Day +1165: Summer is here!
Hope everyone is having a great summer! We have been extremely busy. Keri and the kids just got back from North Idaho, where they stayed with Auntie Kristy and Uncle Bill for nine days. They had so much fun. Kristy and Bill live on 10 acres about half an hour north of Couer d'Alene. It's really beautiful country, and Kristy and Bill built a magnificent house. Now they're working on an addition for Grandma Lyn, who moved over there from Everett about a year ago. They have a barn with three horses and a goat, two dogs, and some barn cats with kittens! Mina's favorite kitten from last summer, Sammie, is now a mother herself with a kitten that Mina named Rosie. Sammie is very people-friendly and Mina just loves her. Last year she cried and cried when they left because she wanted to bring Sammie home with us.
Bill and Kristy also have a trampoline, a tractor, and a quad ORV. Every morning Keri would just open the door and turn the kids outside. They would run around and play all day, and go to bed exhausted. Zane and Zoe were there for the entire time, so the kids got some good time in with their cousins. Mina and Zoe were not quite as inseparable as they were last year, but they spent a lot of time together and got along really well. I flew up late on Friday the 27th to join them, and flew back out early on Monday the 30th. Last year I didn't make it to Idaho, so I really wanted to get there this year.
For Mina, the best thing was that she got three horseback riding lessons! Bill and Kristy have a good friend Colleen who is an experienced rider. Three different nights she brought over her horse and gave lessons to the kids. Isaac was a little too shy to get up onto the big horse, but Mina, Zane and Zoe were all eager. Colleen was really great with the kids. She showed them how to sit, how to hold the reins, how to kick the horse and say "Walk!", and how to pull back the reins and say "Whoa!" Mina was so thrilled. She had a huge grin on her face the entire time she was on the horse. And when she got off it, she stood quietly near the fence of the round pen just watching. When I went and asked her how she liked it, she said, in awe, “I told the horsie to walk and it listened to me!” The idea that she was directing that big animal was obviously overwhelming to her. She then said that was the best night of her life.
We’ve had lots going on in addition to that trip. In mid-June we went on a campout near Point Reyes with the kids’ preschool. The kids had a great time there sleeping in a tent, having a campfire, etc. One of the funnies parts of that trip was when Isaac fell out of a tree into a creek. The water was only about a foot and a half deep, and it was pretty soft mud on the bottom, but he probably fell backward about five feet. I saw it happen and was just starting to run over to him, but he quickly turned over and pushed himself up. He was soaking wet of course and was kind of scared, but otherwise unharmed.
The following weekend we drove down to the LA area to see Keri’s stepmother Toni, or “Tutu” to the kids, and her husband Richard. They live in LaVerne which is east of LA about an hour. It’s a long drive down there, and we decided to take Highway 101, which made it even longer. It’s a nice drive though, up the Salinas Valley then over the mountains into San Luis Obispo, along the coast for a short way and then over some more mountains into Santa Barbara. It was the start of that horrible heat wave, so it was over 100 outside for most of the drive. We were glad we weren’t driving in the Central Valley. It was probably 105 on Saturday when we were there. Tutu and Richard have a backyard pool, which was about 82 degrees with no heater, so that was a lot of fun. Mina has been in swim lessons for a year now, and she’s gotten pretty kid. She’s still inhibited, which is a good thing, but with some coaxing we had her dog-paddling about 20 feet across the pool. Sunday we went to church. Tutu and Richard attend a modern church with a rock band, which Isaac loves. He also remembered playing the drum kit in the youth room after the service, and he could barely contain himself during the whole service. He didn’t want to go to the kids’ service, which he enjoyed last time. I was kind of surprised, but later I figured out I think it was because he was so distracted about the drums. After the service was over he played for about half an hour. He now likes to pretend he is part of a band, and the room had a stage with drums and a microphone, so it was perfect for him. Mina made another book for God, though she didn’t have as much time to work on it as last time we were down there and it wasn’t quite with the same enthusiasm.
