Visiting The Baileys

After leaving Crater Lake, we were so excited to see our friends the Bailey’s who recently moved to Beaverton. They were so gracious in hosting us on our stay, and it was so great to see them. Bridger and Declan got a chance to bond, and I think we brought a new kind of crazy to their home. Here is a picture of us all on the porch of their new home.

They convinced us to take an unscheduled trip to visit Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast. We thought we would jump out of the car, take a picture of the Pinnacles and take off, but it was so beautiful we decided to stay the rest of the day. The scenery was fantastic, but the soft, white beach of fine sand and the warm water were what made us stay. Playing together in the waves even inspired Jensen to say, “Who says moms aren’t fun?” Thanks, Jensen, I had fun playing with you, too.

Boys on the beach

If fun is measured by how dirty you get, Sage must've had a blast.

This photo just captures Zad's personality perfectly.

Jensen is licking an ice cream cone left on the beach by an anonymous sculptor.

Crater Lake National Park

To finish off Ken’s sabbatical, we took a major road trip. We drove over 3700 miles and visited four National Parks. Here is the first installment of the trip. We first headed north to Oregon and Crater Lake. Crater Lake is really surprising. The lake was formed when a volcano erupted and then collapsed in on itself thousands of years ago. The hole then filled with rain and ground water until it became a lake. The water is so blue it seems unreal. The sides are so steep that there is only one trail down to the water. We opted to take a trail up to a nearby peak to have a better view of the surrounding area. Later that day the children performed a very informative play on the creation of Crater Lake at the amphitheater in the campground. Jensen narrated while Zad and Sage played parts such as a volcano, lava, the lake, and water. Ken and I were the entire audience, so it is safe to say all who saw it felt it was a remarkable piece of theater.

It was cold enough that we were glad we brought all of our winter gear.
Here we are with just a corner of the lake from the drive along the rim.
The pictures don't even do justice to the size and color of this incredible lake.
Get comfortable, kids, you're going to be in there a while.

Slightly Disturbing

Ken and I find it slightly disturbing that when we asked Sage to make a funny face this is what she came up with:

Independently Wealthy

So this is what it would be like to be independently wealthy. Since returning from Idaho, Ken has entered his sit-back-and-chill phase of the sabbatical. This consists of such activities as making extravagant breakfasts, jumping on the trampoline with the kids, and shopping without weekend crowds. He even cleaned the garage. And one ambitious day we took the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. One day our big excursion was to buy back to school shoes for the kids. Another day we visited Washington park in San Mateo where we leisurely explored the park. Last summer Ken dumpster dove for a small children’s bike. When he got it home he realized all it needed was one screw, so with all his free time he finally made it to the bike store for the part and taught Zad how to ride it. It only took him three days to learn to ride the bike completely on his own. He never even needed training wheels.

New shoes today.

Now I'll really never be able to catch him.

Sabbatical Watch 2008

After six long years at Genentech, Ken has finally earned his six week sabbatical. Ken took the first weekend and drove to BYU-ID graduation with his brother, Scott, and Zad and Sage. Unfortunately, they forgot to take the camera with them, so there are no pictures of their visit with his parents and grandfather from Chicago. His sister Katy drove over from Boise, and even his globe trotting brother, Todd, managed to make it all the way from Japan. Two general authorities spoke and the men were asked to wear white shirts and ties, so the whole thing felt more like stake conference than a graduation. Besides attending the ceremonies they were able to take in some exciting Rexburg nightlife. You know, a trip to the local frozen custard shop.

Beyond the graduation, the trip had plenty of memorable events. The air conditioning on the car went out in Nevada, and the battery warning light went on somewhere in Idaho. They managed to limp into Rexburg and change out the battery on their own, but it didn’t help. The auto parts store said the alternator was out, but there were no mechanics open on Saturday. They drove by a repair shop and saw that there were people inside and begged them to fix their car. They were really nice and fixed the burned out alternator belt in an hour and apologized for having to charge extra because it was Saturday, but were pretty sure it would have cost more than the $90 they charged including parts and overtime labor.

Number two, don’t speed in Idaho; we’ll leave it at that.

Not all of the excitement was unfortunate, however. They all got to meet Eric’s fiancée Lacy and her family. We now look forward to seeing the whole gang again in the fall at the wedding. Let’s all hope with a little less car related drama this time, especially since this time we’ll be taking my car.

Turning 3 Disney-style

We have a family tradition of taking the children to Disneyland just before their third birthday (when they can still get in for free). So we headed down to SoCal and fittingly spent three days park hopping tocelebrate Sage turning three. Here are some of the highlights of our epic trip.

We started with our traditional first ride:

The Tea Cups

We enjoyed the Princess Fantasy Faire so much that we visited it, not once, but twice!

Sage played model while we waited for the big kids and Dad to ride Space Mountain.

I’m not exactly sure why everyone is screaming about being in Tarzan’s Tree House, but that's my family for you: screaming where ever we go.

Sage has just disembarked from the Matter Horn Sleds and is describing the “scary monster inside.”

On our second day the reinforcements arrived upping our adult to child ratio.

We’re Melting: It was freakishly hot for April, so we rested in the shade for a few minutes.

On her second day in the park Mom wanted to rent a Rascal. Now I know why they are called Rascals: they are a complete menace to society. Not only was it hard to maneuver in the crowded streets and tricky to find parking for at times, but Mom also found it difficult to drive and there were many near mishaps, including a few haps as well: one which sent a woman to the first aid station bleeding, and another that took the wheel off of someone’s stroller.

Zad made it on stage for the Jedi Training Academy, but had a little difficulty getting the lightsaber to activate. It was really hilarious, if I can figure out how to do it I’ll post some video tape of it.

He eventually figured it out and got to fight Darth Vader. He graduated from his Jedi class and even received a diploma.

Here we are jungle cruisin’. It’s the corniest ride in the park, but still one of our favorites.

Thanks for turning three, Sage.

Sage's 3rd Birthday

Sage turned 3 on Sunday May 4th, but that didn't stop the festivities from starting on Saturday! Aunt Julie and Uncle David came over for some dinner, cake("with pink and strawberries") and "a present and a gift" (quoted requests from Sage). Sage received some cute clothes from them and David's parents which she enjoyed posing with. Jensen also got in on the act.

Sunday we had a small celebration with just our family. Sage wanted Patxi's Pizza (the best pizza in SF, and the ONLY Chicago style pizza worthy of that name I've found, outside of Chicago) and chocolate cake. We certainly can fulfill such modest requests for the birthday girl!