Labor Day Weekend

We didn't go anywhere for Labor Day weekend. It was hot. There was too much work to be done (plus I'm fighting a horrible summer cold). The girls decided to go camping.

Camp Caldwell encompass many wonderful amenities, complete with picnic area and "lake". Emily set up their tents almost all by herself (her little sister gave her a little assistance). It was a hot and humid weekend, so the only thing missing from their little camp was a campfire. But it was way too hot and uncomfortable for that. But since the sun was behind clouds half the time, the girls could not stay in the pool "lake" very long before they were shivering. But they would get hot again in short time and jump right back in.

Back to School!

Today was the first day back to the school for the girls. I wanted to sigh with relief but I can't help but feel a little anxious for them. We got them off on the bus (which actually came on time today). Then we followed shortly after in the car.

There was very little change actually for the girls to get used to. Emily has the same teacher as last year. He generally likes to loop his classes for two years. Only maybe 25% of the class changed. Most of the kids stayed the same. She did get a new math teacher though so we went to meet her and introduce her to Emily so that Emily knows where she will be going. We found out that the kids she went to math with last year stayed all together in this class as well, so she knows most of them already too. Only the teacher changed because their teacher is not "teaching" this year. She has some special assignment I'll get into more later.

Caitlyn's teacher this year is her 1st grade math teacher from last year. So she already knows her. She also knows at least 25% of the kids in the class already so it was not so different and scary. Her math teacher is the teacher I was originally hoping Caitlyn would get this year but I found out she is teaching 2nd grade this year. I was a little disappointed because I had heard such amazing things about her but at least she still gets to take math with her. And I know her current teacher is very similar to previous teachers. They don't just leave well enough alone. They try to push their kids to excel in whatever areas they can so I know she won't just ignore Caitlyn because she doesn't need help and let her stagnate in the class. So I guess everything worked out for the best.

I thought I would just relax on their first day at school (just because I could) but it didn't work out that way. I had to run a bunch of errands because I couldn't go out last week. We went swimming at a friend's house and Emily jumped off the diving board and landed wrong in the pool or something and re-injured her foot (at least we think it is the same foot she hurt during the last school year). So I mostly ran around picking up little odds and ends for the kids and re-stocking up on bread and milk and stuff! It was still nice not to have to drag the kids around!

There's always tomorrow!

Dentist

We took the kids to the dentists for their checkups to get ready for school. Caitlyn came out with no cavities. This is actually her first time to the dentists (I know, it's a little late). They had a dentist go in and check the kids out in preschool though...more of a quick checkup but she didn't have any problems. We were supposed to go last summer but we were sick the whole time. We did try to get a hold of the dentist during the year a couple of times but was never able to get a hold of them for some reason or another. I do think that I need to find a new dentist for her though in the next 6 months because this dentist is not very good with kids (or people, really...but Christian likes her because she is straight forward and honest).

Emily, however, did not fare as well. She got her first cavity. Actually, she has a mouthful of cavities. She had a couple filled already but she still has to go back to do a few more. It's going to cost a pretty penny and we are not happy. I thought they would be in pretty good shape as they floss and do mouthwash as well as brush their teeth on a regular basis, but alas, it was not good enough. We obviously need to get her to brush better (especially in the back).

We have also had a lot of problems this past year with her and candy. She's been obsessed with candy. And I can't blame her entirely as there is candy every where we turn. At school (even though it is forbidden, she's been getting it from her teacher and possibly friends), at church (even though we are also told that we aren't supposed to give the kids snacks or candy unless it is incorporated into the lesson), and again at the activity girl things.

She has a whole basket of candy that rotates from Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Easter and parties or whatever. I have thrown out handfuls of it and it keeps coming into the house. I usually make them forfeit all the candy into their basket and if they eat all their food (and it has to be a well balanced meal), I'll let them pick something out to have as a treat. But because they are getting it all over the place (and not necessarily forfeiting all of it all the time), they are getting too many sweets and something has to change. It got to the point where I practically had to frisk Emily for candy when she got home each day.

Hopefully the experience with the cavities will help Emily not sneak extra sweets any more, but I think we are going to save the candy for special occasions and occasions where they eat something especially difficult for them...like spinach or something...at least until she learns how to brush a heck of a lot better so that she doesn't get any more cavities.

I haven't even done as much baking this past year as I normally do (or I stick to bread and stuff) because I am too afraid of how much sugar and junk they are already getting outside of the home. And it's not fair because I know that I demand a lot from my children and I like to be able to surprise them with treats now and then too.

San Diego

The kids did the summer reading program again at the library. But when they finished it and got their free pass to Castle Park, we decided to offer them a choice. We have an annual pass that we got from their Grandpa for Christmas this past year...but the price of gas being what it is, it's really not that cheap to go to and when you add the price of parking along with it, well, it's anything but free. However, since I would have to pay for admission into Castle Park...along with parking as well, we figure that in the end, the price would be almost the same. So we gave them a choice...Castle Park or Sea World.

