Happy Birthday Ethan!

Happy 10th Birthday Ethan!

Happy Birthday Rachael!

Rachael is now 12 years old!

Happy New Year...

Happy New Year...

Rachael's room

We painted Rachael's room! Picture coming soon...

Science Center

soon to be updated...

Happy Chanukah

soon to be updated...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My parents came for a short visit last weekend. Unfortunately it was rainy, windy and cold. Both kids played soccer and tied their games that day. We had a great visit with cookies, a soccer party, soccer games and enjoying their company.

Today Allen and Ethan went to the airport to Thank the military as they travel on Thanksgiving Day. Cute seeing Ethan in his Cub Scout uniform and sign. The sun is out, the air is cool and crisp! Happy Thanksgiving!

November

November has been a busy month. Ethan had "Market Day" at school. The fourth grade classes got to buy and sell items with "school money" that they had earned so far in class. Ethan and his friend Josh sold donut holes and some origami. Others sold goldfish (yes the live ones), cookies, toys, pencils, misc. items. It was a lot of fun! The kids have played soccer games, attended Girl Scout and Cub Scout events while still going to school. We have one last week before the kids will be home with me for seven weeks. Yes, seven weeks! Thankfully we will have my parents visiting, Hebrew lessons, Thanksgiving, play dates, Hanukkah, and much more to occupy our time.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We had friends over to go

trick or treating

and eat dinner with us.

We had a fun time!

Ethan

Ethan earned a Star Award today for Working Tough. I assume that is the same as working hard. Either way, GREAT JOB Ethan!

Rachael

Rachael went to the Girl Scouts Halloween Party as a Mad Scientist. She won 1st prize for scariest costume out of the Junior Scouts who were there.

When she got home I washed her hair in the sink and combed out the tangles in the back. It looked like a rat's nest in the back.

Baby Teeth

On Monday Rachael had her teeth cleaned. A year ago she had two upper molars coming down crooked onto the baby teeth. One popped the baby tooth out and is coming down but the other one is being stopped by that baby tooth and twisting more. So today we went and had it pulled. They did not see a root holding it in and thought it would pry out easily... not if the long root on the bottom of the picture had anything to say about it. Thankfully she was numbed, but he had to really work to get that baby tooth out. I even asked if he had the right tooth, and he double checked. Both Ethan and I got to watch as he tortured poor Rachael. She is happy it is done!

Bridge School Benefit 2010

Ethan and Rachael.

Saturday we went to the Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline in Mountain View, California. The line up was great! Grizzly Bear, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, Jackson Browne and David Lindley, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Idol, Pearl Jam and Buffalo Springfield! We brought our tarps, water proof ponchos, warm clothes and snacks. It rained off and on, but after our vacation we are accustomed to the rain! We started going to the Bridge School Benefit in 1996, their 10th annual concert. Now that they are on their 24th annual concert we have gone to six, bringing the kids to two of them.

Bridge School Benefit

What really happened...

Ethan bugged Rachael...

Rachael got him back.
See what happens when I
ask for them to smile for a picture.

October 15th

Movie Night at school!

How to Train Your Dragon!

Fun night for all.

October 9th

Allen went with Ethan to Webelos Woods. Ethan got to climb a rock wall, shoot a B.B. gun, use a bow and arrow, swing on a rope... and many more things.

October 3rd, 2010

Introducing....

Louie Grand

born: July 29, 2010

brought home on October 3rd

Katie and Louie

August 16, 2010 First Day of School

First day of 4th and 6th grade!

Giant Cookie

We made sure to get home from our trip in time for Ethan to attend his best friends' birthday party. While their house was invaded by 9 year old boys Josh's sister Holly escaped to our house. They acted like refined, dainty, females and nibbled on a small cookie. Yeah, right!

Las Vegas, Magic Mountain, Zuma Beach

Donut anyone?

Zuma Beach

Magic Mountain

We left Zion and headed to Las Vegas, Nevada. We spent a little time at the pool, went on a ride or two at Circus Circus, watched the flying trapeze act and ate Krispy Kreme donuts for dinner. The highlight for Ethan was stopping at the pawn shop from the tv show and seeing Chumlee in the back walking around. I had the misfortune of leaving our box of DVD's in the motel room and did not realize it until we reached Allen's parent's house in Sherman Oaks, CA. Thankfully they were found and mailed to our home.

Every time we drive by Six Flags Magic Mountain the kids ask to go. This trip we decided it was time. Ethan did not like Goliath very much, but the Colossus was a favorite. Rachael liked all of the rides. My favorite ride was X2.

We finished our trip with a few hours at Zuma Beach. Thankfully the rain did not follow us there.

Zion

Spending time together.

Looking up in the Narrows.

lunch rock

Our lunch rock.

Zion, The Narrows

You can see Ethan up ahead to his waist. Rachael up to her knees.

There were areas that I was up to my waist

(I am 5' 7").

Allen and Ethan where we ate our lunch.

