DeLanceys do Santa Cruz - July 29, 2012

After the Climb-B-Q sleepover, we decided to stay in Santa Cruz for the day before driving back home.  

Our first stop was a trendy little coffee shop that was hippie-chic meets family friendly, with yummy lattes.  Seriously, any place with a cool hippie vibe and a kids play area would've gotten an A+ in my book, even if the coffee sucked.  But the coffee definitely did NOT suck.  It was super yummy and Lance and I got to enjoy it as the kids played with the toys.  It was actually peaceful.  So, kudos to People's Coffee.  You are yet another reason why Santa Cruz is one of my favorite places ever.

After caffeinating ourselves, we decided to check out the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, which is run by UC Santa Cruz.  It's basically a very small aquarium, which is part of a university marine biology lab.  The kids had fun listening to whale sounds on the telephones, 

touching the sea stars, urchins, etc., watching me touch the shark, watching the live sharks (and dolphins), 

as well as seeing the huge blue whale skeleton.  

 

Then before heading back, we decided that ice cream was a good idea, so we headed to Marianne's Ice Cream, which is super popular in Santa Cruz.  There was a ridiculously long wait.  The ice cream was, of course good, but I'm not convinced it was totally worth the wait.  I am glad we tried it though (and so were the kids.  Also, as you can see in the pictures, Logan's lip was still a little swollen from his run-in with the yellow jacket the day before, but it was considerably better! 

More pictures here.  

Cheryl Climbs Again...and a Climb-B-Q

My first climbing trip.
Yes, I'm climbing in Keds

Those of you who have known me for longer than we've had this blog know that once upon a time, I enjoyed climbing rocks.  This was a hobby that certainly made (makes) my mother nervous, but ever since the first time I was exposed to climbing way back during the summer prior to my Junior year of High School (1995), I was hooked.  Many people ask why on earth we'd want to dangle on ropes inching up rock faces and my answer is that it's just exhilarating. It makes you feel like a small part of nature, but powerful and accomplished. It's hot in the sun, but the air is fresh and your lungs suck it it easily. It's not a sport for everyone, but for me, it just feels right.  Climbing exercises your whole body and the view at the top is well work the scuffs and sore muscles.

Climbing in College

Despite my love of the sport, I have not been inside of a rock gym since at least 2006, when my friends Michele and Otte were my most frequent climbing buddies in Boston.  Sometime during our lives in Boston, I dragged Lance to the rock gym to see if he'd like to be my permanent climbing buddy, or at least my permanent belayer, but alas, the sport was not for him.

2nd climbing trip

I haven't been climbing outside since the summer prior to my Junior year of college (1999).  Fast forward to 2012 when my friend (and Kappa sister) Laura had started climbing outdoors and organized what she dubbed the "Climb-B-Q".  The plan was climbing in the morning, followed by a BBQ at her house, followed by a bonfire on the beach.  This sounds like an awesome day, and for me, it mostly was.

We left early in the morning with the boys still in their pajamas, so that we could get to Castle Rock State Park bright and early (it's about 1.5 hrs away).  We even treated them to Boston Creme doughnuts for breakfast in the car, which was a gigantic mistake.  We got there and decided that even though Lance and the boys were only dropping me off, that they'd hike to the base of the climb with me.
The hike wasn't too long or too rough for the boys, and then they'd get to watch the first climb.  I was really proud of how well RJ did on the hike in (a lot of times, hiking = whining with RJ), and I just loved being there, in the woods, in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  The fog was still around, the redwoods smelled awesome, and the view, even from the base of the climb, was beautiful.  

However, all perfect things must come to an end quickly.  There was a yellow jacket nest nearby that we had woken up hiking in.  And yellow jackets are attracted to Boston Creme doughnut remnants, because the little fucker landed on Logan's nose, causing Logan to grab at it (to get it off his nose), which led to him getting stung or bit (there is a lack of consensus on which it was, since yellow jackets don't lose their stingers when they sting) on the lip, and twice on his finger.

