College Bound

My world is changing.  

Not because Cleveland finally won a championship, not because the election, not because of the threat of terrorism in the world.  My world is changing because this fall both our daughters are starting college.  Jessica is going to commute to a local college and Alyssa is going to live at a different school about 45 minutes away.

This week I spent two days with Alyssa at her new school’s “welcome week” program.  It was so nice to have extended time with only her.  Of course as she grew up we spent a lot of time together just the two of us, but this seemed different.  We weren’t in the car headed off to some errand or even a skating competition.  This was me being there for her as she headed off to become a woman.  This was her finding her path through life.  

We found her dorm building.  She led me from her dorm to the ice rink, to prove to herself she could find it on her own.  The whole time we talked.  For the most part it wasn’t about super important things, we just talked about whatever came up; a cute guy that passed, being nervous and excited about scheduling classes the next day, decorating her dorm room.

At different points throughout the two days, they separated all the parents from the in-coming students to talk about specific ways to support your child’s journey, to help them be successful. They led the kids away to have meetings with their new advisors, schedule classes and get to know one another through ice-breaking and team building games.  

I sat there listening to all the speakers, surrounded by other parents.  Some who’d already sent several kids to college, some new parents like me.  Many were nervous, asking all sorts of questions.  One lady asked, “How can I make my son not procrastinate?”  Lots of heads bobbed as if the same question was running through their minds.  Another said, “I was told that even though we only live 20 minutes away, I’m not to visit or let her come home until Thanksgiving so she can get the Real College Experience.”  It was like they were asking for the prescription for a perfect college life.   

I sat there listening.  I didn’t ask any questions.  It’s not that I’m not nervous.  There are plenty of little worries that I have like, will she be safe?  Will she eat enough?  How will we pay for all of this?  

But I thought back to when I was starting college.  I was a lot like Alyssa, a little shy at first but outgoing once I got to know people.  I had a great time in college, sure there were bumps along the way but I figured it out.  I lived at home for my first 3 years of college.  My mom and I made dinners together, she’d often pick me up for lunch between classes, I still went to all my brother’s hockey games, I just had a lot more homework. I still made new friends, got involved with the ice rink and hockey team on campus, and found my husband to be.   I loved every minute of it.  I don’t think anyone can say I didn’t have the Real College Experience.

There is no prescription to the perfect college experience or perfect parenthood.  If there is anything that I have learned from being a parent for 19 1/2 years, it’s that every kid is so beautifully unique that even if you know what “works” for one, it may totally backfire for another. You make plenty of mistakes and figure it out as you go.  Maybe your kid will benefit from not seeing you until Thanksgiving and maybe not.  And if they are still procrastinating at 18 there is nothing you can do to make them otherwise, they have to figure it out.  And guess what.  They will.

I know both Alyssa and Jess will do great in college!  I’m more concerned with what I’m going to do all day.  For the first time in 15 years, I’ll be home alone!  I guess I’ll just figure it out.   

Me and Alys at Welcome Week

The Good Fight

Yesterday, Jess and I were talking about the never ending malicious behaviour of humans toward one another, in particular certain groups or societies against other groups or societies.  She asked me what I thought could be done.  I have no special qualifications to answer a such a question.  I’m simply a human, a mom, a wife, just like any other human living on this planet; from Sydney to Mumbai to Beirut to New York City.  I have the same hopes and dreams as anyone else.  But I’ve learned that when your 19 year old engages you in a discussion you cherish it and keep it going.  So I answered.  

Her main concern:  How do we fight against injustice among two groups of people? Is war/bombing the hell out of a place, the only way to stop the cycle of brutality and terror?  As a peace loving young adult she desperately wanted there to be another answer.  

Hmm.  As I write this, I realize I should have turned the question around for her to answer, to figure out on her own what could be done.  To have her really think about the problem and see what her infinitely creative mind could come up with.  But instead I had to give her my input.

I don’t think there is any one quick solution that will rid us of malicious behaviour of one group toward another.  No matter what is done there will always be people trying to gain power over another group, taking advantage of and using them for their benefit.  Magnifying differences among us to create inequalities.  Bombing or destroying “the enemy” only creates a new generation of  “enemies” to fight later.  

So is it a useless, Sisyphean task, of rolling the boulder uphill everyday only to watch it roll back down?  And do we even know which side is the “right” side?  We choose arbitrarily the side that aligns more with our own ideals and experiences, but there is not one group throughout history that has been totally innocent.  We all have a black mark on our record, so who is the real enemy?  

