The Second Honeymoon

Our 10th wedding anniversary was in October, 2014.  We decided to celebrate with a trip up the coast to Humboldt Redwood State Park.

You should go there.  It's very awesome.  Here are some photos, which will give you a very small idea of just how amazing it is.


The view out our hotel window, at the Historic Benbow Inn:

Driving in the cloud layer:

Note the trucks for scale:

Big trees:

I'm in this picture.

 

2.10 or, Have T-Rex, Will Travel

Dear Miriam,

Aunt Alice and Aunt Cele came for a visit, which I think was more lovely for us than for them, since they were coming from snowy Michigan and then it rained almost the whole time they were here.  They did take you for a couple of walks around the neighborhood.  Once they found a neighbor giving away plants, so you all brought home a bunch of succulents for the backyard.  They also brought some Christmas presents, so we got to have a third Christmas.  Aunt Alice gave Corbin a little monster that makes funny noises, which you promptly adopted as yours instead.  She said, "I didn't know she liked monsters!" which we thought was funny.

You got new car seats this month, not because you hit any growth milestone but because we got sick of switching the seats out of the big van.  They have built in cup holders, which you like to prop your feet in.  Unless there is music playing, in which case you'll often tell me, "My feet are dancing!" as you kick them in the air.

You became part of a clinical trial this month, for a researcher here at my work.  They needed blood samples from healthy children to help develop a test for appendicitis.  I had to convince Corbin, but I just signed you up without asking you, which wasn't very democratic of me, I suppose.  It was twice as traumatic for you: they had to try on both arms because you're so skinny.  But the second one worked, and you got your reward, a $25 gift card.  I thought you would have to share one with Corbin, but instead you got your own.  So the next Saturday, we went to the toy store, and you got to pick out a toy to buy.  You actually got two, but you stayed within your budget.  You found a little plush dragon toy, and then you found a huge T-Rex that you love.  It's become the Mommy T-Rex to your other dinosaurs.  You even brought her with you to Target the other day.

You actually had two doctor visits this month, because you came down with roseola virus.  Corbin had the same thing, when he was younger, but we took you in anyway.  It was funny, actually, because we found our pediatrician again.  We had seen her in Torrance, and then she moved to a Long Beach clinic location, and now we're in Long Beach, too.  It was a nice discovery when I saw her name pop up on their website.  She was happy to see us, too, and happy to tell me that you were perfectly healthy and didn't need any medication.  Roseola goes away on its own, so you spent most of a week being kind of lethargic and not sleeping well, and then you were fine.

You and I went to the hardware store one Saturday and bought almost everything on our list, including two fruit trees.  We had gone to dinner at a neighbor's house, Dave and Elena.  Their daughter, Thalia, is six and in Kindergarten at Los Cerritos.  They sent us home with a couple of lemons from their lemon tree, and Dad decided that we should have some fruit trees, too.  So you helped me choose a lemon tree and an orange tree, and some planters which will eventually have milkweed in them.  We had to replant some of the backyard to make space for the new trees, but I think they'll work out nicely.  And hopefully we'll have some fruit in the future.

Dad and I took little second honeymoon trip this month.  We drove up to the Humboldt Redwood State Park and did some hiking in the redwood forests.  It was great--it was nice to be in nature and smell the woods and spend some time away.  You didn't seem to miss us as much as Corbin did; at least you wanted to talk to us on the phone.  Your bedtime routine suffered a little bit, since Grandpa isn't as strict as I am about making you fall asleep without someone else in your room.  But otherwise, you seemed to survive our absence just fine.  When you're older, we're definitely going to take you up there.  It's an amazing part of the country, and a unique part of the world.  The world has been changed by human activity for a very, very long time.  It's valuable to have a view of somewhere that those changes have been held at bay.  When you have been in a truly old forest, you have a much better understanding of why "the forest" was such a different concept for people thousands of years ago.  But mostly it's just good to get out of the city, and out of the office.  Although, if you keep on with this love of dinosaurs, your "office" will probably be some dig in Patagonia, and your vacations will be to big cities, instead.  As long as one of those cities is where Dad and I live, I'll be okay with that.

