Swimming in March

Yep, high of 77 today!

Golden Gate Park

Maybe it's because Dave has been working so hard and was feeling a bit burned out. Maybe it's because we heard all these great stories about Kyle and his exciting life in downtown Chicago. Maybe it's because of all the trips we've been making to the bay area as an airport shuttle without stopping for any other adventures. Or maybe it's because our little country-raised daughter asked, "What's a city?" For whatever reason, this morning we up and decided to seize the Saturday and head to San Francisco. Our goal was to explore new areas. We spent the day at the Golden Gate Park and took a new little hiking path along the coast that ended with a spectacular view of the bridge.



Golden Gate Park is always something to see-- packed with a variety of active people and an eclectic mix of attractions. Today we saw a flower conservatory, bison roaming around a field, street performers on crazy jumping stilts and people flying stunt kites on the beach. Our favorite find was this terrific play area for the girls (we've never been to the park with kids before). Ella loved all parts of this unique playground, but especially digging in the sand made wet from little creeks and waterfalls.


Delia climbed sea life statues and waves in a different ocean themed sand area.


Both girls were brave enough to tackle the giant spider web. Delia cracked us up with her determination to just dangle.

Racing down this looong cement slide on a cardboard box lid was thrilling for Ella. The girls regularly read a story about San Francisco that has a picture of children flying down this exact slide.

I'm happy whenever I get to see the ocean!

One last stop at the Dutch tulip gardens and Queen Wilhimena windmill-- San Fran is nothing if not ethnically diverse!

A Little Honey

Look who was sampling my honey while I made the granola this morning!

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Farewell (Uncle) Kyle; We'll Miss You!

Yesterday was Kyle's last full day with us. We packed it with one last special meal, two more games of Trains (totalling 13 games this week!), a trip to the ice cream restaurant and a hike to our favorite local spot, Knight's Ferry. A bit chilly, but still sunny, we all loved getting out and experiencing this little part of God's dazzling creation.

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Ella proved herself to be quite the little hiker in training. Lots of Knight's Ferry is traversing across the big boulders and locating the worn footpath. She carefully and fearlessly climbed, always planning her next step before taking it and successfully uncovering the path.

Delia was so intent on soaking up everything around her. She studied the hawks circling in the sky, she pointed out the pretty colored flowers and rode along happily, often letting her joy spill out in random giggles.

Kyle used words like "natural beauty" and "peaceful" to describe the area. His life in downtown Chicago is jammed with grad classes, academic deadlines and papers whose page number total in the double digits. I'm happy to send him home with this little piece of tranquil yet grand California.

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Ella was so excited to show Uncle Kyle our family's "very favorite old tree!"

Our hike was perfectly timed to appreciate the wild flower bloom.

Ending the hike with a walk across the covered bridge.

Kyle in the Kitchen

It wasn't easy, but we managed to meet Kyle's two difficult demands. We let him babysit for us and we let him make us dinner. ;)

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There's a new restaurant in town that I've been wanting to visit with Dave. Thursday night we were treated to some free childcare while we ate a delicious dinner and partook in distraction-free conversation. At home, Kyle rolled out the honey-wheat dough and topped a pizza with the girls. Then it was time to play, play, play!

Friday night, Chef Kyle cooked us a scrumptious dinner and also supplied me with a new recipe. This almond-encrusted chicken with lemon sauce was fab-u-lous! Some rice, fresh asparagus and a bottle of Moscato and what a feast!

A Golden Day

A new adventure in the Mother Lode awaited us today. Just over an hour away lies a whole clump of mining towns and Gold Rush history we've never day tripped to before. It was a beautiful day and the choice to go to Daffodil Hill was affirmed as we strolled through the warm sun surrounded by fields of fragrant daffodils.

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What exactly is Daffodil Hill? As far as we understand, it's a huge, privately owned piece of land that is open to the public for free. It boasts about 5 weeks of spectacular daffodil blooms-- completely carpeting the hills, growing out of planters, bathtubs and antique milk jugs and sprouting up around rusty and deserted farm equipment.

I jokingly exclaimed, "It's just too much beauty!" when we found the peacocks. The next discovery was an abandoned wooden shed filled with floating butterflies!

After picnicking at Daffodil Hill, we headed over to the Sutter Gold Mine. This was a great stop also. Dave and Kyle took the hour long tour in the mine shaft, learning all sorts of fascinating things about the historical and modern mining of gold. They also got to wear these cute hats and ride the Boss Buggy 500 feet underground.

I stayed behind with the girls and enjoyed the generosity of the gift shop tender. He gave us free water bottles and cracked open a geode for Ella. We learned that this is an ordinary looking rock that God filled with "sparkly treasure." We also did some gemstone mining. The girls used running water to sift through a bag of dirt and sediment and came home with a whole handful of real gems!

The drive home took us through the neat, old mining town of Sutter Creek. Of course, we had to stop at the Ice Cream Emporium to finish off a great day with some Kona Coffee and Pineapple Coconut cones.

Super Uncle!

With much anticipation from my oldest daughter, Uncle Kyle arrived safely yesterday. When the car pulled in, Ella bolted up from her nap, started shaking and said, "He's here! I'm so excited!" She flew into his arms for a giant hug the second she saw him. In no way has Uncle Kyle's presence been a let down either! He warned us how badly he's missed his nieces and yesterday he spent every possible minute playing hard with them.

