PIctures from Sequoia National Park

Ready to start the long climb up Mono Rock, a dome rock located in the southern part of Sequoia National Park.

We made it to the top. It was really windy, but afforded breathtaking views of the canyons. We could see for miles and miles.

Here are some sequoias just hanging around. They grow in clumps, so there are pockets of sunshine and shade all around the forest.

General Sherman, the largest living tree on the earth. It's not the tallest tree, but it's trunk is 36 feet in diameter.

Here we are in front of General Sherman.

Pictures from Kern River

Ok, there will be pictures here, I just have to get them from my mom.

Pictures from the Trail of 100 Giants

Highlights of California tour - Adventure #1

We had 2 vacation destinations this summer, so we combined them into one long trip. We ended up all over our great state of California. We felt like we were on an episode of Huell Howser's California Gold. We got to see a lot of great things. The kids started dividing the trip up by adventures based on where we were sleeping. It was fun all in all. Where, here's what we did on our first adventure, in the Kernville area.

Day 1 - Sunday we drove up to Kernville. Actually, Logan and Rowen drove up with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Brandon. We had a slight detour off the highway because of a wildfire, but other than that, it wasn't too long of a trip. We got to the house we were staying at and just relaxed for the evening.

Day 2 - Monday we drove about 45 minutes to the Trail of 100 Giants. It's in the lower section of the Sequoia National Forest. It's a nice walk along a paved trail through a bunch of giant sequoias. It was kind of cool because the firefighters were doing a controlled burn in the area. It was the first one they had done ever in that section of the forest. We thought it was cool to get to walk around a forest that was on fire. Now I can check that off my list. Then we went to a natural rock slide. The rocks were slippery and the water was extremely cold, but it was really fun. Even Maddoc went down the slide (with Steve and I) and he laughed the second time he went down. Until he hit the really cold water. But he didn't really cry, so we figured he was fine. Then, right as we decided it was time to and we started to gather our belongings, my mom fell while holding Maddoc and split her elbow open. She had fallen right onto her elbow that was bent holding Maddoc. Maddoc was fine, but my mom ended up spending three hours in the ER getting five stitches. At least the skin on the back of the elbow doesn't have any nerve endings, or it would have hurt worse.

Day 3 - Tuesday we went rafting. It was thrilling. Colleen didn't make it, but Steve, my brother Brandon and I all had a blast. We had a rafting nazi tour guide on our boat. During the flat time between rapids, she had us doing turns and paddling up river. We figured we paddled about 60% more than the other boats did. But we were not one of the boats that ended up on top of another one on one section. And at lunch, we all learned that hornets love turkey lunch meat. They swarmed the meat and tore off sections of it to carry off. The kids went to a fish hatchery with Grandma and Grandpa. They said it was pretty boring, but then they went to a park that was right along the river in Kernville. They had fun running around in the sprinklers, going on the swings and throwing rocks in the river.

Day 4 - Wednesday we ended up going to hang out by the river. We found a little beach area with some shade. Brandon bought some tubes that we tied to a tree so we could float without getting carried down river to our deaths. The kids loved playing in the river. The water was really cold, but it was really hot, so it felt great. Maddoc loved playing in the sand and throwing it. Only he has an early release and he lets go of the sand when it's about over his head, so his hat ended up covered in sand.

Day 5 - Thursday, everyone but Phil, Maddoc and I went rafting. The doctor had told my mom that she could still go rafting, especially since it was a trip for young children. They all had a lot of fun. The kids said it was the best vacation day ever. They got to float in the river next to the raft for part of the trip. There was a platform up in a tree over the river that they got to climb onto and then jump in the river. There was obviously much less paddling involved.

Phil and I had slightly less fun, taking Maddoc to the Bakersfield Zoo, Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum. It made the Santa Ana Zoo look world class. The Hummingbird and Butterfly garden consisted of one overgrown bush, covered in bees. At least half of the enclosures were empty, and nearly all of the ones that weren't had animals that were tucked away in some corner, asleep. The best part was when Maddoc saw two chipmunks running around in a glass enclosure in the middle of the reptile exhibit. (Is that really fair to the snakes, taunting them like that?) But Maddoc got such a kick out of watching the chipmunks chase each other around. He was dancing around and giggling. It was cute. It was so hot that we left after an hour and went to find a malt shop. That it was 11 in the morning didn't matter. We figured that the $12 we paid to get in averaged about a dollar per animal.

Thursday afternoon we went back to our beach by the river. We got a longer rope, so we were able to paddle all the way across the river. There was an eddy on the other side, and once you made it across, you could just sit in the shade of a large rock and relax until you wanted to go back. It was a lot of fun when you first got out of the eddy and the current picked you up. It went pretty fast. The rope was so long, that you got pretty close to the rapids that were just past the section we were playing at, it felt a little scary. Rowen got stung by a bee, and so we were lucky to find out she is not allergic to them. We actually got Phil to wear a swim suit and float in a tube. It was great. Finally, the sun went down on our last day in Kernville and we had to pack up our fun and head back to the house. We played Pit that night, and learned that with only 4 players, the game was more about luck and quickness than anything else.