Love,
Mom

5.11 or, Blood for Dragons

Dear Corbin,

Aunt Cele and Aunt Alice came to visit.  It's always wonderful to have them here to spend time with us.  You love having some extra adults to play with you.  During a walk around the neighborhood, they found one of our neighbors giving away succulent plants, so you did some gardening to plant those in our yard.  Aunt Alice showed you new games on her phone and tablet.  They also brought Christmas presents, so we got to have a third Christmas.  Hopefully we'll make it to Michigan again this year.  It would be lovely to see my cousins and their kids, too.

You participated in a clinical trial this month.  One of the researchers at my work is developing a blood test for appendicitis, and needed healthy kids to give blood to get a baseline for the test.  We talked about how it would help sick people, versus it would hurt to get blood drawn, but that you'd get a reward, too.  You waffled back and forth, even after you were in the clinic, but then you decided that you wanted to go ahead and do it.  One of the nurses let you watch a video on her phone, but when they stuck the needle in your arm, you yelled!  Then you held very still and just cried a little until they were done.  And then you got your very own reward, a $25 gift card, which surprised me.  I thought you would share one with Miriam.  So the next weekend, we went to the toy store and you picked out a toy to buy with your reward money.  First, you wanted a little dragon toy that made noise and shot arrows.  But then you found the giant dragon toy, almost as tall as you are, and that's what you ended up buying.  Giant Dragon went to school with you the next Monday, and he's been known to be a little startling in the dark when I'm walking past the living room at night.

Night time has become a little sad for you lately, because you want company all night.  One night we had this conversation.
You: "I want someone to sleep with me."
Me: "Do you want Velveteen Rabbit?"
You: "No. I want a girl to sleep with me all night in my bed.  Like you or Grandma."
Me:  "When you're older and have a big bed, then maybe a girl will sleep with you in your bed."
You:  "Grandma and Grandpa get to sleep in the same bed.  You and Dad get to sleep in the same bed.  Nobody sleeps with me in my bed."

So you and Grandma came up with the plan that when Miriam is older, we'll get you bunk beds.  You can sleep in the top bunk and have company all night.  I have tried to point out that sometimes it's nice to be able to sleep alone, but so far you're not buying it.

Dad and I went on a little second honeymoon in the middle of the month.  We drove up to Humboldt Redwood State Park and did two days of hiking in the redwoods.  It was lovely to see that part of the country, and to be in nature, and to have some time off.  You were very disappointed that we didn't take you with us, of course.  When you get a little older, we'll definitely go back, but you'll need to be able to handle walking for at least an hour at a time.  It's amazing to see the old growth forests, though, and I want you to be able to experience that.  I think it's valuable for lots of reasons.  In Europe, you can experience human history going back thousands of years.  In the redwoods, you experience Earth history that goes back thousands of years, and you gain an understanding of why "the forest" was such an intimidating concept for Europeans in the Middle Ages and earlier.

We had a parent teacher conference with Mrs. Hedley this month.  You had not been in her class for long enough to get a regular report card, but she wanted to update us on your progress.  You are doing quite well, by all her measures.  Your school behavior is good, and she doesn't have any worries about your academics, so that was all very nice to hear.  You still don't like doing homework, but we've switched to doing it in the mornings, and that's seemed to make it flow much better.  Dad was saying that he wishes he were able to do it with you, because he feels like he's not very involved with your schooling.  I think you'll have more fun doing other projects with him, instead of homework, but we'll see what happens as you get into higher grades.  Right now, it's just nice to know that you're doing well.