It is within ourselves.  It is the fears, resentments, jealousies, insecurities, and anger that we hold on to, the black spot within us all that is the real enemy.  Only when we defeat the cancer that is growing within can we look outside.  Is it an infinite task?  Sure, but each day as we strive to rid ourselves of darkness and do good in each moment, loving ourselves and one another, we bring ourselves and our world closer to a new and brighter dawn.    

What are your thoughts?

Kathy :)

Get out and make someone smile today!

Measure Your Life in Love

Hi Everybody!

I’m finally back! 

I didn’t intend to take an entire year off blogging, but a whole lot of crazy stuff happened last year and all my creative energy seemed to be sucked into a giant black hole.  

But 2016 is a new year!  

I’ve taken lots of time to think, read, and recharge and I’m throwing myself full steam ahead into life.  

I learned a lot last year. Living through 2015, brought to the surface a lot of things which I already knew deep down but maybe had hidden; like no matter how hard I try, sometimes I just can’t protect my kids from going through traumatic experiences and that’s okay because usually they come out of it stronger; that I need to be thankful every day for all the love, family, and friendships I’ve been given; and that for me the purpose of life is love.  

The love of my husband, my kids, my parents and brothers, and in-laws, the love of my friends and maybe this sounds weird, but the love of all life, everyone and every living creature I come across. Life is precious and I intend to fully live and love in each moment I’m given. To smell a rose, and feel its petal’s velvety softness, to rescue a ladybug drowning in my dishwater, to reaching a box on the top shelf for an elderly lady at the grocery store.  If I can brighten one life each day I will have done my job.   

I’m excited about this year and the changes that I’m making, in my blog and my life.  I can’t see what the future holds but I know that as long as I live and love in the moment, everything else will be okay.  

I missed you guys and I can’t wait to see what you have all been up to!  

Kathy

I Miss Blogging!

Well so much for blogging regularly this year!  I've been gone for over a month and I really miss it.  For a while last year I was pondering whether I should continue blogging, but with this recent forced time off I've realized how much I love it and I don't want to give it up.

I won't be posting regularly for a while though, as right now all my energy is being spent trying to help Jess get healthy again.  She's been struggling for a while but last month was really scary and stressful.  It seems now that we have the right doctors treating her and she is starting to feel better.  But I'm afraid it will be a long road.

For now, I'll still be lurking around the blogosphere and posting when I can and I'm hoping to be able to do the A-Z.

Hope you're staying warm!  Here it's been below 0 for a number of days! I'd love to hear what you're up to these days.

Kathy 

Cute Kid Alert, A-Z Challenge, and Cheesy Deliciousness

It's already the 15th of the month, but so far January has gotten off to a good start.  I've been working hard on editing and it is going pretty well actually.  I set a goal of getting through one chapter each week and so far, I've kept on pace. :)

Cute Kid Alert













My 10 yr. old son decided to stop homeschooling this year and go to our local public school but my high school aged girls wanted to keep homeschooling.  It's worked well, except the girls miss their little brother so much while he's at school that one of my daughters decided to leave a note for him every morning before he gets on the bus.  She writes it late at night and puts it on the table so he sees it as he's eating breakfast.  She gives him little random assignments each day.  Today, it was to take a video of himself while doing 3 jumping jacks and hugging our beagle.  The girls have watched that video at least three times today as they anxiously await his return.


A-Z Challenge
 I've also come up with some ideas for this year's A-Z Challenge, which will be here before we know it!  The sign up lists opens in two weeks!  This year I want to pre-write at least some of my posts, so that I have more time to visit everyone else.

Fault In Our Stars
I read the book last year and loved it.  It's about two teens with cancer who meet in a support group and fall in love.  We watched the movie last weekend and it was excellent.  It's a tearjerker, (my eyes were puffy by the end and I think I used a whole Kleenex box),but not depressing, I think it's beautiful and hopeful.  I definitely recommend it, if you haven't seen it yet.


Cheesy Deliciousness

This morning here in Ohio it was about 10 degrees so I decided I wanted to make something warm and cheesy.  My mom's au gratin potatoes were the perfect accompaniment to such freezing cold temperatures.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it!

