Getting out of town!

After the months of working on the Golf Fore Education tournament I didn't even want to think about spending the 4th of July holiday in Tahoe.  Don't get me wrong, the 4th in Tahoe is unbelievable but the throngs of tourists make the simplest visit to the beach, park or market a major outing.  So, in addition to helping my parents get back home, the boys and I were looking forward to a trip to northern California to spend some time relaxing. 

Though our Subaru wagon has seating for five that is not really the case when two of those seats are occupied by a car seat and a booster seat.  So with three adults and two kids (Brian had to stay to work) and over a week's worth of gear going along we opted to rent a mini van for the week.  Despite the cost, the van was a very good choice.  I am certainly not saying that I am ready to give up my super-deluxe mommy wagon in exchange for a mini van but it was quite nice for the trip.  The van we rented was a Chrysler Town and Country with just a little more than 400 miles on the odometer when we picked it up.  The feature I liked best was the in-floor storage which freed up so much space within the main area of the van.  We all had plenty of room which was a great thing since we traveled over 1000 miles over the week.

We headed out of Tahoe on the morning of June 30th and made our way north.  A quick stop for lunch, another to pick up basic groceries in Yreka, and one last stop at Gram and Pop's and we were headed down the Klamath River to Happy Camp.  I never could have made the entire drive on my own but having my mom in the back with the boys to divvy up snacks and toys as needed was a huge bonus.

On July 1st, our first full day back in my home town, the boys and I met up with my childhood friend, Courtney Chambers.  Courtney and I go so far back that neither of us remembers a day on our lives of not knowing each other.  Apparently our mothers met while pregnant with us and the rest is history.  Courtney, her husband Matt, and their son Graham have been living abroad since before Graham's birth nearly three years ago.  And it seemed that no matter what, Courtney and I just couldn't seem to schedule our trips home to coincide.  So, for the fist time in over seven years we met face to face and introduced our boys to each other.  Unfortunately, Courtney's husband Matt had not yet arrived on the West Coast and Brian was back in Tahoe so we did not complete the introductions.

Ben, Sam and Graham played quite well together and all the boys had lots of fun swimming, playing on the swingset, and eating grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  I was quite surprised how close both Ben and Sam were to actually swimming since neither had had any swim lessons since the previous summer.  After wearing ourselves out we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a nap and to prepare for our trip to the coast for the 4th of July.

We left Happy Camp on July 3rd for three days out of the heat.  Our original plan back before my dad's eye surgery was to pack up their camper and our tent and camp out on the coast.  Obviously we opted to go with another plan.  Instead we loaded up the mini van and set up a hotel room in Crescent City as our base camp for the weekend.  We still got a little of the campground experience when we visited Bill and Sylvia at their campsite for a cookout dinner.  The boys loved playing with Bill and Sylvia's grandkids, Ryan and Emily.  Ryan serenaded the boys with his guitar playing and Emily won over Sam's heart by making S'mores.  By the end of the evening Sam was referring to Emily as his big sister.

We left our hotel early on the morning of the 4th to go to the annual Crescent City 4th of July parade.  The boys were excited to use their new folding chairs from Grandma and Grandpa to watch the parade go by.  The parade started off with local police cars and motorcycles coming through with their sirens blaring.  I told the boys that if it was too noisy they could just cover their ears.  Sam took my advice very seriously and kept his ears covered for the enitre hour and a half long parade!!  We enjoyed seeing floats, marching bands and fire trucks from at least six different departments in the north coast area. 

The 4th of July festivities continue all day long in Crescent City but we decided to forego the craziness and find something else to do with the day.  So after lunch and a rest we loaded up and went to the local aquarium/marine center and went on their tour.  We saw their harbor seals and other local species of fish and sharks.  Sam was even brave enough to touch a California Horned Shark and the boys loved posing with the various displays.  Later on we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant - I had a dungeness crab fettucine alfredo that was divine - then got ourselves set up to watch the fireworks.  The boys loved the fireworks display over the harbor.

We were scheduled to leave the coast and head back inland on the 5th of July but first we had a couple more stops to make.  First was the Point St. George Lighthouse in Crescent City.  Ben and Sam have both shown lots of interest in lighthouses so we figured even if we didn't take the tour and go inside the building we would at least stop and let them get an up-close look.  We lucked out that the tide was low enough for us to go out on the point in the morning and the boys liked hiking up the hill and collecting rocks along the beach on the way.  From the lighthouse we headed north into Oregon to the Brookings Harbor area to meet up with my Uncle Ray and Aunt Annie.  They were on the coast with their daughter (my cousin) Heather and her husband Stanley and daughter Lillian who were visiting from Montana.  I hadn't seen Heather and Stan and Lilli since Lilli was an infant so it was fun to introduce the little cousins to each other.  We all enjoyed a pizza lunch and ice cream cones along the harbor boardwalk.  We then headed back to Happy Camp, the heat, and Grandma and Grandpa's house where we would spend one more day before going to Gram and Pop's in Yreka for a night before driving the rest of the way home to Tahoe.

