Uncle Nathan's Big Surprise

Want to know how a 25-year-old man cemented the title of "Best Uncle Ever"? You might think that getting all four of his nephews (plus sister, brother-in-law, and father) into Disney Land for free might do it. I do believe that would have been enough. Nate being Nate, however, prescribes to the adage: Go big or go home. Getting the boys into Disney wasn't enough for him. No, no...he had to do--more.

Did you know that Disney has a Jedi Academy? The Jedi Master in brown may or may not be a friend of Nate's. How freakishly awesome is that?

Turns out, they pull kids right out of the crowd to train in the ways of the Jedi. Sam, Jake, and Zander were all picked. Here is Jake at the beginning of training. He is quite serious.

That kid in the bottom left corner? You may be able to figure out by his hair that it's Zander. He's supposed to be listening to the lesson but he spent some serious time trying to attach the light saber to his shorts.

This came back to bite him in the butt a little later. He was the (only) recipient of (repeated) remedial Jedi training throughout the lesson.

Jake was in heaven. The smiles on all three boys' faces during instruction were priceless. The kids (there were around 20 in all) did great, following the directions of the Master Jedi and copying their every move. I really thought we were going to go home and hear about nothing but the training they were able to do, the moves they had learned...

...but I was so wrong. We heard about a lot more than that! Can you believe that Darth Vader came right out of the ground?! This event was made 1000 times better for the simple fact that we had no idea it was going to happen! So incredible!

Do you remember, though, how I mentioned that Zander was just a wee bit on the overwhelmed side all day? At the appearance of Darth Vader, we started watching Master Z for signs of cracking. He was nervous but the crack didn't actually happen until the next act...I have to say, I might have cracked too.

Don't worry. Nate's friend pulled Zander from the group right away and brought him back to us. He had a blast with the training but by then was fully ready to return to the safety of the 2-inch space between mom and dad. (I kid. He was fine as soon as he knew he didn't have to fight them. That doesn't sound as funny though, does it? Oh well. Such is life.)

Here's Jake being confronted by Darth Vader. "Join me on the dark side, young Jedi."

Jake wasn't interested. Poor Darth Vader. Jake held his own. He was also able to fight Darth Maul but I didn't get any decent pictures of that. (Sam fought Darth Maul as well. I did not have a good angle to take pictures of Sam during this whole thing; my dad took several great ones. I was going to take them off his Facebook page but couldn't get it figured out.)

The two Darths fought the children--er, I mean Jedi--and then retreated after being soundly defeated. Not after issuing several dire sounding, empty threats, of course. We all know how those bad guys roll.

There was a graduation ceremony after the great fight but there are too many identifiable children in the shot to post it here. All three boys have a neat little certificate to go with their memories of the day, though. So much fun! And there you have it. How one man became the World's Best Uncle in the course of a single day! How often do kids get to live out their dreams like this? So neat!

Visit in Anaheim, Part I

Two weeks ago our family traveled down to Anaheim. You see, we've been back in the states for nearly nine months but we hadn't been able to swing a visit with my dad yet. He was in Anaheim for business and since it's so much closer to drive the 10 hours it takes to get there--as opposed to the 20+ hours it takes to get to El Paso--we decided to make a long weekend of it.

Here's dad with Jake and Zander on the first night. (Yes, Zander is wearing my glasses. Ignore how that suddenly makes him look more like his momma!)

This is the best "group" shot we could get the first night. Izzy was a little stand-offish at first. I'm not sure if it was the new people or the long car ride that did him in, but he came around the next day.

My brother Nate, who lives in the area, managed to get us into Disney Land for free. Yes. All seven of us (not including Izzy as he's free anyway). How awesome is my brother? Uncle Nate took quite the shine to Zander--and vice versa, I assure you. He (Nate) kept telling us that the two of them had more hair together than the rest of us combined. He may have something there.

A picture of my baby brother without a million kids hanging from him. I love him!

One of the better group shots from D-Day (Disney Day). Jason and I thought that Izzy would be the wild card but we were wrong. Although he's still only two, Izzy did great! Poor Zander was completely overwhelmed, though. Disney Land is a big difference from the relative quiet of German and Sierra Nevada foothills living that he's been used to. In this picture, Zander is looking up the exit stairs of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I think he was concerned that he was going to have to go back up there. (He was NOT a fan.)