It was nice for the kids to have some time bonding with Tutu and Richard. The day after we got back to San Francisco, Isaac said, spontaneously, “Daddy, I love Richard. I love Tutu.” He can really be very sweet sometimes. He took a liking to carrot sticks in Idaho, and now he loves them. But as they were leaving Idaho, he told Keri “I love Uncle Bill as much as I love carrots!”
We weren’t sure how the kids would react to being back home after having so much fun in Idaho, but they’ve been great. Mina got to see her friend Anika on Saturday, but they only had a couple of hours together and Mina was very sad when it was time for Anika to go. Anika’s family is moving to Portland soon, but luckily for us their move was delayed while they deal with selling their house. So they’ll be around all month while Keri and the kids are here. Anika is a very sweet girl and is a great friend to Mina, but I’m looking forward to next year when Mina will hopefully have the opportunity to make some more friends in kindergarten. Then hopefully she’ll have more friends and won’t have to rely so much on one.
Mina saw her other good friend Bliss on Sunday. Bliss is the daughter of Keri’s high-school friend Melissa who lives about 20 minutes north of the city, and she and Mina also get along really well together. It’s very cute, and very nice for Keri and Melissa. Before we met them, I took Mina and Isaac to another concert of the Golden Gate Park Band. They were playing Scandinavian music, so that was fun for me. Isaac I think would sit and watch them all afternoon. He was disappointed that the concert was over after only an hour and a half. Mina was also interested, but not in the same way. Luckily I had brought a Skuut bike (a wooden bike with no pedals) that we are borrowing from Anika, so I sent her off to the side to ride around while Isaac and I watched the band. They play in an outdoor bandstand, with people coming and going and lots of distractions, so it was fun for Mina to be riding. She would ride around for a while, then ride up and watch the band for while, then ride around some more. The weather was perfect, about 65 degrees with a cool breeze, and it was just a very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. Isaac seems to love the trumpets the best, and he told me he likes the snare drum but doesn’t care so much for the kettle drum, probably because it’s too loud.
We are staying in San Francisco for another few weeks, then Keri and the kids will drive up to Washington in the Honda on the 22nd or so. I’ll fly up and join them for a week, then will fly back on August 2nd or 3rd. Then I’ll probably fly back up the following weekend and will join the family in Wenatchee. Eric, Astrid and Philipp will be there this year, so it will be fun to see them.
I finally got around to putting together another photo album. I’m still about six months behind, so this one has pictures of Christmas: http://picasaweb.google.com/arneolson/Christmas2007. Yes, I know...
Hope everyone is having a great summer!
Bill and Kristy also have a trampoline, a tractor, and a quad ORV. Every morning Keri would just open the door and turn the kids outside. They would run around and play all day, and go to bed exhausted. Zane and Zoe were there for the entire time, so the kids got some good time in with their cousins. Mina and Zoe were not quite as inseparable as they were last year, but they spent a lot of time together and got along really well. I flew up late on Friday the 27th to join them, and flew back out early on Monday the 30th. Last year I didn't make it to Idaho, so I really wanted to get there this year.
For Mina, the best thing was that she got three horseback riding lessons! Bill and Kristy have a good friend Colleen who is an experienced rider. Three different nights she brought over her horse and gave lessons to the kids. Isaac was a little too shy to get up onto the big horse, but Mina, Zane and Zoe were all eager. Colleen was really great with the kids. She showed them how to sit, how to hold the reins, how to kick the horse and say "Walk!", and how to pull back the reins and say "Whoa!" Mina was so thrilled. She had a huge grin on her face the entire time she was on the horse. And when she got off it, she stood quietly near the fence of the round pen just watching. When I went and asked her how she liked it, she said, in awe, “I told the horsie to walk and it listened to me!” The idea that she was directing that big animal was obviously overwhelming to her. She then said that was the best night of her life.
We’ve had lots going on in addition to that trip. In mid-June we went on a campout near Point Reyes with the kids’ preschool. The kids had a great time there sleeping in a tent, having a campfire, etc. One of the funnies parts of that trip was when Isaac fell out of a tree into a creek. The water was only about a foot and a half deep, and it was pretty soft mud on the bottom, but he probably fell backward about five feet. I saw it happen and was just starting to run over to him, but he quickly turned over and pushed himself up. He was soaking wet of course and was kind of scared, but otherwise unharmed.
