Challenged

 

Iver finished a week of Challenger Sports (soccer) camp (for his second year).  He had a blast!  Last minute (and despite Iver's vehement objections which I captured on video), we agreed to host one of the coaches, and Spencer (pictured above with a neon green shirt on the right), a young Australian guy living in the UK, stayed with us for the week. All of us (including Iver) enjoyed meeting and having him-- he was incredibly respectful and self-sufficient! 

The other coaches were Luka (left in blue hoodie from Manchester, and who spoke just like Jamie Tartt in Ted Lasso), and Charlie (middle in warm-up jacket, from the Czech Republic) who were hosted by another local family.

Iver was on "team India" and expertly decorated his soccer ball and made a giant flag for the last day. 

Our little soccer aficionado is improving in his skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship.  I'm sure he'll want to participate again next year (and just maybe we'll host a coach again!).

Best of the Redwood Summer (& best friends)

The months of May ("Maycember" is what a podcast called it, which is so fitting as I also feel Decembers are crazy) and June have just been crazy! The school year and rhythms of schedules/routines are easier to manage for me, but I feel summer just descends into mayhem (even though it's fun mayhem sometimes).  I haven't had as much downtime at home as I like, due to the kids' events, travel (camping etc.), busy OB call. Drop-offs and pick-ups gets a bit hairy now with "camps," rather than "school," and varying start times, but the kids really are having a blast! I don't think I've posted these photos yet (my apologies if duplicates from earlier on the blog-- I'm obviously having trouble keeping up!)

Kickball with the class. 

[Kelvin is really into coordinating social events with people. Class kickball is his thing.  Coordination of social gatherings is one of the things I dislike most in life (even more than I dislike kickball).]

New playground at Redwood Park, home to many day camps.

Celebration for our friend Tito's birthday at Fieldbrook Winery

with Sophia

Niall goofing with best friend, Gene

Kelvin got tickets for us to see Russell Peters, one of his favorite comedians, at Blue Lake Casino on Saturday.  Despite the showtime changing from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (!) due to not selling enough tickets (we think), we had a fun evening with sushi dinner at Sushi Blue with another couple prior to the show (and I managed a car nap so I could stay awake).   Thankfully, Cila, who we'd lined up to hang with our kids, was flexible even with the last-minute changed timing, and took the boys (and her son, Evan or "baby Evan," as Iver and Niall affectionally call him), to the Redwood Acres Fair.

Summer animal spottings: heron? (we also have heard about some bears roaming around Arcata recently!)

Niall has been back in swim lessons for the past two weeks, which he's not thrilled about, but which is important for life (and for enjoying all the summertime activities!) 

Sunny afternoons on the deck have been nice-- we now have a Costco hammock! I've been doing a lot of running due to the warm and long days, despite my bad seasonal allergies. 

Summer "vacation" (ha!) is in full swing! I'm just trying to keep up around here!

Wedded Bliss in Blue Lake

 

Gloria and Marco got married on Friday! Gloria, an amazing LL toddler teacher to both of our boys, and our most trusted babysitter (including for out-of-town weekends!), has now moved from childcare into the field of medicine, but still lives locally and invited us to her wedding in Blue Lake! She and Marco met in P.E. in high school, and dated long-distance for many years before Marco joined Gloria in Humboldt County. 

Blue Lake, a few miles east of us, has more sun than our coast, and it was actually almost-warm for the afternoon wedding at Hilltop Estates (where we'd never been)!  Outdoor weddings on the North Coast can be weather-iffy (we've only been to a couple of others), but Marco and Gloria lucked out with a sunny June afternoon.

Iver was reunited with beloved sister of the bride (and former LL teacher during his Zoom kinder year), Jovita, who moved "home" to be closer to her (and Gloria's) family since she has a one-year-old!  Most of the guests attending the wedding made the trip up from Gloria and Marco's hometown of Los Baños.

The Wedding party and guests included many Little Learners teachers.

Beloved teachers of the boys, Angela and Matt, who left Humboldt a couple of years ago, drove up the coast!

Cila

The ceremony was short and sweet (a rapid eleven minutes, including vows!) and then the couple took photos and we had snacks, followed by dinner and dancing.

We caught a selfie with the happy couple!

The Estate had a really cool redwood swing, which entertained the boys (there was also a basketball court and lawn games). 

Just Married!!

We loved being invited to the couple's special day and wish them a lifetime of love!

Poké-mania

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but am not sure if I've blogged much about the kids' obsessions about Pokémon cards.  Iver received some cards more than a year or so ago, but his interest (as well as that of many of the boys at his school) has been renewed within the year, leading to teachers having to "ban" Pokémon cards during the school day because they're constantly getting traded and talked about... 

I was a collector of stickers, stamps, and more, but the Poké-mania is something that I really don't understand (Kelvin is a bit more familiar)! 

The kids talk incessantly about the characters, which cards are "valuable," and spend many hours per week re-organizing their card collections (needing binder upgrades, which they got, due to generous aunt Kat!), even staying up late /waking up early sometimes.  Iver spends his allowance money on TCG player and obtaining special cards. There is some trading, although "trades" have to be fair and agreed upon.

Niall also has been inspired to create to Poké-art, including "cards" made from moldable clay, and "books" which are quite impressive! 

I'm pretty sure reading all these cards has taught N how to read (!), so maybe it's not the worst hobby? 