Au Gratin Potatoes

4-6 Idaho potatoes peeled and diced

Cream Sauce:

4 T butter

2 T flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk + more if needed

4 T mayonnaise

8 oz shredded mild cheddar cheese

Boil diced potatoes. Drain off water and pour potatoes into a baking dish. Melt butter in saucepan on low heat.  Add flour gradually blending with fork.  Combine milk, salt, and mayonnaise in small bowl, then gradually add to melted butter and flour in saucepan and stir until well combined.  Add 1/2 the cheese and stir until melted and creamy, if too thick add more milk and then add the remaining 1/2 of the cheese and cook stirring constantly until fully melted and has a smooth consistency.  Pour cheese sauce over potatoes and mix in gently. Bake at 350 for about 50 min or until just starting to brown on top.

How is your January going so far? Are you doing A-Z this year? What's your favorite recipe that warms you up?

Hope you're having a great week!

Kathy :)

Deja Vu Blogfest

I'm participating in DL Hammons Deja Vu Blogfest today.  The idea is to repost a favorite older post from this year that you feel didn't get quite the viewing you'd hoped for.

I thought, hey, "that will be easy," then I started looking at my old posts.  Yikes, what a decision.  Not that they were so amazing I thought they all needed reposting, I wish.  I was a little underwhelmed and I wasn't sure any of them actually deserved being reborn.  Finally, I found one.  It's short and sweet and I thought it exemplified a kind of Christmas-time spirit, so here goes:


From October 17 2014,

No Powers Necessary

Yesterday, I was talking with my 10 year old son about my YA Fantasy novel (in editing phase) as I drove him to his guitar lesson.  He’s an avid reader of YA books so I respect his literary opinion. I explained some of the problems I was having with it.  First, he told me that a few of my ideas were a little too cliche so I might want to change it up a bit. Then he went on to give me his input on the weaponry my characters should be using, one of his favorite aspects of any story.

After a while he thoughtfully added, “Your main characters shouldn’t have magical powers.”

“Why?” I asked, sneaking a glance at him in the back seat.

“Because they shouldn’t have to use magic to be special and save the world.  Anyone can do it.  Everyone is special just by being themselves.”

Wow, I thought, and mentally prayed that he would always be himself.

Hope you enjoyed my Deja Vu post and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Kathy :)

Show the world how special you are by being yourself!

No Powers Necessary

Yesterday, I was talking with my 10 year old son about my YA Fantasy novel (in editing phase) as I drove him to his guitar lesson.  He’s an avid reader of YA books so I respect his literary opinion. I explained some of the problems I was having with it.  First, he told me that a few of my ideas were a little too cliche so I might want to change it up a bit. Then he went on to give me his input on the weaponry my characters should be using, one of his favorite aspects of any story.

After a while he thoughtfully added, “Your main characters shouldn’t have magical powers.”

“Why?” I asked, sneaking a glance at him in the back seat.

“Because they shouldn’t have to use magic to be special and save the world.  Anyone can do it.  Everyone is special just by being themselves.”

Wow, I thought and mentally prayed that he would always be himself.

Have a great weekend,

Kathy

Show the world how special you are by being yourself!

It's a Boy!

Alyssa with Rory

Here's Rory, our newest family member!  

He joined us on Sunday for Jessica's 17th birthday!  He's an 8 week old beagle.  We are all thrilled to have him join our crazy gang.  

I had no idea we could decide we wanted a puppy and then five days later actually have one.  

Hope you are all having a great week!

If you have any puppy training tricks I'd love to hear them!

Kathy :) 

TV or No TV

That is the question.

Our family has lived happily without TV for 9 years now.  Okay, we actually have a TV but we don't have cable so that means we don't get any channels.  Sure, we watch movies and use Netflix instant stream to introduce the kids to the great old shows, like Star Trek, Doctor Who and a few others.  But for the most part our kids, especially our 9 year old son, have grown up without normal television programming.

We don't miss it, even my football loving husband.  A couple years ago we still would watch some TV in hotels, but on our last trip, no one even turned the tube on.

It was great to have family time to read and talk, but we began to realize there might be a flaw in our thinking.

Living in Cleveland, someone asked our son what he thought about LeBron James.  He stared blankly back like the person was speaking a foreign language.  Embarrassed, I had to explain, "Well we don't have TV so he doesn't even know who that is."

Later someone else asked him what his favorite teams were.  Again the blank stare.  He couldn't even name any teams.  Yikes.

Were my husband and I depriving him of essential knowledge in our sports crazed world?

Especially for guys, it seems like the default entry into conversation always revolves around the game, "Hey did you see the game last night?" or "Can you believe that catch?"

It's one thing to not play sports but for a boy to not know anything about any teams, players, or even the rules of the games...well maybe that's going too far.

