Dad Comes for A Visit

Last week my dad flew out to spend some time in California, and get away from the cold Chicago winter.   He arrived on February 13, and we all celebrated Valentine's Day together!   Friday was Rancho Day at Ethan's school--which is a celebration of California's Mexican heritage--they are in the middle of studying California history in Social Studies.   My dad and I were planning to volunteer, but Dad got a case of the stomach flu.  :(   So I went alone and served a Mexican lunch to 160 4th graders!  At least I didn't have to cook!

We had originally planned to head up to Lake Tahoe for the long holiday weekend--but a huge storm blew in, closing the Interstate.  Plus, Dad was still under the weather.   So we stayed home and enjoyed some local sights instead.  Saturday and Sunday were still pretty rainy, but by Monday we were able to go on a cool waterfall hike--Cataract Falls.  

The kids were also off from school on Tuesday, and I took the day off of work.   We did a spectacular, 5 mile hike that my dad did when he was here back in September.   It started by the top of Mt. Tamalpais and looped downhill and then back uphill through a ravine.  Funny how he knows more of the trails than us locals!

Anyhow, we made the best of the visit, and I am glad he was able to come and spend sometime with us!

Brrrrrr...

It has been really cold here!   Ok, nowhere near as cold as the polar vortex hitting the midwest, but still quite cold for California!   In the past week, it has snowed twice on this top of Mt. Tam.  Here is a pic that I snapped this morning on my chilly run.  Yes, just a dusting--but super rare around here!

It has been at least 5 years since we have had snow on Mt. Tam--of course, this is also probably cease we have had such little precipitation over the past 5 years.   This year, the snow pack is already 125% of normal--we have had a lot of rain!

Ethan Turns 10...in Andorra!

We just got back from a vacation.....this year, Jason was assigned the week of January 28.  We found an excellent airfare to Barcelona.  Since Ethan's 10th birthday fell during the week, decided to make the trip a surprise.   And because his favorite thing to do is ski, we decided to spend a few days skiing in the Pyrenees.   Before planning the vacation, I didn't realize you could ski just 3 hours from Barcelona.

In a lot of ways, the geography is similar to San Francisco--Barcelona is on the Mediterranean and quite temperate.  We were lucky to have sunshine most of the time when we explored the city.

 A highlight for us was that we got to see our friend Alberto.  He came to Barcelona from Bilbao, and we spent Sunday hanging out with him and his girlfriend Isa.   It was so great to see him again--we last saw him in the summer of 2013, when he came to our house.  

 

On Monday and Tuesday, we spend the day exploring the city.   We found it to be clean (especially compared to San Francisco), and very easy to get around.   We toured the Sagrada Familia, which allegedly his going to be completed in 2026, the Park Guell, and the Picasso Museum.   We had some great meals, and Jason and Ethan especially loved the seafood.

For the second half of the trip, we rented a car and headed north to Andorra.   We skied for two days at Grandvalira, a huge ski resort.   We were lucky as there was a ton of snow--and it snowed each day we were there.   Alaina is doing a great job with her skiing, and Ethan has for sure surpassed me.

We had a nice birthday dinner with Ethan--and he had the "best day ever".   I can't believe that he is a decade old!

We feel fortunate we were able to take this trip!

Instapot

This year for Christmas, I got an Instapot from Jason.   I have been interested in getting one ever since my friends Sue and Ben have been raving about how it has revolutionized their dinner cooking.   I have used it quite a bit since Christmas, with mixed results.   Although the pot has preset cooking programs, I have found that it works best if you just set the pressure and the time you want.   For example, the "rice setting" produced crunchy half-cooked rice, but when I cooked rice at pressure for 3 minutes, it was perfect.  My favorite thing about using it is everything cooks in one pot, so there is little to no extra clean up.   It is definitely a faster way to cook soups and stews as well.

Earlier this weekend I made a delicious baked potato soup.   And tonight, I decided to give our favorite Indian dish a try: Chicken Tikka Masala.   Although it wasn't quite a good as a restaurant, it was quite close.   I also made some homemade naan to go with it which was quite tasty.  

Overall, I am impressed, and would recommend it!

Alaina is 6!

My "baby" turned 6 on Friday--I cannot believe it!   She is growing up quite fast.   This has been a fun year, and I wish that I could bottle it for the future.   She has really blossomed since entering kindergarten, gaining self-confidence and making new friends.   She seems to love school.  

