Grass Sledding

Sometimes newfangled technology works. Crispin was pining for a sled after our fun borrowing one during the last snow. Eager to provide a chance for archetypal childhood fun yet wondering how many years it might be until proper sledding snow returned to Whidbey Island, I was pleased to see an all-season sled advertised on Amazon. It worked on snow, but there were also two grids of ice one can freeze in the freezer and attach to the bottom of the sled which allows it to slide down grass. Taking a risk (it still would work on snow even if the grass part was greener than it seemed), I purchased it. It arrived; the boys helped me freeze the ice; we took the sled and ice out for a test run today, and after a kind grandfather with a pocket knife helped us chip the ice down so that the blocks fit into their slots on the sled, we were thrilled to see it worked well. Both boys had a blast. Both boys had tumbles (both times with me on the sled; I think my extra wait can cause a part to dig into the grass) and enjoyed rather than feared our side flips and rolls. Liam shows increasing comfort with risks and went down the hill backwards, as did Crispin. They had me try; again, my weight was enough to cause the back of the sled to catch the grass and cause a guffaw-raising flip.

Liam is captivated by the concluding book of the Narnia series and would have been glad to stay up all night to finish (to be honest, I am eager to read the conclusion, too; I don't remember it from 32 years ago). Crispin fell asleep while I read to Liam; I had Crispin several stories from a book of ballet stories--the plots of tales from famous ballets such as The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Daphnis and Chloe--and Crispin told me all the parts we was playing in the various ballets before he drifted off to be carried to bed.

Crispin's Play about Survey Monkey

Here is a drawing Crispin shows great excitement about. It his play about the school survey monkey. Our school uses an on-line parent survery company called survey monkey, and this is the time of year that parents take the survey. To inspire parents, an organizer took a picture of a stuffed monkey on skis in the snow (or found a stock image of stuff) and has posted that photo with information about the survey around school.

Crispin is used to seeing signs for plays and performances and remains convinced that this must be advertising a play--a play that he has now conceived of a long and complex plot for and plays many roles in (a bit of Bottom the Weaver's delightful myriad of interests percolates through Crispin's blood, as it were).

Birds of Prey

Here is the cover of a book on birds of prey Liam composed earlier this week. He has become proficient at drawing owls. His book also includes pictures of falcons, hawks, and other birds.

Crispin showed me a picture today of a play about a stuffed monkey. He also told me his favorite color was pink because the Spanish teacher gave him a pair of pink binoculars she had procured at the thrift store. Crispin wondered if she gave them to him because she knew he liked pink so much.

David Copperfield

As some of you may know, my car was broken into in Seattle a few weeks ago, luggage was stolen, and I lost the computer I was borrowing (which was fortunately fairly old and unwanted so the replacement cost won't break me). I had already been seeking a light computer with 3G or 4G capability so I wouldn't have to set up a home phone or cable account, and I was pleased to be introduced to the Samsung Galaxy at the Verizon store.

It works on the same google droid operating system as my phone. I use google for mail, contacts, documents, and calendar, so the ease of use is beautiful (and, as a colleague noted when a computer was stolen, I lost no files. I did go and update all my passwords). It looks like a Droid phone but is bigger, about the size of a Kindle from Amazon.

I thought I would be one of those people who never caved in to Kindles and would always read books, but I have been incredibly pleased with the free Kindle application on my tiny computer. I can download classics like Dickens' David Copperfield for free. I had heard that this was Dickens' greatest novel (Virginia Woolf and others wrote so) and had checked out a copy from the library. The print was tiny, the book was unwieldy, and some other would be literati put the book on hold so I had to return it when I was barely into David's childhood. Now I have it on my computer, it is easy to read in light or dark (I know mothers will council me not to read in the dark), the font is easy to read (I could make it bigger if I want), and I am happily marching my way through the 15000 pages or so of the Kindle version of David Copperfield. There is defintely something about great literature.