This was clearly frightening and upsetting for Logan (not to mention US, who didn't know what kind of reaction he might have, having never been stung/bit by a yellow jacket before), whose poor lip was already swelling (and remained swollen, earning him the nickname "Botox Baby" for the rest of the weekend), but RJ was actually the kid freaking out and crying more in the midst of his worry, even after Logan calmed down.  We quickly got back on the trail to head back to civilization, just in case, but thankfully Logan was calmer already and not exhibiting any shock or bad reactions (which would have been REALLY bad since we were at least 15 minutes down the trail from the Ranger Station in the parking lot).  Once we determined that Logan was safe, Lance (proving that he is the BEST.HUSBAND.EVER) told me I could still stay and climb and he would continue with his plans of going into Santa Cruz with the boys until it was time for the BBQ portion of the day at Laura and Jesse's house.  

Made it to the biner and it felt SO good!
Photo credit: Jesse Kempa

With the scary part of the day over, things quickly became AWESOME.  I FINALLY got to climb again!  I cannot even put into words how awesome it felt to be back on a rock face.  My face in the picture should tell you that.

Photo credit: Jesse Kempa

For those of you in the know, I think we were on a 5.7 climb here, and I made it up...so not bad for a first time out after 6 years of not climbing, and having 2 children.  

After a shower and some rest at Laura & Jesse's house, it was BBQ time.  So delicious food was had by all and we got to reconnect with some other CMU alums (where the boys met a friend in their kid too), as well as meet some new people.  Unfortunately, as good of a day as I was having, Lance was having an equally bad one.  The boys were really cranky and hyperactive, because they were tired from getting up early and stir crazy from being in the car a lot while Lance searched for ice for Logan's lip and lunch, etc.  And their behavior did not improve through the BBQ, leading Lance to eventually take them up to bed (thank goodness we stayed at Laura's for the night so we didn't have to drive home), and he ended up falling asleep too, exhausted from the day.  This of course, was unfortunate since he was missing out of the fun, but did earn him the Best.Husband.Ever award yet again, since I was able to still hang out.

At this point we were getting ready for the beach bonfire, which included Laura and I putting our wine into sippy cups so we could bring it along.   I also stumbled into a mini jam session with guitars and some good Classic Rock, which continued at the bonfire.  It was a really really awesome day with friends, climbing, hiking, singing, a bonfire, and wine!  And it wasn't even my birthday!!

More pictures here.

RJ Plays Soccer

RJ has continued with soccer this summer, and has been doing great with the older class that he's in now.  Mostly this post is just more pictorial evidence of my soccer mom status.  

Logan still tolerates going to practices...

Goal!

More soccer pictures here.

DeLanceys Do Lake Tahoe - July 15, 2012

Reno and Tahoe are very close together, so after checking out of the Circus Circus Hotel and eating breakfast at Peg's Glorified Ham N Eggs, we headed to Tahoe on the way home.  We've been to Tahoe before, but never on the Nevada side.

First up was a hike around Spooner Lake, which is one of the tiny lakes adjacent to Lake Tahoe:

And then, we drove a few more miles for some glorious relaxing on the beaches of Sand Harbor in the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.  There, the children pleasantly surprised us by playing nicely on the beach, so we could actually lay on the beach and for a brief few moments, actually watch them on the beach from the water together!  It really is nice now that they're a little older and can entertain themselves sometimes!

More pictures here.

DeLancey's Do Reno - July 14, 2012

In mid July, we decided to get away for the weekend.  Since we'd never been to Nevada, we decided to take the 3.5 hour drive to Reno. We read that Sparks, NV had some awesome Outdoor Outfitter called Scheel's, so that was our first stop.  We realize that was a weird stop for Reno, but we're not really gamblers, and rumor had it that there was lots of fun stuff for the kids there, and it was near lots of places to stop for lunch.  And it WAS fun for the kids (and us).  There was lots of gear to drool over and the children got to try their hand at golf, soccer, and race car driving (well RJ was big enough to sit in the race car simulator while Lance "drove").  And there was an indoor ferris wheel as well as an indoor playground.  So it was more than just me drooling over the climbing gear in an REI or EMS store.

After lunch, we checked into the Circus Circus Hotel, which has a huge arcade/carnival in addition to the casino.  So we played some games with the kiddos.  It was definitely the right place to stay in Reno with kids.  They even have short circus acts every hour or so right in the carnival/arcade area!  I'm not sure why I don't have pictures of that.

After a few games, we decided it was time for a little exploring and looking for somewhere to eat dinner.  So we walked around Downtown Reno, taking in the sights of all the casinos and other goofiness, before sitting on the banks of the Truckee River for a while while the kids had a little impromptu wading.

