Thanksgiving Weekend (including Copper Creek Trail)

Thanksgiving got off to a fabulous start.

It was a freezing, rainy day. Jim, undaunted, insisted that we go on an adventure. He led us on a golf ball hunt. Attire choices were highly inappropriate for the frigid temps, and everyone was so very cold. Still, no regrets about getting out.

Little Mommy being so sweet with Wren:

Rebecca had invited us over to join her family for Thanksgiving again, but with Jim's dad here, we figured we should just keep it to our family at home. At Rebecca's suggestion,we split up cooking duties as we did last year and just give each other part of what we made. I did rolls, a corn side dish, and sweet potatoes, plus a pumpkin pie for us. Rebecca and her family did the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. Jim's dad was very impressed with the spread, and dinner was highly enjoyable. I'm so uninterested in making an entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself. We played Dominoes with Jim's dad before we took him home. 

Jim worked all day and overnight on Friday. The girls played more Dominoes, and Ever gave me some serious stink eye when I tried to document. 

Saturday morning Tiny had an early swimming lesson, and then we were signed up to help at the Rise Against Hunger event at the stake center at 9:00 A.M. I wanted to go straight to the church with Tiny and have Jim and the biggers meet us there. I think possibly Jim didn't know that, and they weren't ready. There were also problems because we wanted to head out for a hike right after the service project, so stuff had to be readied. We were super late to the project, and there was much anger on my part. I think there were also tears. It was really not how you want to show up to a service project. Because we were late, it took us a little time to figure things out and find functions, but we were able to help some. A lot of people were out of town that weekend, so they needed people. 

After the service project, we tried a new hike - the approximately three-mile Copper Creek Trail in San Marcos. The trail was supposedly closed for maintenance, but we saw a few people coming back on it and managed to convince Ever that it wasn't really closed and we were allowed to go. (The rule follower was going to try to thwart our hike.) It was very, very wet, which made for lots of fun trying to avoid puddles. 

Right off the bat, before we even got to the trailhead, Tiny fell into mud while running. She didn't mind much, and I asked her to show off her filth for the camera. Ever quickly jumped into the frame, and then Wren followed. Posers. 

There was some fatigue and lagging in the beginning.

Spirits rose when we got to the mud puddles. Ever absolutely loved going around them with her walking stick. She insisted on walking on little rocks and making it as hard as possible.

We came to a fork and chose the wrong way (up a hill), but we quickly realized that we needed to go down and follow the river. 

Poor Bear's pants were so big for her that she had to keep pulling them up. When she ran, she just had one hand constantly on her pants. Maybe when she's six she'll fit the pants that are made for four-year-olds.

There are some copper mine remnants near a little waterfall. We descended the hill by the waterfall and took the girls across the river via an old tire. It was slightly treacherous, and I had some concerns.

On our way out, Wrenzy and Tiny held a tree sale. These videos instantly became family favorites:

Don't remember what we did for dinner, but we had Baskin Robbins for dessert. Good hikers are always rewarded in this family.

First Half of November

I was trying to get Ever to do her chores. I told her it it's my job to teach her to be responsible, to clean, etc.; I have to teach her all the things. A minute later, she slipped me this note:

We went for a walk in Carlsbad after church one Sunday. We enjoyed this little spot by the lagoon.

Tiny collected all the giant berries until we discovered they were making a mess.

I love it when she calls me "Mamita." Also she is the silliest.

Ever wanted to hang from the tree, and soon there were three monkeys. 

Their staying power correlated to their ages and size. Tiny's joy quickly turned to terror, while Wrenzy's turned to concern. Ever, meanwhile, was fine still hanging on.

Tiny got some serious groove on while I sang a ridiculous made-up song.

I reluctantly allowed Play-Doh. It made a mess. 

But sweet Tiny was so happy.

She told me she was going to make me lots of Play-Doh cookies. The way she counts with her fingers is excellent.

Ever didn't want to miss out on outside play time, but she couldn't tear herself away from her book.

A blanket fort was constructed.

We went with Anna, Leela, and Rafi to Annie's Canyon. They had never been before. It was incredibly crowded. I wished we had gotten there earlier to beat the crowds, and I said so. Anna said she doesn't mind when hikes are crowded because she thinks it helps her kids think hiking is a cool thing to do. I am Debbie Downer. Anna is not.

Tiny's posing.

Candids work so much better.

We veered up a little side jaunt. It was fun. But a few minutes later, when we tried to get down, an endless stream of people heading up the trail prevented us from merging back onto it. I tried to be courteous and let people go (including groups that appeared to contain like 30 people). No one made any attempt to help or make way for us. I finally just had to start getting the girls down. The littles needed help, so I had to help one down and then go back for another. We blocked traffic for a minute or two, but it seemed like forever. 

When we did this hike before with Tutu and Papa, Wrenzy got most of the way up the ladder and then totally freaked out, crying and refusing to finish. No problems this time.

The littles are much more into looking nice than I am. They were so fancy for preschool that I had to photocize.

Sometimes Wren just can't help herself when it comes to Tiny's cheeks. I know the feeling. 

We stopped for groceries on the way home from school, and I wondered what people in the grocery store thought of me, who appeared to have just rolled out of bed, with children who looked as if they had just attended a wedding.

The girls went for a ride on the giant banana. 

(That thing lived in our house for so long. A year, at least. It caused injuries when children fell off and hit heads on the hard floor. Since I am writing this in April, I can say that in March 2020, when I was at Coco's house, Tiny fell off it and hit her head on the coffee table, and Jim popped it and threw it away. Sayonara, finally, giant banana.)