Bear Valley 2014

A huge part of life is generosity. Our family was able to spend a wonderful three days at a very cool cabin nestled in snow due to a friend's generosity. We are still getting to know this family but I have respected them from afar for years. In fact in just a few minutes we are walking over to have dinner at their house, a big step in the friendship direction. They not only trusted us with their cabin, but with their snowmobiles. Yes, snowmobiles. The roads all around the cabin are closed all winter. You pack all your food and clothes in and you basically don't leave until it is time to go. You can ski to a shuttle that takes you to the local ski resort and you can take a run directly back to the cabin. But with three small kids and a tight budget we decided to hold off on exposing our kids to the wonderful world of ski resorts. Of course by the end of the 3 days Charlie had taught himself to ski and did quite well. I love that he learned on a hill behind the cabin the "old fashion way". Looking back the trip was a highlight of the winter season for sure. But that does not mean every moment was easy. Kate discovered she hated being cold, which was hilarious since it was 60-70 degrees while we were there. However, they got a few feet of new snow in the previous week so every step we took we sank to our thighs and she wasn't properly equipped with the right boots and pants, so it was understandable. Still to witness our normally delightful and agreeable daughter whine and cry all day...SUCKED BIG TIME. Charlie and Alex played for hours together in the snow while I read and cuddled Kate inside. We are a busy family full of work, sports, and playdates. Our family time is few and far between. It felt great to come together in one cabin for three days. No work, no computers, no trips to the store or soccer field. Just us. My definition of a vacation. Generosity really can make someone's world go around. I try to focus on being grateful when I receive it and try harder daily to give it. To be generous to a sibling, a kid, a stranger, a dog. To give with the sole intent to give someone something they didn't have before...a smile, food, time. In this case my new friends generosity gave our family the time and space to reconnect. That is really all I can ask for in this busy life where my kids are growing up way too fast right in front of me.

                                                       

Alex was all about the snow and actually enjoyed the process of suiting up

                                                   
                           

                                Kate, not so much. She preferred to stay inside reading and drawing

The three boys enjoying sledding together

Alex stayed outside for hours at a time "working" on the snow, most of the time with a ski pole in hand.

It was nice to eat all three meals everyday together. I knew my kids ate a lot and I packed a few bags full of groceries, but the last two meals were just tortillas and butter. These kids ate more than we did!

Our happy go lucky boy!

Kate and Charlie found a secret spy door in the loft and loved sneaking up on us

                                   The second day we were there Adam made a pretty nice sledding run

                           We finished off each evening with a family hot tub which led into some pretty epic hold your breath under the water competitions. Kate took the gold, hence her face in this picture

                          It is so cool to now have two readers in the family. When the kids got tired of playing outside they read together. So cute!

This picture shows what we were dealing with. A tired, sad, and cold girl in the snow.

                                            Like every year Adam built a snowman while the boys looked with admiration.

Charlie taught himself to ski on the hill behind the house. It was great to watch his progression

The Berkawood Boys

More family reading, never gets old

Alex riding on the snow motorcycle as he called it

What a great trip!

One Mama's Thought

It was so long ago I started this blog and named it ya basta. Enough. I think I had two young kids and was temporarily not working. mothering, that is what I was doing. a newborn and a 19 month old....harder work than most jobs indeed.
And here I am nestled next to my almost 8 year old talking about leopards in Africa with Adam and wondering what direction our education journey will soon take. Let me start by saying I am a huge proponent of public education. The playing field is so incredibly unfair. If you have a grand or two extra a month you pay be able to get smaller class sizes, more science and PE, more art. Everyone else is left with schools that struggle to pay for one science class a month. Teachers are saints in my book doing their very best with very little. I dreamed about sending my children to a  neighborhood school. I dreamed about being part of a school community, and like many moms of multiple children I dreamed of the day all three of my kids would be in school...at the same school...together. And I would have time, actual time to do my job and do it well. To exercise, clean, cook, run errands and then embrace my children after school. Grounded and happy and prepared.
But we have hit a hiccup in our journey. Charlie is not happy at school. And you can only be as happy as your least happy child. We cannot afford a private school and I am not sure that is his answer. As a credentialed teacher who works with 16 homeschooling families, it is quite obvious that I need to explore this option.
And so I am. Thinking daily about how that would look, how our (my) life would change. Looking at what a day would look like for Charlie.....
A mother's world. Constantly reflective.

Welcoming 2014 with open arms

I can't think of a more fantastic way to welcome 2014 than to have my longtime bestie, Amy and her adorable 2 year old son come visit for 10 days. Yes, 10 days! First of all I will say that I am very grateful she planned her trip for 10 days since the day she arrived one of my kids started puking. Every two days or so another one of us fell victim. It is easy to look back and see the humor in it all. As soon as it appeared everyone was healthy we would schlep her clothes, stroller, and stuff back to my house from her parents. Then within a day another victim would fall and we would have to send her back to her parents. I cried the first night she left. I felt like I had waited for years for this visit and saw it slipping through my hands. My mom and Amy quickly assured me that with such a long visit we can afford to lose a few days.
Once everyone was healthy we were set to go. There are some things in life that I have learned truly bring out your true colors. I lead a very busy life full of cleaning, cooking, working, and socializing. Oh yeh and parenting. All mothers of young children lead lives that are masked by to do lists, pick ups, drop offs...we manage conflicts, learn quickly to drop everything an engage in a friendly conversation at a grocery store. It is easy to lose sight of who you really are outside of these roles we put ourselves in. I have found that I am truly myself when I am camping, traveling, backpacking, and around the family I grew up in. I try to be myself around the family I have created, and I am sure I succeed at that but the factors of stress and kid drama blanket the true me more often than I care to admit.
However, the one thing I took away from my 6-7 days with Amy, one of my closest friends on the Earth...the one thing I felt every second of every day from the moment I saw and embraced her and her son to the moment I sent them away to the moment I welcome them back (and 2 more times just the same) was that even though 10 years had passed since we parted ways, our friendship hadn't lost a beat. I felt more myself with Amy and Cedar living with me than I have in years. It took me by surprise and I only could take it as a huge compliment to our friendship, to our current status as individuals, to the men we picked for ourselves, and to the beautiful and wonderful children we brought into our world.
To be able to have adventures as well as common moments of monitoring playing, prepping meals, changing diapers, navigating nap times...to be able to connect like we did in our college years. sip tea and chat about everything from old boyfriends, to old trips, from memories made 10 years ago to ones made 5 years ago to hilarious moments from just the day before,  from parenting struggles and strategies...that is a true gift.

I have come to realize that life is about creating memories. It is about seizing the day with your loved ones. It is about planning trips and watching them unfold. I truly hope Amy's trip out here to stay with me is an annual one. However, now it is my turn to live with her. As I have a job and three young kids I could only squeak out 5 days. Well, 5 nights, 6 days. My first trip with my daughter to meet Amy's new baby, River, who was born just yesterday. Our hearts are full of joy and gratitude  to have this opportunity.

I really love seeing this amazing woman in the seat next to me. Reminds me of our old days following phish or looking for our backpacking spot:

                                          Gorgeous weather allowed us to spend a lot of our day outside

Tide pool exploring.....kind of 

Such a beautiful momma and her ever so sweet boy

These boys did great together. Thanks mom for the matching bunnies. So cute!

We sent the bigs kids to school on Friday and enjoyed a wonderful few hours at Discovery Museum with just our two year olds!

And Kate was eager to spend every moment she could doting over Cedar

Thank you Amy for taking time out of your life to join mine. I am counting down the hours until we get to live communally again, even if just for 5 days. Love you and your boys!