Into the maw of Winter Itself

We are rolling west this morning. To Amarillo and a decision. North-ish to Santa Fe? Or try to beat Old Man Winter by going south to Carlsbad Caverns?

We will track the storm and make a priority of avoiding ice. In any case, we say goodbye to Oklahoma. Took a great hike, saw some bats, and put many miles behind us.

Yes, that is a bat. About 6 inches from my head. Hibernating, lucky for me.

Pray for warmer weather!

We better hurry to catch the sun

Here's the weather as we roll out of Sun Valley:

Idaho: Gem of a State, part deux

Sorry to backtrack, but here was the view from our bed in the tent, at Lake Owyhee:

Oops, it's upside down. Please turn your head. (yes, that is my foot).

And here's a series I call "Love at the Lake: Selfies for 2"

1: Wallowa Lake

2: Lake Owyhee (same hats, different day--story of our lives)

OK, back to my post on Idaho. Famous for its potatoes, so we had to get some. Went to the farmers' market just down the road from our hotel. Got some potatoes, still have not eaten them. See future post for a report on how legit they are. As for Boise's Anaheim peppers, we know they are legit. This guy knows what's up:

Last dinner in Boise was at Bar Gernika, a Basque place with killer lamb grinders. I got mine spicy, Sarah played it safe. So delicious. Plus the Basque Block where the restaurant is has a lot of history, including a recreation of the tree graffiti the lonely Basque shepherds scratched into the bark:

We walked back to the hotel in time to catch the end of the Boise St. football game on TV. Glad we weren't still out and about when they fumbled the game away. Not that Boise strikes me as a rioting town, but you can never be too safe.

Saturday we hit the road and passed this sign, which says "Emmett Next Right," in case you don't have your glasses on. They even spelled it right. Later, when I showed him, his eyes lit up. Big smile.

We drove to Sun Valley to meet up with Larry and Linda and the boys. As we arrived, the Welcome Wagon came out:

(Your speakers are fine. It's just that I rolled up the window.)

We have enjoyed seeing Sun Valley live up to its name. Lots of walks, biking, some tennis (STILL got it!), football catch, and swimming at the awesome YMCA pool. The slide goes so fast and has like 3 wicked turns in a row. We had a blast.

But it's not all fun and games, there's also "school." But wait, why not encourage learning and fun at the same time? We had packed Story Cubes, but didn't get them out until yesterday. With a little prompting, here is what the boys did:

It's fun to see them combining their talents on a project. This year will make me a better teacher, if I pay attention to what works. If not, then it's gonna be Ken Burns all day every day! :)

So, today we roll out of town. The plan was to head north to Stanley, then Salmon. From there to Montana. But then, this forecast for Stanley:

NO THANKS.

So we are turning south, chasing the sun. Skipping Craters of the Moon (gotta save SOMEthing for later in life, right?) and heading to see our friends Chuck and Jen in Logan, Utah. After my (and the boys') first visit to Idaho, we all make our Utah debut. Feel free to add Utah-related advice in the comments below! 

PS Breaking news from Shanghai: Luke and Alyson had a baby! Welcome Pearl Abbey Macbride! You are in good hands, except for the whole Blue Jays thing.  

Bend is beautiful

http://youtu.be/R5EawMrL_MA

Lovely walk today

Learning without school

Here's a look at where we learn these days:

http://youtu.be/yxbhAnF5cIU

Though my jobs this week are food planning and shopping, the blogging boys are moving too slow for me.  It's Saturday morning and I'm watching Emmy try to engage in the watching of the Cardinals/Cincinnati game with Des and Gar.  Let's just say, he doesn't really get it.  He knows better than to call a run a point, but that's about it.  We're heading to the Farmer's Market in a bit, and gearing up for OMSI camp next week...Emm is learning Animation and Des is building rockets...yikes. 

It feels unsettling to read all of the returning to Shanghai posts and not be a part of it...there's even a wistful feeling thinking about United airlines delaying flights, crabby flight attendants, and whether or not the kids "did well" on the flight.  It's like a muscle memory when you've moved houses (which we've done many, many times this summer), turning the wrong way in the hallway on your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's not a bad feeling, just noticing the difference.

In our new life, which involves sleeping in, figuring out what we want to do each day, enjoying thinking about what we want to eat and how to do things on the cheap, I spend a lot of time thinking about making meaning.  Gary has always been great about making meaning from the little things...watching a game, riding scooters with the kids, sitting in a friend's backyard and laughing.  I get restless, wanting to feel a bigger connection and feel like my meaning is connected to a bigger something.  That's why one of my goals this year is learning to be mindful, happy living in the moment, aware of and appreciating what's around me (which is much).

Some of the ways we're making meaning right now are weekly community service outings.  Last week we went to Mt. Tabor park and pulled English Ivy and Clematis, also known as Old Man's Beard.  Emmy and Des loved being a part of the Weed Warriors Crew, and we got to learn about how invasive plants don't utilize rain water as efficiently as native plants, and they steal resources from the native plants, which are getting choked out.  Here are some pics of my ginger warriors:

This week we talked about doing Random Acts of Kindness for our community service. We came up with the idea of Random Acts of Weeding (RAOW), and we garden-bombed an unsuspecting relative for a couple hours of weeding.  Tee hee...it was fun.  We also spent much of our family meeting time deciding what to call ourselves while we were RAOW'ing, and we landed upon the Dandy Lions.  Pictures to follow, once the photoshopping is completed.  If you know of someone who would appreciate a RAOW, let us know...we're always on the prowl!  