My favorite: the Liquor-Tattoo-Wedding Chapel building

We ended up at the Thai Corner Cafe, which made RJ happy because, despite it's name, it was a sushi bar as well.  After the yummy food, we wandered around a little more along the Truckee River waterfront and the kids found some other kids to play with in an open plaza area.

RJ and a little girl seemed to orchestrate quite the game, involving lots of running...

...and a lot of simultaneous laying down.

Once the children were veritably delirious with exhaustion, we thought it would be a good idea to head back to the hotel for some shut-eye.

On the way back, we spotted "The Nugget", which reminded us of RJ's in-utero nickname.

And I also spotted one of the world's tallest climbing walls at Comm Row Base Camp, which spanned the height of the building in a two-pitch climb!  Next time, I'm going to HAVE to climb it!!

More pictures here.

RJ and Logan Do Fireworks - July 4, 2012

Friends of ours invited us to their house (and pool!) for the Fourth of July and we had a nice relaxed fun time.

Logan especially loved being in the pool.  He absolutely did not ever want to get out.  Luckily, I also love the water, so I indulged him for a while before my need to socialize outside of the pool kicked in.  

RJ had a great time hanging out with his old preschool buddies that we only get to see a few times a year, and finally (once I was out of the pool) he (of course) decided he wanted to go in.  

Of course, there was, as per tradition, lots of yummy grilled meat and picnic fare, and I baked a pie to contribute.

It was patriotic,

but not quite at the caliper of my best pie work, which happened before we had children:  

But most importantly, this Independence Day Party marked RJ's first foray into participatory fireworks (as opposed to the ones you lay back and watch in the sky).  He got to play with some sparklers with his old infant-toddler room buddies, Stella and Daisy!

(I realize the picture sucks, but we didn't have the camera with us, so this was taken on my phone, in the dark, whilst trying to keep RJ from burning himself or others.)

June 2012 In Pictures

 In addition to all the birthday festivities and other outings in the month of June, we also have some random pictures of...

the kids doing goofy stuff

Lance moved buildings and got an office with a view of the San Francisco Bay

RJ moved up from the preschool gymnastics class to the Boys Level 1 class

Co-op was still in full swing with weekly playtime with friends!

Logan tolerated going to RJ's Soccer  Practices

RJ Played Soccer

We visited the Bethany Reservoir

Tree Climbing at the Bethany Reservoir

More June pictures are here, here, and here.

"Scared People and Bad Guys" A story by R.J. DeLancey

Today [Editors Note: June 29, 2012, not the day this is actually getting published half a year later], RJ decided that Logan and I needed a dinner-time story.  So he told us this gem.  I originally wrote this down by hand as he was telling it, and I did skip words here and there, but added them back in when I typed it.  It's not perfectly verbatim, but it's pretty close.  Enjoy!

Once upon a time, there was a scary house with bad guys in it.  One was named "Bad Guy Hooper".  Me and my friends were outside.  Me and Brooke were dressed like ghosts, Zach was dressed like a robot, Ashlan was dressed like a witch, and Madeline and Hayden were dressed like Zombies.  The bad guys just had two hands that did all the bad work. They grabbed Zach because he was dressed like a robot.  They took him into the house and put him in a locked closet with a girl named Lazona.  The closet locked from the outside, but Zach had a skinny robot arm that fit under the door, so he could unlock it.  Austin was there too.  Zach had Austin.  They got out, but the hand took them again.  One hand locks the door and the other takes them.  Then, Lazona took off her dress and threw it at the door to try and get out.  Then they got out because Zach had another skinny arm that the bad guys couldn't take off like the other one.  Then the hands took them back inside again.  Zach got out again with Austin and Lazona, but this time they ran out and ran away from them.  They were too fast for the bad guys this time.  The rest of us were talking to the bad guys because we were dressed like scary things.  Zach, Austin, and Lazona went to Zach's house.  Lazona didn't go to her house; she went to Zach's house and hid in his room.  They wondered where RJ, Ashlan, Brooke, Hayden, & Madeline were.  They were still talking to the bad guys, but then RJ said, "Excuse me Sir, we have to go scare someone", to trick the bad guys into letting them go.  Then they went to Zach's house and up to his room, took off their costumes and stuffed them into their pockets.  And all of them played together in Zach's room.