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

One night in the mountains...

When we lived in Boston, Will was the Scout Master of our church Scout Troop.  This troop was made up of about 12 boys from a variety of backgrounds and skills.  Will worked hard to introduce (or reinforce) outdoor living skills with these boys.  When Lorien was four or five months old Will planned an overnight backpacking trip with the troop...and Lorien and I went too!  

It was a little crazy.  There was still snow all over the place.  I carried a little back pack with a few supplies, Will carried everything else...even Lorien in the baby bjorn strapped to his chest.  We hiked for a few hours, found a place to "camp" and set up shop.  I don't remember what or how we ate dinner.  I just remember trying to get a nights rest...and failing.  

I was freezing cold.  My feet were in this weird pit in relation to my head. I was freaked out about sleeping in the wild woods.  I thought I heard someone walking around outside our tent.  I was super paranoid about Lorien freezing to death.  It was miserable.  In the morning I "woke up" so thirsty I couldn't open my mouth.  I didn't drink enough water the day before and didn't take into account that I was nursing a baby and needed A LOT of liquid in my body.  After getting some water filtered from a stream I felt better.  

We broke camp and hiked back down to the cars.  I was kind of proud of myself for doing it but I was so miserable...I knew I didn't want to do it again...at least, not with a baby.  Will, on the other hand, had a pretty great time.  He loves backpacking!  He used to do it all the time growing up in Montana.  He was a Super Scout.  As our family grew and aged he continued to talk about going on family backpacking trips.  I'd listen and agree or challenge him depending on the ages and stages of our children.  

Skipping ahead to this summer: Will was one of the guides on the girls camp level 4 hike.  Around here (this was not the case for me growing up and attending Mormon girls camp) the girls go on an overnight hike as part of girls camp.  When they are level 3 they go for two days and one night.  When they are level 4 they go for three days and two nights.  Will was asked to be one of the adult guides on the hike this year.  He was so excited!  After that trip he was all the more motivated to take our family on an overnight trip.  His plans started with just Will, Lorien, Wyatt and Colter going on an one or two night trip.  After we talked, and I thought, we decided to make a whole family trip of it (and to do just one night).

Friday afternoon, we hit the trail.  Will found a hike called 20 Lakes Basin, just outside Yosemite National Park.  It was about an 8 mile loop around--you guessed it--20 or so lakes.  Will calculated our hiking to be about four miles a day.  Totally doable.  We loaded up all of our gear, with each person taking what was appropriate.  Will carried the bulk of our family's crap.  He had two tents, food, sleeping bags, clothes, first aid...a ton of stuff.  The big kids had some food, sleeping bags and bed rolls and I had a few sleeping bags, clothes, food and a few comfort items.  Clare carried our dinner, Adell had marshmallows and Colter had a monster truck toy.  Totally appropriate.  

It took us a little longer than expected to get out of the house in the morning, but we did manage to leave pretty early.  Traffic through Yosemite was slow and we had to stop a few times for a supply item or two and to register as back country campers.  So...we didn't end up getting on the trail until after 2:00pm.  Will hoped to be at our camp site by noon.  We were behind but optimistic about our abilities to make it half way before dark.  

OH!  Adell's second loose front tooth had been hanging by a thread for a day or two.  She was too scared to have anyone pull it.  About 200 yards into the hike--her tooth popped out!  We had all been having a granola bar as our start-of-the-hike snack and Adell's front tooth came out 1/2 way through her bar.  It was very exciting (and relieving)!  

                                         

The first lake was the biggest lake, called Saddle Bag Lake.  It was deep, clear and beautifully blue.  

                                          

After too many hours in the car we all had plenty of energy to haul our packs on the hike.  Thankfully, the hike was quite flat.  There were only a few up and down hills but most of the time we were fairly level.  The only problem was the location in general was up over 10,000 feet above sea level.  It was pretty hard to breathe.  We all could feel the elevation change.  Clare took it the hardest.  She does not have the highest endurance level to start out with and her little body does not adapt well to big change.  But she was a trooper and kept up. 

When we weren't walking beside one lake or another we had little streams of water as companions.  It was a really stunning hike.  

                                         

The kids were most excited about finding snow.  They all wish we lived in a snow laden climate.  We could see snow on the peaks around us but none of it was close enough to play in/eat yet.  

