Blackberry Picking

One evening, Steve and I took the kids to Wallace Swamp Creek Park for a walk.  While we were there, we discovered tons of blackberry bushes.  In order to get the kids home that night, I had to promise that we'd come back to do a proper job picking berries.

So, a few weeks later, the kids and I loaded a couple of buckets into the car and headed to the park.  The kids loved picking the berries.  I armed each with a stick to knock down the spider webs that were always built right in front of the juiciest berries.  We also walked in the creek to grab some berries.  So much fun!

Berry Picking

I took the kids to Remlinger Farm on Monday.  It was a good way to get the kids out of the house while the plumbers were repairing our water heater.

 Remlinger is in Carnation, about half an hour away.  We had a nice drive, and got there around 9am.  Luckily, that was early enough that we didn't melt out in the fields.

Unfortunately, we came right between berry seasons.  The strawberries were just about done.  Everything we found was very small.  Most were over-ripe.  We only came back with a pound of strawberries.

Raspberries were just beginning.  Again, there weren't a whole lot of berries.  Most of them were green.  At least with the raspberries we could stand up.  We came home with a couple pounds of raspberries.  I think we'll go back later and pick some more.

Log Boom Park

We're slowly exploring the area around us.  One of the nice things is the abundance of parks.  Just 5 minutes from our house is Log Boom Park.  It's right along the north edge of Lake Washington.  We took a little walk and watched the Bald Eagles over the lake and in the trees above us.  Then we stopped at the playground.  There's a lot of climbing and spinning toys for the kids to play on.  Finally, we walked out on the pier.  There was a huge heron and we watched the teenagers swimming.  Lots of fun.

Tacoma Children's Museum

I took the kids to the Tacoma Children's Museum.  What a trip!  I'm not all that sure of where I'm going and got a little lost at the end trying to find a parking spot.  The nice thing about this museum is that there is no entrance fee, they just asked if I wanted to make a donation.  I did, of $5.

We spent a lot of time there and there was a lot to do.  Art projects, a lot of dress up, a ball and tunnel set.  The kids had a ball, but there were a few problems.  First, there were a ton of people there!  It was so crowded that it was hard for the kids to settle into a particular piece of play- just too much sensory overload.  The other problem was that the entire area was one long room and I was trying to watch two kids go in two different directions.  I lost Matthew a couple of times.  He kept running for the front door!  I was afraid he was going to just walk out with a group of people.

The kids had a lot of fun, but I don't know if we'll go back.

A Visit to the Buffalos

One day, while Steve was out on a walk he met one of our near neighbors.  After talking a little, Steve mentioned that we loved seeing all the animals nearby.  The neighbor told him about some buffalo at a home not more than a mile from us.  So, one day, we took a little trip.

Sure enough there was a large enclosure with about 15 buffalo.  There were even a couple of calves.  The kids were fascinated.  There were signs all over the broken fence stating that we should stay at least 10 feet from the fence because the buffalo are wild animals and have been known to charge the fence.  I believe it since most of the wooden part of the fence had broken rails.

A Visit from Alli and Matt

We were lucky to have Matt and Allison come visit us for a few days over Labor Day weekend.  Steve dropped Anna and Matthew off at Grandma and Grandpa's early in the morning while I headed over to the airport to pick up Matt and Alli.  We met up back at Steve's parents before we took off on the day's adventures.

The first stop was a must on Matt's list- Apple headquarters.  Apparently, Apple is a second religion for Matt's family and he couldn't be so close without stopping by and getting a picture.

After that, we drove to San Francisco.  This was my first trip as well and Steve hadn't been in more than 15 years.  We went to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked to the middle and back.  We were lucky and had a beautiful day with beautiful weather.  We stopped briefly at the visitor's center to get a stamp in our National Parks book.

Pier 39 was next.  After finding a parking spot (quite a feat in itself), we headed for a little restaurant for lunch.  The highlight of the pier was going on the submarine tour.  It was fascination to see where everyone slept and just how little space there is.  Red October looks positively roomy!  We also headed to the Boudin Bakery and bought some great sourdough bread for us and some for Steve's mom to say thank you for watching the kids all day.  At this point we split up.  Alli and Matt stayed behind to do some more sight-seeing and Steve and I headed home.

On Monday, we all headed to Monterey Bay Aquarium.  We knew that it would be insanely busy because of the holiday, so we got there almost as it opened.  It was great because it was so quiet.  We got the whole deep sea window to ourselves.  Matthew loved being able to see all of the fish so close.



