Christmas Catch Up!

 Another make shift holiday in a goofy year, that turned out to be better than expected, or as least as good as it gets. We missed out on a lot of parties, and we definitely missed SO MANY of our people, but our little foursome had a good time. 

We went down to Dana Point to check out the harbor lights with Auntie Sara

We celebrated Hanukkah with our friends Lauren and Jonathan and their girls

We gave Poppy a drive by birthday parade

We made and decorated gingerbread cut outs, including the traditional holiday favorites of coyote, unicorn, ax, hammer and squirrel

Christmas morning was super chill, since we weren't hosting brunch. The kids got up at a reasonable hour and we headed out to let them go through their stockings first. Their big present from Santa was for both of them - the much desired Nintendo Switch that mom and dad have been refusing to buy. So now they think Santa is even more magical than before!

And you know, it's been fun. Santa also brought Mario Kart and Just Dance 2021, which we can all play together. And because the Switch is super portable, we were able to bring it over to dance and play with Auntie Sara, who once nearly wept with joy when she received a Nintendo Wii back in the day. 

December Updates.

 Well, it has certainly been awhile. Things continue right along around here. We had a nice Thanksgiving, and got our Christmas tree the next day. 

Taco approves of this cat toy farm we've built for him. The tree is maybe a little wider than is ideal for the space, but when you're not hosting any big holiday parties, what does it matter if you can barely squeeze by? 

It's getting a little cold for the beach, so we've been walking down to the park a lot of days. The whole quaranteam came down for this afternoon session of horse - please enjoy my delightfully dumb dog friend in the back ground. 

And we got to go on a Duffy boat ride with Mimi and Poppy!

Our big thing is we snuck away for a long weekend in Arroyo Grande with Bob and Nancy and their kids, and Victoria, Rob and Keira. Since driving up to San Carlos this summer, we'd been talking with the Magees about finding a place halfway between our houses that we could rent, and I found a fantastic estate that was almost exactly equidistant in terms of drive time. There was some debating in the last week if we were still good to go, if it was safe or if we were being reckless idiots who flout common wisdom about COVID safety, but in the end, we decided that since all of us are in the same situation - kids working from home, parents working from home, avoiding crowded places and restaurants and gyms and staying in a relatively tight bubble, that we were okay making the trip (and for us and the Pearces, we have been essentially functioning as one household the entire pandemic and see each other almost every day, so pretending that going to Arroyo Grande together was a danger would have been ridiculous.) 

The property was amazing. It was on a hill outside of town, with eight acres covered in oaks and manzanitas. The kids had space to ride their scooters and run around, and there's a family of deer that walked through periodically, and a herd of turkeys that came to visit. Every time we went outside there was something cool to see, and inside the house was comfortable and well appointed, so we could do some serious relaxing. The kids did their school work together, Tim and Rob were on vacation from work so they did some supervising and some just chilling out, and those who had work calls and emails to return were able to get stuff done and join us all for lunch, or for charcuterie and wine on the patio to watch the sunset. We coordinated grocery lists and meal planning so that we ate at home, and were able to feed the kids and then retire to the dining room for adult food and card games and bananagrams.

Our one outing (other than runs for more wine) was to the Monarch grove in Pismo Beach, where monarchs gather during their migration. I expected the trees to be covered in butterflies, which they sadly were not, because of their declining numbers. We did still see quite a lot and it was really beautiful. We also walked over to the beach and the kids collected shells and soaked the hems of their pants in the ocean. What more could you want in a morning outing? 

Also, I must say, I am very proud of these kids during the pandemic. These pictures were the only times they took off their masks all morning. When adults are throwing fits because they don't want to wear a mask at Target, the kids are great about masking up before we get out of the car, and wearing a mask without complaint until we're back in the car, sanitizing our hands. Not pictured, all adults wearing masks as well, leading by example. 

It was a great little get away, and I would most definitely rent the house again. One funny moment is that the internet went out on Sunday, mid-day. We texted the owners to see what could be done (especially with several very tech-savvy people, we knew we could probably fix it ourselves if we knew where the modem was.) Turns out, it was in the kids' bedroom and had gotten unplugged. We showed it to the kids and asked them all to be careful and make sure it didn't get unplugged again, but all of them insisted that they hadn't touched it AT ALL EVER. Then later, Ellie came and told us she had figured out what had happened. It had been windy all day, and a big gust of wind must have shook the house, particularly that one wall, and the plug just fell out of the outlet. 

In fairness, the kids were a great little pack of friends. The big girls all text and play together online constantly, so they're very familiar with one another, and they were very happy to take Caitlin around with them. The boys are good together, but are also the two who are most happy to strike out on their own (Adam in particular loves a good solo nature walk.) One night they played hide and seek for hours, or they'd be up in their room putting on some imagination game. They did way less time on screens than I expected they would. The big hit of the trip was a Cats in Hats coloring book I bought from the check out stand at Sara's store, which makes me laugh. Who doesn't want to draw so very many cats in hats? 