Jason and I took the two older kids to Disney World (Orlando, FL) in 2002, but we haven't had another Disney experience since. I'll admit: we weren't overly enthusiastic about this idea; however, it was fantastic! We all had so much fun. (Even Zander came around. It was the next day, but he did come around!)

Through his friend, Nate was able to treat the three older kids to a really spectacular surprise. I will share more about that tomorrow. It was so neat that it deserves its own post!

What We're Doing: A Picture Post

We're in the middle of spring break, prepping for a small family vacation, and getting ready for Jason to switch back to night shift. Because I don't want my friends Danny or Melanie to beat me the next time we see either of them, I thought I would post a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Having lazy bath nights in momma's beloved double sink.

Baseball. Lots and lots of baseball.

Letting the little guys have fun with paints. Outside.

Having picnic lunches at the lake.

Drinking German wine--that we found at a local Big Box store.

Feeling very American with the first ever Sno-cones for the little ones. And even more baseball.

Triumphing over our nuisance arachnid neighbor. We've been trying to evict that thing from our garage since we moved here!

Roadtrippin' with Fiona. She's an awesome driver.

Watching the moon rise. (And wishing for a better camera.)

What kinds of things have you been doing in your neck of the woods?

Sparkling Green Water and Shiny Golden Rocks

We took the kids to our favorite local state park the other day. Our original goal was to walk a new trail, but we didn't get very far. After getting maybe a quarter mile down the path, we stopped to investigate a little beach area on the bank of the South Yuba River. You know what happens when you put a bunch of boys near rocks and water, right? They start throwing them in. And if the rocks are big enough? They start making bridges and pathways to the little islands in the middle of the river. The kids were having so much fun that we ended up staying on our little beach for well over an hour. Even then we only left because it was getting dark!

If you remember my first post about this park, you might have figured out what Sam had on the end of his finger. It's a small gold flake. I think it's technically called gold dust. (Y'all had me laughing with the guesses yesterday! I'm almost glad I don't have a great camera! Now I'm going to be looking for more things I can do like this because it was fun!)

The weather was gorgeous. It was over 60 degrees and the sun was out--we could see the gold dust sparkling under the water. Sam, who has been very excited about the prospect of panning for gold, was over the moon with glee.

It wasn't long before he ditched the shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and got down to business. This was serious stuff, y'all.

We haven't picked up proper panning supplies just yet, but he did a good job improvising. It's not in the picture but we also utilized someone's discarded coffee cup and lid. (Had to get in our community service for the day, don'tcha know?!)

I mentioned that it was 60 degrees, right? It was lovely outside, but that water was frigid. His hands and feet were lobster red. I did the mom thing and worried about him "catching his death of cold"--and all I got was the I'm-nearly-14-gimme-a-break-mom eyeroll. He's got it down pretty well. *insert exasperated mom sigh here*

Can you believe the color of the water? It was gorgeous. The deeper parts were slighter more turquoise and the interplay of that with the emerald green was breathtaking. That kid there isn't too bad, either. This picture of him amuses me because, for once, you can see my family in his face. Everyone generally says, "Wow! He looks just like Jason!" And he does, but in this photo I can see my dad's dad. It's the chin and jawline.

It was a great day and, at the end of it, we had about eight decent-sized flakes. He's very gung-ho about finding some more; his birthday is next week and I'm trying to find some basic panning supplies. Not the metal detector and big-time supplies the guy across from us had (holy moly!), but a pan and some tweezers or something. Panning for gold is not one of the activities I ever saw this family getting into but it's rather looking like we will. Maybe we'll luck out like this guy. On second thought--maybe that metal detector isn't such a terrible idea.

Have you ever panned for gold? What kind of area specific hobbies do people have where you live?

Wild, Wild West

I grew up an Air Force brat, but our moves were mostly within the state of Indiana. I spent some time in Texas as a child and for the purpose of military training after high school, but lived the first eight years of my adult life living on the Florida Panhandle. With the exception of these last seven years, I have spent nearly my entire life on the Eastern side of the United States. (I might add that Germany is very like the area around Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania in terms of landscape. While the people, architecture, and culture of Germany are all very different from home, the topography of the land is quite similar to areas I know and love.)

Since our arrival at this location, I have found the West Coast of the United States completely and utterly foreign to everything I know. Instead of the slow roll of hills leading to the rounded peaks that I am used to, the land leaps from flat valleys to high, rugged ranges. The coastline doesn't meekly sink beneath the ocean waves here; it towers defiantly above, refusing to surrender. This side of the country has a wildness--a lawlessness--to it that the East Coast lacks; or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that the East Coast is simply more tame than is the West.