                                          

Colter tried his best to keep up and keep going but it was hard.  Will did have to carry Colter here and there when Colt got too tired.  Most of the time Will was carrying Colter up the inclines, which was really hard work for Will.  He was already carrying most of our family's crap, adding Colter was a lot.  But Will never complained and always swept Colter up whenever he asked.  

                                         

The third lake we came to (I think it was the 3rd...) was called Humming Bird Lake.  Will decided to test out the fishing and I decided to bust out the jolly ranchers and chocolate.  We spent some time fishing, exploring, eating treats and swatting away millions of mosquitoes.  Seriously, I haven't been swarmed by so many blood sucking bugs since being a kid in Maine.  It was the worst thing about the whole hike.  As long as we were walking or a breeze was blowing the mosquitoes weren't too bad--or even around.  But if we stopped, or the air stopped we were swamped!  Mosquito repellent did little to keep the bugs at bay...it was not cool.  

                                         

We didn't catch any fish (saw a few jumping) and the mosquitoes were getting too thick so we loaded up and left Humming Bird Lake.  Luckily, our first patch of snow was just past Humming Bird Lake!  The kids were over the moon!

                                         

The kids grabbed a few handfuls of snow and we marched on.  Next up was Lake Odell.  Here we have Adell at Lake Odell.  The mosquitoes were the worst around Lake Odell.  We didn't slow up much and just tried to hike as fast as our legs would carry us to get past all the mosquitoes.  The sun was also beginning to set and we weren't sure we were going to make it to our camp site before dark.  Will planned to stop for the night at Shamrock Lake.  

                                         

The next lake we came upon was called Lake Helen.  This lake had a great water fall running into in and a huge snow drift slowly melting into the lake.  It was so awesome.  We were also hiking over all of these mountain rocks.  The rocks had been a prominent feature for most of the hike.  We all observed the strange sound the rocks made when we walked over them or they clattered together.  It sounded glass like...or ceramic like...we couldn't quite pin down the sound.  Lorien figured it out while we were hiking down to Lake Helen passing the big snow drift.  She noticed that the sound was exactly like the part in the movie Inside Out, when Bing Bong and Happiness are stuck in the forgotten memories place.  The memories are all of these glass orbs and as Bing Bong and Happiness run around trying to not be forgotten the orbs clang and bang together.  They make a great sound on the movie and all of these rocks sounded exactly the same.  It kind of felt the same too because the sun was setting and we were down in this gully of mountain rocks with the clanging sound as we walked.  It was strange and really cool.  

                                          

                                         

                                         

While we were hiking down to Lake Helen, Adell fell down on the rocks and we were worried for a few minutes that she may have broken her wrist.  Mercifully, she just got a little scrub on her hand and a band-aid fixed her right up.  Disaster, averted!

We had to hike all the way around Lake Helen and then our next lake was going to be our camp site.  It was getting dark, we were all getting really cold and we had lost the trail.  Not really lost it, we could see where the trail went...straight into a big bank of snow.  We weren't really sure how to get around it.  Will hiked over some big rocks and could see Shamrock Lake on the other side but it was going to be a lot more hiking than we were in the mood to do.  Will back tracked us a bit back to Lake Helen and we decided to set up camp there.  

We found two levelish places (with only a couple of rocks) to pitch the tents and set up camp for the night.  We boiled water for cup-o-noodles and put on our warm clothes.  The mosquitoes that had been kept at bay while we were moving were relentless once we stopped.  Everyone was swatting and swinging them away (uselessly).  Wyatt and Will got the bigger tent set up and we all piled in for some mosquito-free time.  It was heaven!  I've never been so glad to be in a tent!  I stayed in the tent with the kids while Will waited for the water to boil and set up the second tent.  

The wind was blowing quite a bit and it took kind of a long time for the water to boil.  Once we had our cup-o-noodles (which never tasted so good!) we piled back into the bigger tent.  The kids were exhausted.  We talked about the day and got everyone situated in their sleeping bags.  Colter fell asleep while we were talking and it wasn't long before the other kids were nodding off too.  

