Alaina Bridges to Brownies

 Lat week, Alaina became a Brownie Girl Scout--her troop graduated from Daisies.   The troop leader did a great job doing a little ceremony outside with a cool balloon rainbow arch.

 

I have to say, I have such great girl scout memories, I know that I am living vicariously through Alaina right now....and I don't think she is quite as into it as I am!   But maybe that will change.

When I was packing up things from the Park Ridge house I found my old girl scout vest--I remember my mom painstakingly sewing all the patches on (or outsourcing the sewing to my Grandma Harris)!   By the time I finished in 6th grade, there was not any more room for another patch!  Needless to say, the vest made the move.   Maybe someday, Alaina will appreciate it!!

Shana Tova

 This weekend we celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.   Eileen did almost all of  the cooking but brought it down to our place to serve in the back yard.  Jason did smoke a brisket (which turned out delicious!), so I guess we contributed a bit.

My dad got to join in for his first Jewish holiday.   He did enjoy the Matzoh Ball Soup!

Look at the three beautiful cakes Eileen brought: Honey, Apple and Fig.   Delicious!

  

Lets hope that year 5781 is a bit better than 5780 was.   When I think back, the last 12 months have been pretty rough--Ethan was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis, Jason's Grandma died, and of course, we have all suffered with the pandemic, lack of schooling/socilaization and the recent fires.   

I hope this is the turn of a new leaf!

Choking in the Smoke

 Well, it has been an unprecedented week of bad air quality.   Though there are no fires immediately close to us, much of northern California and Oregon are up in flames, and the smoke has blown in our direction.   Last week was supposed to be the kids' first soccer practice, but all practices were closed due to poor air quality.   

On Wednesday the sky was particularly eerie--it was glowing orange all day.   This was apparently due to a high layer of smoke with fog below it, which apparently prevents all blue/green light wavelengths from being seen.   I was working from home that day, and all of our interior corridors were pitch dark.   It was apocalyptic-looking.   

  

On Thursday the orange went away, only to be replaced by grey.   And the grey has stuck around.   You cannot see anythingonthie horizon at all.   So now, there are no indoor activity's due to CoVid and no outdoor activities due to the smoke.   Miserable! Though of course, not nearly as miserable as it would be if the fires were immediately nearby.   So, we are thankful for that!

Welcome to the Newest Resident of Marin: Dad!

 Well, its official!   My dad has moved in!   2 weeks ago he handed over the keys to his Park Ridge home and hit the road for Mill Valley, CA.   After a grueling 3 full days of driving with his girlfriend Marilynn, he made it to our place.   He then waited for the moving truck (which got a bit delayed) until last Sunday.   All of his stuff arrived safely (no broken items found yet!), and he has been spending the week settling into his new place.

  

It is so cool to be able to just stop by for a visit on my way home from work (his place is directly on the way home!)  I still haven't quite gotten used to the fact that I can do this, but it sure is pretty neat.

He has made some good progress in his unpacking over the week.  His bedrooms are basically done, and his kitchen is getting there.   It is starting to look like home! (I'll post some unpacked photos soon!)

What a journey--he made an offer on this place over 6 months ago.   So glad he is finally here.

First Day of (Virtual) School

Well, it's officially, school has started.   Virtually.  This year, Ethan began 6th grade and Alaina began 2nd.   No schools are open yet in the Bay area, and it is not looking good for them opening anytime soon...so for now it's Zoom school for both of the kids.

I took their traditional first day of school pictures....in their pajamas.

                                 

So far, it has been quite bad.   Alaina has 4.5 hours of staring at her iPad with two 15 minute breaks.  Ethan's schedule is arranged a bit better since he is in junior high, with three subjects taught a day by a different teacher, as well as some dedicated small group learning time.   So, a small improvement over last year, kind of.    But both report it to be "very boring" and are begging for social interaction at the end of the day.

Bottom line is it is still pretty rotten and challenging.  I cannot wait for school reopen.

Summer Vacation

 About 9 months ago, we planned a hiking trip with my dad to Northern Italy.   We wanted to go hiking in the Dolomites, where one can hike from lodge to lodge--sleeping in a soft bed and eating a delicious  Italian meal after a long day of hiking.   Needless to say, that got cancelled.

So we were left with 2 weeks off and no plans.   We decided to take another roadtrip, this time staying in California and exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains.   And instead of joining us, my dad focused on finishing up packing for his cross-country move.

We started the trip in Lassen Volcanoes National Park.   This park is only about 4 hours from our house--similar to Yosemite--but much less visited.   The park itself was great--beautiful mountain scenery as well as some interesting geothermal areas.   

We took a couple of great hikes--the first one was 12 miles long and nearly 3000 feet in elevation to Juniper, Indian and Horseshoe Lake.   Both kids did great, with Ethan's gait much improved over last year, and Alaina mostly keeping up.   

The following day, we climbed to the top of Lassen Peak.   This hike was about 2500 feet in elevation gain and 5 miles.   The views from the top were stunning.  

 

 On our third day, we enjoyed checking out the thermal features of the park on the Bumpass Hell Trail (yes, this is really its name!) and a shorter hike to Terrace, Shadow and Cliff Lakes.   All amazing.   

  

After several long days of hiking, we were ready to relax for a bit.   Our next stop was Lake Tahoe.   We had a couple of nice days at the beach--the weather was really warm.

Our final stop was Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park.   Jason and I had not been to this park for at least 13 years, and I was eager to go return and explore.   It did not diappoint--but wow, it is huge!   Lots of driving.   In any event, we took some great hikes there as well.   Jason's favorite was to Emerald Lake (but not my favorite, as at one point the trail hugged the cliff with a 3000 ft drop-off into a canyon below!).  

 I liked the Mist Falls Trail--though it was a long drive from our lodging.   

 

We were lucky to see a bear on this trail as well as the trail to Emerald Lake.   In both instances, the bears paid us no attention and weren't scary at all.  

 

Much scarier was a rattlesnake sighting!

We also hiked to Weaver Lake.    We had planned to hike to the top of Mitchell peak on our last day, but unfortunately when we work up it was really smoky.   Many fires had broken out due to rare lightening storms and the smoke had finally made it up the mountains.   So instead we packed up and left a day early.   Honestly, we felt fortunate that we had as many beautiful, clear days as we did--we know from experience that mountain traveling in August is risky (See Yellowstone 2018).  

Anyway, the trip was not quite Italy, but not too bad either.   We are fortunate to have such beautiful places nearby.   Maybe next year we will make the Dolomites.  🤞🤞🤞

Half-Birthdays!

We have had two half-birthdays recently:   Alaina was 7.5 on July 11 and Ethan 11.5 yesterday.  Each got to pick a special dessert to make to recognize the day.

Alaina chose oreo cupcakes:

And yesterday, Ethan picked homemade ice cream sandwiches, which I have to say are my new favorite!   2 brown-butter chocolate chips cookies with a vanilla ice cream center....yum!

 

Anyway, a small bit of joy in what is turning out to be an otherwise rather dull and lonely summer.