Despite all that, I do occasionally forget that we aren't in Kansas anymore. We live at a moderate altitude; our home is only around 1000 feet above sea level. We have a little bit of worry about mudslides but they would be more nuisance than anything. There have been two huge snow dumps less than an hour from us but we have yet to see a single flake here at the house. In our quiet little neighborhood, it is easy to forget the wild that surrounds us.

A couple weeks ago we had a free day with no plans. While in Germany this family learned to take advantage of days like that; a plan-free day meant a roadtrip was in order! In that vein, I started looking for a place we could go. It occurred to me that we could drive to Oregon. I have always wanted to go, have never been, and the border is just a little over two hours away: perfect!

Here at our house? It was a little overcast. It was raining off and on. That was it. It seemed like a great day to just drive. Want to know what I found out while I was looking for a place to go?

An hour from us a woman went missing while ski-boarding with friends. (Unfortunately she did not survive.) A grandmother camping with her family was killed when a tree fell over onto their tent. (Super soggy ground combined with strong winds is what caused the tree to fall.) This was also about an hour away. When looking at possible routes heading north I discovered that many roads (including some Interstates) were closed due to fears of avalanche activity.

We ended up staying home. We just aren't experienced or prepared enough for this sort of environment yet. Especially not with four kids. I've come to realize that if we want to drive anywhere any time soon (like, say, before April), it might be best to plan trips that take us further west or south. North and east are just not a great idea right now!

It's disconcerting to know that there are such extreme things happening such a short distance from us but it is also awe-inspiring. I'm being reminded how much bigger the world is than what I could possibly imagine. I'm relearning my love for nature and remembering my place in the big picture. I am frequently overcome with the desire to go out and see or do something new. I would never have guessed, but living here in California is every bit the adventure that living in Germany was. And I am so, so glad we came.

Getting a Little Soggy

These are not the best pictures in the world, but I wanted to share them anyway. Our house is situated on a somewhat strange lot. There are at least two (and possibly three) seasonal creeks that run around and under the house. Rest assured, as soon as all those seasonal creeks are running, you will get a glimpse of them here. I can't wait to see what it looks like.

Northern California has been getting (from what I understand) more than its fair share of rain lately. I read in our paper today that water levels in some of the area lakes (I think specifically in the manmade ones) are about 120% above their usual levels for this time of the year. It has been raining. A LOT.

So much so, in fact, that there is some damage control going on here on our road. Crews rigged up a tarp over on of our hills to keep the soil beneath the road from washing away. There are quite a few of these in the area; this one just happens to be right across the ravine from us. (You can't tell in these pictures, but that ravine is about 20 feet deep.)

I'm really frustrated with the camera right now. This looks pretty flat in the picture; you'll just have to take my word for the fact that there is a drop here.

Here's a view of where one of the creeks will be running under our back porch. (One of the bucks hangs out under that porch during the summer. I know, right?!) I think I need to start monitoring the status of the soil under there; I really don't want to deal with a collapsed deck!

2010, Reviewed

I cannot believe that this year is coming to a close. Not so much because it went by so quickly-- although it most certainly did--but because we spent such a long time waiting for it to get here! The build-up was absolutely nuts but the reality of the year has not been a let down. It has been an incredible year; one that I am sure we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Here's a little look-back!

We spent last New Years with friends. Fireworks, crafts, card games, and seven kids. It was fabulous.

In February we took what ended up being our last trip to our favorite German city, Heidelberg.

We also enjoyed our last Fasching parade in our village. Ah, Germans and all their various excuses to party and drink!

March blew in, along with what was (I believe) the worst windstorm of the year in Europe. Not realizing that, the little boys and I went for a walk. The worst of it hit south of Germany (thankfully) but several huge trees in our village were blown over and one of the statues was knocked over and broken.

In April we were finally able to break free long enough to go to the Island of Mainau at Lake Constance. It was every bit as beautiful as we hoped. (If you are currently living in Germany, put this on your "must-see" list!

We also managed to get up to see the tulips at Keukenhof in the Netherlands. Another trip that is so worth it! My favorite picture of the year (you know I have to stuff it into the blog just one more time!):

I did not take many pictures in May. At the very beginning of the month we found out we were heading to Beale AFB. Then we found out there was a possibility we might have to stay in Germany. (This obviously did not end up being the case, although it was a close thing.) Then our van got broken into for the second time. Hmmm. No wonder I didn't take any pictures in May! May sucked!

