Sunday, July 15, 2007
Rock Climbing Camp
Fourth of July
Jeff is armed with the super soaker for the great water fight in the backyard. It was all fun and good for the lawn (which was dead after our ten day trip to California, second year in a row) until Rob tried to douse Jeff, who dodged the water, and ended up getting Hazel instead. She let out the Mighty Hazel Roar which was well justified, if you ask me.
Here is that petite flower Hazel before she got wet. She was charming, and then she got a fever (presumably not because Uncle Rob dumped water on her, though I'm sure it didn't help), so she was snuggly too.
So here is an action shot of the water fight. Will gets it, and you can see Hazel walking up behind Jeff, never suspecting that he is the target of wet misery to come . . .
And finally, Sebastian, holding his sparkler and Cal Berkeley football. Saydi showed me how to use some of the special features on Picasa while she was here. Now I'm trying to figure out how to upload them to the blog in the order I want! In the meantime I am learning a lot. The football was Sebastian's loot from our trip to campus, and the site of a bad parenting moment we can talk about another time.
The Trip Back
We were prepared to stay longer in California, especially because it was Piedmont's centennial Fourth of July and great weather that week, but the kids insisted that we go right home to see their cousins Hazel and Charlie Shumway, out from Boston. So we piled into the car and flew screaming back across the desert.
In their defense, the kids made it both ways in only one very long day. I go to the dollar store before we leave and pass out periodic treats, and we watch videos during the strait patches. And it was all easier than the trip to Sea Ranch which we tried two different ways and both of which scared me half to death. I was certain I was going to drive us all off the edge of a cliff in to the ocean, thousands of feet below. My palms are sweating now, just thinking about it! No one got carsick at any point on the trip, which is another great success to celebrate.
By Elko everyone was tired of the driving, so we used a suggestion from one of Kath Newman's friends: we stopped at a public pool there. The girl behind the counter said "But we're closing in 20 minutes!" and we replied "So much the better!" and changed and jumped in the pool until they closed. It was a great rest stop and everyone got to wiggle and cool off, then we changed back and hopped into the car again. In the future we could time it better so that they can have an hour, but if not, it was still better than trying to run around a dog run at a gas station!
Rob and I also made the kids wait until we reached an In-n-Out Burger for lunch, and then we just didn't get any more food. We usually end up arguing for and against fast food for the kids and we go to some awful Burger King in Elko or McDonald's in Battle Mountain (In-n-Out doesn't count as fast food, if you've read Fast Food Nation). This time we just said "NO" and we were happy about it.
The Vuillermets
Here is Jennifer in their new kitchen. It was done in eight weeks (and the end of that was while they were in France -- so lovely to come back to). Unfortunately they haven't had time to get everything out of storage yet, so Jen says they have only one pot at present. She say the stove boils water fabulously.
McFarlands and Zoe in a group hug. Zoe managed amazingly well to having so many large, loud kids in her house for the evening. We didn't get any pictures of her little brother, Tristan, but he was very smiley before bedtime. We didn't get one of Eric either, now that I think about it . . .
The Kids at Sea Ranch
Here are Will and Maddie at one of the pools. We went a couple of times, but it got cool quickly in the evenings, so Rob and the kids tried out the family sauna.
Our House at Sea Ranch
One afternoon I taught Maddie and Will to play Monopoly. Will loved the fact that he got money. Maddie liked building the houses. Neither one of them was much into organizing their cash as you can see! We played for a few hours and they both did well.

Sea Ranch
Here I am with Sebi on Shell Beach. We came here the first night as soon as we got in, and the kids were so happy to run after another day in the car. Soon I saw two little heads looking out at them from the water, and then more and more, until there were six or ten sea lions watching them and from only a few yards out in the ocean! Of course I didn't have my camera.
But we went back and there were two friends who came to look at us, and they weren't too far away either. I thought that "Sea Ranch" was going to be a misnomer, but it didn't disappoint. We also saw starfish, anemones, mussels, pelicans, crabs, deer, hummingbirds, bluejays, and wild turkeys.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Ten Year Anniversary!
We went in to Mendocino proper and window shopped and walked out along the shore. Ron and Nedra got us massages at the Little River Inn which were fantastic. We ate one night at the Albion River Inn, and the other night we had a picnic from Mendoza's hardware and grocery store (a fun place to go).