Halloweenies.

 Another holiday in Quarantimes! I have to say, COVID Halloween was not terrible. The kids like trick or treating, but they like being with their friends more than anything, and we were able to have a small party in the back yard with two other families who have been doing their social distancing. We carved pumpkins (the dads displayed some true artistry) and had chili for the adults and mummy hot dogs for the kids. They also decorated caramel apples, which did not taste great, but were a fun activity for them (it took me two days to soak the rest of the caramel out of my pan.) 

Adam said he wanted to be Soldier 76 from Overwatch. We got him the jacket from the Halloween store, and our friend Rob has the mask and Nerf gun that goes with the costume, so that was easy. Ellie wanted to be a Dementor from Harry Potter, so she wore all black and I got her a long velvet cape to wear and called it a day. She mostly wanted to walk around being moody. 

It's just not as fun or as cute when you can't see their faces!

The sky put on quite a show

The Corpse Bride, a bone, Sara's pumpkin, my cat, Tim's 76 and Rob's Junkrat (both from Overwatch)

A Decade of Elizabeth

 Just like that, fresh from our trip, Ellie turned ten. It seems totally unbelievable how fast the time has gone, especially in the last few years (first few years, maybe not as quick moving.) She is really such a delight, and we're all so lucky to have her. 

She had a few days of celebrating - on Sunday we went over to Mimi and Poppy's house, where Mimi recreated an American Girl luncheon for all of us. Ellie was thrilled to get a new doll, and since Julie is a doll from the 1970s, she let Tim hold her in a family picture. I am holding my 1990 Samantha doll, which Ellie tells me is creepy. She doesn't know. Samantha is wearing her originally "Happy Birthday Samantha" outfit, minus the ribbon crown, which Ellie informed me that the cat ate.

We had a lovely luncheon, including a giant donut cake (the 1 of which I repurposed, along with a giant snickerdoodle cookie, for her actual birthday. Waste not, want not!)

For her birthday, Tim and I got her a new Samsung tablet, since her old one is very old and not great. Now she has a fresh piece of technology to use to rot her brain, and play Minecraft with her friends!

Ugh, I can't believe how grown up she is. 

After school, for her birthday we headed to the beach

And finished our evening with pizza and cake in the back yard, with the families. I'm really glad that even during COVID times everyone was able to be together (while also doing our best to be socially distant and not super spreaders.) We even brought the disco ball out for our dance party! 

Canyons and Craters

Originally, we had planned to go to the Grand Canyon as a spring break trip this year. That obviously got canceled, and we've been staying close to home pretty much since. However, as things begin to open up, as we learn how to navigate this new COVID universe, we were feeling like we could leave the house for a road trip. Ellie and her best girl Lexi are turning ten this month, ten days apart, and we decided that it would be awesome to get out of town for a bit, see some sights, and visit the Grand Canyon. Our original plan was to go glamping, but when we couldn't book the tents, we got ourselves a rental cabin and went from there. 

Lexi's family left earlier than us and visited grandparents in Phoenix, and we stopped at Joshua Tree on our way out to Arizona. Tim grew up camping and hiking in Joshua Tree, but I've never been. I've heard a lot about it, but was unprepared for how undeveloped the area is. We felt lucky getting ourselves a very swank room in the nearest motel with two king beds (our spoiled kids were like "why is the sink in the ROOM?") because the other visitors seemed to be serious hikers or serious hippies, and we had brought neither a tent nor psychedelic drugs. But we had a great day of hiking around. The kids were so thrilled that they could do some rock climbing. I love watching them adventure in the great outdoors. 

I would definitely come back if we could figure out how to camp. Maybe we'll become an outdoorsy family yet!

From there, we were off to Williams. 

We met up with our friends at Bearizona, which is a sort of drive through zoo. The animals are all in separate enclosures, and you drive through and see the deer and the wolves and the bison and then the bears. It was cool! We were there late in the day, and got to watch the bears climb trees and drink from a pond, and got to see a mama bison charge at a pick up truck!

We got settled into our cabin (the kids were thrilled that they had a Kid Cave bunk room) and tried to get to bed early so that we could be up and at it in the morning. We'd booked a guide to do the Bright Angel trail hike, and I must say, I'm glad we did. Our guides were Chris and Elaine. They were both so knowledgeable and friendly and kind - Chris had a young adventurer vibe, Elaine had a calming hippie grandma energy. I think we could have had a much tougher day without them, not because of the actual hiking, but because they did such an amazing job engaging the kids, and knew the answers to all of their questions. We all got a lot out of being able to have our questions answered while walking, and they were really motivating and supportive of the kids when we were hiking the two miles back up to the rim (some of the steps on the way back up are so tall and so steep that poor Judd almost needed a hand up. He still did better than Adam, who practically wanted us to drag him at the end.)

