Happy Birthday Jacob, Jake, Jakey, Snake, Snakey, Snacob!

Twelve years old.

When I asked Jacob what cake he wanted, he chose the usual Entemann's chocolate doughnut as his cake. Next year, he will need to choose a proper cake or we will have to start creative math in order to avoid a fire hazard.









Please excuse our bed head!

Visting the Land of Hippies and Smart People

Located just 15 minutes from Walnut Creek was Berkeley and all it has to offer those who yearn to be smarter. We decided to check out the Lawrence Hall of Science which is tucked away in the Tilden Regional Park providing amazing rolling views of the Bay area. Just to reach the location was an adventure as we climbed higher and through fog. The kids insisted we stop to take a picture since they wanted to show their friends that they were in a 'cloud'.

When we arrived, Isabel was beside herself as the current exhibit is Dinosaurs Alive. For those of you who have not been instructed that she plans to be a Paleontologist or corrected for identifying the wrong dinosaur, let's just say she is passionate about dinosaurs.


She just happened to have on her favorite shirt on for the occasion. A little girl riding a T-Rex.




Yes, that is a bug box hanging from her neck. We made her leave the butterfly-catcher in the car.

After an excavation, we found the small animal room. It had something for each child: Aidan was able to see the fish, Caity preferred the Chinchilla and tarantula, and Isabel was partial to the frog. Opps, she just corrected me, I meant toad.



The Hall was unique in that it was hands-on but with real science concepts from Nanotechnology to Astronomy. Dan and Aidan had fun engineering a bridge.


We ended our day in the Planetarium. Now this was nowhere near the sophistication of the Adler Planetarium we have in Chicago, but it was narrated by a UC Berkley student and done at just the right level for the younger set. Caity loved it and exclaimed that the comet on display looked like a zombie fishing. Isabel decided to use the darkness to refuel.

Missing: Jabob "Snake" Ridges

Jacob was reported to have been seen at SFO boarding a plane (by himself!) bound for Chicago. He was later spotted in this dubious photo of the Northwestern University Soccer Camp (back row, second from right). Investigators are hot on the trail of the notorious Athas Clan which Jacob is suspected of getting mixed up with.

All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.

Nestled in the Mt. Diablo foothills are small ranches that offer horseback riding camps. Caity, Isabel and Aidan all wanted to learn how to ride horses when they found out their Mom use to ride horses when she was their age (that was hard for them to comprehend on a few levels). The kids went daily for a week and learned to saddle, mount, and ride the horse. In addition, they did barn chores (yes, incessant conversations on horse poop ensued).

Over the week, each child became attached to their steed. Isabel rode Chaps, Caity rode Shadow and Aidan was on Smoke. The kids loved the hum of ranch life which included dogs, ponies, a miniature horse and assorted cats.




With her tenacious spirit, Caity insisted on a horse (NOT a pony) and she did not want any help. The instructors do not push kids at this age; the goal if for them to be comfortable and will offer to use a lead line and walk beside them until they feel confident on their own. Our smallest child wanted command and control from the beginning. Caity had to put her whole body into a kick just to get the Shadow to walk.





Sweet Isabel has a deep love for animals and was more interested in their care than conquering riding skills. The size of the horse made her cautious and she wanted the extra reassurance of the instructor beside her. During the horse show on the last day of camp, Isabel played the showgirl as she dropped one of Chap's reigns to wave to the crowd and added her running commentary throughout.





Aidan was the one who surprised me from beginning to end. He caught me off guard when he told me he wanted to do Horse Camp with his sisters. He went on to quickly and easily pick-up the skills (most of the kids this age have had some experience). Toward the end of camp, Aidan's horse was spooked by a loud truck and took off in a full canter. Aidan hung on until the very end when he fell off. He got up, dusted himself off, got back on Smoke and did not think much more of it. This is a big deal as many kids will become hesitant or afraid, but Aidan took it in stride and was proud he was the first in his group to canter by himself.




A few more of my favorite pictures from the week. Below left is Patches who is a blue-eyed Arabian. The one on the right has a beautiful blue color to its coat that was amazing. I have never seen either and I look forward to sharing these with my brother Greg.


Caity communing with Shadow.

The Clayton Fourth of July Pony Parade

There's a job for everyone.

The trip up to Walnut Creek from Monterey was an uneventful one, thank God! We shot up under two hours and checked into our Marriott Sports Club Super Deluxe Platinum Member Resort Haven Place Hotel, ordered a pizza, and hung out at the pool. It was 80 degrees in the dark, and the kids had a blast swimming off the road before crashing for the night.

The next morning we were up and bustling, getting ready for the girls' first appearance in a parade - they were asked to accompany the miniature horses in the annual July 4 festivities. It was an exciting morning, and with all the rerouting, closed streets and parking permit debacles, we made it to the staging area just in time. We were warmly greeted by Bob and Mary, who handed me a rakey-looking thing and a bucket, announcing that I would be the official Short-Stuff Ranch Pooper Scooper for this year's Independence Day march. The girls were given the last-minute instructions for walking with the horses, and before they could be nervous, they were off and walking - Caity with Dixie and Isabel with Junior (Aidan took over marching with Coco a little later on in the parade). They had their parade waves down pat, and a fantastic time was had by all. See the pictures above.

Point Pino Lighthouse

Lamest Lighthouse, EVAR!!!!!

Sorry. But it's true.

Which isn't to say it wasn't a ridiculously fun trip to take with our kids. We took the free trolley, and the driver treated it thusly. There was a nifty, pre-recorded narrative playing over the crackly trolley speakers, detailing the highlights of our sojourn deep into Pacific Grove... Three stops after the Point Pino, we asked the driver where the Point Pino Lighthouse is. He responded, "Way back there!", so we got off and walked. We hoofed it to the lighthouse, we in, toured the premises -which consisted of a bedroom underneath the light (we weren't actually allowed up to the light) and a basement area showcasing lightbulbs used in lighthouses back int he day. Aidan deemed it lame, lame, lame. He is used to the severe and profound lighthouses of the east coast, up in the Hatteras neighborhood...

Beautiful Monterey

'I'm going back to Big Sur Wish I could leave today I wanna walk beneath those redwood trees Just south of Monterey' ~Johnny Rivers

So, after the fateful hurry-up-and-wait trip in the illustrious Vomit Comet, we finally rolled through Steinbeck's Salinas into the beatific seaside town of Monterey, California. The kids rejoiced at the size of the hotel room, thanks to Mama's Platinum-Christ-Status through Marriott Hotels. We ventured into downtown Monterey to taste the hottest habanero salsa this side of El Paso and eat some fairly good Mexican food. We rented Rio and crashed early that night, beat by the road.

On Saturday morning, I hit the beach trail for my marathon training long run. It was a fantastic run, making me barely aware of the pain of running that mileage for the first time this season. I got back and we had breakfast, then headed out to the world-famous Monterey Aquarium. We are familiar with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, which is very well-known... Monterey blew John G. Shedd out of the proverbial water. It had all to do with its close proximity to the ocean, of course, but it was absolutely delightful to see the jellyfish and flamingo exhibits. They seemed to know how to keep these sea animals thriving and happy, and that's the key to a good museum-type experience, in my opinion. The kids loved it, and that's what mattered the most. The highlight of the two days we spent in Monterey was the free trolley that took us to all the major sites: the Aquarium the first day and the Point Pino Lighthouse on the second day; although, I have a separate post for THAT one... :)