Then in June we went to Paris! Paris!! PARIS!!! We spent an afternoon hanging out by the Eiffel Tower. We saw the Mona Lisa. We toured Notre Dame. I never really considered myself one who would freak out over Paris...but PARIS!!! I am so happy that trip worked out for us.

In July we said good-bye to our friends. We finally got the blessing to move and our orders. We did a lot of prepping for the movers. We did not take many pictures.

August was, hands down, the busiest month of the year. Our household goods were packed up and shipped out. Our van and our truck went out. We planned a trip to Indiana on the fly. ("On the fly" because there was so little time to plan once it was all said and done.) We flew out of Germany, spent a day in Baltimore, flew into Indiana, and spent a couple weeks visiting. It was surreal.

In September we said hello to California. Although we had been told that the area was ugly and barren, we found it to be quite beautiful in its own way. We started to realize that as hard as we had tried to end up just about anywhere else, California was not going to be so bad.

Although we love the look of the area where the base is located, we ultimately decided to move up into the mountains. Honestly, who wouldn't?! It's gorgeous up here.

In October we went to Long Beach to get our truck. That guy there in the striped shirt? Yeah, that's my baby brother. He lives in L.A. and this was the first time I had seen him in three years. That ship in the harbor there is The Queen Mary. (I should probably admit here that I am more amused than I should be about being in L.A. and Paris (!!!) during the same calendar year.)

We also discovered a wonderful little spot right down the road. You know, 'cause we need more reasons to love it here.

In November Jason and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. We also found out that it does, in fact, snow in California.

December found us feeling pretty comfortable in the area, although it was the first month that I really experienced a touch of weirdness over being back in the states. We were (not very great) witnesses to a nasty accident. We continued to explore the area, finding a local railroad museum where Santa comes to visit every year. The boys had so much fun; I think we'll be back before Santa is.

And now it's time for 2011 to begin. I can't imagine where we'll be at the end of it, but I sure do love where we're starting out!

Happy New Year to everyone out there in blogland! Have a wonderful (but safe, please!) evening. May 2011 bring you everything you want and need.

Weekend Plans Derailed (Ha ha!)

I started out the month with an outlined blogging plan. (No, really. I scribbled them into a little calendar and everything!) This weekend you were supposed to see a post about our Friday night tradition (pizza) with a holiday twist; I was also supposed to post some pictures of a couple of our paper craft holiday traditions. Instead, we did a lot of family activities and I posted about my weight loss. I'm so glad I did! The comments made me feel fabulous and I wanted you all to know that first thing. Thank you so much! Signing in and seeing all those comments in my e-mail is at the very top of my Favorite Blogging Moments List. (A list that I made up just now, this very minute, but y'all are on the TOP of it so who cares, right?!)

Jason is getting ready to start his new schedule and that is going to leave me with some great blogging time during the week. This is the positive spin, you understand. In other words, he'll be working a shift that has him out of the house during the times when it's usually just the two of us. It's a regular schedule, though; I am determined to look at this optimistically! Regardless, I am certain that I will get to those previously scheduled posts at some point.

The highlight of our weekend was taking the boys to the Nevada City Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum for the annual Christmas event. (De-railed. Get it? Ha ha ha! Ahem. Sorry.) This was our first trip to the museum, but we will definitely be back. It was crowded with people wanting to meet Santa so we didn't get to poke around as much as we would have liked! One of the volunteers told us that one of the trains here (not sure which one!) was used in a John Wayne movie. Jason and I probably found that more interesting than the boys did, but hey! They were pretty stoked about getting to climb on the tracks outside, so nobody was complaining.

This is Zander's fifth Christmas; it's the first year he's willingly approached the Santa. This is Izzy's third Christmas and, let me tell you, he was not thrilled with the Big Guy. I don't think we would have gotten a picture of Izzy with Santa at all this year if I wasn't making it a point to be photographed nowadays. Bonus: I even kind of like the picture. Go figure.

How about you? Did your weekend go as planned? Or, like mine, was it better?

On Being Home

Sometimes it's hard to believe that we're back. I wonder, often, how long that will last. It's been almost four months since we boarded that plane in Germany and headed back to the states. We are, and always have been, Americans. This is our home and it is definitely where we belong.

So why does it still feel so weird?