Alli and Matt left us on Monday.  It was really nice to get to know Matt a little before their big day in October.

Marina State Beach

One Saturday, we decided to take the kids to the beach.  We hadn't been all summer and it seems a shame not to take advantage when it's so close by.  The night before, we packed the diaper bag with essentials and loaded the car trunk with blankets, chairs, and toys.  When we got up the next morning, we were ready.  It was a little cloudy, but we decided to head out anyway.
I'm so glad we did.  It was a perfect day.

The kids and Steve built a great sandcastle.  The biggest part of the project was creating a trench that would fill up with water when the waves washed up.  Steve spent a lot of time and it paid off with a suitably watery moat.  Anna was in charge of decorations and Matthew did whatever he wanted.




The kids went beach combing with Steve and found some nice pebbles and pieces of shell.  We also
think we saw a seal of some sort out in the waves.  It'd come up for a while and then dive down under the water.  Kind of fun to see something besides gulls!

I tried to get everyone's feet wet at least once.  Steve's not big on being in the ocean and the kids ran away as soon as the water got anywhere close to them.  Matthew in particular didn't like getting wet or how the waves and sand felt.

After all this fun, the wind started blowing and the sun came out so we flew our new kite.  We had a cheap one from the dollar store, but it didn't work at all.  So, we splurged on a nicer one.  It went right up in the air without any effort on our part.  The kids loved holding the string and watching it fly.  Anna let all the string out so it went really high.  Winding it up again isn't as fun as letting it all out.



We left just as the beach was starting to get crowded and it was starting to get quite warm.  We noticed that there was quite a traffic jam on the roads coming in but getting out was a breeze.  It was really, a perfect day.

Berry Pickin' at Gizdich Ranch

We had such an amazing time on Thursday.  We got up early and headed to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville.  Gizdich is a big farm with berries and apples and pies and lots of fun stuff.  We got there just after it opened and started off picking strawberries.  Anna and Matthew had so much fun.  Anna was actually good at getting the berries and Matthew was really good at eating them.  Later I made strawberry syrup and jam with them.

After the strawberries, which were plentiful, we headed to the boysenberry patch.  There weren't as many of these but the kids were just as enthusiastic.  We got enough to fill a gallon bag in the freezer.

After spending the morning picking berries, we headed to the barn's eating area.  There were lots of picnic benches and a big sandbox with riding toys to play on.

We had such a nice day together.

January 2014

Here's a recap of our major life happenings in January:

After spending Christmas in Morgan Hill, we headed up to the cabin to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  We were hoping for some snow, but were out of luck.  Instead of sledding, we took lots of walks and sat by the wood burning stove.

We did head out to Cover's Apple Ranch.  It's a favorite place of Grandma's and Melissa and the kids hadn't been before.  There's a little barn and corral for the kids to see some farm animals.  They had sheep, pigs, cows, horses, a goat, and some geese.  There was also a small train that you could ride around the ranch on.  That was the funnest part.

My 37th birthday came soon thereafter.  It was a nice day.  I got some books and nice slippers.  Steve bought me a German chocolate cake, my favorite.

Matthew's first birthday was this month, too.  We decided to go with a Hungry Caterpillar theme.  For dinner, we ate many of the things the hungry caterpillar did.  Sausages, fruit salad of all the fruits, lollipops, pickles, cupcakes, ice cream.

Matthew really liked the cake and made a big dent in his cake, plus he ate a cupcake.

He is such a happy, smiley boy.  He love cuddles and tickles.  We love having him as a part of our family.  Happy birthday, Buh-boo!

The Pumpkin Patch

The Saturday before Halloween, we headed to the pumpkin patch.  Just finding a good pumpkin patch was a feat in and of itself.  There's not a lot of farmland near San Jose.  I refuse to buy our pumpkins out of a grocery store box and most of the 'patches' were parking lots with hay bales, inflatables and pumpkins scattered about.

Steve did some research online and discovered Spina Farms on the southernmost edge of San Jose.  It's actually closer to Morgan Hill.  It's a really cute place with sunflowers growing all along the edges.  They had picnic benches all
over and cute decorations that were just screaming for parents to take pictures of kids with.
It was the most perfect day for it- sunny but not too hot.  We got there just in time for an early lunch at one of the picnic benches.  Then we were off to the activities.  There was a hay ride, a train ride, pony rides, and a petting zoo.  We let Anna pick 2.  She decided on the train ride and the pony ride.


