Tag Archives: travel

birthdays, development, family, trips

Turning three and other adventures

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Somehow along the way I forgot to write down the events surrounding and including Keana’s third birthday. As you all know, her birthday was March 22 and we had planned to go to Fresno to celebrate with Grandma Jennie. But Keana and Maia ended up getting pretty sick the week leading up to the weekend of the 22nd, that we felt a road trip would be about the worse possible thing, so we postponed it to the following weekend.

Instead we had a mellow celebration opening some gifts in the morning, including some that had been shipped in from the Grandmas, and enjoying a nice cheeseburger, fries, and vanilla shake in the backyard. It was sunny and warm with the slightest breeze to keep things cool. During Keana’s nap I ran to a local bakery and got a fruit tart for birthday dessert—they were all out of fun cake stuff—and some supplies to barbecue. When Keana woke up from her nap, we barbecued tri-tip and followed up dinner with candles, singing, and some tart. Even though it wasn’t the birthday extravaganza we had originally planned, it turned out well and we were all more than happy to just have it be a mellow event with just our Quadripod.

The following weekend, traveling on Friday March 28, we drove to Fresno for the birthday bash we had originally planned with Grandma Jennie. It was also Maia’s first long car ride and with the exception of the last hour, the drive was pretty smooth. Just outside Madera Maia had decided she was done and began to cry so we rolled up to Grandma Jennie’s house around 4 p.m. a little haggard. I think the drive took us about 5 hours with several stops. Shortly after we arrived Great Grandma Bev showed up with gifts for the girls which were, of course, met with great enthusiasm. Not long after that Grandma Jennie arrived and we ordered some pizza and had a nice low-key dinner.

The following day on Saturday, March 29, we went to Storyland which is this place in Fresno with life-sized representations of popular fairy tales. When you enter you’re greeted by the caterpillar from Alice In Wonderland and you proceed on down a path that takes you to The Three Little Pigs, Humpty Dumpty, Little Red Riding Hood and many others. Sarah actually used to go there when she was a kid and the place was supposedly recently renovated. However we found the entire place wasn’t quite up to spec. Owl’s house was rather rickety and once Sarah got Keana up, she didn’t feel safe because of wobbly railings and what not. Owls glass window pane was also askew and had chicken wire covering the hole that was left. There were also some rusty slides and my favorite was Mama Bear whose nose was smashed off and she her hand was missing. All that was left was a solitary strand of rebarb. Hilarious. I should add though, that many of the structures and story sets were fine and Keana loved all of it. There was a huge pirate ship that was pretty elaborate and in good shape that was fun to go on. The one regret we have is that we got there a little late in the morning, right before lunch, so the girls were tired and hungry. They were awesome though and we still had a great time.

We were going to head back on Sunday but we so worn out that we stayed another day and enjoyed a nice barbecue and yummy birthday cake at Grandma’s house. And as all good things end, so did this trip, and we packed it up Monday morning (5/31) and headed home. The first 45 minutes were rough, but after a pit-stop just outside Los Banos both Keana and Maia fell asleep so it was smooth sailing. Sarah also dozed on and off and I felt lucky to be the lone soldier at the wheel, whisking my ladies safely home (though the piercing pain from my bladder made me feel a little less soldierish). Anyway, we made the entire trip in about three hours which is record time with one kid, not to mention two!

The next big adventure happened on April 12 when we trekked down to Santa Cruz to visit Uncle Peter who was running a half-marathon with his running group “The Lost Boys”. Of course we got out of the house a little late and arrived in Santa Cruz around 10:30 a.m., starving, with Keana beginning to melt down and Maia crying angrily, signaling her full, melt down status. So we pulled up to one of our old favorite eatery, Harbor Cafe, for some refueling of biscuits, gravy, sausage, and eggs. By this point we were pretty frustrated and annoyed at a rough start to our supposed-to-be-fun weekend, but everything was better after breakfast. What can’t biscuits and gravy heal, really?

The Lost Boys—Peter, Oscar, Tim, Gilbert—and Dave, Peter’s old housemate, were actually just finishing breakfast as we arrived at Peter’s house, so the timing was perfect. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Sam were also in town from Fredericksburg, TX, but had to go to a wedding so we planned to see them later.