Weekend Warriors

On Friday, June 25th, we welcomed my parents, sisters and their families to Tahoe for the weekend.  The 25th also happened to be Brian and my 5th anniversary and we were set to celebrate it with everyone at the Rustic Cottages in Tahoe Vista where my sisters were staying for the weekend. 

To back-track a little...late May and early June had been a roller-coaster ride for my parents following my dad's cataract surgery.  To make a very long story short my dad had gone in to have cataracts removed in mid-May.  Whether it was because of his congenital glaucoma or other unknown reasons, the recovery did not proceed as his doctor would have liked and despite doing everything he was instructed to do, Dad's vision remained very cloudy.  After a visit to a cornea specialist it was determined that he would need a cornea transplant.  Unfortunately the surgeon was leaving the country and would be unavailable until July 19th to get Dad back to normal.  To complicate things even more, my mother does not drive, so getting to and from the various appointments, etc. had been taking a toll on family and friends.  Thank goodness for my parents' amazing friends, Bill and Sylvia, who were there to help whenever needed.  With all of this going on my sisters and I and our husbands were all quite concerned about Dad.  We could all tell that being homebound with little vision was really affecting Dad who could no longer see to read, go fishing, golfing or even drive.  He was a prisoner stuck behind what the doctor described as a steamed up shower door.

We all agreed that no matter what, we were all going to keep Mom and Dad on their summer schedule starting off with the trip to Tahoe and the Golf Fore Education tournament.  Thanks to my brother-in-law, Pete, for driving all the way to Happy Camp to pick up Mom and Dad and take them to Benicia for a couple of days before coming the rest of the way to Tahoe.

So, by the time we all met up on the Friday evening for a barbecue we were all feeling like we had come a long way since May. It was great to get all the cousins together and watch them play together despite the age range from 13 years to 9 months.

Early on Saturday the 26th, I headed to the Mountain Golf Course with Mom and Dad for a full morning of tournament play. I personally wasn't going to play but as the lead organizer of the Saturday tournament I had to be on hand for questions, and general support.  Pete and Howie soon joined Mom and Dad to round out their foursome and I looked on as they headed out to the 1st tee to get the best-ball tourney rolling. Though they didn't golf well enough or poorly enough to earn the best or worse foursome prizes, they all seemed to have a pretty good time. Dad was actually pretty impressed with some of his tee shots and his putting.

As tournament play wound down I headed home to see Brian and Ben off to a birthday party for one of Ben's preschool friends, Hannah.  They had a great time going to the theater (owned by Hannah's parents) to see "Toy Story 3."  It was Ben's first movie theather experience and he loved it!!  I was quite happy to rest at home with Sam in preparation for our evening out at the Golf Fore Education community barbecue and auction.

Though the barbecue attendance was down from last year, we all had a good time.  But the highlight was when an overly-made-up older woman was hitting on Brian at the barbecue.  I knew exactly who she was and even knew how she is involved in volunteering within the community.  I knew that she hasn't always been the most gracious person in the non-profit loop so seeing her reaction when I walked up and introduced myself as Brian's wife was hysterical.  Even funnier was seeing the look on her face when she figured out who I was because of my major involvement in the evening's event.  Small towns never disappoint for drama! 

As the weekend finished up we all had a Sunday morning breakfast cooked by Howie at their rental cabin and said goodbye to Beth, Pete and Kayla as they headed back to the Bay Area.  Mom and Dad returned home with us to stay for a few more days before heading back north with us.  Pauline, Howie, Olivia and Isaac joined us later in the day on Sunday for dinner before leaving early the next morning to get back to Redding.

Excuses allowed

I could easily say that if I had a light-weight laptop with wireless access or even an I-phone to carry along with me when I'm out and about I would stay caught up on my blogging.  I could say that the hassle of uploading photos from not one but two different cameras has been holding me back.  Though a new laptop would be nice I will instead opt to tell you the truth...volunteering was what interfered with my blogging over the past several months. 

This photo more or less sums up June for me. 

Much like last year I spent countless hours working on a HUGE non-profit fundraiser for the Tahoe Children's Foundation in conjunction with three other local non-profit agencies.  The big difference between the 2010 Golf Fore Education weekend and the 2009 event was that due to circumstances in the lives of others involved in TCF, most of the meetings, planning, and organizing fell on my shoulders.  This ultimately meant the boys were with sitters at least three times a month while I attended meetings and Brian remained his very patient self by picking up the slack when I had too much to do.  All of this on top of running my own business which graduated from being a once-a-week dinner to a full-fledged catering business when I

made appetizers for over 100 guests for a wedding over Father's Day weekend. 