First up was the train ride.  Steve and Matthew
went with her and they all rode in the caboose.  Next, Steve got in line for the pony ride while the kids and I roamed around, taking pictures, playing with kids, and looking at pumpkins.  Steve and I ended up waiting about 30 minutes before it was Anna's turn with the pony, but she loved it!
















It was finally time to find a pumpkin.  Anna had originally said she wanted a little one, but we thought we'd look around the patch first.  She fixated on a HUGE pumpkin with warts all over it.  We showed her others that were smaller or weren't so lumpy, but she decided that this was the one she wanted.  We also ended up getting the small pumpkin for Steve and a little bitty one for Matthew.

Great America

So Steve has been working for the last little bit with a team at work on a product called Chromecast.  It released last Wednesday and as a thank-you for the work everyone did, Google sent us to Great America.  They gave us admission tickets and a parking voucher.  Yay!  We had a family outing all set for us.

We spent the morning at home.  Steve had a little work to get done and we wanted to let Matthew get in a good morning nap.  So, we headed out around 12 and got there around 1.

Anna was in heaven.  We headed first to the double-decker carousel.  She was a little nervous about going up on the top floor so we stayed on the bottom.  She wanted to ride the giraffe, so we rode the giraffe.  She's gotten so independent and didn't want any help.

Later we went up the Star Tower and got a good look at the entire park.  We then took the Delta Flyer across the park to the other end.  We ended the time before lunch with Anna's very first roller coaster ride.  Granted, it was the kiddie roller coaster, but she did it and she LOVED it.  In fact, she went on it twice.

In addition to the tickets, Google provided lunch.  We had hot dogs, BBQ ribs, chips, green salad, potato salad, and roll.  We also had popsicles and soda.  Anna was more interested in the little mushroom house nearby.  I've been telling her some stories about a gnome that lives in a mushroom and she was beside herself to see a gnome home.

After lunch, we headed back to the park.  We stayed mostly in Kidzville and Snoopy Land.  They had rides more appropriate for Anna.  We rode a couple with her, the Great Pumpkin Ride and Sally's Love Bugs, then Anna went solo.  There were a bunch of rides that only let kids on.  After a little confusion about what she was supposed to do, Anna went for it.  She even buckled herself in.

We finally left around 6pm.  Steve and I were exhausted, Matthew was cranky, and Anna was ready to go for round 2.  She had so much fun.

Half Moon Bay

On Saturday, we loaded up the kids and headed to the beach!  We were so excited, especially Anna.  We packed all the necessary items for a great beach trip: food, towels, swimsuit, and sand toys.  The drive to Half Moon Bay is only 40 minutes from the house, very doable for a day trip.  We decided to go early and beat the crowds.  We got there around 10am.  Unfortunately, once we crossed the mountain between us and the coast, the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped 20 degrees.  We had clouds and about 57degree weather the entire time we were there.

Anna was beyond excited to go see the ocean.  We spread out our big 2-person towel for Matthew and I, then Steve and Anna took off.  She went everywhere.  She collected feathers and bits of shells in her bucket, then joined another family to build a sand castle.  Later she ran back and forth trying to keep out of the waves and caught huge bubbles that another family was blowing.  As you can tell, Anna has no problem introducing herself to strangers.

Matthew and I watched the fun.  He was mesmerized for quite a while by the waves, but didn't want me to put him down at all.  Steve and I switched, but it didn't last long because Matthew was crying his head off.  I finally fed him and he fell asleep.  He slept most of the time we were there. 

After a picnic lunch, we decided to head home.  We washed our feet off at the bathroom foot-washing station (I accidentally sprayed Anna in the head) and left.  On our way out, we stopped at a fruit stand and bought Rainier cherries and a flat of strawberries.  Yum!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Last Saturday, we all went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is only 1.5 hours away from here.  Steve's uncle was over for the weekend so he came with us, too.

Anna LOVED it!  She had so much fun running from one exhibit to another.  One of the first things she wanted to see was the penguins.  Her other favorite place to hang out were all the gift shops.  She couldn't get enough of the glittery bracelets, magnets, and plush toys.

After looking around for a couple of hours, we headed to KFC for lunch.  We were so tired and hungry.  We did decide to head back for a little more.