Worried that if we didn't act fast, it may be too late for him, we decided to take the plunge back into the world of television and give our son a proper sports education.

The cable guy is coming this morning ...and I'm kind of dreading it.


What do you think, do our children need to have a working knowledge of sports to get by in today's world?


Have a great week!

Kathy :)

No Texting in the Outfield

"Wait how am I supposed to text with this thing on?"

On our vacation in Michigan, we piled my brother's kids and ours into the car and took them to play some softball.

We let the kids bat first.  My not-so-sporty kids were at least able to hit the ball.  Though the bat looked like it weighed more than my son and Jess and Alyss decided to ballet leap to first instead of run.

When it was the kids' turn in the field, I handed Jess my glove.  She put it on and looked down at her hands confused and asked, "Wait, how am I supposed to text with this thing on?"

I laughed but wondered if there is any hope for her.

Kathy :)

The Fog Lifting

Jess and Alyss playing with their cousins in Michigan

Ok so I've been kind of missing in action lately but I've really needed some time off to think and get some other things done.  I'm not sure if it was the death of my grandfather, to whom I was very close, or other stress, but ever since the end of  the A-Z, I felt like I was walking around with a fog in my head. I couldn't seem to focus on my writing.
But after a couple months off and spending a lovely week in Michigan with our extended families, the fog seems to be clearing. It was wonderful to be up there and have fun with the whole family, relaxing and listening to all the kids goofing around together.  

We went up to my grandpa's cottage which now belongs to my mom and dad.
It was odd to be there.  I thought there would be this big hole without him there.

His empty chair on the porch,
His empty fishing boat rocking lonely in the waves
The fire in the fireplace untended.

Our last morning there

His red and black plaid jacket still hung by the door.
But as his coat hung in our presence so did his spirit.
He was still there, just formless.
In everything he was there.

We could all feel him like he had never left.
Holding all of us together
In this place where we spent so much time with him,
His favorite place.

He was still waiting for us.
And he always would be.  



Our last morning there began with a mist rising from the glass-calm lake, then the sun rose and burned through the fog.
Allowing the light to shine down.


I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!
I miss all of you.  I think I will probably be blogging only twice a week for a while, until I get back in the swing of things.

Kathy :)

My Guitar Boys, Re-Introductions and Lunar Lovin' Blog Hops

My son wanted to start taking guitar lessons and my husband decided that it would be fun if they both started learning it together. It's so much easier to practice with a buddy. So we found a teacher who would take them at the same time, they bought beginner guitars and they are having a blast.  They only know a few chords right now but when they sit down and play together it is the sweetest music I've ever heard.  Here they are showing off their new skills.

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Re-Introduce Myself Blog Hop

Lots of new bloggers have joined the ranks this year, so Mark Koopmans, Stephen Tremp, Elise Fallson, and C.M. Brown are hosting a today's blog hop to re-introduce ourselves.  So in approximately 100 words, this is me:

Mother of three awesome kids (16,14, and 8) that are homeschooled
Married to my wonderful husband for 18 years
Figure skating coach
Directionaly challenged (I got really lost this weekend on my way to a competition)
Author- finished my first novel, now working on editing
Reader of history, and anything YA or chic lit
Blogger for 2 years

I love to travel with my family.  I've moved 15 times, lived in 8 different states, which has been great because I have met so many wonderful people.  Meeting fabulous people is part of why I love blogging so much.  I've been amazed at all the great new blogger buddies I've met.

My blog is rather random, basically I write about whatever craziness enters my mind that day.

My wish is to be a supportive and positive influence on as many people as possible and that is me in a nutshell.


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This blog hop, hosted by, Mina Lobo,  is to celebrate the beauty of the full moon which is supposed to be at its best in January.  We were supposed to go outside and take a photograph of the moon in all its glory.
Unfortunately, here in Ohio the moon was nowhere to be seen last night.  Instead we had a wonderful mix of freezing rain and snow.  So here are the pictures I took.

This is looking straight up where the moon should be.

have a great week!

Kathy :)

My Favorite Martian Blogfest and more

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

We took the kids to the Natural History Museum and had lots of fun. Ryan was fascinated by the gemstones and he took about 50 pictures of them.  Thank goodness for digital cameras!

Here are a couple of his favorite pictures.













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Google Reader

Just in case you missed it, Alex had a great post the other day about using Google Reader to help organize all our blogger buddies.  I had never used it before.  So I followed all his well written steps and set up my folders right away.  I'm hoping it will allow me to get to more bloggers in a shorter period of time.  Check out the post here.


