We got to start the year celebrating Jack. He turned eleven on the 4th. He wanted a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. We found a recipe that had raspberries between the layers and he and I had a great time making it. It was one of the most beautiful and delicious cakes we have ever tasted.
He got a subscription to a monthly global cooking kit. Each month features three recipes from a different country. It was a perfect find for Jack, who loves geography and trying new adventures in the kitchen. He made Swedish dinners for us three different nights this month: Swedish meatballs and pickled cucumbers, pea soup and pancakes, and stroganoff. It was lots of fun! He also got tickets to go to a 2Cellos concert with Todd in the spring.
Ryan and Xiao came to visit us for several days. We loved having them here! I had to think outside the box to figure out how to show them a good time since my go-to idea is to hike in all the beautiful places and my ankle prevented that from being an option. I think it worked out - we played tons and tons of games and had lots of time to talk. We solved an escape room game, played bocce ball and velcro catch, made homemade applesauce, took a scenic drive through the hills, went to a mosaic art exhibit at the Bankhead, and went to the movie theater to see Encanto - got sent out early because the fire alarm went off - and finished the movie at home with a Chinese bootleg version that Xiao found online. When they left, all my kids were super sad that Ryan and Xiao don't live closer, so the trip was definitely a success if the goal was strengthening relationships!
There were a bunch of Covid cases at the schools this month. Miraculously, Hazel wasn't affected, but Jack and Gemma both missed a week or so of school because classmates tested positive. Gratefully, their days overlapped, so they got to bond and play together instead of just being lonely and insanely bored the whole time.
I got in to see an orthopedic specialist. Dr. Lucille Anderson, six weeks after hurting my ankle. She found that I had a hairline fracture as well as a severe sprain. She gave me a brace and some exercises to do, suggested I buy and wear compression socks, and referred me for physical therapy.
Since we were going to be on a road trip on Gemma's actual birthday, we celebrated with a "faux birthday" a couple days early. She had mint brownies for her cake and had a strong horse theme with her presents, including a horse necklace from Hazel and Jack and a date on the calendar to take the family on a trial ride. She was delighted with everything.
We traveled to St. George, Utah, over her actual birthday. Hazel and Jack decorated the van with streamers and wrote "honk for the birthday girl" with window paint. Gemma was thrilled every time someone on the road honked for her. I think she felt pretty special.
Our trip was a weekend reunion with old friends from mine and Todd's earliest California days. Not everyone was able to make it, but we had the Naseaths, Dabos, Ryans, Hansens, and us there. Johnsons and Muirs were planning to be there as well, but both families got hit with Covid right before the trip.
We rented two side-by-side condos at a vacation home neighborhood with a pool, hot tub, and game room. Between the five of us families, we had over twenty kids ranging in age from 4 to 18. It was a busy, loud, fun weekend. We played games, painted rocks, went on a hike (all but me), ate good food, swam a ton, and had so much good conversation.
We found a spot to get Jack tested for Covid while we were out there so he could end his class quarantine and get back to Croce in time for the spelling bee. He is a naturally effortless speller, and we were so proud he got to participate - definitely annoyed that we had to watch from home on Zoom! I hope he felt our love and support. It is one thing to spell well on paper, and quite another to do so into a microphone under pressure of competition! Although he did not win, he did well, and realized afterwards that it was a good thing not to finish last, since then he would have to go to the district spelling bee as well.
Jack has been making dinner for us almost once a week now with his recipe box subscription. He is learning lots of new things - including how to chop onions. My friend Katie has kitchen goggles that she uses specifically to help her not cry when she's cutting onions; Jack took that to the next level and added a mask. He said it worked well!
We went on Gemma's birthday trail ride about a week after her birthday, when we were back at home. We rode through Ed Levin Park in Milpitas. Gemma's horse was named Sasha, which she was excited about, because she's devoured a book series about a horse named Sasha who can fly. It was a pretty day. Everyone wished their horses would have moved a little faster.
Hazel had her first orchestra concert and performed a Canon in D duet with her friend Sophie as well. She sounded wonderful! It was exciting to be able to support her and hear her class play a few songs.
Jack and Gemma have played a ton of 4-square at recess this year. Jack pretty much plays it every single recess, and Gemma often joins him at lunch recess. Well, we headed down to the school yard on a Sunday afternoon and had a good tournament.
Jack found breathtaking pictures online of Yosemite in the winter and adamantly declared he needed to see it in person. He spent weeks around Christmastime looking online for lodging until one day, there was a Friday night opening and we couldn't say no. Well, it hadn't snowed in weeks when we arrived, so it definitely wasn't the winter wonderland it had been advertised to be, which was disappointing. But it was still cool to see it in a different season. It was cold!
We brought our snowshoes, but there wasn't enough snow on the trails to need them. We only packed our thermals and our snow pants, so we were a little overdressed and had no other options, which made hiking a little bit of a drag. My ankle is still tender and weak, so we could only do gentle, flat hikes anyway. We went up to Lower Yosemite Falls twice and hiked up to Mirror Lake as well.
All the kids woke up before me and Todd and squirreled away in the bathroom to read with the light on.
Jack brought the fancy camera and took lots of pictures. We indulged him.
There was a big section of crispy ice at Mirror Lake that we spent a good ten minutes crunching under our feet. That was always my favorite sensation of winter and it was fun to relive it with my kiddos.
Our pictures are huge in this picture because Gemma had just belched and we all burst out laughing!
Todd and the kids ice skated at Curry Village. I definitely watched from the sidelines. That is an activity my ankle is for sure not ready for yet. It's pretty hard to believe, so I'd better document it for posterity, but Todd fell a dozen times! He is always, always good at everything he does, so it was shockingly hilarious to see him wipe out. He left a 14 foot mark on the ice! Now, I've seen him ice skate before; he skates backwards, spins in circles, even takes tiny leaps. So I believe him wholeheartedly when he says there was a problem with his skates, that the brake was too low to the ground. Did that stop me from laughing at him? Crying tears of laughter? Taking video?! No, it did not. If anything, the novelty of Todd failing was something I could not peel my eyes off of. It was a highlight of the trip.
It was a short but sweet 24 hour visit. We waved goodbye to all the icons as we left the park; Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan.
Jack had not had his fill and popped his head out the sun roof to soak it all in as we drove out of the valley. He then spent the next hour begging us to come back soon and swearing he wants to live in Yosemite when he grows up.
Last, but not least, I have to keep a record of this darling board Gemma wrote when she was playing school. She had a desk set up, and a classroom full of stuffed animals. Her spelling is still atrocious, but it's kind of adorable.