I also just finished listening to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, narrated by the author. It tells of his life in poverty in Limerick, Ireland. He is a great writer, and it was incredible to hear him read his own prose. I remember being at the University of Iowa and listening to books on tape. I remember listening in particular to Ethan Frome, a depressing story. But the narrator sounded as if we were more depressed and lifeless. It has been refreshing to hear how enlivening good audio narration can be--I feel my experiences of Rushdie's Midnight's Children and McCourt's memoir were greatly enhanced by the wonderful narration.

At last -- snowman weather

Although the snow has melted by now, Whidbey was blessed with about 3 inches of snow last night, and we were granted a day off from school.

Again, although it rained all morning, the boys and I were invited to go sledding at Castle Park. I was surprised that there was still enough snow, and the sledding was quite good. Both boys enjoyed going down with me and by themselves (they had had good practice on their trip to snowy Chicago).

After sledding, they were pleased to see that this wet snow was actually good for making snowmen. It was pretty easy for a child to roll up a middle section of a snowman too heavy for a dad to lift (my back somehow survived).

Elves

Crispin is fond of these sorts of pictures and was delighted with the chance to pose. The Roaring Camp Cog Railway had had a Christmas train celebration shortly before our visit.

Cog Railway to the Redwoods

On our way out of Monterey last Friday, we drove up the coast to the Santa Cruz mountains. Liam has a little one--a more than doll infused with life by the kindergarten teacher who helped him discover it--named Redwood, and this tree is important to him. While there were a couple of smaller, younger (only a few hundred years, probably) redwoods outside the yellow house of Liam's birth, it seemed right to seek bigger, older Redwoods. There is a range of coastal redwoods that runs from just above Santa Cruz to a few miles over the Oregon border--hundreds of miles long, but never wider than 8 miles or so (the coastal redwoods, as their name suggests, like to grow near the coast).

By mistake, we ended up at the same cog railway trip that Liam took as a baby with his parents and grandparents in 2003. The train took us up Bear Mountain, past grandmother redwoods that were over 2000 years old. After the train trip, the boys and I walked a short trail past some even older and bigger redwoods, including one in which John Fremont was supposed to have slept when mapping the west for the U.S. government (as an illegal alien, because California was a Mexican territory at the time).

We had a smooth ride with surprisingly little traffic over the mountains and into San Jose airport, to have our last sushi for a while.

Liam has talked fondly of the trip in recent days, and I hope to take the boys again.

Home

We are safely at a motel near Seatac airport.  Kelly will meet the boys at Buca di Beppo.

This photo is not of Seattle but of our first home on the Monterey Peninsula.   Before we left town yesterday, I played fiddle for Mia and JoAnn's kindergartens.  Mia and JoAnn worked with me in 2001.  Classroom space is hard to find in Monterey, and the kindergartens ended up not far from the modular home community in Seaside where Kelly, Nicolas, Hershey, and I resided our first year.  While the boys did not think the community too shabby, it definitely lacks the charm of PG or subsequent houses.   The abandoned army barracks across the street have been replaced by big, pricy homes.

Location : Address not available

Sleep

The boys did sleep on the trip, too.

Location : 408 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Benihana

To celebrate our last night in Monterey, we went for a meal that pleases all three of us.  Liam is chewing, and Crispin is playing with the plastic sword that held the cherry to make his orange juice fancy.

We concluded our night with gumballs, pinball, and horse and boat rides at the ice cream shopper.

Location : 408 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Top of the train

We had time to go back to Dennis the Menace park.  While Crispin planned train excursions below, Liam climbed to the top of the engine, higher than he thought would be comfortable.   He was pleased with his achievement.

Location : 408 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Wrestling and seals

The boys were eager for another Surrie trip, which was a pleasure for me.  We biked to Lover's Point and back to Fisherman's Wharf.  Here we have dismounted to observe about 100 seals on the beach.  The boys chose to wrestle with raucous laughter.

Location : 408 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Teasing Sparky

We stopped by the house where Liam was born and had tea with Tamie and her dog Sparky, who was a jovial comrade of Nicolas and Hershey.  In this photograph, the boys are telling Sparky they see a squirrel, causing Sparky to pull his ears back and the boys to giggle.