By the time we got caught up with Peter and everyone else, it was nap time, so Sarah, Keana, and Maia laid down while Peter and I went to the grocery store for barbecue supplies. After nap the four of us went to the beach while Peter got his nap. Sarah thought it would be fun to go to this “secret” beach she used to go to in college. It’s off of the busy beach drive Westcliff, but it’s secret because there aren’t any markers for it and to get there you just take a steep, skinny trail that winds randomly down from the main sidewalk. So we parked, got everything packed up and I carried Keana down while Sarah took Maia. It was a little precarious and when we got to the bottom I guess it looked like we needed help because a local came running over from his family and offered to take Keana for me. I accepted then helped Sarah and Maia down. Immediately it was clear this beach wasn’t much of a secret. It was a small beach, maybe 25 yards long, but there were kids playing wiffle ball, a guy fishing, a guy going out to kayak, four college kids hanging out, and at least four dogs running around—practically every beach activity known to man. We stayed for about 20 minutes and decided it was way too busy and moved on. Going up was easier than getting down, so we re-seated the kids and drove a little further on to Natural Bridges. The weather was hot and the beach was crowded, but there was much more space for our Quadripod. We had so much fun splashing in the ocean and chasing the waves. Keana is pretty fearless of the cold water, and though she didn’t get in above her knees, she stayed in the whole time we were there.

We had to tear ourselves away from the gorgeous beach but were excited to go back to Uncle Peter’s for dinner. Actually, the barbecue took place at his neighbor’s house, one of which is part of the running crew, and with the return of Grandma Linda and Grandpa Sam from the wedding, The Texans, The Quadripod, and The Lost Boys (with adjunct members) had a great evening with lots of laughs and great food. Maia slept on and off in the sling and Keana’s never had so many people at her beck and call to chase her through the house and around the yard. In fact, we were having so much fun that Keana missed her normal bedtime and we all ended up going to bed around 10:30 p.m. Peter and Oscar were kind enough to give up their entire two bedroom apartment for us, so Keana and I slept in a bed and Maia and Sarah slept in the other. We woke early, had breakfast, and then had second breakfasts when everyone in the other house woke up. Then we headed back to the beach to get our last fill of ocean time before heading back to the east bay. The drive home was rough with the kids so tired, and we had to stop in Fremont for dinner, but other than that, it was a beautiful weekend.

family, holidays, trips

Home for the holidays

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This year, “Home for the holidays” really took on its true meaning for us. I mean, we had three Christmas celebrations with three different portions of family in three different locations, but we spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s at home, in OUR house, just the three of us. Was it a little selfish? Maybe. Was it fun, amazing, and wonderful? Yes.

I took two weeks off work which was just barely enough. We celebrated Christmas with my Mom’s family on 12/22 and had the usual great time with the Petersons at Keana’s great grandparent’s house in Los Altos. She adores her second cousins (which are closer to her age than mine). They’re still years ahead of her, but lots of fun. And now that Keana is walking, running, and talking, she’s just a like a “real person” to them now, which means running all over the house, passing out gifts together, and sharing gifts- at least for a moment or two. At dinner she sat on Great Grandpa’s end of the table and even got him to play a little game of “I’ll throw my toy on the floor and you pick it up for me” which lasted longer than I thought it would. It’s good to see I’m not the only softy for those baby-blues. Keana also enjoyed a nice dance session with Great Grandma Jacquie after dinner. Great Grandma kept an excellent beat and Keana obliged with some nice shakin’ of the tail feathers. Keana was having such a blast that night that we couldn’t get her to go to bed and she stayed up till almost midnight.

The next day we spent time with my immediate family for a mellower Christmas celebration. Keana had a great day walking around in Grandma’s shoes and playing on the floor of the kitchen while dinner was being prepared. She loves to say, “Boots are walkin'” which often spawns round after round of the song, “Those Boots Are Made for Walkin'” to which she dances and calls out for more verses at the end of each previous verse. She never gets tired of dancing to that song. That night while opening gifts we had a great time with tons of laughs. Pretty much any time we get Uncle Peter in the mix, laughter is never far behind, and we all feed off of eachother’s stories and laughter until the night is late. Christmas Eve morning we packed up our loot and headed back to the east bay.

On Christmas Eve I bbq’d some New York steaks to get our stomachs prepped for the amazing rib roast that Sarah fixed on Christmas. Sarah and I also made biscuits and gravy for a special Christmas breakfast. And because it was just the three of us, we moved at our own pace, opening gifts all day long and Keana got a chance to enjoy each gift as she opened it, before moving on to the next. I also felt that we really had time to enjoy eachother and especially Keana which was something new for a big holiday event such as Christmas. Eventually the last gift was opened, only bones were left on the table after dinner, and it was time for Ms. Keana to don her PJs and sleep out of her second Christmas and on towards the new year.

The next day we packed up our gifts and our cooler and headed to Great Grandma Bev’s house—which overlooks Millerton Lake outside of Fresno—to celebrate Christmas once again, this time with Sarah’s immediate family. We spent a couple days up there and had lots of fun, including a great dance party with Keana leading the way, paying tribute to the recently deceased Godfather of Soul, James Brown. We also had a chance to make a visit to the snow up by Shaver Lake and it was gorgeous—bright and sunny and clean with fresh snow. Keana’s very first encounter with snow was tentative. She did walk a little on it, with the help of Tia Iana and Rachael, and Sarah was able to feed her a little bit to try it out on the tastebuds. So it was a fun, new experience and I’m sure she’ll dig the snow to a much higher degree when she’s older.

