Idaho Memories

 In February of this year, while Malcolm flew with Maia to New Zealand (that's another post), I crammed Jaden, Haylie & Keiren  along with a week's worth of stuff into Malcolm's little red Mazda 3 & we drove up to Idaho.  Correction: I drove -- and had a hoot of a time in the Mazda, which is sooooo fun to drive compared with my  old Suburban. It has excellent passing power for those short passing lanes in the mountains of Nevada and hills of eastern Oregon. I didn't mind the 16 hour drive, but I think the girls, especially, were bored. Jaden and I had lots of time to talk, listen to U2 and Switchfoot, and listen to Father Gilbert mysteries. We had a great visit with Laura & Linda and Susan & Blaine. Thank you, Linda and Susan, for hosting us. Your home is beautiful and your hospitality amazing. Here are a few of our wonderful memories in photos:

 The picture above is of Owens Lake, near Lone Pine on the 395, heading toward Nevada. The white stuff is salt and sand, not snow.

 This is Walker Lake. We had just left the town of Hawthorne, where we stopped at McD's for a bathroom break -- it was unforgettable. Never met people like that in my life, and that is not a complement. Anyway, we made it to Fallon for a stay in a hotel that first night of driving. We had a UFO follow us for about half an hour, which was exciting and kept me awake and chuckling.

 The second day of driving brought us up to Oregon. This is the view we had on the 95 looking west. I'm not sure which mountains these are in Oregon, but they sure were pretty. Little did we know that in only a few days a storm would blow through here with heaps of snow and high snow drifts. Glad we missed the worst of it.

 When we got to Boise we stayed with Linda, Susan and Blaine (above). The first day we played a round of frisbee golf and learned we all suck at it. Keiren missed the course completely and chucked her disc into the local swimming pool. That reminds me....I owe Linda and Susan a frisbee golf disc.

 Linda took Jaden and I to a local golf course's driving range to teach us to golf. Jaden picked it up quickly, but let's just say I'm (to put it succinctly) retarded. Thanks, Linda - that was a great memory!

We went to see my Dad, and dragged him around town so
he could play tour guide. Thank you to all who prayed for him
when he had emergency surgery last fall. He is recovering.
First stop was the capitol building. It's been updated since
I was here last so it was fun to see the changes.






Below is one of Haylie's artistic photos...this is looking straight
up to the ceiling of the rotunda. It's pretty cool!

                  Keiren is looking down into the Senate chambers from the gallery. Though the senate wasn't
in session at that time, we managed to catch the end of the House before it adjourned. It was pretty cool
seeing government in action.

                            Keiren holding Lucy, my dad's very fat dog.

             We also visited the old penitentiary in town that is now a museum. Unfortunately, the cells didn't lock....

Next we visited the Idaho History Museum. Dad had a great time yakking it up with the docent while the kids and I explored. It had an interesting mix of old stuff I remember from when I was a kid, and some new exhibits. The types of saddles were fun to try out....

I was pleased to see the two-headed calf was still there. I think it's real...
it's been there as long as I can remember.






The kids did some baking with Susan during our visit....

Gluten-free never tasted so good!

   Thanks, Linda, Susan, Blaine, Laura, Dad, and aunt Josie for the memories. We had a lovely time visiting with you and hope to do it again soon!

 (Stay tuned for part two about the skiing/snowboarding/sledding we did in Idaho.)

Camping at Pismo Beach

   We just returned from our third trip to Pismo State Beach, the only place I know where you can drive your car right on the beach - and for miles too. Jaden was sooo wishing he had his driving permit this week. We camped with some of our good friends and had, like, okay, a totally rad time! For those of you who have never been to Pismo, it's a 3.5 hour drive (well, pulling a trailer it is) up the coast. It has miles and miles of sand-dunes - a whole ecosystem to itself-- right along the beach. What I love about the Oceano site, named for the little town of Oceano that sits at the south end of Pismo State Beach, is that the campground sits on the east side of the dunes, so it's protected from the strong winds that blow on the beach. This year was pretty windy and a little cool, but very refreshing. I am so grateful to every person that camped with us and helped to keep an eye on Maia, the Professional Wanderer! I strongly believe each person helped to keep her from being eaten by a mountain lion or from being run over by a bulldozer (they kept driving through camp). One of the best parts of the week was the debut of tow-skimming, which actually worked!  The highlights are below in visual display mode. 