I remember when Jason and I first started noticing a change in what seemed "normal" for us, back when we were still living in Germany. It started happening around the four year mark, a little before we took our first trip back to visit family. Driving around through the German countryside seemed normal and every day; honestly, we started to take it for granted a little. The landmarks, architecture, and general scene-setting in America-based movies seemed more foreign to us than those which were European-based. Someone speaking English was more likely to catch my attention than someone speaking a "foreign" language; it just stuck out more. It seemed that every day something else happened that made us realize how familiar living in Europe had become to us.

The situation became even more apparent when we were visiting family in 2007. We flew into Indianapolis first and drove up to my hometown which--while not exactly tiny--is not very big. It's just a regular-sized Midwestern town. The largest store in town is the big, blue "W" (although I guess they aren't all blue anymore) and that is where we headed when we went to get our toiletries and things. So far so good, right? Normal visit, no big deal.

It was all fine until we walked into the toothpaste aisle. I took one look at the number of products available and wanted to run back to the van to hide. It was completely overwhelming. An entire aisle, both sides, dedicated to tooth care. Madness! There just wasn't that much to choose from in Germany, on or off base. It wasn't just the toothpaste, either; we ran into the same situation in the toy section, the baby food section, and the sock section.

I don't know if I have the words to make you realize how strange and foreign all the options are after going so long without. What I can tell you is that our reaction to being back in "the land of plenty" was so obvious and strong that a man, at least 60 years old and not an employee, approached us and asked if we needed any help. Yes, it was truly that bad!

And now we're back for good. (Well, you know, probably.) The first few weeks were a little rough. Grocery shopping was hideous at first. I think the first few trips topped over an hour simply because there were so many new products to sort through. It took us three attempts before we could finally pick out a type of air freshener. The scent wasn't the problem; it was the brand and style. And, as if the number of options in any one given store isn't overwhelming enough, there's the fact that there is more than one place to shop here. More than two, even. Each store has different options than the one before it. I almost don't like to go shopping.

Almost.

Things are getting better, but there is still a lot of adjusting going on around here. I think that may continue up until next August, and maybe beyond. I figure we'll probably start to feel somewhat normal about two weeks before we get our next set of orders. Doesn't that sound about right?

Have you ever lived overseas? What challenges did you face arriving in your host country? What surprised you most about coming home?

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This post started out as a response to a Reverb10 prompt. It took on a life of its own and veered off course.

Local Find: South Yuba River State Park

Our family loves a good road trip. Sometimes we have a destination in mind, other times we just want to get in the van and drive. Not too long after we moved into our new house we did one of our "just jump in the van and GO" drives. Turns out, we live not too far from a State Park called the South Yuba River State Park. Talk about a great find!

At a later point I may come back and talk about some of the history of this area--because there is a lot--but today I'm just going to share some pictures we took on our first trip out there. (Oh yes, we have been back!)

This is the entrance to the Bridgeport Covered Bridge. It is supposed to be the longest single-span covered bridge in the world and if I had any idea what that meant, I would tell you. To me, it's just a beautiful bridge with some great history.

Coming out of the bridge and heading to the left, there is a trail. One of several. (This isn't it, but this park is home to the first wheelchair accessible wilderness trail in the U.S.) We decided to hike out a little ways just to see what it was like. Since we hadn't known where we were going we weren't really prepared to do anything too taxing. If you look in this next picture you can see Sam leading the way, Jake inspecting some find, Jason playing a leapfrog game with Izzy, and Zander is--well, wait. What is Zander doing?

Oh, yeah. That's right. Zander was reacting to these two signs, which we had just passed.

Don't worry. We talked to him and his stress level went down significantly. Here he is a few minutes later, pretending to be a mountain lion.

A view of the bridge from the trail. Isn't it gorgeous? I can't wait to see it in the spring. (These pictures were taken in mid-September.)

Another view from a little further away.

We turned around after a mile or so and went back to the area around the bridge. There are some "beaches" there where people are allowed to pan for gold. No, really! Isn't that kind of neat? We let the kids play in the water for a little while. Sam really, really wanted to find some gold. He didn't, but he really seemed to enjoy himself anyway. (There he is, up in the top corner.)

Zander had an absolute blast playing in the rocks. He did nothing but climb them nearly the entire time we were there. It was a lot of fun watching him explore.

Izzy's favorite activity was throwing the rocks into the water. Or onto the other rocks. When he threw them onto the other rocks you could hear this resounding "BONK" noise that just echoed off the hills around the river. He was in heaven after discovering that.

Isn't this the perfect place for kids to explore? I think this might be their favorite place so far.

Where is your favorite place where you live?