Maybe It's Me

Ok, so maybe it's me, but I'm not very happy with Logan's teacher. Actually, his long-term substitute teacher. I was ok with his regular teacher. It wasn't ideal, but she was a good teacher and Logan was starting to get the hang of how to stay on the good list. Then his teacher goes on bed rest for early labor and he gets a sub. He didn't give the kids any time to adjust to his style. He is much stricter than their regular teacher was. Which is fine on it's own, but it's a little difficult for kids to adjust nearly 3/4 of the way through the year. Logan's behavior card ends up on orange a lot, instead of blue for really good, green for good or even yellow for caution. When his regular teacher left, he had just had 3 weeks of nothing but blue or green. He ended up with a red card last Friday. And it's all for talking. He once had to change his card from green to orange within the last 10 minutes of school because the kids were reading out of the dictionary (I know, what a great use of taxpayer money) and he turned around to tell the child behind him a good word to look up (it was basketball). I was concerned with his behavior card the first couple of weeks, but considering the teacher is quick to have the kids move their cards down, but not up, I'm over it. Logan doesn't care, because the sub has never been told that the kids were supposed to lose 1 recess if they ended the day on orange and 1 recess and lunch if it was on red.

But I've gotten over that. Logan isn't getting in big trouble. He's not grabbing anybody's glasses off their face, he's not getting sent to the principal, so talking I can deal with. But here's what's gotten me upset with the sub now. The kids have been working on a "famous American" project for the last couple of months. They did research, typed up a report and presented it, in costume, in front of their class. Then, on Friday, the teacher sent home a paper doll to cut out and dress up like their famous American, with things around the house. So my friend's twins come home yesterday from school and say that the teacher said that if the paper doll is sloppy that he's going to tear it up and they'll have to do it again. It's due on Wednesday. He assigns it over Easter weekend, gives them less than a week to do the assignment, and then tells them he is going to rip up their work if it's not good enough. I understand giving it back if it needs to be done better. He could make a note of what needs to be changed, even give the child a new paper doll to start out with if need be, but to tell the kids he's going to rip up their work is absolutely inappropriate. How is that going to make a 2nd grader feel? What good could possibly be gained by telling that to the kids? And it obviously made an impression, because both of the girls mentioned it after school and Logan agreed with them that he said it.

Part of me wants to say something to the teacher and part of me wants to just not bring any more attention to Logan and just finish out the school year. But what a jerk. I don't even like to go to Logan's class to meet him after school and usually just wait by Rowen's class now. I guess only 34 days of school left, I should just get over it, but it's really been bugging me all day. I've been working on the newsletter all night, so now I'm just tired and I should probably just try to get some sleep and see how I feel about it in the morning. Except that now Maddoc is crying because the poor little one wants to sleep but he can't breathe through his nose. Guess I'd better go see if I can help him.

What a dreary post, but I do feel a little better, just getting it all out. Meh, what a day.

Five Minutes

Ok, so what can I say about the last six months in five minutes? Maddoc is now 1 year old. He's a crazy little kid. I guess this sums it up. He can climb off the couch, but can't get down the three stairs to the family room. He once sat at the top of the stairs and cried for over 10 minutes. He can scoot down the stairs just fine if someone turns him around. And his favorite song is the jingle from the 1-877-kars-for-kids commercial on the radio. Especially when Rowen sings it to him in her "man voice". Where does she even come up with these things?

Right now, life is going to be dominated by roadshow. We've got five weeks, and we haven't even had anyone stand on a stage yet. I hope we get a lot done tonight.

Logan just passed the GATE testing. We don't know how many kids did, though, or how many are going to transfer in from other schools, so we don't know if it will be an actual class on it's own, or if it will be a combo style with other GATE kids or other 3rd graders.

Rowen loves school and prays for harder kindergarten homework. She is a cutie. Her class of latebirds are all stepford kids, I swear. Every Friday I go in to volunteer, and they are all silently working on their projects. Then they turn them in and ask what they should work on next. It's crazy. They are the sweetest bunch of 5 year olds ever.

Well, five minutes is up. We'll have to see if this can become a habit. I want to put up pictures from Maddoc's birthday party and from our trip to Big Bear, so we'll see if I can get that done after I take the 2 kids to school, which I now have to do in three minutes.

First week of school

Ok, it's Thursday night and we are ready to wrap up the first week of school. Both of the kids really like their teachers. Logan has been doing really well this week. He has been doing his work quietly and trying to earn points for his table. In fact, he earned some points on his own today even though the rest of his table wasn't being quiet. I'm very proud of him for the way he has been listening to the teacher and making an effort. The first day of school, they wrote letters to their family about their day. Logan's was printed so neatly that when I saw it, I asked him if he wrote it himself. He said that he did and that he had tried his very best. It certainly was the best writing he had ever done. We've talked about how much happier it feels to be in a good mood and to listen and I hope it's really sinking in. I know four days isn't a whole year, but I'll take each good day I can get.

Rowen loves going to school. She has already found a couple of girls to be friends with. They hugged each other this morning when they saw each other by the gate. Girls are such ... girls. She loves her teacher and is having a great time. She has started really caring about coloring nicely and staying in the lines. It's fun to see her and to imagine where she'll be at the end of the year. On the second day of school, which was the first day she was actually going to go to class by herself, I was taking her picture (again). She asked me why I was taking pictures again on the second day. I told her it was because it was the first day she was going to go to school without mommy. She immediately turned to me and said, "Well, Mommy, we've already seen each other a lot today." It was 10:15 in the morning. She sure was ready for school. I can't wait to start volunteering in her class so that I can have the chance to see her during school.


Logan trying on his sweatshirt before school. (In the end he didn't want to wear it because he says it's too big. He doesn't like the sleeves being long.)



Ready to head on out to the car.


Standing in line waiting for the bell to ring. This is the third year in a row that Logan is in class with Alexis and Ariana.




Rowen in front of the school. It was much less crowded when it was time for the late bird orientation.



First day of school and Rowen is already trying to be in front. I hope she doesn't bossing kids around at school like she tries to do at home with Logan.



Rowen and Dutch waiting on the rug for orientation to start. All the kids seem really nice, it's going to be a good year.