Some current favorites: Soccer, stuffed animals, calico critters, "flippy" sequined t-shirts, and more recently, the color pink (I am shocked by this as it was flat out rejected until now).  

Some of my favorites: her persistence and perseverance (she can focus on a tasks for such a long time given her age), and her sense of responsibility (example: each Friday at school, a "Friday Folder" is sent home that is to be returned on Monday.   Following break, we couldn't find it.   She was so worried that at 2am she came into my room crying about the fact that she might have lost it.  I promised to email the teacher--who responded the next day that she didn't send them home over break.   She never forgets library day at school either!).  

I love some of the things she says: "nother one" instead of "other".  "Chairclift" instead of "chairlift".   And when she wants to make a point she always starts with the word "anyways".   It is too funny.

We celebrated as a family on Friday night.   Her dinner choice: macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes.  A true carbohydrate festival.  

She chose ice-cream sundaes for dessert, since I made a big cake for the following day.  For her birthday present, we gave her a new bike.   She was not super excited about it, mostly because she is afraid to learn without training wheels, but it is time!

On Saturday, we had a birthday party for her at the house.   Amazingly, the forecasted rain held off, and we were able to have the majority of it outside (yes, it is nice to live in California!).   It was a unicorn-themed party, with games like 'pin the horn on the unicorn' and 'unicorn bingo' along with rainbow bank painting and fuse-bead making.   We topped it all off with cake and ice cream, as well as a piñata.   We invited all the girls in her kindergarten class, as well as our neighbors, so it was quite the party.   I think she had a blast.

Holiday Break

We have had a busy last two weeks with the kids off school.   We started with a trip to Chicago for Christmas.   It was really nice to be back and spend some quality time with my dad:

It was also great to see extended family, making the trip up to Milwaukee to see Grandma and "the cousins".

  

Ethan and Alaina had a barrel of fun with their cousin Zachary, who, at 3 is much more interactive and fun to play with.   We also found out that he is going to be a big brother in June, so that is exiting news!

We had the chance to catch up with old Chicago friends, which is always a treat.   And I took the kids ice skating-twice---I am on a mission to teach them, and it is difficult to do in California!  Though Jason refused to skate (wimp!) my dad was lapping me at the arena--pretty impressive!

Unfortunately, Jason could only stay through Christmas day--he had to work on the 26th--but the kids and I stayed for a week.   At the end of the week, we enjoyed getting to spend time with Christa, who came after her holiday concerts were done.

When we returned from Chicago, we got to open Christmas presents from Santa.   Highlights for the kids included a Calico Critter dollhouse for Alaina (and of course her clay), and a bike with gears for Ethan.  




The next day went skiing.   Originally we were going to go to Tahoe, but had difficulty extending our reservation when Jason realized he did not have to work on New Year's Eve.   So, instead we headed up to Mt. Shasta.  

We had a lot of fun--the kids are really getting great on skis, and as a bonus, the mountain was not too crowded--both days we parked right in front of the lodge--for free!  I skied downhill one day and spent the next nordic skiing at a ski park just down the road--it has been a while since I have gotten to do that --and it was fun.   A great workout.   My legs are still aching a bit!

Jason and I headed back to work right after the New Year, but the kids have had some down time--but back to school tomorrow!

Lists for Santa

I took Alaina to see Santa this weekend.   Ethan came too--not because he wanted to see Santa, but because he wanted a candy cane.

The kids each made a Christmas list.   Notice the difference in lengths.   I am not sure if Ethan ever had a one-line list, but the kids sure are different:

Ethan also had his 4th grade "Winter Voices" concert this week.  Unlike in the midwest, where not having a holiday sing is akin to larceny, California doesn't seem to work like that.   There is one holiday concert, and it is for fourth graders only.   Honestly, they didn't even sing that many holiday songs.   Very strange, to me.  They did sing a pretty wicked rendition of "The Grinch", though.

We also took the kids to see a junior version of the Nutcracker this weekend.   I had also originally planned to just take Alaina, but Ethan told me that he wanted to go, so I bought tickets for the whole family.   Then, his basketball team announced they were playing in a tournament that same day.   So, Ethan missed a game.   He was not too happy.   First world problems.