Rest, Required

We were so blessed to have this past three-(four for the kids!) day weekend (thank you to all who have and are serving for our country).  After my bout of pneumonia, I apparently have had a weaker immune system and ended up with a GI bug starting Thursday night, which took me down for a couple of days!  I was sooo grateful not to have to work on Friday afternoon and Saturday!

Iver had poetry night with his class last week, hosted by Redwood Yogurt.

He also played a million of hours of pickleball this weekend (we also watched some MLP, Major League Pickleball) on TV. 

On Saturday afternoon, we celebrated the 70th birthday of Marguerite, the partner of Bill, the medical director at MCHC when I started here in 2011. They were both so good to us as newbie doctors, and it was great to see so many community members out and about (the food served at Mad River Grange appeared so delicious, and Marguerite, a wonderful baker, made one of her own cakes [lemon blueberry]; however, I had no appetite which was just so sad). 

Memorial Day Weekend in these parts always hosts the Kinetic Sculpture Race, which leaves from the Arcata Plaza. Kelvin and Niall snapped these photos:

We had borrowed a CA State Parks pass and went back to Sue-Meg to go on a couple of trails and back to Agate Beach. It's been cool in these parts (50s most days), but thankfully the warmer sun seems to be coming back.

It rained on Monday and, finally recovered and a lot of electrolytes later, I did a lot of de-cluttering and reading at home while Niall played with neighbor Mateo, and K/Iver were out pickeballing with the competitive men. I felt so rested today. Can't every weekend be a three-day weekend?!

Mother's Day weekend 2026

We had a lovely, low-key Mother's Day weekend!

I was finally feeling better after starting antibiotics for what turned out to be pneumonia (!) and, last-minute joined in on a Pickleball Scramble on Saturday in Eureka. 

There were about 28 women, split into two pools, and we played a series (I played eight) games to 11 (or 15-min) with different partners each time. You kept track of your (individual) win-loss record and then were given a "place" in the standings (point differentials served as tie-breakers). I had a lot of fun playing with different local women (much preferred to Mixed Doubles when men try to nail you with the ball!) and, gifted a new non-beginner Joola paddle for Mother's Day (thanks, K and kids!), played pretty well and came in fourth place (5-3 with a couple of tight losses).  

The Men's Scramble followed ours (starting a bit after 11 am) and the boys came to watch me finish before Kelvin and Iver (the real competitors!) started playing in their Division (since it was a Members-only Scramble, Iver now is a dues-paying member of the Humboldt Bay Pickleball Club and may have voting rights if he were to attend meetings as an eleven-year-old :)).

Iver, the only minor playing, finished in second (!) place for men (6-2), and Kelvin (5-2-1) finished in fourth after the final results were tallied. Very impressive! 

We passed the afternoon celebrating Ivan's eighth birthday at Pierson Park.

Then on Sunday, we participated in the traditional Atalanta's Victory Run in downtown Arcata, benefiting the Breast and Gyn Health Project.  Iver and I signed up for five miles (although my condition was a bit iffy due to my feeling so winded!) and he was a bit nervous having done way more pickleballing than distance running lately, but he crushed it well ahead of me (he was within my sights during last year's run!).

Family in (mostly) pink

Group at the start

Kelvin and Niall ran two miles with many people we knew, and shaved a few minutes off last year's time, finding two golden apples along the way, which they traded in for gift card prizes (Niall finished in 17:22 in fourth for males and 11th overall with Kelvin just behind in 17:25. Jenna's son, Jon, was fifth overall).

In the five mile race, Iver did amazing, finishing in sixth place overall (third for males, just behind one 18- and one 27-year-old) in 38:07. He was hoping to break 40 min after last year's times (46:26 in 2023, 42:35 in 2024, and 40:46 in 2025) and did!  I coughed and wheezed my way to a 45:50 finish (47:48 in 2023, 43:00 in 2024 and 41:21 with my best time in 2025) but was happy to finish without needing an oxygen tank. Official race results are  here. 

We followed the run with some (!) Arcata pickleball and then a home-heated-up meal of Costco ribs and corn (minimal cooking on my part- a great Mother's Day gift!).  

I'm grateful for my own Mom, Mother-in-Law, and all the women who have mothered me and my kids over the years. I am truly blessed to be "Mama" to this crew! 

Eggs and More- Easter 2026!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, where the temperature approached 70 degrees and sunny, which is just about as summery as it gets in these parts!

Niall helped Kelvin stuff some eggs on Saturday for St. Mary's Easter Egg hunt on Sunday. Iver got some pickleball in while I attended a pediatric psychiatry conference in Eureka.

The kids got some treats, books, pickleball stickers galore (Iver), and Niall got an Easter bunny felting kit in his basket on Sunday morning. 

St. Mary's church was packed, and it was a lovely day for a post-mass potluck and egg hunt. 

Shannon had us over in the afternoon for some really fun egg-related games, including a difficult (for golden eggs, which had $!) hunt, including some older teen boys, a word game, a scavenger hunt, and egg relays.

The kids had a great time at the spring events!

