Shake-down from the Shasta trip

We're blessed to have the Eriksens in our life; I've known Jo Ella since we were college juniors together in England and the friendship has been formative in my life ever since. Her husband shares agricultural, free spirit, and capable "Renaissance Man" traits with HF, and there are always ideas to be hashed out when we're together (which, sadly, is infrequently). Their family inspires us in many ways and our camping trip with them at Shasta Lake last weekend was no different. One of the qualities they're intentionally working to instill in their kids is toughness, and it was obvious that they have put thought and energy into what this looks like in practice. How do we raise kids who make the most out of life even when things don't go as we'd choose, and who can problem solve in thrive in less-than-ideal circumstances? This trip provided a great testing ground for us (and them) to play it out - between the near-freezing night-time temps, pervasive poison oak, and lengthy drive times to and from the site.

The thing that soaked into my heart the most was how enjoyable the trip was with such a mindset as a backdrop. It was cold; there was little sun and certainly no swimming in the lake (which is normal this time of year as temps are usually in the 80's); we had to be constantly vigilant about the abundant poison oak that surrounded our campsites; and hours were spent handling the broken back window of our van. But we made our own fun anyway. If an earnest goal is to make the most of the situation and practice our 'uncomplaining' muscles (for ourselves as well as our kids), training ourselves in how to be continually thankful and respond well to all types of situations, then challenging circumstances can be seen in entirely a different light.

The 4-year old boys rode bikes and dug in the campsite dirt with sand toys; the 2-year old girls shadowed the boys in their activities (and Roo delighted in touching every new object in her hands-on way); the babies crawled on the crawling mat and stayed bundled much of the time. Much "casting practice" happened down by the beautiful lake's edge, though no fish were caught - or even sighted as far as I know. We grown-ups had delightful conversation, frequently interrupted by day but longer by night-time firelight after kids passed out from exhaustion in camper and tent. A memorable trip in every way.

Trips and trips

Couple weeks since I last posted here... Ten days ago HF returned home from a week away, and we then immediately began Intensive Prep for our first real (more than 1 night) camping trip with kids. We spent four nights and three days in the Shasta Lake region of northern CA, about 500 miles north of us - just returning home last night after 11 hours on the road. We met our dear friends there who live in northern WA and whose three children exactly mirror ours in age and gender, a happy circumstance for all. We had side-by-side campsites: they in a pop-up trailers and we in two tents. Everyone had a great time together.

It was the coldest weather northern CA has seen in 15 years, and the predicted 80 degrees at our lakeside campsite was instead 50 - 65 degrees by day and 40 - 50 degrees at night. Quite an adventure! The kids did extremely well and we enjoyed the opportunity to practice our family toughness (and winter camping expertise too). HF and I were also pleased to see that we can in fact do long road trips with young kids - this was the longest we'd ever spent in the car with them - and now feel freer to explore the state and region in upcoming months.

One of the more memorable moments in our trip was the Monkey's departure from explicit instruction in continuing to hit rocks with his whiffle ball bat (hitting balls wasn't allowed because the site was surrounded in poison oak to which HF is extremely allergic). He thought he'd just hit one more after he was told not to, on that hit, put one right through the window of our van. The results - along with his dad's ingenious Macgyver-style sapling-anchor method of patching the back window until he could get home to have it fixed - are shown below.

More details and photos from the trip to follow.

The week in snapshots

Playing "spaceship" in the moving box with neighbor friend Natalie

The "loot" from our scavenger hunt for the color blue (monkey's request)

The goose practicing crawling (and being cute)

Big girl bed!

Bit of reorganization here on the homefront, prompted mostly by Miss Roo's transition to a "big girl bed" this week. We have a camping trip planned in a few weeks' time plus some upcoming summer travel... both of which will be crib-less events for her, so wisest to begin preparing her now. Moreover, at nearly 2 3/4, she certainly ready to be out of a crib. This was the week. The first 24 hours went OK... The second night the freedom seemed to set in a bit more fully, and for several hours she called out frequently for us for no real reason. At one point I went in and she was stark naked, seeking to change into a different pair of PJ's. Bit of directed training merited at that point... Tonight is night 4 and she seems to be getting the hang of it.

We were able to rearrange some furniture in Roo's small room, and now there's space to accomdate her play kitchen - which the crib prohibited before. Said kitchen, which she received as her second birthday present, lost a lot of its charm when she irreparably ripped the cabinet door off the front... and has been a bit of an eyesore in the family room ever since. So everyone's happy about the new locale in her bedroom - and I'm enjoying a simplified and cleaner-looking toy corner in the family room (pictured). Last month's garage organization work really lit a fire under us about making our space work optimally for us - and also letting go of things we don't need. Amazing the number of toys you begin accumulating once you have three small kids...

Week in the life of a 4-year old...

On Friday we went to the library, and the monkey did his usual: found and asked to borrow about 20 books about animals He's especially taken with all things aquatic, and I have learned more about sharks, whales, octopuses (or "octopi" - we see it different ways in different places) and seals that I ever knew before. And I mean ever. See him pictured here with his newly acquired stash of animal books.

On Sunday he and HF entered a walking, open land archery competition together in neighboring Simi Valley (while the girls stayed local and did the church/home Sunday routine). They loved it, and the monkey evidently displayed notable prowess with a bow and arrow. There was one "shoot the target in the air" station that he surprised everyone, including his father, by getting. A budding Robin Hood.

On Monday the monkey decided to find out what would happen if he stuck a piece of cereal, a "Honey Bunches of Oats" flake, up his nose. I would have though that, at 4 1/2, he would be old enough to know better, but apparently he just wanted to see what would happen. I looked for it with a flashlight and couldn't find it, and was in the process of talking to my mom about next steps (I wasn't panicked as I knew it was small, digestible, and not a breathing hazard) when he sneezed it out. Thankfully.

Today he is hosting his friend Mason, fellow 4-year old, for an afternoon playdate; their favorite activity was drawing "maps" on the interior walls of their "spaceship" (a large moving box that has been a favorite play item since it got pulled out of the garage last month). It literally occupied them for 20 minutes. And why not - is there anything better than a moving box for playing in?