Will and I were plenty exhausted as well.  We headed over to our tent, made it comfortable and settled down for some much needed sleep.  Colter was awake and crying an hour later.  We decided to just bring him into our tent for the night so he would keep the other kids up.  It worked out pretty well...I think...Will took Colter in his sleeping bag and I got to keep mine all to myself.  I slept pretty well.  

Some time...too early to account for...I heard Adell outside our tent exclaiming "Isn't it SO BEAUTIFUL!"  She was taking in our camping spot.  Will got up and started making breakfast (oatmeal and hot chocolate).  The other kids got up too and started exploring the area.  Wyatt took the fishing pole and headed back down to Lake Helen.  

                                       

Colter and Adell climbed some trees, found more snow with Clare and wandered around swatting mosquitoes as they went.  

                                         

Lorien and I stayed in the bug free zone of the tent for as long as possible.  Eventually, I tried to help Will pack our crap back up.  The mosquitoes were too much to bare, I suggested we take all of our crap into the bigger tent and pack up in there.  Packing in the tent with no mosquitoes was SO much better.  

                                         

We left our campsite before lunch and hiked up over the rock face to get to Shamrock Lake.  We stopped for a few picturesque pictures of our campsite (we could hear that waterfall all night).

We hadn't hiked long, but it was time for lunch.  So we took a really long break at Shamrock Lake.  Wyatt was excited to try and fish again and there was a good breeze keeping the mosquitoes away.  It was a great lunch spot.  We were all eating and Wyatt was casting in the lake.  We were teasing Wyatt a little bit about not catching anything.  He said something like "Laugh all you want..." we all started mock-laughing over and over again.  A few seconds later, Wyatt caught a fish!  It was great!  He was excited, Will was excited and the rest of us were impressed into silence.  

                                         

Wyatt let the fish go back into the water after a quick photo opp.  Once Wyatt had a fish Will decided we could disturb the water enough to swim and throw rocks in the lake.  Will and Lorien jumped in first.  Noting as they jumped that there was a frozen mini glacier right at the water's edge.  

                                          

Wyatt managed to step into the water and scrunch his body down enough to get wet up to his shoulders.  That was good enough for him.  He was going to try and jump in too but thought better of it.  Colter dipped his toes a few times.  

                                        

We hung out at Shamrock Lake for well over an hour.  It was time to get back on the trail.  The hardest part about carrying a backpack for me (and Wyatt) was the pain around our hips.  It was nice to have the weight of the pack supported by our hips instead of our shoulders but our hips were sore from the squeeze of the belt.  It was hard.  

                                         

I'm not sure how the miles broke down on our hike there and back.  I know on the second day, I was tired and really ready to be done hiking a lot sooner than on the first day.  Maybe it was the mosquitoes or the interrupted nights sleep?  Either way, I was pretty done with the hike a little ways after Shamrock Lake and we still kind of had forever to go.  

                                         

The kids were amazing!   Clare had a really hard time at the start of the hike.  She was really dizzy at Shamrock Lake and didn't think she was going to be able to finish the hike...not that she had another option.  But at some point she pulled herself up and ended up leading the rest of the hike with Lorien and Wyatt.  Lorien was really encouraging to the younger kids.  She helped navigate each person over perilous crossings (rocks, rivers, steep declines).  She was so supportive!  Wyatt had a lot of extra weight to carry and he never complained once.  He just trooped along.  At one point part of his pack fell forward and conked his head pretty hard.  He just kept on going.  Clare had to carry out a bag of bathroom business.  It was well sealed but gross none the less.  She never complained either.  Adell made up games of "likes and dislikes" to keep all of our minds busy while we hiked.  And Colter was just Colter.  Funny, fun, and troublesome all at once.  Will had to carry Colter a lot more on the hike back.  

                                         

                                         

We made it back to the car by about 3:00 pm Saturday afternoon.  We had been out on the trail for 24 hours.  We had hiked in all of the crap we needed for an overnight stay and hiked it back again.  It was hard and amazing.  The views were so lovely and diverse.  There were so many wild flowers and grasses.  There were crystal clear lakes and snow to enjoy.  It was a great trip.  I was so proud of the kids and myself for doing it.  I was so thankful for Will in planning and carrying the lion's share of our stuff.  It was hard...but worth it.  I don't know if I'll do it again, but I am proud of us for doing it this time.  Go Team Anderson!