This is taken at our campsite and you can see the dune behind us where the kids spent hours digging and playing. First row is: Bijan Nemati, Isaac Songster, Keiren, Maia, Rachel Nemati and Happy the dog. Second row is: Catie Songster, Benjamin Songster, Haylie, me (Lisa), and Malcolm the magnificent. Third row is: Jaden, Michael Nemati, Jon Nemati, and Beth the bold Nemati. At the top is Josh the jolly green giant Songster.

This is the kids' favorite climbing tree. Jaden remarked that it was smaller than he remembered. It's been 3 years since we've been here, so ...hmmm....maybe it's because you were a little smaller then?

The kids love to dig in the dune behind our campsite. Here Jaden is working on a tunnel with steps down into it. It's pretty deep. When he stood at the bottom I couldn't see him at all except from above. The photo below is Benj and Jaden in this hole but I"m standing below them. 

The beach is about a quarter-mile walk by the fire-road, or half a mile wandering up and down through the dunes. The kids love to play king-of-the-dune just so they can shove Dad down the hill. Jaden won, of course. 

   Haylie getting some facial exfoliation on the sand-blasted dunes.

   How sweet it is...someone beside ME washing the dishes!

  This is why I bought a trailer: to contain the Mad Wanderer -- our adorable Maia. Keiren is entertaining her here with some drawing & coloring while I get something important done (I'm sure).

                                  

   Hiking  from the beach back to camp.

Bart & Kristin Oegema returning from a walk along the beach. There were heaps and heaps of sand-dollars this year, and we returned with a bucket-full. They helped entertain & watch Maia so much, which made this a true vacation for me. Thanks guys!

Jaden, Bart & Kristin Oegema, Haylie, Keiren & Malcolm  - all having an intense game of Egyptian War. Kristin and Jaden duked it out well into the night.

 Josh having the trial run....after the cops came and gave us the "this is dangerous" lecture. Good thing the Park Ranger was young and maybe a little envious, as he just turned a blind eye -- but nobody said we couldn't! Michael rode shot-gun to watch for the rider, and the girls rode in the car to stay out of the sand-papering wind.

   Jaden is having a go here. It works well while the wave is up, but once the wave goes out, you're done. You can't really turn at all unless the water is a little deeper. We'll have to come back with an old car we don't care about and actually drive in the water. 

 Josh is getting a good ride here. You can see the pier and town of Pismo Beach in the background......well, you can on my original photo....maybe not if you're viewing from a small screen.

This is Benj just before he took a big spill into the drink. Once you're wet, you're so done because it is freezing in the merciless wind.

   This is harder than it looks. The wind was gusting enough to pick up the board, if you aren't on it,  and make it fly a hundred feet down the beach. Josh, Benj and Jaden all had a few turns before the wind reached gale force and made us quit. Great job guys!

   Camping is so wonderful. I love wandering for who-knows-how-long just because I can, I love breathing clean, crisp air, I love the wind on my skin, I love the deep blues of the sky and ocean, the pinks and purples and yellows of the wildflowers and sunsets. I love taking the time to rejoice and thank God for his amazing creation that was made just for us. I really love time with my family to be silly around the campfire or look dumb playing badminton. This year it was extra special because we shared it with really great friends. We had a massive game of George, some time singing & worshiping around a very hot campfire, tons of s'mores, banana boats, and we even made some new friends in the half-filled campground (leave it to Malcolm to find the Australians). I wish I could freeze this in time and go back over and over.

Anyone want to come next year?

That's My Girl

This is a quick post of some basketball photos of Haylie. It was tough to get photos of her, since the games were indoors and in poor light. Haylie picked up a basketball for the first time in my introductory class in September, and handled it about as well as a pelican. Boy is she determined, though.  Within weeks she was making a connection with the ball. In January, she joined a local private school's team and practiced several times a week after school with them. She improved so much that she was a starting point-guard this season. I am so proud of her. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos -- but please note that she is often dribbling with her left hand, even though she's right-handed. The last photo is Haylie shooting - she's #10. Way to go Haylie!

Wait, Isn't She Already Two?

