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Showing posts from April, 2010

Spring Break: Tilden

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I believe I could be truly happy in Provo if we could have Tilden Park. I just want the whole thing dug up and dropped in the foothills of the Wasatch Front, complete with migrating newts, fog, and little kids wearing Flapdoodle hats. Until that happens, we make it one of our first stops when we visit the grandparents. We were thrilled that it was open for spring break, so we went there on Monday. As it was raining, there were not so many people at the train. We had dragged Joss along even though it was perilously close to naptime, but the Tilden steam trains are magic. He went from vague interest to jumping up and down and making "chubby chubby choo choo" sounds. He also picked up the word "tunnel" along with "beach", "hot dog", and "froggy". Does he look ready for a nap? The engineer was congenial as usual. He showed the kids the firebox, explained the steam engine, rang the bell and tooted the whistle for us. I know that there are

Easter 2010: egg hunt

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I love the kids hunting for eggs in their bathing suits. They found all the eggs and some plastic ones with candy and quarters (since Sebastian is now collecting). The Easter Bunny treated them right, too.

Easter 2010: Elkhorn Slough Safari

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[click to enlarge] On Saturday morning, we rode on the Elkhorn Slough Safari on a pontoon boat. I was expecting a nice boat ride with some far off marine fauna. We got a whole lot more than that. Captain Yohn and his assistant, Kelly, handed out clickers to each pair of seatmates and assigned each one a different animal to keep a total on. Before we were even out of the marina we saw a bevy of sea lions all performing synchronized swimming with their fins and tails out of the water (they taught us that animals do that to keep warm because it takes less energy in air than in water). Then we turned into the slough and saw brown and white pelicans, snowy egrets, curlews and grebes. We saw clams squirt water three feet in the air! We learned the difference between harbor seals and sea lions (color, flippers and ears). And we saw sea otters galore. There were 18 in one raft of them. There were some mothers and pups (one was new to the captain and so it was probably less than 24 hours old)

Easter 2010: plover

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One of the other special things about this beach is the Snowy Plover. This is a teeny tiny shorebird which makes its nest in the sand. From afar it looks like it's wearing Devo glasses and taking itself very seriously skittering in and out of the surf -- it's comical to see it in action. They've been on a threatened list since 1993, and since 2001 there has been a plan in place to help them out. This means that sections of beach are cordoned off for their nests. No dogs or horses are allowed. We can't fly kites or build structures or fires down by the beach either. Any of these things might cause them to abandon their nests or have a wee avian heart attack. The good news is that there are more snowy plover now than there used to be. We were sullen when we first had to abide by these rules, but truth to tell, we're rather protective of them now.

Easter 2010: Pool

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After you are frozen solid from the Pacific, you mince your way across the sand, boardwalk and pavement to the pool by the clubhouse. The pool is heated, but it is so windy and exposed there by the shore that it is still pretty cold. Once you have taken all you can at the pool, you make your way across the splintery walkway to the hot tub. You submerse yourself there until your skin has stopped stinging and then you realize that it is actually only about as hot as a bathtub. The kids then turn on jets and slide down the rail and splash each other until everyone is pink-cheeked and dehydrated, or until Joyce the Sea Hag shows up in her jewel-encrusted visor to hassle people about infractions of the rules. Then you walk back to the house in your frozen wet towel and raid the larder. By the time the towels and bathing suits are dry, you're ready to start the whole cycle over again!

Easter 2010: beach

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It has been a tradition since at least the mid-70's that my parents' ward would go down to the beach during General Conference weekend (semi-annual church meetings which are broadcast on TV and mean that you don't have to be doing your lay clergy job; also known as "PJ Sunday" at our house). Rob had a conference to attend in Berkeley, and the kids were off for spring break, so we drove down to the Bay Area and piggybacked on the event. Yes, it was a heinous drive out and we shall say no more about it except that three of our four kids were fanTAStic. We took Rob straight to the conference and then dumped ourselves at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is the same place we come for family reunions and the same place that Rob tells bedtime stories about Kyle and Pablo, the two sixth graders in a dual immersion Spanish/English class at Castroville Elementary. So our kids know what they like to do here. They wanted to head for the beach immediately, but I, being t

Sebastian is SIX!

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I really cannot believe it, but Sebastian had his birthday last week. It seemed to me and Rob that he had always been five and that he was the perfect five-year-old. I don't know what to do with a six-year-old Sebi! He took treats to his kindergarten class and his dance class and had dinner and cake and ice cream with his friend Tomas and family. There were presents of the Star Wars and Lego variety and a bug circus and a folder for his collection of state quarters. He spent the evening running around and was happy. Here are six things I love about Sebi: 1. his coloring: I love the dark hair, the long lashes, and the blue eyes. He's unique in our family for that particular combination 2. his sense of humor: when his uncle said that his hair looked like a living thing with a pelt up there on his head, he went right along with it. When we can't find something, Sebi says "maybe it's lost in the pelt!" He sometimes calls himself the Kingdom of Pelt. 3. his willi

Pinewood Derby: Not a Fiasco

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Rob was mentioning that my blog languished without new posts while he was away in Berlin. I reminded him that I was single parenting in Provo with a broken camera while he was going solo in Berlin with a digital SLR. I was expecting some posts from him ! I don't have any pictures here, but we may go back and have him show you where he was and what he did with his time. Which reminds me that I need to here express my gratitude for Skype. We talked to Rob most days, as long as we wanted, for free. Kids were able to show him homework and spelling tests and boo-boos. He watched Joss have a meltdown and I felt so much less alone having shared that with Rob across thousands of miles. One day he even supervised Will's violin practice on Skype. It really made a huge difference. The only thing Skype couldn't help me out with was the pinewood derby. Rob had scheduled it for the day after he got back, and he'd left Will with a car that was shaped and painted, but had done no tink