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Last weekend we enjoyed what may have been the last weekend of our California summer. Hunter and Griffin enjoyed the sprinkler (Griffin so much that the sprinkler is now dead…).
Hunter enjoyed pouring water on her brother; Magnus enjoyed it less so. And Griffin wanted to play in the paddling pool too.
The first of many happy summers is on the books… it all seems to be going so fast. Too fast.
Tonight Michael and I had the little neighbor girl sit in our house while we went for a nice little trail run. Our neighbor is in eighth grade and it was her first real babysitting gig… of course Magnus and Hunter were in bed before she arrived, but that still counts, right?
Best money we’ve spent in a long time.
I’ve been back at work and neglecting the blog… but here’s a little sample of what we’ve been doing:
Hunter has taken to dunking herself in the tub. Is especially funny when she feels the need to tell us something while her ears are under water… since she can’t hear very well, she yells.
Hunter is also very adept at folding things… dish towels, cloth napkins, pieces of paper. We didn’t show her how to do this, it’s something she started all on her own.
Michael coaxing our suicidal puppy across the narrow concrete bridge over a ten-foot drop into a spillway on our family “hike”. This is their second trip across the bridge… on the first, Griffin didn’t seem to notice there was a drop on either side of the path, and nearly plunged to his death. Or at least the vet… Fortunately for the dog, Michael was the one holding his lead. He managed to catch Griffin without snapping his neck and lowered the ninety pound dog to the bottom and safety.
This is Hunter, on our family “hike” (a total of maybe thirty minutes of walking…), refusing to go any further.
And finally, Magnus. He’s reached the tile… now what?
On Friday, after dinner, we decided to load the kids into the bicycle trailer and go for a little ride around the neighborhood. During the course of our ride, Michael suggested that we go check out the trail head for the mountain bike trails that start literally less than a mile from our house and head off into the San Bernardino mountains. Michael has ridden these trails many times, but I never have, mostly because of that whole baby thing.
Anyway. We rode over to the trail head and the next thing I knew, I was through the rocks marking the beginning and on my way up the trail. I always forget how much fun riding a mountain bike is until I’m doing it again. So Michael called to me before I was too far up the trail because he couldn’t fit through the rocks with the trailer unless he had help. I lifted and Michael pulled and we were off, up the trail, children in tow.
We only rode for a few miles, mostly over fire roads, but it was so fun. Hunter had her arm around her brother’s shoulders and was yelling at her papa to “Go faster!” Magnus was just hanging out, taking everything in.
When we arrived home and went to take the children out of the bike trailer, we noticed for the first time that they were both covered in dust. Neither one complained, nor cried, even though they were getting their first taste of mountain bike dirt.
So Hunter, age two and a half, and Magnus, age six months had their first mountain bike ride. The first of many, I’m sure.
Hunter in the park across from the Redlands Bowl
Magnus wide awake in front of the Lincoln Shrine
On Tuesday night we decided that we would brave the Redlands Bowl with the Fieldhouses and our two children. They’re good kids, it was Big Band Night, how bad could it be?
For starters, it was the worst program that I have ever seen at the bowl. The only music I heard was snippets from Bye Bye Birdie and a vile montage of Elvis Presly songs. The rest of the time some guy was talking.
Hunter pretty much refused to sit for any length of time, choosing instead to tear-ass all over the park. I could go into detail, but I won’t. I’ll just leave you with this: by the end of the night, I was fishing her out of a fountain.
We were hoping that Magnus would just sleep through the program, but he didn’t. He was quiet as a mouse, with eyes as big as saucers, until we returned home and tried to put him to bed. By eleven o’clock, after much screaming, Magnus and I were driving around Mentone in a bid to finally put him to sleep.
When I finally collapsed into bed, Griffin started whining outside our bedroom window. He has a bed in the garage and there are two dog houses outside, he doesn’t have to sleep on the rocks in the dog-run and cry about it, but he does.
Long story short: we so will not be taking the children to the Bowl again any time soon.
Magnus went swimming for the first time last Friday, 26 June 2009.
He wasn’t really into it because we were in the pool when he should have been eating his dinner. But he did kick his little feet as I moved him through the water. Of course, he kicks his little feet all the time anyway. Hmm.
Speaking of not really being into it… his Papa took the picture.
Hunter calls it: “Don’t Kick the Puppy!”
Griffen calls it: “Bite the Baby!” (Extra points if you can drag her off the swing…)
I wish you could hear their laughter…
Welcome to Hunter’s sand box. Well, dirt box, really. It’s in the corner of the yard behind the new grapefruit tree. Just to the right of Hunter I planted a whole package of Morning Glory seeds. Of course only one sprouted.
Hunter likes to play in the dirt and yesterday she was doing so happily while I walked around the yard pulling weeds and dead-heading flowers. The Cosmos that re-seeded themselves from last year are really taking off:
And in a couple of weeks we are going to have a whole lot of tomatoes.
Yesterday we enjoyed our first curved-neck yellow squash for dinner, and we’ve had a couple of arugula salads as well. Arugula from your garden is way better than arugula from the store…
At one point during our time outside, Hunter comes running over to me yelling, “Momma! Momma! I have something for you!” She stops in front of me, over-flowing with excitement, and says, “Put out your hand!”
Trusting fool that I am, I did. And what did my two-year-old daughter drop into my hand? A huge red and black fire ant. Of course I jumped and danced and flung it off me… all of which Hunter thought was highly diverting.
She then ran back to her dirt box and began looking for more ants.
Hunter and her cousin Sydney playing in Hunter’s paddling pool.
And later, the new puppy, whom we have decided to call Griffin.
Sometimes when we just feel like getting out of the house, we’ll drive downtown to the coffee shop, get a couple of lattes (and a water for Hunter), and head up to Prospect Park and Kimberly Crest. Hunter likes to run up and down the wide dirt paths and climb the retaining walls. She picks up sticks and explores… she loves the surrounding orange groves and gazes longingly into the forests of bamboo that screen large sections of the property. She also tends to greet everyone that we encounter on the trail and chase after squirrels. And at least once an outing, she wipes out spectacularly. (Last night, I found a rock in her diaper after we got home…).
Michael and I were married here and it’s fun to share these beautiful grounds with our children. Sometimes Hunter gets tired of walking, like yesterday, when she told her Papa, “I have to snuggle.”
This is a cute picture of Hunter and I also happen to think that my husband looks particularly hot… ha.
Magnus enjoys the walks too… often craning his neck to stare up into the trees. Of course, he still spends the duration in the front carrier. A self-portrait:
We quite enjoy the time we spend together as a family… Will be interesting to see how long our children like doing stuff like this with us.
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