Back in February we celebrated Maia's second birthday. Normally I'd say, "Wow, that flew by." Sometimes it feels that way, and sometimes it feels like time is in slow motion with her. Like when I watch her pour her cup for the millionth time out on the coffee table -- only this time it finds its way to the photo albums underneath -- you know - that sickening slow motion feeling, like you're in a dream and you just can't get to it in time. (Yes, this actually happened -- more than once.)
 Maia has been "two" since she was about 18 months old. It started with the knowing look around the room to see if anyone is watching before putting Mommy's lipstick on --her face, her neck, her shirt, her hands, her shoes, the toilet....and then when I walk in the room, my precious wee one hiding the lipstick behind her back ...or is that protecting her bottom??. (Yes, this actually happened -- also more than once!)
      Maia also does so many, many adorable things all day long. Two year-olds are curious and their brains are little sponges, soaking every little bit of information up. Life must be pretty darn exciting for a two-year-old -- think about it -- everything is NEW and so interesting! I can just hear the buzz in her little head: "What's this? cool! Look at that! What's this? Cool!"  She jabbers away to us, usually while we're trying to watch grown-up movies. To Maia, a grown-up movie is anything beside Barney or the Wheels on the Bus video. Ah yes, I have Linda to thank for all those wonderful, musical DVDs she gave us. Maia loves them! Actually I am grateful, as sometimes a video is the only way the rest of us can get anything done. But the "Wheels on the Bus" and "I Love You" now play continuously in my head!

  The cake, by the way, was a group project. I made the cake & shaped it, piped it & laid the blue marzipan. The kids did the Marzipan "bubbles" -- lots of them. Even the rubber ducky on top is cake. We chose this theme because Maia just loves to take baths, and her first word after Mom, Dad and ball was "duck". Funny how you spend so much time teaching them to talk, and then for years they won't stop talking, and then when they're teens you have to get them to talk again!

Life With Maia

   Picture this: me chasing our 65 -lb run-away yellow lab down the street in my flip-flops in the rain -- yelling, "Neptune come!" loud enough to wake the dead (and being ignored) -- this in itself is bad enough since I don't exactly resemble an athlete. The dog is hurtling toward an old man about a block away,  and I am anticipating his coming heart attack when Neptune jumps up on him and barks like he's a piece of red meat. Just as I get to them Neptune and I begin a keep-away dance, where she stays just out of my reach while the poor old chinese gentleman is frozen with fear. Bear in mind, my neighbors really dislike my dog - with good reason- and tell me so, so this isn't helping in the p.r. department. They already think I'm irresponsible (they're probably right). Well, as if this wasn't enough...I look up --which is when Neptune makes a dash out into the street and two cars have to stop--and running down the sidewalk toward me and the intersection I just crossed is Maia, running full speed and yelling, "Mommy!" with a huge smile on her face, red hair flying back in the wind. She loves the freedom as much as Neptune. Only, I just had her sitting on the toilet (she's potty-training) and she apparently let herself out the door. As she hurtled toward the intersection on her short little legs, her un-snapped Onesie was flapping behind her, her white bum giving the world a show. Faced with a choice between rescuing the poor passers-by from my annoying dog and catching my half-naked daughter before she hit the corner, I went with Maia of course.

   Then I did what I always do...after depositing Maia safely at home with Haylie......jump in the car to go get the dog. Neptune doesn't listen to a word I say, so I have to tempt the pampered pooch with something she loves: a car ride in the front passenger seat where she can stick her head out the window and command the best view. But just as I got to her and  pulled over to beckon her, she squats to poop in the neighbors' yard...while another annoyed neighbor and the driver of a car that stopped for Neptune watch. Ugh. I brace myself for the disgusted looks and tongue-lashings.  I jump out in the rain....get the dog in the car...rummage through the back for anything to pick up poo. Nothing. Just a thin piece of plastic about a foot square. Needless to say, I ended up with warm, soggy, you-know-what on my hand, a spastic dog in my car pressing her snotty nose on every fogged-up window, and I'm sure a blood pressure that wouldn't be measurable at the hospital. At least the slobber cleared off the windows so I could see.
       This was just 10 minutes of my life. The rest of the day continued in much the same bulging vein, but without the spectators and critics. Keiren and I took turns sitting with Maia as she perched on the potty, trying for over an hour to produce. It wasn't our idea for her to sit on the potty that long. It was Maia's -- she loves it -- and squeals in protest when you try to put a diaper on her. Well, at one point she got up off  her potty -- still in the un-snapped Onesie -- came over to where I was sitting -- said, "Potty!" for the hundredth time, and then let a river of pee loose right on top of my new ear-buds, which she had hurled earlier on the floor. Did I mention that I go through a whole roll of paper-towels every day?