I do wonder how long these cards will float around our house ... and what the future of their prized collections holds or how long they'll hold the kids' interest...

"My Dad, My Hero"

"My Dad, My Hero" was the text of the yellow shirt that Niall wore to the kids' end-of-school theater production. Niall truly feels the world revolves around his Dad.

Iver has a more complicated relationship (due to his matching personality, I think!) with Kelvin, but made this school "biography" all about Kelvin and gave it to him on Father's Day, which Kelvin found sweet. 

We were driving back from Petrolia on Sunday but managed to have some at-home ramen and celebrate this guy, who is their role model and hero.

Happy (belated) Father's Day to this guy, as well as my own Dad, FIL, and Godfather, who are all so important! 

Camping A.Way!

Kelvin, the social butterfly in our family, has been pretty involved with the kids' elementary school (school board for two years during COVID and organizing informal events like weekend kickball with other school parents, which the [now ex-] third grade boys just love). He and Dave, another parent (whose boys are in the same grades as ours), made a plan for a end-of-the-school-year camping trip in Southern Humboldt, at A. W. Way (Arthur W. Way) or "A-Way" County Park/Campground outside of Honeydew, this past weekend after school let out.  

Our family isn't super into camping (in fact, the last time we camped was back in summer 2020 at Grizzly Creek. Neither of us camped with our families as kids.  We love the outdoors, hiking, and nature but we (at least the adults) really like good-quality sleep and generally being clean (/hot showers), so camping is not a regular/preferred family activity. We have the basic camping stuff (tents, sleeping bags, mattresses, etc., but had given our stove away due to disuse (and had to acquire another one before this trip). Our friend, Courtney, a camping regular,  lent us some other gear including a table cloth, camping silverware, and some homemade pancake batter (to which we just had to add water). However, it took so much time and planning to pack everything into the car (the stuff barely fit even with our rack!).

We had never been to A. W. Way, and it had been more than twelve years (pre kids!) since Kelvin and I had visited Petrolia and the Lost Coast, a stretch of CA coastline which is not really road-accessible. (We had planned to camp there one night a couple of years ago, but cancelled due to a poor weather forecast. This is also a first-come, first-serve, no-reservations campsite >2 hours away from our home!). I worked a half-day on Friday, but we took off around 1 p.m. and had a lovely sunny drive on the curvy coastal road to get past Petrolia to the campground (apparently the locals call it the "Wildcat.") and planned to stay two nights. 

Some families had arrived the day before we did and we joined their campsites-- this Park had very large, flat campsites adjacent to the Mattole River and no phone service/wi-fi, which was incredible for unplugging.  The friends got right into playing--lawn games, chase games, water-gun play, and more.

"Hangry" Niall

We brought Pepper on this trip, and she did great! 

Cold at night, she ended up at the foot of my sleeping bag one night but also kept me warm!

The main attraction at this campground is the Mattole River, which is shallow and very swimmable/floatable with a mild current ("Going to the river" is what Humboldt families do to feel summery, as the ocean near us is never warm enough to swim in).  It definitely wasn't *warm* this weekend, but literally by 8 a.m. in 50-degree weather, these kids were interested in going in the water. I supervised (from the river bank in my puffy coat and hat) as Iver and his friends walked their towels downstream, hiked up, and floated down in inflatable tubes. 

By campsite nine, there was a (warmer, wind-sheltered) beach with river access, and the kids had a blast playing at the swimming hole there in the afternoon. 

The adults (mostly) lazed on the beach (but some took the plunge and swam).

I am notoriously cold so Ciel took these pictures of me (still in pants, a fleece, hat and gloves!) as the kids swam (I did end up taking off the layer by 3 p.m.). Needless to say, I did not get in the icy water,  content to sit in a camp chair in the 60-degree sun on the shore.

Iver found the courage to do a jump off this rock!

\

His friend Amanda takes the leap

Third grade crew (and Co.) 

The littles mostly hung out on the riverbank, digging (and, at our request, trying to avoid poison oak).

Iver was up super early (like 5 a.m.) on our first Saturday, but offered to "cook" breakfast for his friends on our new Propane grill.

Pancake master! 

The adults did a lot of relaxing at the (large) campsites, while the kids frolicked about

Reading is relaxation (Funny Story by Emily Henry kept me entertained)! 

Summer Melon!

Many organized games (soccer, kickball, baseball, and more)


Pokemon tent!

Of course, after dinner both nights, there were s'mores! Solomon invented a "S'moreo" which included a roasted marshmallow smashed between the halves of an Oreo cookie- ingenious!

Ivan's perfect golden s'more! 

Niall loved roasting marshmallows!

(even I enjoyed some-- check out the marshie goo on my face!). 

We tried to play a game around the campfire (It's in the Bag), but only lasted one round with the over-excited and sugared up kids!

 

On the way home, on Father's Day Sunday, we took the Mattole-Road-to Avenue of the Giants way and stopped by the new ice cream place, Jersey Scoops in Loleta (which used to be the cheese factory, I think!). We even saw a bear on the roadside while coming down a curve (but it scampered away before I could snap a photo).

I think this might be a sign that the kids enjoyed themselves this weekend!

The kids loved their camping adventure with friends. I'm not sure if it will become a regular thing (I'm sure extroverted Kelvin might turn it in to an annual trip), but, despite all of the packing, organizing, and unpacking work, it was a nice, relaxing time in nature with some nice families.  (Happy to have my hot shower today, though!).