This rock was especially cool - you could see where the rock had split and shifted, and if you look, you can see petroglyphs. Chris also talked to the kids about how the dark coloring of the rock versus the lighter parts shows when the slide happened, because the dark parts are oxidation over time. 

We had lunch in this little natural amphitheater, about two miles down. Chris and Elaine had a nice picnic and we made sandwiches and enjoyed the view. Adam was really rambunctious, dancing around and wanting to climb all the rocks, and we kept telling him to save his energy for the walk back up. Did he listen? HE DID NOT. 

But, he made it! We all made it. 

It was also nice, going with the tour company, because when we walked back to our cars, Chris and Elaine had a cooler full of beverages (no road beers, sadly, but I guess that's reasonable) and snacky food and even candy. Poor Adam was so pooped - he hardly even cared about having a Gatorade, but he did eat a couple of Starburst and then asked where Lamby was. He and Judd slept the entire way back to our cabin, while the girls, Tim and I had a great singalong to various show tunes. 

We also stopped at a rock shop, because I love rocks. This amethyst had a matching pair, and they were priced at $20,000. I told the girls, someday when I'm rich, I'm going to have one of these big things on either side of my front door - it's been my dream ever since I saw one at the Nature Conservancy in Boston. While we were hiking, I had the following conversation with Lexi:

Lexi: Meg, why do you know so much about rocks? And when did you start loving jewelry? [we had been talking a lot about birthstones and gemstones, since she got her and Ellie matching opal friendship rings.]

Me: Well, Gigi knows a lot about rocks and has taught me about them. And I've loved jewelry as long as I've been alive. 

I will admit, I made Tim brake for basically every rock shop we passed (except later in the trip when we went through Sedona and he wouldn't stop at any crystal healing venues!) 

We took it easy the next morning, had coffee on the porch, enjoyed the scenery, and then geared up and headed back out to walk the South Rim trail. We did about two miles of it, from Bright Angel to their geology museum. The kids were fairly whiny on the way out - I've never met children who need quite so many water breaks, but when the trail started doing a geologic timeline, they got very into it. You walk through the 2.1 billion years of the Grand Canyon's existence via the rock layers. They have examples of what rocks are present, and very even markers - the kids loved counting down the time. The way back was better because I bribed them with the promise of ice cream!

The views were absolutely stunning - I wish we'd had more time at the Grand Canyon - I could have walked around all day looking at how it changes in the light. Someday, I'd love to hike to the bottom and then hike out another route. 

We also couldn't have asked for better weather. We were mercifully shaded during the majority of our trail hike, and when we walked along the rim trail the weather was warm but not miserable. Could not have asked for two more perfect days. 

Also, could not ask for two sweeter friends than these two. This is also so their personalities. Ellie is ready to be a teen, doesn't want to smile in pictures any longer, generally a sass pants. Lexi is a sweet, bookish little thing, always ready with a million questions, wanting to learn. 

On Thursday our friends headed home, but we headed off for a little more exploring. We stopped by to see the giant meteor crater outside of Flagstaff (over 4,000 feet wide!)

AND we got Culvers for lunch! Truly, an A+ vacation. Two giant holes in the ground, and my favorite vacation fast food. 

Our last night we spent in Jerome, AZ. It's an old mining town that boomed while they were mining cooper, and then went bust after the mines closed in the 1950s. It's built up on a hill, with beautiful views of Sedona, and apparently, it's the most haunted place in the state. Our hotel, the Jerome Grand, is the most haunted building, as it's the former town hospital. We were staying in the former hospice rooms, aka the Croak Rooms. So charming! But we didn't see any ghosts. We did enjoy that we had two adjoining rooms with a big shared bath (so you can share with the other dead and dying, I suppose) and had dinner on our balcony and watched baseball. I'd love to come back to the town during non-pandemic times, perhaps without kids, to go on all the ghost tours and sit on patios enjoying the view and drinking wine. I'd stay at the Jerome Grand again, hopefully so that the ghost cat will come and spoon with me. 

The kids did enjoy the town though - we went through the mining museum and they thought all the ghost stuff was really cool. Adam enjoyed going on the swings and the little park, and Ellie and I went and hit up, you guessed it, some rock shops!

This made me laugh so hard. 

Yesterday was our big drive home. We stopped in Quartzite to buy rocks, and I took a picture of Ellie in front of this bear, a little more than ten years after I first stopped in the store on the way back from a wedding in Tucson, about halfway through my pregnancy with her. 

The kids were such great little travelers. As you can see, they were good about masking up, doing hand sanitizer, keeping their hands to themselves. We tried to be as safe as possible - we only ate one meal actually IN a restaurant, and even then, we were out on the patio, on the other side from the other guests (our first restaurant meal since March!) Perhaps there's more we would have been able to do if we weren't worried about COVID, but being able to enjoy the great outdoors, being able to learn about the geology and the history, being able to see some of the world's most wonderful natural marvels was so worth it. Though we've already had tears about how this weekend will be spent catching up on school work, in part.