      Homeschooling three kids is hard. A two-year-old is hard. A perpetually two-year-old-minded escape-happy pooch is even harder . Put them together and it's exponential.
     By the way, all three older children are grounded until they teach Neptune, who is dummer than a rock, to come reliably when called. I expect they'll be grounded until she dies. 

Odd Signs

Well, our six weeks here is almost over and I've only posted about the first 1 1/2 weeks! I have learned a huge thing while here: homeschooling 3 kids while having a toddler is well-nigh impossible (at least at your in-laws' house).

While driving around the country I have been sitting in the front seat with our camera, capturing photos blurred by bird droppings or my reflection in the window. Here's a few of the more memorable ones:

This is from a town called Te Puke (pronounced tay-pookie) but I found the American pronunciation of the word to be quite humorous on the restaurant's sign.

Of course after passing through Te Puke, no doubt car-sick from the curvy roads, you need a cure.....
and lo and behold, Pukekura!

Next came the town of Hari Hari (pronounced hairy-hairy). For some reason this sign made me chuckle. Even though the speed limits are posted like this as you enter a town, all that popped into my mind were a bunch of oldish gentlemen with only 50 hairs on their heads. Ok, I was a little high on Dramamine at the moment.

I was still a little snap-happy with the camera when this sign caught my eye. The  Hari Hari Pukeko (pronounced poo-kee-ko) conjured up some interesting images in my rather drowsy mind. I thought birds had feathers, not hair. And pyoo-kee-ko tea didn't sound all that appealing. Maybe I needed to go back to Pukekura!

This is a common sight in NZ. This is the main highway for the entire west coast of the south island and it has dozens of these. And they wonder why they have so many accidents?  So notice the give-way sign. It's showing us that we have to stop and give way to that oncoming car because they have the right of way. Yes, that's a narrow and long one-lane bridge over a raging river!

 And this is the main n/s highway folks. The bridge is not only one lane, but is gravel over wood planks. Most of the gravel is gone, and there are actually gaps between the slick planks where you can see the  river below.  And double-trailer semi trucks drive over these! I love the small blue sign on the right. It is the sign for pedestrians with the arrow pointing to the right..... ummmm.....yeah......that would be the water to the right!

 This one-lane bridge is my personal favorite because it is also the train bridge! Really, do we HAVE to have a yield (give-way) sign on this one?

Ok, this one I love. We saw lots of these on the west coast north of Greymouth as we headed up to Westport to fly back to Wellington (south island). It seems like a joke until you look out and actually see penguins on the rocks (which we did near Kaikoura on the east coast of the s. island).

This one is a little sad: we actually hit a weka on the road. This little bird, about the size of a chicken, ran across the road in front of us and Malcolm couldn't swerve as he was going too fast and there was oncoming traffic. So it went duh-dunk under the car (missed the tires, went right in between). Poor thing must have hit its head pretty hard on our under-carriage or bumper because I looked back and it staggered off the highway like it was drunk.

There's plenty more to come on the South Island, which was the true highlight of our trip, so stay tuned!

Rotorua & Taupo: Geysers & Volcanoes

The best tip I can give you if you plan to come to New Zealand is to rent a porche or other high-performance sports car. The roads are winding, winding, winding: tight curves, narrow but lined with green pastures and lush flora. Always some mountains in the distance or nearby with a cool wind blowing. I could have so much fun driving like Mario......

...... but....I can't drive (sigh). The rental car is already so expensive, that adding a second driver at $25 per day put it out of range for us. So Malcolm drives and I take Dramamine and sleep. Which is good, because Maia hasn't exactly been sleeping well on this trip, which means I don't get to either.
Anyway, we made our way to Rotorua down the main highway, about a 4 hour drive with nauseated passengers plus stops for ice cream (for the non-nauseated). You could definitely tell we were getting close when we rolled down the windows & the pungent smell of H2S filled the air (rotten egg smell). But Rotorua is the birth place of my true love (Malcolm of course!) and the tourist capital of the north island, so it was a must-do on our itinerary. Here you can bunjie-swing, you can roll around inside a giant inflatable ball, and you can luge down a hillside. Or you can have a cultural awakening at one of the local Maori villages -- where they feed you instead of eating you, unlike visitors from the 18th century. Or you can become a junior geologist at one of the several parks dedicated to their many geysers, boiling hot pools, and mud pots (if you can stand the smell and heat).

