Backpacking

With our kids becoming older and their bodies becoming stronger, we've happily diverged from car camping to the world of backpacking. After last summer's successful overnight experience at Point Reyes Coast Camp, this summer we kicked it up a notch to a two-nighter in the Sierras.

A friend recommended an area to us with beginning level hiking and mountain lakes galore. It turned out to be just as described. There was lake after lake after lake all within just a few miles. To me it felt like we didn't work hard enough for the reward, but for the young kids new to backpacking, it was perfect.

The first day hike-in was the whiniest. By the time we packed up at home and then dropped off Blake in Lodi with Jeff's parents and then made a few stops to pick up necessities (and non-necessities) and then arrived to the trailhead, it was late afternoon. The hike, of course, was a little farther than we anticipated, and the kids were hungry hungry and tired and tired. See:

We hiked past several beautiful lakes - this one my favorite:

But it was Milk Lake we were looking for, with the hopes that just maybe it would have a good campsite for us. Oh the rapture I experienced when we descended the hill to find a BIG, beautiful campsite waiting for our grouchy clan.

We set up camp, including a bear bag

Ate some delicious pizza that we packed in (the necessity), followed by the delicious Ikeda's razzleberry cobbler that I packed in (the non-necessity). I assured Jeff that this cobbler would be the thing that would help everyone remember the trip. He said, fine, then you carry it. That night I prayed that the bears would not come picking berries out of the teeth of my children as they slept.

The next morning started with hot chocolate and un-eaten oatmeal for breakfast on our "table" rock.

Then I tamed the daughter's wild mane ...

... and pretended for a moment that it was just me and my love in the wilderness.

After the previous afternoon's unexpected s.l.o.w.n.e.s.s, we adapted our original plan to go farther into the wilderness on day two. Instead of continuing around the long loop, we backtracked to the fork in the loop and headed up the other direction.

Part way to our expected destination, we saw a reasonable campsite and decided to drop our packs there. It turned out to be a very good decision. To get to Penner Lake (the expected destination), we had to climb a steep, switchback-y trail. We pushed those kids  along, promising that the reward comes after the hard work, and everyone made it to the top! Here's half-way up the ridge:

At last a peek at Penner Lake!

One brave child took a dip in the freezing water. Just feet were enough for the rest of us.

We hiked back down to our campsite and enjoyed a night and a morning of hanging around in the forest next to a beautiful lake. Not so bad. Except that I made a LOT of trips up and down the hillside to help each child find an appropriate place to "take care of business." Up and down and up and down. Not the highlight, but one of my main memories, unforunately. It's a good thing I have the cobbler memory to cling to!

On the morning of day three, we took the short trek back to the van, but not before Eliza shed a few tears and begged to never leave. I guess she liked it? She asked about the life of a forest ranger and then wondered if she could do that and have a family too. Cute.

Here we are. Not the complete family (missing Blake and Lily-pup), but the right crew for this trip.

Okay, mountain man, where to next year?

June in Pictures

Who likes the "puffy" more, the 2 year old or the puppy? It's too close to call ...

Blake's tantrums are frequent, passionate, and perplexing. For example, he'll ask for milk, so I get it but then he screams and swats it away when I give it to him (but you asked for it and brought me to the fridge and pointed to the milk?). So then I put the cup in the fridge, but then he screams more intensely. So a few minutes later I re-offer the milk and this time he stops screaming and takes it peacefully. Perplexing. The good news is the tantrums are short-lived (less than 10 min). All I have to do is reflect on Ben's 45 minute rages at this age, and all is well. But still, this is a phase I could do without. At this point in my life, I just don't have time for tantrums, so please just stop already. Here's a picture mid-Blake-rage. Evidently Jeff and I cannot produce "mild-mannered" children.

Party people in the house ... I mean crate. There's Lily's nose in the foreground, trying to sniff out what is going on get out of my crate. Or is it little pigs let me come in? Ah the fun we have narrating her behavior.

Swim meet season! Eliza really has come a long way since last year. She can actually make her limbs do the strokes; it's fun to watch.

In April this year, I started taking Eliza to The Ballet School in Walnut Creek. I've been impressed so far with the classes and the philosophy of the school and feel like it's worth the craziness of getting there. I loved loved loved the June "demonstration". It's in a beautiful theater and is a demonstration of the skills they've been learning/practicing in the classroom. Every level wears black leotards and ballet tights and shoes. No frilly costumes, no fancy choreography, just pure beautiful little children doing little children things in a professional presentation. Loved. it.

Here's our Eliza, a Kindergarten graduate, showing her proof of graduation and sporting her brand new dress and toms, purchased the day before by a mom who suddenly realized she needed to step it up and be a mom to a girlie girl. Hopefully in future grades they'll teach her in school how to write non-run-on-sentences and she'll be smarter than her mom.

Eliza and her vibrant, vivacious, fun, dramatic bestie.

Eliza wondered why we didn't pull her big brothers out of school to witness her graduation. It hadn't even occurred to me. I love that she wanted them there.

This school year, Ethan participated in an afterschool Robotics Club. This is a situation where, once again, we are so blessed to know really great people who do really great things. Our friend from the neighborhood organized this club with the Robotics/Physics teacher at the high school. Every Friday, a group of 10-15 middle school kids would walk across the street to the high school and spend a couple of hours building robots with the HS teacher. For free. So fun. So blessed. Ethan's heaven. Here he is doing the finishing touches on the last challenge day.

And with his buddy, ready to compete

And then, mid-June we launched into summer! Ben continued with school while the others did swim team practice and other stuff. Blake discovered a new canvas. I'm just glad it wasn't the walls :)