The following weekend we drove down to the LA area to see Keri’s stepmother Toni, or “Tutu” to the kids, and her husband Richard. They live in LaVerne which is east of LA about an hour. It’s a long drive down there, and we decided to take Highway 101, which made it even longer. It’s a nice drive though, up the Salinas Valley then over the mountains into San Luis Obispo, along the coast for a short way and then over some more mountains into Santa Barbara. It was the start of that horrible heat wave, so it was over 100 outside for most of the drive. We were glad we weren’t driving in the Central Valley. It was probably 105 on Saturday when we were there. Tutu and Richard have a backyard pool, which was about 82 degrees with no heater, so that was a lot of fun. Mina has been in swim lessons for a year now, and she’s gotten pretty kid. She’s still inhibited, which is a good thing, but with some coaxing we had her dog-paddling about 20 feet across the pool. Sunday we went to church. Tutu and Richard attend a modern church with a rock band, which Isaac loves. He also remembered playing the drum kit in the youth room after the service, and he could barely contain himself during the whole service. He didn’t want to go to the kids’ service, which he enjoyed last time. I was kind of surprised, but later I figured out I think it was because he was so distracted about the drums. After the service was over he played for about half an hour. He now likes to pretend he is part of a band, and the room had a stage with drums and a microphone, so it was perfect for him. Mina made another book for God, though she didn’t have as much time to work on it as last time we were down there and it wasn’t quite with the same enthusiasm.
It was nice for the kids to have some time bonding with Tutu and Richard. The day after we got back to San Francisco, Isaac said, spontaneously, “Daddy, I love Richard. I love Tutu.” He can really be very sweet sometimes. He took a liking to carrot sticks in Idaho, and now he loves them. But as they were leaving Idaho, he told Keri “I love Uncle Bill as much as I love carrots!”
We weren’t sure how the kids would react to being back home after having so much fun in Idaho, but they’ve been great. Mina got to see her friend Anika on Saturday, but they only had a couple of hours together and Mina was very sad when it was time for Anika to go. Anika’s family is moving to Portland soon, but luckily for us their move was delayed while they deal with selling their house. So they’ll be around all month while Keri and the kids are here. Anika is a very sweet girl and is a great friend to Mina, but I’m looking forward to next year when Mina will hopefully have the opportunity to make some more friends in kindergarten. Then hopefully she’ll have more friends and won’t have to rely so much on one.
Mina saw her other good friend Bliss on Sunday. Bliss is the daughter of Keri’s high-school friend Melissa who lives about 20 minutes north of the city, and she and Mina also get along really well together. It’s very cute, and very nice for Keri and Melissa. Before we met them, I took Mina and Isaac to another concert of the Golden Gate Park Band. They were playing Scandinavian music, so that was fun for me. Isaac I think would sit and watch them all afternoon. He was disappointed that the concert was over after only an hour and a half. Mina was also interested, but not in the same way. Luckily I had brought a Skuut bike (a wooden bike with no pedals) that we are borrowing from Anika, so I sent her off to the side to ride around while Isaac and I watched the band. They play in an outdoor bandstand, with people coming and going and lots of distractions, so it was fun for Mina to be riding. She would ride around for a while, then ride up and watch the band for while, then ride around some more. The weather was perfect, about 65 degrees with a cool breeze, and it was just a very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. Isaac seems to love the trumpets the best, and he told me he likes the snare drum but doesn’t care so much for the kettle drum, probably because it’s too loud.
We are staying in San Francisco for another few weeks, then Keri and the kids will drive up to Washington in the Honda on the 22nd or so. I’ll fly up and join them for a week, then will fly back on August 2nd or 3rd. Then I’ll probably fly back up the following weekend and will join the family in Wenatchee. Eric, Astrid and Philipp will be there this year, so it will be fun to see them.
I finally got around to putting together another photo album. I’m still about six months behind, so this one has pictures of Christmas: http://picasaweb.google.com/arneolson/Christmas2007. Yes, I know...
Hope everyone is having a great summer!
posted by Arne Olson @ 10:43 PM
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