We stopped and ate lunch on a rock out in the water. Just a few steps ahead of the lady in the water behind the guys there is a deeper spot. We kept warning the hikers of the spot but some would not go around the spot and drop down to their necks in the water. It was very entertaining while we ate.

Zion National Park

"The Narrows" at Zion

Rocky part of the hike.

The Narrows was an amazing hike. There is a paved trail to the trail head. You walk down some rock steps into the Virgin River. Depending on recent rains and time of year the level of water will vary. We found that the water level varied throughout the hike anyways. As you walk up stream you hear the rushing water, other people as they talk to each other and an occasional bird. On either side of you there are walls of rock going up high into the sky. I am not sure, but it looked as high as an eight or nine story building. You see the blue sky above with a passing fluffy white cloud here and there. You feel the cold water rushing with the current against you and the uneven rock bed under your feet. You make your way up stream and find little islands of dirt and rock with trails for you to walk on instead of wading through the water. The farther back you hike the narrower the river gets and the canyon walls come in closer. You feel the wind get stronger. Allen and Ethan went on to where the meadow is and even went up another side hike. Rachael and I headed back to the road figured out we were on the trial for at least five hours. The boys came out about an hour after us.

More in Bryce Canyon National Park

Inside Wall Street.

Switchbacks going up out of Wall Street.

I can't believe I waited over a month to continue blogging about our vacation. I wanted to add more pictures of Bryce.

Bryce

Ethan walking along the wooded area. Both kids have their own backpack with water and snacks. It is really nice that we do not have to carry it all!

There were a few small archways to walk through.


(I am having technical difficulties tonight getting the pictures to upload. After 25 minutes I finally closed it and tried with two pictures. It seems three pictures usually takes 10 - 15 minutes, but not tonight.)

Back to Bryce Canyon National Park

At Bryce we hiked the Queens/Navajo Combination Loop. In the visitors guide it is called "World's best 3-mile hike!". For me this hike tied for best hike of our trip (with The Narrows at Zion). You leave from Sunrise Point and see the Queens Garden. We cut up through Wall Street which recently opened after being closed for 18 months due to a rock slide and end up at Sunset Point. As you walk along the trail you see shapes of things in the hoodoos. Thor's Hammer, E.T.'s finger, Queen Victoria to name a few. It was lightly sprinkling on us, of course, but it cleared soon enough. It was interesting walking through the hoodoos and then wooded areas. After the hike we ate our lunch in the picnic area at Sunset Point.

Capitol Reef National Park

Fruita Schoolhouse

Scenic road at Capitol Reef.

Petroglyphs! (look in the middle of the picture for drawings)

We thought the school house was put in a crazy location! It looks like the rocks behind it will hit the school. The scenic road had a few boulders in the road due to the flash flood they had the day before. At the Visitor's Center while the kids were getting their fifth Jr. Ranger Badge they announced the road had been cleared and was now open. Lucky for us! You can see from the picture the dirt still on the road from the day before. The Petroglyphs were really neat! You can see part of them slide off in a rock slide in prior years. It looks like people holding hands.

Backtracking to Capitol Reef

Tired. I will explain below.

Road to Capitol Reef.

Barn at Capitol Reef.

We planned on getting up early to see the sunrise on the Hoodoos. Supposedly they light up like birthday candles. Oddly Allen woke up and realized the alarm clock did not wake us up, but we had just enough time to get to the vista point and see the sunrise. We made a mad dash to see the sunrise. I said supposedly light up like candles because it ended up being overcast and when the sun did finally come out thirty minutes later there wasn't the spectacular glow we were looking for. Oh well. We were up early and going to Capitol Reef! The drive to Capitol Reef was one of the most diverse. They call it a "scenic route" for a reason. As I sort through the pictures I will highlight some of the areas we drove through. The kids and I were pooped out and slept in the car part of the way. Capitol Reef has many fruit orchards and a bakery that sells goodies.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Road to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Hoodoos at Bryce.

Sunset at our campsite.

The first day we were at Bryce we went to a Ranger lead walk along the rim of the canyon. Ethan raised his hand to answer a question (what is a fast animal that lives in the park) and said "snake"... Hmmm. Usually he gets these right (at Mesa he was on a roll!). We found out the Ponderosa Pine bark smells like butterscotch or vanilla. We also found out that we missed a really neat National Park on our way to Bryce. We decided to stay an extra night at Bryce and take a day trip to Capitol Reef National Park.

Canyonlands National Park

View through arch in Canyonlands.

Ethan looking through.

I think this was Jr. Ranger Badge number four.

Arches and Canyonlands are near each other and Moab. We drove through both of them in one day but did not do any major hiking. It was raining off and on, therefore flash floods were likely on the trails. This arch was not a far hike from the road. It is our favorite arch that we saw at any of the National Parks. It is smaller than any of the other arches we saw but something about it made it special. From here we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park. We stopped in Richland around eleven p.m. for the night.