Most evenings we go for a scoot...I think at least one of the kids have mentioned enjoying their scooters.  Imagine motorizing a scooter and sticking Desi on top...it's a thrilling, hilarious, terrifying, frustrating, heart-stopping experience.  Sidewalk or street?  What to do when he buzzes Emm, who is working on his braking and making sure he feels under control, or taking a risk and going a little faster than he's comfortable with?  Is it bad that I occasionally wish for a wipeout just to teach a lesson about the hotdog behavior?  Des is amazingly adept at avoiding the crash.  I am learning to stay behind and walk with Gar, enjoying this time of raising little boys who enjoy hanging with us and each other.  

Boys were told to look tough...how did they do?

 Time to get out of the jammies...it is nearly 10:30!  How's Pool 1 looking, SRC?  Are the bullfrogs keeping up with the mosquito population?  What's new on Jin Feng Lu?  Eventually, we'll have another set point.  Off to eat berries in 65 degree weather! Love to you all.

God Bless (the libraries and parks and water fountains in) America

Since we have been back in the states (one month!) I have re-learned to re-appreciate the things that make life in America so grand. As I sit here in the library, hogging free wi-fi, thinking back on Desi's epic 3-point barrage on the court at the park on Tuesday, I count my blessings as a 'Mercan.

Then I get up for a drink at the fountain. Clean water, served ice cold. People, this is huge! (Of course, in Portland, it has no fluoride in it, thanks to the crazy hippies. But that's OK because democracy is, um, pretty good too.) Coming from China, where water and air and food

Anyway, enough politics. You all already know that this place rules. Now, on to the specific parts of it that ruled in the last couple weeks.

IN ALASKA:

We hit Juneau for less than one day. Flew there in a plane that was half-cargo. First row for humans was row 17. Kinda neat.

The main attraction for us was Mendenhall Glacier. Which sits in the largest national forest in the US: Tongass.

The water you see Emmett testing here used to be glacier. Thirty years ago, it would have been almost close enough for him to touch. (or was it 50 years? anyway, not that many). Before too long, the glacier (which is miles long) will be invisible from the visitors' center.

We walked and took the public bus, which was fine until it started raining. Which prompted us to go into the bus shelter, which smelled strongly of pee. I was jumping around to dodge mosquitoes, and in and out of the shelter to balance staying sorta dry while breathing non-pee-reeking air, and I thought: Mother Nature bats last. Nevermind the melting glacier I had just seen, which is as good a demonstration as any of how ocean levels will keep rising and drown us all!!! (Not that humans are, ahem, responsible for global warming, mind you. I promised No More Politics).

Nature could very well kick my ass in the next year. Which is why we went to the army surplus store today and tried on... 

a sweet flight suit... 

...and head to toe camo. Neither of which we actually bought. 

("Playing dress up in a store and then putting the clothes back 

on the rack is more fun than summer camp!" 

--Gary Pearlz)

RANDOM STORY OVER NOW

Anyway, Juneau was cool, and super small. Nice people, too. And that makes 2 state capitols we have visited so far, after Ho-HI.

From Juneau we boarded a ferry and had a great time floating down to Washington.

Here we are about to board. (Stefan and Jen--Note the duffel bag that saved our marriage. Thanks again!)

The views were gorgeous. 

We had lots of time to play. We did our new puzzle.

Saw a few other boats.

Helped out with the safety demo.

Gazed wistfully at the many islands in the Alaskan inside passage.

Did the puzzle again.

After we got off the boat, 3 nights later, we drove to Portland. Some of us tried to fight off the nap.

But sleep won out in the end.

Coming soon: Tales from the beach trip! Love you all.

I love the beach, this beach

Here was our welcoming committee as we pulled into the driveway at the beach. 

 Hi! I've been in Anchorage, Alaska for 4 days now and have had a lot of cool adventures; Riding an AWESOME limo to a wedding was the first adventure. 

The second adventure was the dance party at the wedding, because I liked to dance and I liked the music. There was a cool photo booth and I took so many pictures!! (Mom is helping me type).

 Today I went to AWCC (www.alaskawildlife.org) and saw: a bald eagle with one wing (he'd been shot), a Great Horned Owl (that was sleeping), two lynx sisters (that were also sleeping), caribou/reindeer (which are basically the same), black and brown bears (they ate hot dogs and hamburgers!), a porcupine named Chewie (who was really cute), musk ox, moose, and wood bison. 

[Dad's note: off to Juneau tomorrow!]

Tap water in Anchorage tastes like glacier

Testing out the blogger app on my new iPhone. 

Here is E by the Turnagain Arm. 

And kicking it with some locals:

Hawaii is pronounced "Huh-vye-ee"

We came to grandma and grandpa’s condo

then we went to the beach for 4 days. The car was packed with stuff so the car was almost over flowing with stuff. We drove to the beach when we got to bellows air force station and there was no electricity because a tree fell on the only solar panel (the person there told us that at least).

We saw a bird that had A orange head.

We had s’more the bigger then Emmett’s fist and they melted so much we got them all over our faces. [Dad's note: We had s'mores twice, once at night and once during the day, to make the most efficient use of our lunch campfire. Also for research purposes. Turns out, Day S'Mores are really tasty.]

On the first night there were these people and they were very loud and one guy said “this is the best guitar solo ever” and we woke up at 11:00pm. It was so annoying. Almost every day I went boogie boarding. It was very fun. 

Dinner at Buzz's in Kailua:

Then last night my brother and I slept on the floor. 

[Dad's note: Off to Alaska tonight!]