We headed to the upstairs exhibit, but I didn't make it very far.  Matthew fell asleep and I was leaking energy with every step.  So, Steve's mom and I sat on a bench in front of the Sandy Shores exhibit while Steve and his dad took Anna around to look at everything else.  What a day.

Our Family in September

So here's a little look into our family during September...after the stress of the move-in.

First, we went on our 2nd annual family hike in Middle Canyon.  The trees turn colors up there before they turn down at the house.  It's so pretty.  We had a little picnic of veggie calzones first.  That was memorable, because someone let their cattle out and they were roaming the picnic area, eating the grass and being BIG.  Anna thought it was great to have them so close.

Afterwards, we took a leisurely stroll up the path.  We collected different colored leaves and Anna picked up bunches of rocks.  We overestimated how warm it was going to be and Anna's pink jacket just wasn't enough so she got to wear my jacket, too.  It was a little big, so we tried to roll up the sleeves and we tucked the front of it into her pants.

We also made it to the zoo.  It was a cool day, in the middle of the week, and later in the evening.  We got there about 10 minutes before they closed the gates.  That gave us an hour and a half before they'd kick us out.  Basically we had the entire zoo to ourselves!  We loved seeing the new Rocky Shores exhibit with the otters, polar bears, and seals.  Anna really like posing on the tiger statues.  Then, she got to go on the carousel.  She was the only one on it and chose to ride the zebra.  I think this ride is what decided Anna in being a zebra for Halloween.

Midsommar...finally!

The last time I attended the Swedish Heritage Society's Midsommar was the summer that Steve and I met...2008.  Since then, we've tried repeatedly to get to it.  It always seems, though, that something always came up.  This year, we committed to ourselves that we were going to go.  It's funny because we had to change the date on some tickets to see Crazy For You so that we could make it, but we did it!
They hold the Midsommar every year at the International Peace Gardens at Jordan Park near the Swedish stugga (little cabin).  We arrived at 5:00 in 100 degree weather.  Luckily, there were lots of trees and a nice breeze blowing.  We watched them put up the pole and then they had some dancers do some dances.  They also did a line dance with anyone that wanted.  We watched those, but Anna and I did dance in the round dances around the pole.  Anna enjoyed running around in circles.  This year they had a live orchestra playing the music, fun!
At 7:00 they served dinner.  Steve stood in line for us while I watched Anna dance to the music that was playing.  She also found a tent pole and decided it made a good fireman pole to slide down.  She had so much fun climbing up on a chair and 'sliding' down the pole.  The dinner was catered by a restaurant.  It was good, but not $12 a piece good.  We split our meal with Anna.
In all, it was a fun evening.  Next time we have a couple of things we'd do differently.  First, I think Anna and I need flower crowns.  It's just not Midsommar without a crown of flowers.  We'd also go a little later and maybe bring our own dinner.
Glad Midsommar!

Happy May Day!

We had such a great day on May Day that I wanted to share.

Steve had been in Colorado for a few days and wanted to take it easy.  We had a nice breakfast and watched Anne of Green Gables and ate popcorn.  For lunch we decided to start a new May Day tradition.

In Sweden, the first of May is called Valborg and on that day or the night before, huge groups of people gather together and light giant bonfires to welcome spring.  We decided we would do something similar.  We gathered up a blanket, some food, and an armful of wood and headed to Woodland park.  We're so lucky to have a park nearby with a firepit.  So, we had a little picnic and roasted brats over the fire.  I think having a first picnic of spring/summer will be a nice tradition.


After lunch, we all took naps and got a few things done.  For dinner, we headed to Salt Lake.  We haven't been able to get to the Tulip Festival this year, so we thought we'd visit Temple Square instead.  We had dinner at the Lion House and then walked around the plaza and Temple Square.

Anna was in heaven!  She loved looking at all of the flowers (she knows what tulips and daffodils are) and was mesmerized by all of the water.  She had to stick her hand in it over and over again.  Sometimes she'd lean so far over, Steve or I would have to grab the back of her pants to keep her from falling in.  The weather was perfect and there weren't too many people.  We finished the evening off by sharing a pint of BYU cookies and cream ice cream before heading home.

I would dare to say that it was a perfect day.

Aquarium Visit

Last Friday, Anna & I went to the aquarium along with her friend, Joseph, and his mom.  We'd been planning on doing this since last fall, but didn't get around to it until now.