The Golf Fore Education event was scheduled for the weekend of June 26th and 27th but for myself and other volunteers it actually began on Thursday the 24th when we hosted a VIP party for the local individuals and businesses who put up money to sponsor tees and greens on the two golf courses during the tournament.  My own little business, Meals By Maggie, was included in the list of sponsors.  After being encouraged to spread the news of my business I even volunteered to be one of the guest chefs along with my good friend and director of another non-profit taking part in the tournament (George Lebard from Project MANA) at the VIP party.  I do have to say that after the months of meeting and planning for the actual tournament, getting ready for the VIP party was a breath of fresh air.  I was just coming off my very successful wedding catering job and went into the VIP party preparations with mucho gusto!  George and I dazzled the guests with Marninated Tri-tip sliders, Thai chicken in crispy wonton cups, Mexican Chocolate cookies, Peppercorn-Pecan Baked Brie, Mini fruit-topped cheesecakes, and Chocolate-dipped strawberries.  One night of celebration soon led us to the real business at hand as the two-day tournament loomed.  But for our family the first order of business was spending time with each other as the following day my parents, sisters and their families were arriving in Tahoe to take part in the tournament.

Spring Flings - mid and late May

Back in June I actually blogged a little about our activities in May.  I vaguely recall writing about having Dave and Sarah come for a visit over Mother's Day weekend along with Janet and Roger.  I wrote about the Mother's Day Tea at Ben's Preschool.  I even wrote about meeting chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir at a cooking class in Reno. What I didn't write about was our first visit to the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. 

I can't even count how many times we've driven past the museum in Carson City while running errands.  We finally decided to head over on a Saturday morning and see what it was all about.  The boys loved all the railroad equipment the museum had to offer and loved riding the motor car on the tracks around the museum's park area.  We even got the calendar for the weekends they actually run their steam engines for visitors and planned to return later in the summer.

Ben's preschool hosted an art show toward the end of May where they had artwork from all the kids displayed for families to admire.  Here are some of the works of art by Ben and his class.

Over Memorial Day weekend we loaded up the car and headed down the mountain to Modesto.  Our never-ending winter was still looming as we stopped at a rest area along highway 80 to eat the dinner we had taken along.  We had thought that we would be able to get out of the car and sit at one of the picnic tables but the scattered snow showers made for a long drive and a tricky dinner in the car. 

I honestly don't remember anything exciting happening at Great-Grandpa's house but I do recall the weather being slightly warmer than it was here at home, though Grandpa commented on how it was so cool for May.  I remember enjoying the fresh strawberries Grandpa had waiting for us when we arrived and I remember doing one of the boys' favorite things in Modesto - visiting the various parks near Grandpa's house.  Oh, wait, I do remember one big thing we did - we set up our new tent and had a round of "practice camping" in Grandpa's backyard complete with a campfire. 

Spring outings, travels and playdates

Due to our extended winter we had to be creative when it came to our morning entertainment.  Lucky for us the Seattle Browders gave us a membership to the KidZone Museum in Truckee where the boys and I had lots of fun on the coldest of days.  The boys loved pretending to drive the tractors and create masterpieces in the Messy Art room.

And believe it or not, we enjoyed sledding into April with friends like Ashley.

In early April we traveled to Sacramento for Auntie Steph's baby shower.  I didn't get many good photos but did manage to capture one of soon-to-be big sister Julianna seriously watching her baby cousin Gabriel.  Since then her baby brother Bradley has been born.

We stayed with Auntie Beth and Uncle Pete over the baby shower weekend and the boys had so much fun painting their own wooden trains with Auntie Beth after a visit to the Benicia Book Store.

The week following the baby shower happened to be our spring break so we took advantage of the Sunday morning to visit the Explorit Science Center in Davis, CA.  The boys had lots of fun with their friends Jacob and Evan trying out lots of hands-on activities.

We welcomed some warm weather during the end of spring break and met with my friends Steph and Katie at Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno where we let the kids run wild and caught up with each other.  Between the three of us we had five kids and one on the way.  Julianna held her own as the only girl and Ben and JT hit it off as the "big boys."  JT had just celebrated his 4th birthday and Ben's was less than 2 weeks away. Sam and Cal, the little boys, had no clue they weren't the big guys of the day.  We enjoyed lots of playing and a picnic lunch before calling it a day.

And now that Ben seldom naps we find ourselves looking for quiet activities to do while Sam snoozes.  So we invented "Potato Parties" where we use our many Mr. Potato Head pieces to make the silliest creations we can think of.

Easter was months ago...

April 4th to be exact.  We had originally planned on heading north to Yreka and the big family egg hunt.  Unfortunately our winter seemed to never end and the thought of me driving all the way with just the kids (Brian was still catching up from his absence due to our trip to Belize) in snowstorms just didn't sound very appealing.  Not to mention that at least one of my sisters and my mom were sick and didn't know if they would make it there either. 
So, we opted to bundle up in our snow gear and check out the Incline Village Community Egg Hunt on the beach on the Saturday of Easter weekend and then spend Easter morning at our church, St. Patrick's.  Initially the boys were sad not to see Gram and Pop, and everyone else but soon were okay with the idea of an egg hunt on the beach.  As you can see from the photos, everyone was fine with the situation.  Ben's friend, Ashely, was very excited that we didn't leave town for the weekend :) And yes, that's snow on the ground...just a dusting but not the only snow we saw during the holiday weekend.

Before heading to church on Easter morning the boys dove into their Easter baskets with much excitement then had bunny pancakes for breakfast.