Holidays Down Under, Part 4: Cradle Mountain NP and Launceston

The final part of our Tasmania adventure included a trip inland to visit Cradle Mountain National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, featuring the highest mountains on the island.  We drove about four hours west of Freycinet Peninsula on small-ish roads and through very quaint little towns to enter the national park. We kept Iver (who tends to get bored and carsick) busy with math questions converting temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius (or km to miles) and the reverse. We found out we needed to get mandatory park shuttle passes to traverse the park, but we made it with enough daylight (and just a sprinkle of rain) to do the Dove Lake Circuit (a pleasant lakeside walk of about 6 km). We had a cute, cozy cabin equipped with heated blankets to mitigate the chill, lacking internet access, and with water that required boiling prior to consumption (the kids really thought we were roughing it!).

Big smiles (but shades cover what was probably a small corneal abrasion at the hands of his brother a short while earlier).

Tasmanian Waratah

Hiking ("bushwalking" here) does not all have to be upright!

The next morning, we had far clearer weather to hike from Dove Lake to Marions Lookout, a "moderate" to "strenuous" route that included gripping cables at the top. 

boot scrubbers at the trailhead

(Wombat Pool, not poo...)

...although we did see the cube-shaped wombat poo along the trails.

We had great views of Lake Lilla and Dove Lake as we climbed.

Tasmania's Crater Lake

The kids reached the top ~12 minutes before we did!

The views from Marions Lookout were stunning, some of the best (we hear and believe) in all of Tasmania.

We took the steep (cabled) path down. 

We then explored the Ronny Creek area, which is a popular place for wildlife (particularly wombat) sightings.  Niall was a great spotter!

Echidna! (now my favorite animal). Echidnas are so peaceful and, in Tasmania, have no real land predators (sometimes they get attacked by raptors) so are quite unfazed by humans. Niall: "they look like a cross between a platypus and a hedgehog." True!

We played a game- wombat or bush? 

Wombat

(bush)

We had a close wombat encounter near our picnic table at Waldheim Chalet.  Wombats (which are also marsupials) look a bit like a small brown bear crossed with a boar, and apparently can get grouchy if disturbed.

Near Cradle Mountain Lodge

We saw lots of other marsupials in the park.

Pademelon trio near our cabin

Wallaby

Near the cabin reception

Wallabies with white fur (not albino but just due to a mutation) are also common here.

We took another short boardwalk trail to see Pencil Pine Falls.

Knyvet Falls

In the evening, we went to Devils @ Cradle sanctuary to see even more marsupials up close (no, we were not marsupial-ed out!). 

There was another friendly echidna near the parking area. 

We saw more tassie devils and quoll (which are highly endangered) feedings at the sanctuary.

Tug of war over a wallaby leg/tail.

This sanctuary is attempting to breed eastern and spotted-tail quolls for rerelease in the wild, as their numbers are very low and dwindling, in part due to attacks by feral cats and foxes (on the mainland). While much smaller, quolls, also marsupials, are related to tasmanian devils, and are actually better hunters, jumping down on much larger animals from trees to sever their spinal cords and then devour them.

Niall took these photos!

From Cradle Mountain, we headed north to the coast and Beauty Point, which houses the famous Platypus House (which features both monotremes "one hole" [cloaca for urination, defecation, and egg passage], the platypus and the echidna, both animals found only in Australia).

We met 18-year-old male platypus Jupiter (the largest in captivity) who was rehomed from a fish farm. Male platypus have venom glands by their back (webbed) feed which produce a neurotoxin. Unfortunately, we didn't see any platypuses in the wild on this trip-- males spend a lot of time hunting in water and are quite shy. 

female "Freya"

In the echidna garden, we watched a feeding and let the little guys roam about our legs. 

Across the dock was Seahorse World, which breeds and exports seahorses to aquaria across the world.

The male seahorse carries the babies and births hundreds in a go! 

Newborns

"holding" a seahorse

We also learned about the spotted handfish, a critically endangered fish only found in an estuary near Hobart and ocean floor, and which is not viewable in any other aquarium in the world. Seahorse World is working to breed these for re-release, as their populations have been devastated by invasive sea stars and habitat destruction. 

Giant lobster!

Kelvin made fun of this "Old Wife" fish (Poisonous? You bet!)

Port Jackson shark

We (adults) enjoyed a seaside lunch including scallops and other fishy delights before heading to Launceston. 

Launceston in the north is Tassie's second-largest city, and is home to the beautiful Cataract Gorge and the South Esk river, where we explored the trail and played lawn football. 

The warmest I've been on this trip! (about 75 degrees)

You can but we didn't ride the scenic chairlift.

(Cold) outdoor swimming pool!

While we had a lot of standard fare (but some good seafood), Kelvin and Iver were happy to find some Pho in Launceston on our last night (Kelvin likes to try out the pho in every country. Australia did it pretty well!).

We had a fabulous ~10 days (not including international flight days) in Australia, focusing on Tasmania, which is a true gem of the continent. I credit and thank Kelvin for doing the vast majority of planning for this trip due to my general work overwhelm, and he crafted a wonderful itinerary that fit our interests and travel style (eco/nature tourism!) so well (I did some day-to-day detail planning once we were abroad). The Aussie/Tassie people were so warm and welcoming, and the animals were exquisite and quite friendly!  Kelvin did a great job driving on the *left* and not hitting any wildlife (nor cars) and we had a great blend of active sightseeing and relaxing downtime, which I've gotten better about "pacing" into our trips!  I hope our kids will always remember the beautiful scenery and astounding native animals we were lucky to see and experience here for many years to come.  I feel so rested and rejuvenated after our time away. We give Tasmania three cheers and five stars!!!