On 12/29, once again, we packed up our loot, said our goodbyes, and hit the road back to the east bay. Keana’s break-down, complete with tears and screams of “I hold your hand!”, an hour from home was a clear signal that she was ready for a break from our holiday tour schedule.

In the following days the new year approached and started without much event. It was amazing to think back on 2006 and remember the major life events that took place. Here’s just a few:

  • Keana’s first steps (and subsequently running, jumping, and more dancing)
  • Keana’s first birthday
  • The beginning of sentences
  • Keana’s first plane ride and trip to Hawaii
  • Our second wedding anniversary
  • Grandma Linda turned 50
  • Great Grandma Ellie passed away

365 days is a long stretch. And given the fact that most major events in life, good and bad, happen in split seconds, a year is bound to be packed full of both. Day six of 2007 is coming to a close and we can only look forward, ready to laugh, cry, walk, crawl, and dance through the other 358.

Happy New Year and good night.

family, holidays, trips

Babies don’t care about holidays

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Keana does not care about the holidays…yet. Some people out there may be getting a little worked up over that statement, so let me explain. Holidays are really for us adults and older kids. It’s for those who realize how important getting family together is, even if for just one day. But it’s also a time for us to express and recreate all the traditions and expectations that surround the holidays—for better or worse—that we’ve learned and assimilated for ourselves through our lives. I think Keana sees things differently. I think Keana is excited to see our extended family any time and there just happens to be some random pumpkin on the porch—which, by the way, someone totally messed up by cutting holes in it—or everyone makes a big deal about eating turkey instead of the chicken and rice she requested. But as a whole, I think she just takes everything and everyone in stride, at the moment, and enjoys (or doesn’t enjoy) things as they happen. There’s no expectations or sense of tradition and I think that’s pretty cool. It’s so fun to see Keana still really new to this world taking one day at a time, and hopefully she’ll grow to love and understand the traditions we create together. Or, I guess it’s always possible she’ll grow up hating our family traditions and once she turns 13, when November/December rolls around, she’ll dress in all black, swear she’ll disown us when she turns 18, and refuse to get in the car to go to so-and-so’s house for “one more stupid, pointless holiday celebration”. I truly hope it’s the former and not the the latter. Anyways…

Unfortunately we just couldn’t see all the family this Thanksgiving. This year we drove to Fresno with Sarah’s sister Iana (Tia) to be with Sarah’s family. Thanksgiving day we saw Grandma Jennie, Grandpa John (our hosts), Tia, Great Uncle Jim and Great Aunt Christina, second cousin Shawn, Great Aunt Blanche, second cousin Shanti and his girlfriend Alysa…and I think that’s pretty much it. Uncle Michael got stuck in Olympia where he’s attending college because plane ticket prices sky-rocketed. It sounded like he was going to have a typical college tofu-no-stuffing-kegger-video game-potluck Thanksgiving—which I’m sure was fun—but we did miss him. My family (Grandma Linda, Grandpa Sam and Uncle Peter) went over to our friend Rhonda and Baptiste’s house for Thanksgiving in San Jose, so we had to settle for the holiday phone call instead of actually seeing them. I’m not sure what Great Grandma Jacquie and Great Grandpa Vic did (or the rest of the Petersons), but hopefully we’ll get to spend Thanksgiving with them next year.

Speaking of great grandparents, Sarah’s Grandma Ellie passed away very early Thanksgiving morning. It wasn’t entirely unexpected and we just imagine her somewhere wonderful and peaceful with the love of her life Charles and all the other family and friends that have gone before her.

The day following Thanksgiving we had a great visit with Sarah’s Dad Robert and his wife Cindy. They are always great hosts and Keana had a blast playing in the backyard and with all the little treasures that Grandpa found for her. Eventually she got so sleepy that she drifted off to Nap Land and had a nice two-hour nap which gave the rest of us a chance to catch up on the last year. Once again we were reminded of how fast time seems to be flying by.

Saturday we packed up and headed back to the bay. It was great to see everyone but we we were very thankful to be home. Then, tonight, Grandpa Jon flew in from Denver for business and took the three of us out to dinner in celebration of my upcoming birthday. It was fun getting caught up and we are thankful that he’s out here so often on business.

It’s been a week filled with family events, a little road trip, and great food. I think it’s safe to say Keana’s second round of holidays are shaping up nicely, even if she doesn’t know she’s supposed to care about them yet.

(look for November pictures in the upcoming weeks)