Earlier in the month, we had dinner at a neighbor's house.  Dave and Elena have a daughter, Thalia, who is also in kindergarten.  They live about three houses down from us.  It was nice to get to know them.  They sent us home with some lemons from their lemon tree, and Dad decided that we should have some fruit trees, too.  So Miriam and I bought a lemon tree and an orange tree on Saturday, and we spent time moving some plants around and planting the trees.  Then you had fun watering them all.  So now we'll hopefully have some fruit in the future.  Which will be great for avoiding scurvy during the zombie apocalypse.

Love,
Mom

2.9 or, We Three Dinosaurs

Dear Miriam,

You had a lovely Christmas season, if the constant singing of Christmas carols was any indication.  The day after Thanksgiving, you started watching the Mickey Christmas special on VHS, and it was all Christmas, all the time, from there on out.  You sang Christmas carols constantly.  If you didn't know the words, you hummed loudly.  You sang them two at a time, singing the lyrics of Jingle Bells to the tune of Deck the Halls.  You were in full Festive Music Mode.  It was adorable.

Corbin had an after-school holiday craft fair on a Friday afternoon, from which we brought back a candy cane.  We were supposed to decorate it as a mouse, but you both just wanted to eat it.  So I opened it up, but when I tried to break off a piece, it shattered all over the kitchen floor.  You each had a tiny little bite, but it was clearly unsatisfactory.  The next morning, your very first words to me were, "Let's go to the store and buy candy canes!"  Which we did, and you were very happy.

Then the next morning, you very first words to me were, "I want to eat a candy cane!"

Grandma got out all of the Christmas story books, and they all ended up in your room.  So your bedtime reading for the month was The Night Before Christmas, and The Twelve Days of Christmas, and The Sweet Smells of Christmas.  Thank goodness for The Biggest Snowball, which had no mention of Christmas whatsoever.

We managed to some regular decorating before our holiday decorating.  We hung pictures in the living room, and in your room, and in Corbin's room.  You now have on your walls: a Michael Parkes poster; a print of Winged Figure, by Abbot Handerson Thayer; and a painting of Einstein, painted by your Aunt Erin.

Then Grandma started getting out the Christmas decorations.  You and Corbin helped, which is how we ended up with dinosaurs at the stable with Mary and Joseph.  You helped put lights up on the front porch, and of course you helped decorate the Christmas tree.  First you helped by hanging a million ornaments on only one branch.  Then you helped by taking the ornaments off of the tree just to watch Corbin get frustrated at your clear violation of Christmas Tree Decoration Procedures.

Christmas Eve was not what we'd hoped.  I got home from work a little early and we went to a Mass that was supposed to be the Family Mass.  Grandma had gone to a couple of Sunday Masses, and we thought it would be okay.  It ended up being the longest, strangest, most boring Christmas Mass I've ever been to.  After over an hour of children's pageant, Jerry Lee Lewis style renditions of Rudolph and Frosty, and a reading of the Begats (Honestly, the Begats! On Christmas! The most boring readings in the entire New Testament! Crazy!), we just left.  Dad and I had already taken you and Corbin outside, where we discovered most of the other families had gone because the Mass was taking so long, and Grandma decided that she didn't even care about Communion any more.  So we just went home and put you to bed.

Christmas Day was lots of fun.  We opened presents, of course.  You're still don't quite get unwrapping presents, but one we got some unwrapped for you, you enjoyed things.  It was a very dragony Christmas.  You got a dragon ornament from Grandma, and a dragon with a warrior woman rider from me and Dad.  You got a dinosaur puzzle from Santa, and lots of books and movies from the Thornes and Spencers.  Grandma Thorne sent a card with snowman stickers, and you thought that was a lot of fun.  You also got a beautiful doll from Aunt Lena.  She sewed the face and did the hair, and Maria made two outfits for her.  You like to make me change her clothes, and she sleeps in the doll bed that my Aunt Annie made for my doll, when I was little.

