HAPPY FIFTH

On a not so summery day in August, we celebrated our wedding anniversary by driving our kids and almost five-year old niece to what she called, “Hannah Montana.” The drive went smoother than thought and sure enough when the moon came out, the kids went down.

But not for long.

On days when Calli is overtired, she can wake up in the middle of the night completely hysterical. Definitely not asleep and not totally awake, just crying, yelling, inconsolable. And the worst part is she can stay that way for a long while.

So when she started to stir in her car seat and mutter unrecognizable words, I began to panic. NO WAY ARE YOU WAKING UP THE OTHER KIDS IN THIS CAR!

I leaned back and tried to soothe her. Not helping. I climbed in the back seat to where I could see and talk to her better. Didn’t work. Out of desperation, I (don’t report me) put her on my lap and buckled her in. Come on girl. It is late and we are only 45 minutes away from our stopping point for the night. NO WAY ARE YOU WAKING UP THE OTHER KIDS IN THIS CAR!

Too late.

Luke gets going and keeps going too. Aah, the crying chorus. A personal favorite of mine, especially in the car.

Though I can’t remember exactly now, somehow I was situated (since I was holding Calli) that I only had one free hand. And both of my children needed it. The only way I could get Luke to stop crying was if I gently rubbed his face. Thing is, that’s exactly what Calli needed too. So I’d get Luke to calm down and move my hand over to Calli and he’d start back up again. I’d move it back over to Luke and then she’d go on. Wow.

Finally, she woke up enough to make a little sense. Or at least listen to it. I began a conversation that could have been written for Jack on Will and Grace (Don’t report me for that either. I promise I kicked that habit long before the show went off the air.) —insanely fast, a little childlike and quite comical. I just simply started talking. Anything that came to my mind. A beautiful distraction.

“Hey Calli, we’re driving. We’re driving on a road. Do you see that the road has lines on it? I see white lines on the road. Do you see white lines on the road? (I did not pause for a second or leave room for her to answer. I couldn’t let there be any chance she could start crying again.) I see yellow lines too. The lines are broken up. Do you see the broken lines on the road? I see green trees. Do you know what else is green? The signs by the road are green. Do you know where we are going? We are going to Aunt Ruth’s house. But Ruth’s not there. She’s out of town. She lives by the temple. I see the temple. I see the top of the temple. Do you remember what is on top of the temple? This temple is by the water. I see the water. Do you see the water? It is moving. I see the lights on the road. I see the red lights. Oh, now they are green. Now we can go. We can keep going to Ruth’s house. We are going to sleep there. Except Ruth’s not going to be there. Remember how I said Ruth’s not going to be there? But we’re going to be there any minute. I can see her house. Can you see her house? We are turning by her house.”

It went on like that for a SOLID forty five minutes. It went on like that while I sat squished between an infant car seat and luggage, with a back twisted funny so I could fit, while holding my toddler and (remember) using my one free hand to soothe my baby. Exhausting. Physically hard it was, but I think it was worse to be so spastic. By the time we got there, my brain was worn out too.

What about my niece you say? Slept through the whole thing.

Miracles do happen.

As we opened the car door in Aunt Ruth’s driveway we, all five us, were wide awake. The clock was near midnight and in a no time, Mackenzie (my golden niece) was climbing a pole in the basement and Calli was singing show tunes at the top of her lungs. Energy, anyone?

But obedient Mackie followed her mother to bed (I told you she was golden) and Dan took Calli in a room upstairs to calm her down. I stayed in a room in the basement to feed Luke and put him to bed. So that night Dan and I didn’t even sleep in the same bed, same room or even on the same floor. It doesn’t get any better than that. Happy Anniversary.

Thankfully, my gracious in-laws took the kids one night when we were in Hannah’s land and we snuck away enjoying ghost town architecture and yummy saloon food.

I guess it doesn’t get any better than that.

PEACE IN THE VALLEY

I can remember it almost perfectly. The scenery changing, the anticipation mounting. The growing sky calling me. Ready to embrace the view and soak up every second of it. Yes, the ocean looked and felt and smelled exactly how I recalled leaving it. Perfect.

