A Beautiful Day for a Hike

Although Jason was on call on Saturday and Sunday, he was off today.  Originally we planned to go skiing, but he was at work quite late and didn't feel up to a 7 hour car drive.  

So instead we decided to drive out to the coast and go for a hike.

We hiked to the top of Alamere Falls, which is a waterfall that goes directly onto a beach in West Marin.  The weather was perfect--clear and in the 60s.   The hike was crowded, due to the holiday and the weather, but still lovely.


The kids did great--it was over 8 miles, and we had only minimal whining from Alaina.  Next time, we will extend a it a bit and go to the bottom of the falls--but this time we thought it might be too much.  You can actually scramble to the bottom of the falls from the top of the falls--but it is extremely sketchy, with crumbling cliffs--no thanks!

Anyhow, here are a couple of pics:

We are lucky to live where we live!

Leticia's Birthday

In between Ethan's birthday and Alaina's Birthday, also celebrated Leticia's Birthday!   She turned 27 this year.

We had a nice family dinner and chocolate cake.

Phew, now its the end of the birthday season......Over 3 months 4 birthdays in our household.

Bring on Valentine's day!

Happy 11th Birthday Ethan!

Yesterday, Ethan turned 11.   We marked the day with a sleepover party.   This one was not quite as calm as last year--he had five guests, so it definitely took a bit longer for them to settle down and go to sleep.

The kids enjoyed pizza and create-your own ice cream sundaes.  I bought a home"escape room" game--though they cheated their way through it, I think the still had fun.   They then had some hot tub time and then watched 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

They were all awake at 6 am after settling down to sleep around 11:30.   So after a pancake and bacon breakfast, I was not sad to shoo them all out of the house.

That's approximately when Jason told me that he didn't feel well and was going to bed.   A few hours later, he emerged, saying he had a fever and so we cancelled our planned Super Bowl gathering.  

We did still manage to have a family birthday celebration tonight.   We gave Ethan a chromebook--now he has a lot of online homework, and I am a bit tired of him using my computer all the time.

His birthday dinner was crab and ice cream cake--which is what Jason usually has but couldn't this year since the crab season kicked off late.

Anyhow, I think he enjoyed himself and his party!  And it was nice to have Grandpa here to celebrate with us!