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First Kyle unloaded presents from his suitcase-- a pile of books, one specially picked out for each of us. Then it was time for "Potato Head Gets Married," Pretty Pretty Princess, dress-up, Elefun and pretty much every other toy we own.

Last night Ella was crying about having to go to school because "I'll miss Uncle Kyle so much!" So, this morning he kindly got up early to walk her to school and listen as she showed off her classroom. Ella knows Uncle Kyle will babysit her and Delia tonight and she cannot wait!

A Little Miracle

I've known my friend Amy for about 2 years now. We connected instantly with much in common as Christians, teachers and moms with similar parenting styles. I'll also credit Amy with the inspiration for starting this blog. As I got to know Amy, I watched her family battle infertility and pursue adoption. Then I cried happy tears with her the day she told me she was shockingly pregnant! Today my heart was filled with happiness when I got to visit her in the hospital and hold her precious Grace. I listened to Grace's story and heard Amy testify, once again, what "a little miracle" she is. Weighing in a whopping 10 pounds .2 ounces, she's a miracle in other ways too-- delivered naturally! Doesn't Amy look stunning considering she gave birth to a 10 pound baby yesterday? :)

Ella's Answered Prayer

Jonathan has a sister! You can read about beautiful Grace Evelyn here. I hope to visit this afternoon and will give you a report.

"Please, God, Let It Be a Sister"

So, remember when I took my very pregnant friend Amy on a 3 and half mile hike hoping to jump-start the labor we thought at the time was moments away? That was 17 days ago! Right NOW Amy is in the hospital having her baby. For the health of her baby and safety of her delivery, she did end up having to be induced. Last night I was telling Ella that Jonathan was going to be a big brother today. We prayed that baby would come fast and safe and healthy and Ella added, "And please, God, let it be a sister. Amen." We can't wait to post the good news-- hopefully sometime later today.

Here are a few pictures of Ella playing with her buddy while we watched Jonathan during some of Amy's midwife appointments...

Playing sleepover. ("Mommy, I can't sleep if you keep taking my picture!")

Doing a seed project. Ella made a whole paper's worth the designs and letters. I got just one picture out of Jonathan before he dashed back to his trains. Delia just gobbled up the sunflower seeds!

Pedicure!

Tulip Time

Before he left for the retreat last week, Dave got us this beautiful bouquet of tulips. In the fall we like to visit the Dutch Hollow pumpkin patch. In the spring, its owner uses his land to plant fields of tulips. Since we've been enoying the dozen he harvested for us all week, today we took a little time to tiptoe through the tulips after going out for lunch...

Brainstorming...

In one week, Dave's brother Kyle will be here, completing our winter of visitors (and oh, what a good winter it's been!) He called yesterday with some requests for his trip out to CA. One, he wants to make us dinner. Two, he wants to babysit. And three, he wants to see some part of California that he hasn't seen yet. This is tricky, because Kyle is one of our regular guests and we have crossed a lot of things off the list...

Big Trees

Napa

Yosemite

San Fransisco

Pebble Beach

Sacramento (this is the rose garden outside the capitol building and that's Ella!)
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I have a few other ideas, but they may not be kid friendly or ideal for this time of year. I don't want to be stumped! Any suggestions???

Hamburgers for Dinner!

Once again we were blessed with the gift of a third of a cow from some generous dairy farmers in our church. Today we went to The House of Beef to load our car up with boxes of frozen stew meat, patties and ground beef. Though we always get through it, it seems like an insane amount of meat! I'm counting on Dave's youth group to help us eat some of the almost 200 hamburger patties. And anyone that I bring a meal to is going to get my crock-pot beef stew for the next year! Tonight's chicken dinner was put on hold so we could bust out the hamburgers and make our favorite Bacon-Pepperjack Burgers (recipe to the right).

Ella and Delia helped Dave get all the meat into the freezer. See their assembly line?

We were a little surprised at how fast our cow got butchered. We thought we had a week or two, when we were told at church yesterday that it was ready! We had to quick run out this morning and get a new freezer to store it in. Our old freezer died last year while we were at Mt. Hermon (I'll spare you the gory details of how lovely that was to find: one week, several pounds of meat, 105 degree temps...) We knew this is what we'd have to spend our Costco rebate check on. The giant freezer box kept the kids entertained all day. Dave cut a door and windows in it and they played house and elephants in a cage.

The Annual Pilgrimage to the Snow

It's once again the time of year for Dave and the Youth Group's Winter Retreat. As we've done in previous years, I and the girls head up for a day of Daddy-time and fun in the snow.

Have I ever showed you the cabin? Ella calls it "Daddy's Cabin." We wish! This gorgeous rented home comfortably sleeps 30+ people, has a floor-to-ceiling windowed great room and huge kitchen that everyone congregates in for meals and games (there's a looong table). It's been the perfect place to host this Winter Retreat, with the beautiful and spacious inside actually being second to the vast stretch of forest it has right outside the door. Ideal for snow play...

The trend this year was building and sculpting. Phil crafted a very realistic bear. A group of students made a whole whale, another guy made an igloo and Ella built two different snowmen. Dave and Delia worked on a tunnel.


It's always neat to see my girls grow from year to year. Memories of an immobile Baby Delia in the marshmallow snowsuit from last year came to me. This year Ella was all about being a part of the crowd and playing with "the teenagers." Though they tried hard to coax her down the tubing run, this year she was too afraid and was willing to do nothing but sit in a tube and watch the others fly down. She also took part in a snow ball fight, dance party and game of candy land.