there are not a lot of props or materials for putting on a great show so, they were going to do their best with what they had.  Enjoy.  (I know you will)

The Best Day (day 2)

The next day, our one full day at camp, was for sure the very best day.  Every activity and event seemed to out do the previous one.  We had a yummy breakfast and decided to head out on a hike around camp.  Will used a map from the camp caretakers and plotted a route for us all to take.  It started with a serious climb.  We had to break at the top for some rest...and family photos.

We hiked along a ridge line for a little while and tried to see the ocean but there were too many trees.  We identified madrone trees and some of the kids collected hiking sticks.  As we came out of the woods and to a fork in the trail we weren't sure which way to go.  Will spent some time thinking through our routes and proposed a couple of options.  We all agreed and headed off.  It was a pretty typical "hiking with Will" situation.  We get a little lost and he uses his sense of direction and whatever map is at hand (sometimes on his phone) to route us back home.  Sometimes we end up taking the very longest way home...sometimes we end up at an ending point far away from home.  I sat back, hoping this would be a shorter hike home than ones we had been on before.

We ended up loosing our trail markers and bushwhacking through a good portion of the hike.  Everyone kept their spirits up and hoped the trail would show up around the next tree or hedge.  

At last...we came to this steep hill and the trail markers pointed DOWN the hill.  With no path we all started slipping and stumbling our way down.  Half way down the hill some of the dads found a rope...which was handy because for the last part of the nearly vertical decent we needed a rope to balance with as we practically fell down the slope.  A dad or two stationed themselves along mid-points on the rope to help catch kids and moms as we tried to navigate the rope-slope. Some of the other dads carried the littlest hikers on their backs to get them down the slope.  

IT WAS CRAZY.

I stood at the top (terrified for my turn) alternating between my jobs of cheerleader and professional worrier.  All of the kids and adults were great cheerleaders.  Calling out encouragement and congratulations as we each descended the rope-slope.  At my turn, I nearly threw up.  I do not like heights and I am not confident in my ability to preform most difficult, physical tasks (in other words, I am a total wimp).  But, I made it...only to discover that the next harrowing task awaited me...balancing on a single rope bridge to cross a stream.  I don't know how the other hikers managed this task.  I couldn't see it from my perch high above.  Somehow, we all made it safely down the rope-slope and across the rope-bridge.  We found the river that runs next to our camp after that and all cheered with joy and relief!  We made it!  Everyone was impressed with the kids and adults for making that crazy, fun hike.

Can you tell from this picture how steep the incline was?  Can you understand how nervous we all (or at least me) were?

Here is the crazy rope-slope.  The dad on the very right had to catch kids and moms as we stumbled down the rope and around a sharp turn.  Will is in the center of the picture helping to guide Clare down at the bottom left.  I still am so amazed that we made it.  The hike was longer than we all bargained for, we got lost, AND we had to basically repel down a hill to get to safety.  This hike will go down in the record books, for sure.

After the hike and some lunch we all decided it was time to check out the river.  Normally, when California gets the proper amount of rain, the river is full and deep.  Our winter this year did bring some rain but not enough to ease the drought or fill the river.  We played in the shallow water.  There were canoes and kayaks to use.  Kids found frogs and skipped rocks.   

The water was cold and it is October so the weather is nice but not really warm enough to swim.  But the oldest kids got super brave and decided to jump off the rock cliff into the water.  Wyatt and his friends started the charge and then called for the big girls to come and try it out.  

One of the dads volunteered to canoe kids over to the rock so they could jump.  Then my scaredy-pants Clare decided to give it a try.  I didn't think she would do it.  She is my most timid child!  She doesn't like roller coasters and screamed in terror when she learned how to ride a bike.  But up she scampered and out to the edge of the rock.  I leaned over to Will and said, "You better get ready to swim over there and help her off the rock because there is no way she is jumping."  As soon as I uttered the last word in my counsel Clare shouted out "One, two, three!" and jumped off the cliff!!!  I was stunned...almost as stunned as she was upon hitting the cold water.  I was so proud and impressed.  I hate jumping off things!  I would never have done it.  She was awesome.   

Wyatt was awesome too!  He was one of the first to jump off the cliff and he ended up jumping several times.  The water and air were cold so this really took guts.  I was proud of him too...shivering and blue lipped he jumped!