Of course, they picked Sea World. We also offered them Sea World as a choice because Emily is always begging to go on the water rides and it is always too cold normally to ride them. She did convince her dad to take her on the Shipwreck Rapids once but they paid for it dearly afterwards as they were soaking wet and freezing. We thought this would be their best chance to do something like this because their passes will expire at the end of the year and we probably won't be going back any time soon.

When we got there, we figured that we made a huge mistake trying to go to Sea World in August. The parking lot was packed! But after we finally made it in, we found that it really wasn't that bad. It was more crowded in December, I think, when we first got the tickets.

But of course, can you believe it? I forgot my camera. Christian didn't bring his either! I was very upset. All weekend, I kept wishing for my camera.

Anyway, we spent most of the time going to some of the new exhibits and things we haven't been to yet. Like the Turtle Reef, the Skytower, the Bayside Skyride, Shipwreck Rapids and Journey to Atlantis. They also had a pretty nice fireworks show at the end.

We spent the night at Christian's brother's house. We didn't get there until after midnight as we left the park later than we had intended and then we still had to stop off somewhere to grab a late dinner. We were all pretty exhausted.

Early in the morning (very early), Christian and his brother helped out with an Eagle project for our nephew. They cut off after noon and we had lunch at the pool and the girls got to do a bit of swimming. Christian's dad joined us for  an early dinner before we headed back to Riverside. Our car was acting kind of funny when we arrived at Mark's house the night before and again that afternoon when we headed out again so we were a little worried and wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

Swim Lessons Part Deux

A friend encouraged me to apply for Operations Splash, a scholarship offered by Kaiser to keep people active and healthy. We ended up qualifying for deeply discounted swim lessons for the kids and so I enrolled them in another session of swim lessons at the local pool.

It's a good thing because the kids have gotten so lazy that if it were not for the swim lessons, I don't think we would get out of the house most of the time. So, no, they have not been doing quite as well as I had hoped this summer on their chores. It's been insanely frustrating. They don't even make it out to their pool in the back that often anymore. They seem to prefer doing nothing, lying around in their own filth and giggling.

But I digress, the girls did pretty well in their swim lessons again. Emily will move up to level 4 next time. She is swimming really well. She learned to do the breast stroke this time. Plus they worked on perfecting their free style swimming and backstroke. They also introduced them to diving.

Emily's dive is more like a froggy leap! It's so funny. They really only introduced them to it and let them try it once though. They will work on their form on the next level. Her jump off the diving board is still a  funny crouching leap as well, but I think letting them go off of the diving board at the end of the lessons is just mostly for fun.

Emily's swim class was considerably bigger this time, which is frustrating because each student gets very little time with the teacher since lessons are only 30 minutes but I think her teacher was much better at not letting the students distract her in chatting or playing and was really good at giving each student the individual instruction they needed, so in the end, I was pretty happy with her lessons.

Caitlyn, on the other hand, only had one other person in her class, so things were great for her. And the kids on that level, really need more help. She was able to move up a level again after her lesson as well. So, she will be starting level 3 next time. I kind of question whether she is ready for that though but apparently, her instructor said that she is able to do the bare minimum of what is needed to pass. However, she is no where near the level Emily was at when she moved up. Then again, Emily has always been the best swimmer in all her classes.

After some more thought and observation, I think Emily really should have started at level 3 instead of two.  Oh well, she's really enjoyed her swim lessons. And considering that we only managed to come back only once (again) to practice swimming during their open hours, they did pretty good!

The other great thing about their swim lessons is that RUSD offers free lunch just outside of the pool every day, so that after working up an appetite swimming, they towel off and grab lunch. I must say that it is very convenient!

Our High Sierra Adventure

At long last, we made it out to our mountains. We finally managed to get the kids out on their first camping/backpacking trip. The trail head begins at an elevation of 10,000 feet (which is another reason we were worried about taking them when they were too young...it's hard to tell what influence the high elevation has on them when they have trouble articulating what is wrong with them). It was much later when we arrived than we had expected due to our late start.

We have never camped just at the trail head. It is too crowded. We go backpacking to get away from people, not to camp next to them. I mean "what are men to rocks and mountains?" But we did not make the kids pack it in very far. We wanted their first trip to be enjoyable and memorable so that they would want to go again. We set up camp within an hours' walk from the trail head. And still, we did not see a soul unless we walked back out to the trailhead or out to where the main trails were. We did on rare occasion, hear an exceptionally loud group now and then as they passed in the distance. We usually don't camp even this close to where people might be, but we had to settle as this was the kids first experience.

Emily has never carried more than maybe a book and a folder in her backpack at school. She was such a little trooper on our trip though. She managed to carry all of her own personal use items (i.e. clothes, sleeping bag, extra blanket and sleeping pad, as well as, an extra blanket for her sister) all by herself...and cross a small creek with it to boot. We could not get a pack that would fit Caitlyn, nor did we think she was quite ready to carry one, so she just carried her own clothes in a small old school backpack.

We had just enough time for the kids to help us set up our camp site before the sun went down. We did not have time to have FHE on Monday since we were too busy getting ready for the trip. But seriously, could any FHE be better than being alone and together in the mountains, sitting in front of the fire, reading the good book and roasting marshmallows for smores?

