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Work stress is reaching critical levels. Trying my best to make order out of the chaos, but I need sleep.
Saturday I took the boys up Page Mill Road for a hike. You'd have thought I was taking them out in the woods to shoot them. Or perhaps leave them at a Gingerbread House. However, once I opened the van doors and they stepped out on the trail, the tone of the day changed. First off they were very amused to see James in the Kelty. Backpacking a baby brother, now that is awesome. Second, Jakob read up on what to do in case of a mountain lion encounter. The boys immediately loaded up on sticks and practiced standing tall. We saw a rabbit, two deer, and several friendly lizards, but only mountain lion tracks. Just as well really, I think the four of us were only prepared for so much excitement.
James would reach out of the Kelty to stroke trees. I showed him how the moss grows like ferns. It looks almost like feathers. Jakob swore James must be looking for a parrot. Whatever it was, the moss had his attention.
There's this rocky outcropping along the trail that Jakob and Sean used to play on when they were smaller and we'd come with Jim. This time the boys were convinced (after waaaay to many afternoons of watching LOTR) that the rock was part of an old ruined castle. We spent much of the trail time looking for the remains of the elf-castle. That is when were weren't on guard against mountain lions.
The ride home was also amusing as we could see Stanford and the Dumbarton bridge. Sean was unaware of the significance of these landmarks, but piped up several times, "Hey, I can see my house from here."
Sunday Jake did get old Meg to move a bit and he became quite excited about riding again. The better Meg did, the more Jakob shouted "Yee-haw and Yippie-kai-yay!" He felt that Meg was even more encouraged by his efforts.
Sunday was all that Jim got off and so we spent it doing our best to unwind and relax. We're both at our limit and it was good to get out and have fun. We made the mistake of taking the boys to Bucca di Beppo which gets more expensive every year, but we made two meals of it.
Saturday I took the boys up Page Mill Road for a hike. You'd have thought I was taking them out in the woods to shoot them. Or perhaps leave them at a Gingerbread House. However, once I opened the van doors and they stepped out on the trail, the tone of the day changed. First off they were very amused to see James in the Kelty. Backpacking a baby brother, now that is awesome. Second, Jakob read up on what to do in case of a mountain lion encounter. The boys immediately loaded up on sticks and practiced standing tall. We saw a rabbit, two deer, and several friendly lizards, but only mountain lion tracks. Just as well really, I think the four of us were only prepared for so much excitement.
James would reach out of the Kelty to stroke trees. I showed him how the moss grows like ferns. It looks almost like feathers. Jakob swore James must be looking for a parrot. Whatever it was, the moss had his attention.
There's this rocky outcropping along the trail that Jakob and Sean used to play on when they were smaller and we'd come with Jim. This time the boys were convinced (after waaaay to many afternoons of watching LOTR) that the rock was part of an old ruined castle. We spent much of the trail time looking for the remains of the elf-castle. That is when were weren't on guard against mountain lions.
The ride home was also amusing as we could see Stanford and the Dumbarton bridge. Sean was unaware of the significance of these landmarks, but piped up several times, "Hey, I can see my house from here."
Sunday Jake did get old Meg to move a bit and he became quite excited about riding again. The better Meg did, the more Jakob shouted "Yee-haw and Yippie-kai-yay!" He felt that Meg was even more encouraged by his efforts.
Sunday was all that Jim got off and so we spent it doing our best to unwind and relax. We're both at our limit and it was good to get out and have fun. We made the mistake of taking the boys to Bucca di Beppo which gets more expensive every year, but we made two meals of it.