We all remarked to each other how fantastic the day had been.  How could it get any better.  Well, Will found a way to top it.  He convinced the camp caretakers to let him have a chain saw and an ax to clear some fallen trees.  Will got the big boys using the ax and chainsaw splitting and piling wood.  As we watched them work one of the dads said "I am trying to figure out how many visits to camp it would have taken me to get the idea to ask for the chain saw to chop wood.  And then, how many more visits after that before the caretaker would have trusted me enough to give me a chainsaw!"  We all agreed, Will has some master negotiating skills.   

The best and brightest part of our evening was the family talent show.  Did I mention that the camp has a stage and seating for such an activity?  It is such a cool place!  All of the kids put on acts and most of the grown ups.  My favorite act by far was my kids play.  They called it the "low budget super hero story" or something like that.  It was so funny and so well done.  I couldn't believe they put it all together that afternoon.  All of the kids were funny and confident.  It was a great show.  I managed to get three short clips.  They are well worth the watch!

Dream Camping Day One

We love camping.  It is hard to do out here in California.  Campsites fill up fast, you have to make plans months in advance.  Usually we go camping once a year in May down at Big Sur.  We have to make the reservations in November the year before.  If we forget, we are out of luck.  

One of our friend's suggested we try camping through the LDS church camp grounds.  We were able to make a reservation just about a week before we wanted to go camping and head out.  It was pretty easy...and so much cheaper than California campgrounds.  

The kids were off school on Friday so we headed out to camp.  We had to drive for a few hours and true to getting anywhere good around here we had to take some wicked windy roads.  We all got car sick. 

At one point we had to pull over to try and prevent everyone from barfing.  While we were stopped, Wyatt found a letterbox!  We need to do more of those.  We haven't found one in ages.  

We made it to the camp ground deep in the redwoods.  We met the couple who ran the camp site and checked into our little cabin.  We had to park on one side of the river and make trips over this cool suspension bridge to get everything over to the camp site.  It was totally worth it.  The kids all helped make trip after trip and we all had fun exploring the area.  There was so much to do!

My favorite part, this amazing rope swing!  Everyone took turns on the swing and loved it.

Over the next few hours our friends started showing up.  We all oohed and awed over the little cabins, the out door kitchen, the functioning bathrooms (with showers!) the sport area, river, hiking trails, fire pit, and ropes course.  We spent the afternoon playing with friends and preparing a delicious dinner.  We did discover that we all brought a ton of food.  We were going to be well fed over the weekend.  

Play school

Last year we did a home preschool with a couple of friends Colter's age.  Over the summer both of our friends moved away.  So we were without a preschool option for this year.  I really don't want to pay for preschool anyway...so no big deal.  I knew Colter would be lonely with everyone at school all day.  Last year he missed Lorien so much (after having her home every day during her homeschool year).  I knew preschool every day was out of the financial question but looked for something.  Thankfully, my visiting teacher suggested this little play school that is run by the city rec department.  I signed Colter up and he goes one day a week for a few hours.  

  First day, Tuesday August 30th 

Colter's teachers are Miss Shelly and Miss Mary.  He says Shelly like "Sherry" and gets frustrated if we don't say her name correctly...even if he cannot.  Miss Mary and Miss Shelly LOVE Colter.  They are full of compliments when I pick him up.  He sits and listens at story time!  He shares the toys!  He helps other kids solve problems!  He is a dream.  It is nice to hear your kid is well behaved when you aren't around.  One day I showed up at pick up and he was helping Miss Mary sweep up the sand from a little sand box.  He was really determined to get every grain swept up.  It was adorable.  And when he needed to get to another spot he would say "Over here now Miss Mary" who was holding the dust pan while he swept.  He is a cutie.

    

And we have a "colleger"

When Lorien was a little girl (somewhere between 5 and 7  years old) she used to call people who were attending college, "Collegers" like teenagers.  It was adorable.  She also called Will's graduation from grad school his "Congraduation" also adorable.  And she called George Washington's face on a quarter "man-genius" also adorable.  I could list the things she said that were 100% adorable all day.  But I wont...well, just one more.  She called the Hoover Tower at Stanford the "Coober Tower".  I let that one go until like yesterday.  It was too cute.  