We chose a dinner and show at Mitai. Here's the link: www.mitai.co.nz Have a look. And yes, the naked guy in the front is the chief and those are real tattoos! -- at least the ones that go where his bike shorts go. We sat in the front row & just cringed whenever the chief got animated, hoping his loin cloth stayed in place. But the show was so professional and captivating -- frightening at times during the war dances, which makes them seem pretty authentic -- we hardly noticed they didn't serve dinner until 8:45pm. It was well worth waiting for as the lamb, chicken & beef had been in a hangi all day, so it was oh so tender. They served some other stuff too, like steamed stuffing & kumara (mild sweet potato) but I hardly noticed since the meat was so nice. After dinner we went on a guided walk with flashlights through the rainforest. At one point we shut off our lights & forest was full of glow-worms. Very cool. Then they brought us to the spring where the water for their village (or iwi) bubbles straight up out of the ground. It is considered a sacred spring to the Maori here & they let us drink it. Wow, that was nice. Better than any of the bottled water back home. I wonder if they know how much they could make bottling that stuff. One cool thing (I thought) was that the pool where the spring was had some pretty big fish and a few fresh-water eels that were so cool looking. The kids were grossing out, though, because they were thinking about drinking that water with eel-pooh in it.

Here's a video of the "welcoming" ceremony. The guy in sweats was the elected "chief" of our visiting tribe. If he didn't pick up the thing on the floor that the "warrior" laid down, then it would have meant we were hostile and an enemy. By picking up what the warrior laid down, it meant we accept their gift & have come in peace. Otherwise, they would eat us. Keep watching....the pregnant woman is quite entertaining in a warped sort of way. I wonder if that's how I looked at 9 months pregnant! The tattoos on the women's faces are designed to look like an owl, a sacred bird for them. No, it's not hair! Warning: this video is a little scary!

(having trouble loading this, so check back later)


So the next day we got up and played some mini-golf at the motel. For the first time, I beat Malcolm! Our motel was a fabulous Best-Western with two bedrooms and a kitchen. And mini golf. Mini-golf is to Maori as corner dairies here are to Indians and donut stores are to Chinese.

Off to Whakarewarewa that morning (Wh is pronounced "fffff", so you can guess that we don't attempt to pronounce it correctly). Here's the link: www.whakarewarewa.com
It is considered the "authentic" village because it really is a real Maori village and the members take turns showing you around. Their competition for tourists is the "non-authentic" Te Puia, which is a re-created village and Maori arts institute. So at Whaka, they tell you how they use the boiling water that comes up naturally in pools to cook and bathe, as well as the steam vents (also for cooking and facials). They have a geyser that is considered sacred too -- that's the picture at the top -- and the water pours in to the local stream, so some spots are hot, some are warm, and some are cold -- anything you want depending on your mood. We watched another cultural performance but it wasn't as good as Mitai's -- mostly because it was old women performing. One highlight was a villager who was stripping flax with a mussel shell and weaving it into rope right there, just like they've done for hundreds of years. The steam from all the vents made an already hot day almost unbearable, and Haylie got a touch of heat exhaustion.
Here are a few pictures:Here the woman is stripping the green stuff off the outside of the flax blade (leaf) using an abalone shell.
Now, in about 3 seconds, she rolls it on her leg one direction, then another & voila, she has a real rope. Unbelievable. Keiren is bringing home this very rope as the lady gave it to her.


This is the landscape around Whaka. These pools sit at just below boiling. There are springs in them where it is constantly boiling. Since the boiling water can surface anywhere at any time, you have to be very careful where you walk. And the ground is very hot!




Late in the afternoon we said farewell to Rotorua and drove an hour southwest to Taupo. I'll write some more about that tomorrow. For now, I need to go because we've just bought Malcolm's Mum a Netbook and everyone is excited to set it up!