We all drove together.  Anna really liked having another kid in the backseat to talk with.  At the aquarium, she headed straight for the 'fishies!'.  She looked at each exhibit a little, but didn't seem too interested in most of them.  She was most fascinated by the tropical fish tank, the sleeping otters, and the Goliath Bird-eating Spider!  She didn't like the penguins.  It's so interesting to see what she likes and doesn't like.  I'm learning so much about her personality.

A Fall Day

Sunset over Stansbury Lake

Anna has been obsessed with apples lately.  She is always saying "Apple, apple" while making the sign for it.  I gave her one the other day and she ate the whole thing, core and all.  So, I decided that it might be fun to go to an apple orchard to pick apples.  The closest one was in Sandy.

Yesterday we headed to the orchard, Farnsworth Farms.  The GPS on my phone took me to the wrong place, but it was easy to find. The man told me we were a little late and there wasn't much left.  We picked about 9 pounds of Golden Delicious.  Anna was most interested in the 'icky' apples all over the ground.  We then picked up some decorative pumpkins and played on the playground.  I think Anna enjoyed it. (more below)

Some pictures of Anna at the apple farm.

That evening, after a yummy dinner of cabbage soup & cornbread, we headed to Stansbury Lake to feed the ducks.  Anna LOVED it.  She kept quacking and liked throwing the bread, though she needed some help with that.  After the bread was gone, we went on a short walk around the edge of the lake.  Anna collected red leaves and interesting rocks.  We finished the day off with a beautiful sunset.  The perfect fall day.

Feeding the ducks

Fun Couple of Days

 Yesterday, Steve and I headed to the Capitol Theater to see our fourth opera together.  It has been a tradition for us to go see an opera every October since we met and started dating.  The first was Madame Butterfly (sad), the second was Carmen (sad), and the third was La Boheme (sad).  This one was Fidelio by Beethoven.  It's his only opera. It was sad in the beginning but actually had a happy ending!  Steve says that is must be a comedy then.  I don't agree.

Today, Steve's brother, Ken, and his family came over for a while.  We all went to the pumpkin patch.  I was so excited!  Going to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins is just right.  I hate picking them out of a cardboard box at the grocery store...boring! I've done it, though, because the nearest patch to me was 30 miles away near Salt Lake. Luckily, I saw a flier for a new one just a 5 minute drive from our house.  It's 3 acres of someone's backyard in Erda.  She said that she decided to do a patch for her grandchildren, since there wasn't one close by.  YAY!!!!!

The weather was wonderful (72) and the pumpkins were great.  Kate kept looking at a pumpkin and saying, "This one's perfect!".  Then she'd walk to another and say, "This one's perfect, too!"  It went on and on.  They have a couple of varieties, but all really good looking.  Anna loved being pulled in the wagon with her cousin, Billy, but not walking around.  She kept tripping.  We got a couple of good-looking pumpkins and took our picture by the hay bales. (see pictures below)

Family Fall Hike

 Friday after work, Steve, Anna & I headed up to Middle Canyon.  We have several canyons here that we've never been to and decided that seeing the fall colors would be a great way to explore.  We packed up some fruit, drinks, and homemade calzone along with a blanket and a couple of jackets.

The trip into the canyon took maybe 15 minutes.  Suddenly, we could see the beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds that haven't yet reached the valley.  We pulled over to a little picnic area and started to eat our dinner.  No sooner had we gotten settled, than lightning started to flash and thunder to roll.  Soon, rain started to drip on our heads.  We decided to eat in the car.  I must say that a picnic in a car isn't very easy.  Anna loved standing in her seat and Steve sat in the back trying to keep her safe.  I sat up front and tried to cut calzone on my lap.  We thought that we might have to go home, but the storm passed by the time we were done with dinner.

Steve had located a geocache in the valley, so we headed there next.  It wasn't very difficult to find, we almost could drive up to it.  We then decided to take a walk around the area.  We were trying out Anna's new backpack leash.  Even with it, the going was slow.  Anna wanted to stop and pick up every rock she saw.  That was a bit of a problem because we were walking on a small road made entirely of rocks.  She'd fill her hands with her treasures, her "rock-oos", then see one more she wanted.  She tried so hard to pick up just that one more rock, but couldn't so she'd drop everything and start all over again.

It was a perfect evening for the hike and we were glad to be able to see the colors before the weather turns bad.  We're hoping to get up there once more.