Location : 581 Pine Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Whale watching

We had a busy day, starting with whale watching.  Liam had a keen eye for spotting gray whales.   While Crispin demonstrated enthusiasm for whales, he also averred great devotion to snacking on goldfish crackers, often choosing to sit far from the madding crowd.

I liked the new view of towns I know well.  It was also heartening to see the boys comfort on what could be a rough voyage.  More than a handful of other passengers were below deck, feeling seasick.  I feel the boys are ready for more challenges and adventures.

Location : 581 Pine Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Kindergarten Students from 2002-2003

JoAnn Holbrook was kind enough to host a party for teachers and families that knew me when I taught at the Monterey Bay Charter School.  Here I am with my sons and former students.

Location : 581 Pine Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Seals and Surrey

When I lived in Monterey, I biked to work and would sometimes do my best to remain calm when stuck behind or having to pass 3 to 6 person surries, bikes with 4 wheels and more than one set of pedals.   With joy I became one of those bike trail blockers, biking with Liam and Crispin from Cannery Row into Monterey.   As I remembered, there were many seals and sea lions to watch near Fisherman's Wharf.

Location : 400-408 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950,

Ice Cream Shoppe

Liam remembers the story of his mom and dad walking to get milkshakes the night before he was born, and he asked to visit the shop.  It was a sleepy, simple shop (no cold stones or mix-ins.  It has a new owner.   While the ice cream remains simple, the shop has transformed into a museum for the Beatles and old time rock.  Crispin loves the fancy gumball machine.   Liam likes playing Elvis Presley pinball.  Here Crispin rides a horse. 

We'll likely go every night.

Location : 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93950,

Ice Cream Shoppe

Liam remembers the story of his mom and dad walking to get milkshakes the night before he was born, and he asked to visit the shop.  It was a sleepy, simple shop (no cold stones or mix-ins.  It has a new owner.   While the ice cream remains simple, the shop has transformed into a museum for the Beatles and old time rock.  Crispin loves the fancy gumball machine.   Liam likes playing Elvis Presley pinball.  Here Crispin rides a horse. 

We'll likely go every night.

Location : Address not available

Ice Cream Shoppe

Liam remembers the story of his mom and dad walking to get milkshakes the night before he was born, and he asked to visit the shop.  It was a sleepy, simple shop (no cold stones or mix-ins.  It has a new owner.   While the ice cream remains simple, the shop has transformed into a museum for the Beatles and old time rock.  Crispin loves the fancy gumball machine.   Liam likes playing Elvis Presley pinball.  Here Crispin rides a horse. 

We'll likely go every night.

Location : Address not available

Big Sur

Our hotel aquarium passes gave a 2nd day free.  The boys were rearing to go hours before it opened.   We drove part way to Big Sir, a bit past the Bixby bridge.   The boys wanted to see waves.  While I'm glad we had the drive, I also realize that like boys at an aquarium with a surplus of exciting exhibits, I can feel overwhelmed by all the choices of the beautiful home we lived in for 2 years.   For the boys, the same beautiful PG coastline could be more than enough for a week.

Location : 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940,

Aquarium

The Monterey aquarium, in addition to many excellent exhibits, has a lot of interactive learning experiences for young children.  Crispin calls them toys.   Here the boys are creating waves that push around pretend sea stars, fish, and anemones.

Liam in particular has enjoyed driving the coastline to watch big waves crash on the rocks.  He shows trepidation about getting any closer to the waves than from the car.

Location : 3324 Del Mar Ave, Pebble Beach, CA 93953,

Big train engine

At the park.   Like other children, the boys are barefoot, enjoying the perennial 55 degree weather.

Location : Address not available

Dennis the menace

Crispin and Liam have one more week off from school.  I found super cheap tickets to CA and incredible off season rates at the Pacific Grove Inn, down the street from where Liam was born.  The boys are enjoying Dennis the Menace park, a super playground in Monterey.   This is my first visit.  Liam was a bit too young when we lived here.

Location : 777 Pearl St, Monterey, CA 93940,