Anyway, last year, Lorien decided she would take her foreign language requirement at a local community college.  Having little interest in the Spanish or French the high school offered, she searched elsewhere for Japanese.  Over the last two years Lorien has fallen in love with all things Japanese.  Anime cartoons being top on the love list.  So she jumped at the chance to take Japanese at the community college.  Two of the biggest bonuses being: she could take the class for one whole dollar AND one semester of college counted as a year of a high school language.  Win, win.  The only draw back was that the only campus that offered Japanese is about 20 miles away.  And the only time the class was offered that didn't conflict with her high school classes was the ripe hours of 4-6 pm when traffic is at its worst.  Still, she soldiered on with registration and class attendance requests.  Thankfully, we found out one of her friends, Cole, also wanted to take Japanese and we could work out a carpool.  

So...Tuesday was Lorien's first day of class up at DVC.  I drove the first leg of carpool.  Cole's dad works near the campus and is able to bring the kids home as long as he isn't traveling.  The kids had to go to the registrars office and pay their dollar.  Then get a request to attend form and take it to the first day of class.  Provided the teacher was willing and there was space in the class, they were in.  

I had Adell and Colter with me so we hung back and I let Lorien and Cole navigate most of the process on their own.  It was exciting and nerve wracking to see my little baby signing up for a college class.  Eeep!  Where did the time go?!

Sneaky Mom Shot

Lorien and Cole are up at the Admissions and Records window to the left paying their dollar and getting their forms.

Kid 1/2 dressed in pajamas and 1/2 dressed in regular clothes.  

Up the stairs to class they go.

Once they were paid in full I walked with them over to their classroom and sent them on their way.  I tried not to linger and worry that they wouldn't be able to handle the rest on their own.  I am a big believer in preparing your child for the path and sending them on their way when the time is right.  This was the right time.  

Adell, Colter and I headed to the van and I burst into tears.  I cried for the whole drive home.  I couldn't stop.  I cried and cried.  Finally, Colter called out to Adell: "Ugh, she's been crying and crying all day!  I didn't do anything!  I tried to make it better!  She just wont stop crying!"  Poor kid.  His mother was an emotional wreck.

  

Real story.  Remember the house we looked at the weekend before school started?  The day I went to the fancy-schmancy bridal shower and Will helped dig up his brother's yard?  Yes, that day and that house.  We decided we wanted the house.  We put in an offer and waited.  We still hadn't finalized our loan so I knew it would be a tough sell for our realtor.  But there wasn't anything I could do about that.  

So we put in an offer on the house and we were waiting.  I was having a hard time being patient in waiting.  I was also feeling overwhelmed at the idea of buying a very expensive house that needed a fair amount of work once we moved in.  THEN I dropped my baby off at college and lost my mind.  I felt like life was unraveling before I could gather it in enough to enjoy it.  If we bought this house we would be living in a home we owned for the first time since Lorien was a baby.  And here that baby was going to college?  It was all too much.  I sobbed for the whole drive home.

The next day we found out we did not get the house.  There was only one other offer for just as much as we were offering but they could put more money down so the other offer won.  Bummer.  

We will find a house that is right for us.  I just have to keep being patient and now we have more time to get our loan finalized anyway.

School's back from Summer...

Ah, the blessed and dreaded first day of school.  I'm just going to say it was all dreaded and none of it was blessed.  Our school district moved the start date up by two weeks this year and we lost two weeks of summer vacation!  

Blast and drat.

Usually, when school is about a week away, I cannot wait to send my little darlings out the door to be cared for in the public education system.  Usually, when school is three days away, my kids are at each other's throats and fighting so much...I consider adoption...as in "putting them all up for".  

I am sure, if summer vacation was the regular length I would have been shooing all of my darlings out the door with joy.  BUT school started August 15th and in my book, that is too soon and stinks so much.  

Alas, there was nothing I could do about it (I tried).  So, I sent my darlings out the door with forced smiles.

Lorien 10th grade, Wyatt 7th grade, Clare 5th grade, Adell 1st grade

Will took Lorien to school for her first day.  On top of starting school two weeks early, the high school decided to switch to block scheduling...AND make the start day different every day of the week.  I wish I was joking around.  I nearly am, school starts at 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning, depending on the day.  It is a pain in the butt.