We finally got some rain, too, which was a lovely gift.  We lined up all of our buckets under the patio roof, and collected a barrel full of rain water.  It was supposed to get used on the plants, of course, but for the couple of weeks before we got a dedicated barrel, you had a lot of fun playing in it.  Every time we saw you going out into the backyard, we knew it was only a matter of time before you came in with your sleeves and pants cuffs dripping wet.  At least it's easier to dry t-shirts than snow pants.

Love,
Mom

Water collection:

Christmas Decorations, Miriam Style:

Opening presents:

5.10 or, De Plane! De Plane!

Dear Corbin,

This month, you got to live out the cliche, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Someone left a bag full of lemons in the break room at work, so I brought them home.  You and Dad juiced them up and made delicious fresh-squeezed lemonade.  It tasted so much better than the mix.

You made a friend this month, and then he moved away.  Our across-the-street neighbors were a family with two children, Evan and Lily.  Evan is your age and also goes to Kindergarten at Los Cerritos.  Lily is 4, so she hasn't started school yet.  You and Evan get along well, which is nice.  They were in the process of buying a larger house, closer to the school, so you only had a few weeks of running back and forth across the street.  Now it's a few minutes drive to get you together, but it works out all right.  They introduced us to some other neighbors, though, who have a daughter in Kindergarten, so you do still know one other child on the block.

It rained, which was lovely.  We put out a bunch of buckets under the patio roof and collected a couple of barrels of water.  You managed to refrain from playing in them all the time, unlike Miriam, and actually used it to water plants.  It is interesting to see how fast the river fills up when it rains.  It doesn't seem to take much to make it look like a real river.  The rain makes it feel like fall, finally, which isn't winter but it seems to be the closest that we're going to get.

I've taken heart in the fact that in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas is at the height of summer and still manages to be festive.  We did some regular decorating in the house early in the month.  We hung my big framed print of Neuschwanstein Castle, and the pen-and-ink of the Madison house in your room.  I told you to go and look at them and see if they were okay.  You said, "I wanted four pictures."  You didn't care which ones, so I hung up my Snake Dreaming from Australia, and the skyline that Dad painted in college, and then you were happy.

We hung up some of our Chinese art in the living room, and then it was time to clear away boxes and put up the Christmas tree.  When we walked into the trees on the lot, I made you stand with me for a moment, just smelling them.  When we put our tree in the living room, it was such a lovely smell.  I would walk past it going to my room and take a deep breath every time.  You had fun helping Grandma put the ornaments on.  You got frustrated when Miriam didn't seem to understand leaving the ornaments on the tree, but it ended up being a very nice looking tree.  You also helped Grandpa put lights on the front of the house, and you made it your job to plug them in every afternoon when it started to get dark.

The toy you really wanted for Christmas was a remote controlled airplane, which you got from Grandma and Grandpa Thorne.  You were super excited and you fly it all around the family room.  Dad also got an RC helicopter, for both himself and you.  The airplane is easier to operate, but harder to fly successfully.  The helicopter is a little harder to operate, but easier to fly around the house.  You've gotten pretty good at both of them.  You also got a really cool circuit set from Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena, so you and Grandpa build circuits together sometimes.  You also got lots of books from the Spencers, and some How to Train Your Dragon DVDs from the Thornes.  You got a cool dragon tree ornament from Grandma Lam, and I gave dragons with riders to you, Miriam and Grandpa.

We also spent an afternoon at Target, putting together a couple of backpacks for kids entering the foster care system.  One of the doctors here on campus works with children who need to be in foster homes.  Often, they aren't able to take clothes or toys with them from their houses.  So I got a list of useful items from her, like pajamas and underwear and school supplies, and we loaded up a couple of backpacks for her clinic to give to a couple of kids that need them.  I hope that you will understand how fortunate we are, compared to many people in the communities around us.  We have many, many blessings to be grateful for and shared.

Love,
Mom

The rainy season:

Decorating by Dragons:

Opening presents:

De Plane! De Plane!