Blogfests!


I'm joining in on My Favorite Martian blogfest hosted by a number of bloggers including, Liesel at Musings on Fantasia.







One of my favorite aliens would have to be Stitch from Disney's Lilo and Stitch.
He's cute, tough, has a good sense of humor and comes to realize that family is more important than anything else.  Those are qualities every guy should have whether alien or not.







If Asgardians are considered aliens, I would have to say Thor is my favorite.  While he may not be the brightest alien in the universe, he sure is nice to look at.  







Have a great week!

Kathy :)

Cookie Catapult

First of all thanks to everyone who participated in spreading the word for Jess's cover release on Friday.  She got so many wonderful comments!


School is back in session now and the kids are quietly working on their studies while I'm typing this. I'm hoping I can get it posted before someone has a question....

(5 hours later)

...oh well.


Anyway, I wanted to show you what my son came up with over break.  One of his Christmas presents was a miniature wood catapult.  It took him only about 20 minutes to build.

Then he wanted to make green and red Christmas cookies, which we did.  Only his idea of green and red meant mixing the dough together to make red and green marbled dough.  But his creativity didn't stop there.

He ran over and grabbed his catapult, rolled up a ball of dough, and put the dough on his catapult.  Then he released it.  The dough ball flew through the air and landed on the cookie sheet with a plop.  Ryan threw his arms into the air in delight.  I just laughed (and wished I had been able to do that as a kid!)

preparing for launch
(they were just as yummy as the others, too)

Have a great week!

Kathy :)

A Beautiful Night

From Wikipedia

Last night I read that the Earth was passing through the Geminid Meteor stream which would produce a great opportunity to view the meteors as shooting stars in the night sky.  Ryan and I decided we had to see it.

Around 10:00 pm we put on our coats and went outside.  The sky was perfect for gazing at stars.  No moon or clouds.  We stood out in the cold for about 15 minutes.  Then we saw it, well I did.  Ryan said he saw a little of it.  But he was getting cold.

We went inside and decided to read together while laying under the window.  That way we could still see the sky.  After reading two chapters the sky called to us again.  We turned off all the lights and huddled up next to the window, gazing to the heavens.  "I see one!" he exclaimed almost jumping out of my lap.  He ran to tell Jess that we really could see them and she joined us.

So the three of us squeezed together and waited, hoping to see some more.  We sat there for about 45 minutes hugging each other and whispering like kids at a slumber party.  Every now and then beautiful streaks of light crossed the sky above us.  In total, we saw about 10.

As I tucked Ryan into bed, I said, "Thanks buddy for watching with me."

"Oh mom, you don't have to thank me, it was awesome! Can we do it again tomorrow?"


Kathy :)
Have a great weeekend!   

Cooking Class Fun and Part II of Hetty

Here we are working together to roll out the pasta

My daughter, Alyssa, and I love to cook together and we love going to cooking classes.  This week we  decided to bring my husband along with us to learn how to make homemade pasta.  We weren't sure how he would do in the kitchen since he's not really a regular around the stove.  But he made us proud.        

  

Throwing lasagna noodles into pot

It was great fun!  We each had a little work station and prepared our own dough, which was surprisingly simple to make, just eggs flour and salt with a little liquid (milk or other flavoring) to moisten it.  He learned how to kneed and roll out dough, which will come in handy for Thanksgiving pies!    

He was put in charge of cooking the lasagna noodles, then Alyssa and I had to grab them out of an ice bath and dry them off with a towel before handing them off to the next couple who layered them in the pan.  It was quite an assembly line.  I can see why Italians have such big families.  They need all the help in the kitchen to make great pasta!  

Using pasta machine

It was delicious.  The best pasta I have ever eaten.  I don't know how pasta from a box will ever be good enough now.  We will have to try making it at home as a family project.  Should be interesting.  

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Here is Part II of Sally's post about her grandma Harriet.   

Hetty circa 1917

Harriet was a great seamstress using a Singer treadle sewing machine making both her eldest daughter’s wedding dress in the 1950’s.  She would bake cakes and biscuits and cook everyday of her life, roast dinners on Sundays, cold meat and mash on Monday, then various meals during the week, including rabbit pies and always served with a dessert. 

Harriet was a very hard worker and worked for the local farmer from spring to autumn hop training, hop picking, fruit picking and potato picking.  She would also go primrose picking (taking myself with her) in the woods which were then bundled up into posies and taken to the next train and put on the train and sent to Convent Garden market in London.