Wyatt met up with his bike crew at a friend's house and biked to school on his own.  No more fond farewells at the school gates for this guy.

Colter sure knows how to create a Kodak moment...

I took the girls to elementary school.  We walked in and found their class lines.  A friend snapped a few pictures of us on the way in.  Naturally, I am delighted to have photographic evidence of how little effort I put into my morning appearance.  Like zero effort, right.  Yes, exactly zero.

Forced levity and joy

Girls in their first day clothes...Momma and Colter in pajamas.

It was bizarrely cold for the 15th of August.  The sky was clouded over and fog hung in the air.  A chilly wind was kicking up and we were all wishing we had worn and extra jacket.  It was like California knew it would be out first day of school and snapped up some fall weather for the occasion.

Just you and me baby.

After getting the girls out the door, Colter and I parked on the side walk to play trucks for 25 minutes...because we don't have a yard.  Then we went up to Chick fil A for a little date before turning right back around to pick all the kids up from school.  ANOTHER awesome thing our school district does is to have the first day of school be a half day and every day for the first two weeks is an early out day.  Grrrrrr.

Welcome back school year.  You stink.

Fake fancy

So I know one glamorous person...one.  And she is getting married in September.  Today I got to go to her bridal shower.  Because she is the most glamorous person I know, Tiffany's co-hosted her bridal shower.  I am not joking.  Everything was Tiffany's blue and white.  There was a table of Tiffany's jewelry to try on (with an armed security guy sitting at the table too).  It was crazy...and fun. 

This necklace weighs more than all of the clothes I am wearing.

The Tiffany's jewelry here cost as much as a house in my home town.

Clare is good friends with the bride to be's daughter, Gwen.  I wish I brought Clare to the party.  She would have had a good time and she could have kept Gwen company a little bit.  It was a lovely party with yummy food and good company.

The bride to be (on the right) and her daughter.

This picture sums everything up.

While I was at the bridal shower, Will was over at his brother's house, Dave, helping to grade their back yard and get it ready for new sod.  Colter and Adell went to help him work.  Adell played and Colter helped drive the little skid-steer loader.  After the shower, Will and Colter met me at a house we wanted to check out to buy.  Did I mention we are finally ready to buy a house?  Well, after a year of hard work (saving and paying off debt) we are ready.  This house just came on the market and it is in the ideal location.  All of the kids (except Lorien) would be able to walk to school and it is in a safe cul-de-sac.  The house is older but we are excited to see if we could make it work.  

Sweet cousins

After we walked through the house (we liked it ...a lot) I went to pick up Adell and the boys went to the dump to unload all the dirt they'd been digging up.  Colter worked hard shoveling and shoveling.  He was a champ!

I came away from this day with a lot of mixed emotions.  I had spent the morning in the company of jewelry that cost as much as a house in other parts of the country.  I had hugged the bride to be and knew she was wearing a dress that cost more than my whole wardrobe combined.  Then I spent the afternoon walking through a house that cost so much money...it should come with a butler and tennis court.  And while I liked the house, it still needed work.  Basically, I live in a crazy part of the world.  I know who I really am, I am fake fancy, I can rub elbows with those who have more but I am most comfortable digging in the dirt with my four year old.

Last hurrah

Summer break is two weeks shorter this year.  Our school district rearranged the calendar and pushed the start date up to August 15th this year.  I hate it, I want ALL OF AUGUST for summer.  Summer is too short already, loosing two weeks is painful.  We packed a lot into our summer and for our last activity we headed up to Adventure Play Ground in Berkeley.

Adventure Play Ground is basically a kid ruled junk yard.  Kids can get tools and wood and build whatever they want.  We've only been one other time.  Actually, Lorien and Wyatt went once with our friends, the Wirigs, but as our little family...we've only gone twice.  It was all kinds of dirty, dangerous, constructive fun.  We all loved it.

Colter using a big magnet to find nails in the sand.

Wyatt and Evan, reconstructing a new part of a fort.

Clare and Andrew did some demo work.

Sadie, Adell and Colter ran all over the place.

Beach with the kids