My recent return to Yosemite was similar to my beach visit as a young girl. I couldn’t wait to get through the tunnel and find what I knew would be waiting— THIS.

(How is it possible that so many of the WORLD’S greatest monoliths and waterfalls are found in a seven square mile area?)

Yosemite truly is a place of wonder, a place manifesting the divine.

It is there where you can stand looking upward toward a never ending rock face and realize you really are “less than the dust of the earth”. It is there where you can scale a mountain and feel like you are absolutely your best self. You look out and see you are among some of God’s finest handiwork. You catch a reflection in Mirror Lake and you see, you.

My first trip to the valley was for work, not play. After training for weeks to take on the strenuous Half Dome, the anticipation was there, but so was the anxiety. Physically I was prepared; mentally I was weak-- unsure of the path that lie ahead. But as we glided along the switchbacks under a starry sky with a big full moon guide, I felt calm. And sure enough after the night turned into day, putting one foot in front of another, we did what we intended to do.

At the top, I admit, I first just sat there and cried. I’ll blame part of this on body—altitude, fatigue and a little dehydration can do that to you. The other part I’ll blame on brain—the thought that you might watch your husband tumble down to his death will do that to you too. But there we were. We had done more than meet our goal, our destination. We had made it in a new place all by ourselves, with our new friends beside us. We were on our own California Adventure and the conquering had begun.

I suppose that is why Yosemite means so much to me, because of what it represents. A place of trial and triumph. A place of belonging and bonding. A place to try something new and encourage someone along the way. A place to see that you are something, yet nothing at all.

What joy it was to spend a few days in a place I love with those I love most.

“Within National Parks is room—glorious room—room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.”

Enos Mills

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom."

Greek Proverb

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.”

John Muir

"One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books."

John Muir

"The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask."
Nancy Newhall

“All those who love Nature she loves in return, and will richly reward, not perhaps with the good things, as they are commonly called, but with the best things, of this world—not with money and titles, horses and carriages, but with bright and happy thoughts, contentment and peace of mind.”

John Lubbock

TAG TEAM BACK AGAIN

Aah... recovering from yet another fun trip. Which means more added to my TO BLOG ABOUT list. Let's see what this week holds...

READY FOR TENNIS

Or maybe golf, perhaps sailing. You gotta love a little guy in argyle.

Happy Four Months Luke!

WRITER'S BLOCK

So much to say, so little time.

My blogging blitz has been interrupted for four reasons.

1. Kids. They seem to think naps are optional and have a master plan amongst themselves to take turns waking me up at night. I got Thursday, you got Friday. Ugh, I thought we were over this already...

2. House. For one whole day my entire place remained deep cleaned. All my laundry was done, put away AND all my ironing was caught up. I believe that is the only time this calendar year that I can say that.

3. Piano. The school year has started and I am back in the swing of teaching again.

4. BFF. As in best friends and family. There's always time to spend with those that are most important.

Actually all these things are good and important. Just gotta find time and maintain balance.

I'll get my stories out soon. I am determined.

As soon as I can no longer hear, "I not take a nap. Saturday. Do sum-ping fun."

OH, WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME? (PART II)

We had busy days with our friends.

We were brave at the water park

and lazy at the lake.

We had mud baths,

ran for the water

and ran free!

Yep, that's what else we did this summer.

OH, WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME? (PART I)

We went to the zoo and it was HOT!

It was so hot that Calli wanted to swim with the fish

and jump in with the flamingos.

Calli loved the flamingos so much,
she almost helped a stuffed one escape from a vendor's basket.
Luckily, we caught her in the nick of time.

Cool Hand Luke just chilled and chilled

until we got to the reptiles.

That's when he wanted to get out and see
and when his sister had had enough.


We loved the zoo so much we wanted to stay.
Wouldn't we make a great exhibit?

In our backyard you can find a nice pool of water, but no animals.

We left our house and went to the zoo in search of animals,

but I think we liked the misty water the most. Go figure.

We went to the zoo on a hot Saturday in July.

Yep, that's what we did this summer.