Black Rock Ranch

Three days. 8 adults. 14 kids. The ranch.





The canoeing.







The hiking.



The fishing.





The motorcycling.





(plus a cameo by my Mark, Lindsay and Caleb)





The all around group concern for both the yellow four wheeler and Ben after they were both pulled from the lake.





The four wheeling.





The karate room (a.k.a. the parental sanity room).



The Farm Adventure Safari tm





Where our tour guide, John, managed to find us some mating cows, wild turkeys, a bird in need of some orthopedic assistance and a centipede.





No trip could be complete without a swim in the lake by two year old SL2. Please see Rachel's blog for that shot.

Thanks for the memories.

Conversations

Kiera: Mommy. It says we have to hurry and go NOW. Or we will be late for Preschool.
Me: Um. We aren't going to be late, sweetie. IT says...hmmm...WHAY says that we have to hurry?
Kiera: My strawberry phone says so.



It isn't really a Blackberry, it's an old Sony Clie that Clay cleaned out of a drawer this weekend. People, can we keep that on the down low. Kiera really doesn't need to know.

The sun was beaming

Can this girl..


Or this one...



really be ready to graduate from Nursery at church and move up to the big Primary class? I can't believe it myself, but my girl did just that on Sunday and became a "Primary Girl".



Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.

A Day in Palo Alto

On Saturday my parents made a suprise visit to my little brother's place so we crashed the party. Any chance to see the "Fun Uncle" (this is a newly given title, as Mark now has his own child Caleb and can not be guaranteed the spot anymore, or can he?) and Nana and Papa.

Looks like he is doing a good job at earning the "Fun Uncle" title...





We hiked up to the "Dish" above Stanford campus and enjoyed the beautiful view. Notice the SF Bay in the distance and the campus is there with all the red roofs.

Naturally after all that exertion we needed some Gelato. mmmmmm. I picked two varieties: dark chocolate and honey lavender. My kids liked both, but my adult family was a little sceptical about the lavender. John tried it and decided it was like potporrouri in your mouth. He is crazy. It was really good.





Hiking, treats...now on to a little culture. We took the kids to the Canter Arts Museum at Stanford. I told each of the kids to pick their favorite. Maren's was a little gruesome so this is the close up shot (excluding the violence). Her favorite part was the shiny green snot drooling out of his nose.







All throughout the museum the girls were averting their eyes at all kinds of nudity. And THEN we went outside to the Rodin sculptures (they are ALL nude). The male form, never before seen by the all girl Callaway family, is foreign no more.



This piece is a sculptural representation of the Gates of Hell from Dante's Inferno.



Maren is double checking to make sure, but um, nope, no clothes here.

Maren: So, I guess when you go to hell you are naked?
Me: Why, yes, yes you are.
Maren: That's disgusting.

We finished the day with a some delicious falafel. I love falafel.

Maren: That's disgusting.

Happy New Year

What could be better than a New Year and a new tradition. Wow. Biking across the Golden Gate filled us all with strong emotions. Kiera: sleepy. Neve: frazzled and cold. Maren: wonder. Britt: excitement. Clay: awe.





At only 1.7 miles each way, it wasn't the heartiest of rides, but that was made up for by the ambiance.









The bridge was noisy, crowded, windy and a little foggy. I loved every minute of it. The experience was surreal.

We had a few minutes before sunset after we packed up the bikes so we went down to Baker Beach for some more fine views. The fog was rolling in quick and thick, but if you look carefully you can still see the bridge in the background. I love this place.