Hetty circa 1920

She loved a social life and would attend the Darby and Joan Club (a social club for older members), the Women’s Institute, known as the W.I. and Whist Drives, (Group Games/Card Games) a social gathering where whist is played; the winners of each hand move to different tables to play the losers of the previous hand Collins English Dictionary), and Bingo during the evenings in the week.

On every Sunday evening she would provide a cold supper for her brother and sister-in-law (Bert and Dorothy) who would visit their house where they would play cards and socialise together.

Harriet wasn’t a very tall lady but quite a feisty one.  She would have rows with her neighbour over some disagreement.  Fred and Hetty could go days and weeks without actually talking to each other because they’d had a disagreement but nobody could deny they loved each other deeply.

In her 80’s she suffered a heart attack and after recovering from those began to display the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s.   Her last move was to a lovely facility with people who could look after her 24 hours a day where she spent the last four or five years of her life.  Her family visited her as much as we could and we took the new generations to meet her as well.

Harriet died in her 93^rd year having lived through two World Wars and saw many inventions, cars, televisions and telephones.  Even with all these inventions she never had a telephone in her house and didn’t possess a washing machine.

Harriet's 89th birthday.
Back row: June, Sally (me), Margaret
Front: my kids, Hetty, and a cousin

I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and loved every minute of it. 

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Thanks so much, Sally, for sharing your grandmother's history.  

I have one more thing today.  As part of the Healthy Writers Club, hosted by Shallee McArthur just a quick update on my success at getting out of my chair this week.  

Since the weather was great, on Wednesday my son and I went outside and played baseball together.  We had lots of fun running around in the leaves.  

I also started learning the new set of moves, (they are actually called "Moves", I know not the most creative term!), for my next skating test.  Yay!

Have a great weekend everyone!

And don't forget next Thursday is the next Knights of MicroFiction.  The prompt is:  In 300 words or less write a scene where the main character realizes he/she is thankful for something.  Include the words "turkey" and "Mayflower" (this could be May flowers too or other creative variations).

Kathy :)

California

We had a wonderful time in California!  I thought I'd share a quick photo journey with you.

We started off by driving from the airport to Monterey.  While driving we listened to the book on cd the Life of Pi, about a boy's journey as a shipwreck survivor in the Pacific.
In Monterey we enjoyed the sea and its many creatures.  We got up close and personal to otters, seals, sea lions and we saw dolphins and whales from a distance.

Braving my fear of the sea to go Sea Kayaking  

 

Mariposa Grove looked like Endor!

Next we headed to Yosemite where we hiked among 2000 year old trees in the Mariposa Grove.  It was a long and rather steep trail for our younger ones especially on a 95 degree day, they really wanted to turn back before we got to the end.  Despite complaints that they might perish on the trail, we convinced them to push on.  By the time we finished they were amazed and proud of themselves that they had made it.

Finally at the farthest point in our hike
Alyssa and Ryan aren't quite as thrilled
This is Tunnel Tree which fell over.

We rewarded them with a nice lunch and an ice cream (and my normally small eaters ate everything on their plates!)

The kids loved an afternoon we spent on the Merced River banks in view of El Capitan.  A little duck befriended us.  She waddled right up and hung around like she was part of our family.  We named her Ethel.  The water was beautiful and no one else was around.  It was like our own little private beach.

The girls enjoying the views of El Capitan
in the Merced River.

Tunnel View

For the last part of the trip we drove to Palo Alto.  Here we visited Stanford University, where Jessica and Ryan want to go to school.  Alyssa is still undecided.  My husband and I had lived here 16 years ago when he went to graduate school.  So we showed the kids all around campus and where we lived, we even saw some of the people I had worked with.  We also had the chance to meet up with some old friends.

Stanford  from Palm Drive

Stanford Memorial Church in main quad

In Alcatraz Prison

We went up to San Francisco and hopped on a boat to go see Alcatraz.  The kids were fascinated by the audio tour which uses the voices of the real prisoners and prison guards to guide you and tell the story of the prison.  They were certain we would encounter the ghosts of the three escaped prisoners.  We made sure to get back on the boat before it was dark.

Golden Gate Bridge

We drove back to the airport and were spellbound by the end of the Life of Pi.  If you haven't read it we all highly recommend it!

All in all we had a great trip.


Kathy :)

P.S. I had been hoping to get around to your blogs while relaxing, but the internet was so spotty for most of the trip I couldn't, so I'll try to make it up to all of you in the next couple weeks.