Field & Fair Play

It's soccer season (again!). Iver is on a team with some familiar faces from his last year's team (the Ice Dragons), with some newer faces.

buds Hudson, Peyton, Earl, Iver

Brian and Miles are coaching again

Their first game was on Saturday, and they had a strong effort, being tied 2-2 at half-time and going on to win 7-2 (Hudson scored about five goals-- a "mega hat trick?!"). Iver had two good shots on goal, but missed just slightly high (we joked he's been playing too much recreational kickball!). He was amazing on defense (the kids rotate positions).

Kelvin and I enjoyed watching; Niall enjoyed deconstructing our camp chairs and whining about snacks.

It was fun to see baby Evan.

In the afternoon, we went to the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale.

We visited the barn...

... and promptly got animal poop all over our shoes.

There were treats, of course.

Iver and Niall got wristbands which allowed them unlimited trips on rides (there was a height requirement so N could only do the fun-house/maze type things and a slide).

Gleeful Iver with Hudson & Peyton 

I rode "The Zipper" with a random stranger who needed a "cage" buddy. This ride spins you forward/backward in cages revolving around an up/down diagonal axis, and was pretty fun!  (Iver wouldn't ride it with me, though!).  I do love roller coasters and this was the closest I'd come (besides the water park rides) in decades! 

Bungee!

Kelvin, Niall, and  I retired shortly after 8 pm but Iver stayed out later with Shannon and kids, bull-riding until late (and he actually slept in until 7 am)!

Fun times on the field and at the fair! 

End of Summer, Start of School

We now have a second child into Kindergarten!   Preschool graduation was last week (although Niall continued this week) and school started Wednesday! 

Kelvin had some flex time and was able to do one special outing with each of the boys in the afternoon of their last days of summer, which they really enjoyed.

Iver and he went mini-golfing...

... and each got a hole in one! 

Niall finished preK on Tuesday.

First/last day.

He opted to go to a local park with BF Grant.

They came home for an early dinner and milk. Cheers!

There was a KG orientation night that Kelvin and he attended (Iver, now a "big kid" in school, also wanted to come along!)

Checking out the classroom

Froyo!

Reading The Night Before Kindergarten on the night before kindergarten...

Iver woke up bright and early ready to start the day/year. 

Niall was less excited about his new school; he's been waking up at night lately, saying "I'm scared," and I'm not sure if it's internalized anxiety about change or something else. But I think he'll adjust just fine.  He didn't really want to cooperate for photos, though.

Finally a few good ones

Walking to before-care (as our work starts at 8 a.m., we were the first ones at drop-off at 7:45. Kelvin and I were able to both be there for their first day!).

No tears here! It feels great to have two school-aged kids!

Here's a flashback to Iver's first day of KG (during COVID), something I never wish to repeat. 

On Wheels

Niall (5.5) is about to start KG and hasn't really been a big fan of physical exertion or sporty things. While I think Iver (who started with a pedal-less "balance bike" around age 2) had mastered bike-riding without training wheels by age four (and we saw a 3-year-old German kid whipping around our Brazilian lodge without a problem!), Niall is a bit slower. We have been making a point on weekend afternoons this summer to have him complete at least 5 laps (up and back) of our driveway with pedaling his own weight on his bike, with hopes that the training wheels can come off.  It's always a leap, but I think he can do it soon!

Complaining about forced bike riding!

Iver has scored a pair of second-hand roller blades that fit, and has spent a lot of time this summer (at Blue Lake Camp, which has a roller rink) rollerblading. Kelvin just bought some rollerblades so that they could blade around together. Unfortunately, in going down a hill near our house a wee too quickly, Kelvin wiped out, scraping his backside and ripping his clothes in the process, which has required some time to heal (including wound/dressing changes!), but now is a slower (and more humble) skater. They always wear helmets.

There is a nice paved trail between Arcata and Eureka and K took Iver, Sophia, and Olivia there on Sunday afternoon.

Niall wanted to go with them but I told him, "You aren't quite there yet to be able to keep up. Once the training wheels are off, you'll be fast enough!" (Motivation?) 

Fire detour --> Fleener Creek with friends

It's extremely sad to say (again) that "wildfire season" is again upon us in California. We had a rain- and (in the mountains and on the coast x1) snow-heavy winter season, which shored up the snow-pack in the hills for fuller rivers and lakes this year (and snow seen hiking in June!); however, it's been dry (and warm) for the last couple of summer months, including temps in the 70s on the coast which is nearly unheard of, but which has become even semi-common in the last few years.

Patients told me that they saw "heat lightening" earlier in this week which, while pretty, apparently started some wildfires near and around us. 

We were supposed to head up to do some hiking in Southern Oregon at the Kalmiopsis wilderness with our friends this weekend as a last before-school hurrah, but Highway 199 on the CA-OR border was closed due to fires without an estimated re-opening date. There was a way we could have driven an extra hour (each way) to go around the fires to get to our destination, but it didn't seem smart (despite my adventurous nature) to drive towards burning forests (and very poor air quality) and still be at risk of getting stuck (and, in fact, the detour road is now also closed), so we cancelled the trip. Kelvin was supposed to continue onwards to Medford, OR for Pepper's eye appointment on Monday via the same route, so he also has postponed this check-up.  We are not sure if we will be reimbursed at all for our AirBnB rental, but it's better to be safe (and unburned, as well as untrapped) than out a few hundred dollars.

Here are some CalTrans pictures of what Hwy 199 looks like:

The sky in Arcata from a friend, Lori

Instead, we invited the Spellmeyers to hike with us locally and, on Saturday, drove to the trail at Fleener Creek, outside of Ferndale (about an hour from home). We'd had a nice walk to the beach when we hiked nearby Guthrie Creek last spring.  It was a short trail-- a half-mile down and another half-mile up, which was a good light distance since Sophia was recovering from a tonsillectomy (and, as always, we fear that Niall won't walk and will need to be lugged back up).

The kids did extremely well on the hike. Niall even carried his own backpack with camelbak of water, and hiked the entire round-trip way, unassisted (I think having big kids as role models along really helped!)

 Sophia, Iver, Niall

(a donut also helped).

At the bottom was Centerville beach, which provided a lot of entertainment for the exploring kids. 

A tire?!

Pepper also enjoyed her time on the sand.

After a picnic lunch at the top of the trail, return drive home, and after an afternoon rest, I cooked and we hosted them for play time and dinner (I had a lot of food, planning to cook at the AirBnB rental). The kids played a little backyard kickball and we all teamed up and played a homemade version of "It's in the Bag," a charades-like guessing game which is a huge party hit and hilarious.

SoCal is facing hurricane rains and NorCal is (again) on fire. While we're sad to miss our weekend away, it's been a peaceful and fun weekend at home with good friends on our cool, misty coastal oasis.