The air was not quite as clear as usual as we found out that there has been a fire burning up in the mountains for many weeks now. The Lion Fire started earlier in the month from a lighting strike. It was south and west of us. It started on July 8th. Basically, they usually just let fires take their natural course and burn these days if there are no structures in danger. It has burned over 17,000 acres thus far. It was a bit disappointing because the view (and our pictures) were not as clear and beautiful as they should be.

The next morning, the view in the meadow looked a lot more smoky. The fire looked like it was getting closer.

Emily recently got a flower press, so we spent the day looking for wildflowers to press. We also had to look for water. We found out that they had some problem with a broken pipe or something so there was no water at the trail head. The water in the creek we crossed was only fit for cleaning. So we took leisurely day hikes around to do what we needed.

Christian knew of a spring nearby with cleaner water that we could actually drink. We did, however, have to keep ourselves pretty well covered with bug repellent as the mosquitos were a nuisance. There were a lot more of them out and about than I had expected at this time of year because it has been so hot and dry, but we were between two meadows, so that certainly didn't help our situation.

The girls spent the rest of the time exploring and climbing on rocks. Caitlyn had a pretty good sense of direction for someone so young. I hope she takes after her daddy in that. I was a little worried that Emily might wander a bit too far off though.

We spent a total of almost 3 days and 2 nights out. As the nights were rather sleepless for the adults, we were pretty exhausted at the end of it and was ready to come home.

The day we left, the sky changed again. The smoky sky cleared up and we were left with nice puffy clouds. It still wasn't quite as clear as it normally is though.

The fire had spread to about 19,000 acres by that point. But I hear they had received some intermittent rain after we left as well.

I can't say that it was the greatest trip for us. We spent most of the time trying to make sure that the kids were having a good first experience. Since Christian and I mostly go up to get away and enjoy the peace and quiet, it's hard to adjust to having kids there chattering and making noise all the time. One day (hopefully sooner than later), they'll learn to enjoy the peace as well. Kids these days all seem to need or desire to be entertained all the time and can't seem to just enjoy "being" without saying that they're "bored." We've never brought our kids up this way, but they still seem to manage to fill the hours of silence themselves with their own chatter and play regardless of the lack of constant tv or video games to take up their time.

Alas, one step at a time. On the bright side, my back felt much better after all the hiking regardless of the backpack. It didn't bother me hardly at all on the trip. Apparently all the walking did my back a lot of good. The next day, after we got back, it started to bother me again a bit because of all the bending to clean and pick things up.

Christian in his element.

Owen's Valley from Walt's Point
(a popular hang gliding spot)

Lone Pine Peak mountain range

A Bad Beginning...

We've been meaning to take the girls out camping for a long time now.  Camping is one of the few things that Christian and I really enjoyed doing. We used to go all the time. We haven't really gone out since we began having kids. We took Emily out once when she was maybe 18 months old. It was during the late summer. There was a freak snow storm where we went and ended up in a motel. We came back to record heat in Riverside...so typical.

We decided that we were not equipped really to take children out. We set about to get more family friendly equipment. Then Caitlyn arrived. We postponed our camping for some time again. I don't relish the idea of nursing a baby in the middle of no where and waking up at all hours of the night in a tent.

The years flew by. Last year I was determined that we should go before the kids get too soft and squeamish to rough it out in the woods. We were sick all summer. We did manage to get car camp one night in the desert with our neighbor last fall but it was not enough to satisfy me. It just gave us a taste of what we were missing.

So, we were determined to go this summer come hell or high water. We decided not to make any big long plans...they never work out. We decided within a week that we would go and figured out the when, where and how. My back was bothering me for a week or so but it was nothing I could not endure. The Saturday before going, we had a bbq for dinner and the kids were swimming. They got cold after a while and tried to restart the fire in the fire pit on their own. They made me nervous so I went to help them restart the fire. I tweaked my back doing it. I got the fire started but I had to go in a lie down afterwards, I could barely move. It was so painful. I spent the next two days slowly stretching it out and doing a lot of lying down. Thankfully, Christian took an extra day off on Monday just to prepare and pack up. We were to leave Tuesday. I figured if worst came to worst, we could always just car camp this time...at least we would get out there.

But slowly, my back started to get back to normal so I thought maybe I could make it...if only Christian helps me put my pack on and helps me up and down. It's not like we were going to go on a very rigorous trip the first time out for the girls.

That last night before leaving, Christian spent watering all our plants so that they would not spontaneously combust while we were away and I spent late into the night, cooking our next night's meal and packing.

We were up later than we should have been. We both started to feel like we were coming down with something. In the middle of the morning, I had an extreme sinus attack. I was sneezing and blowing my nose for about an hour. Finally, Christian had to go into the living room to try to get some sleep. It was bad. When my sinus started to settle down, my throat started to bother me...then I started to itch all over?! It was a nightmare. It seems rather unbelievable when you think about it. It felt rather unbelievable having gone through it. It was exacerbating. Needless to say, we were exhausted by morning.

But nothing was going to stop us. We got a late start, but at last, we were finally on the road. The actual trip later...I'm still sorting through the pictures.