A Visit with Dawn and Ed in Yuba City

This summer the Hastings family finally cashed in on Mamo and Pod's silent-auction purchase of a week at the Salinas ranch of their good friends, the Barlockers. Jim and I decided to take the girls all the way up to Yuba City to spend a couple days with Dawn and Ed before the Salinas reunion.

I went to work in L.A. on Wednesday, July 26. Jim worked a half day and then loaded the girls into Big Blue and came up to get me. The plan was for him to bring the girls up to my office, but things weren't going well on the road. They'd been stuck in nightmare traffic that at least doubled the drive time, and girls were melting down. Ever thought she'd gotten something stuck up her nose and was freaking out. Jim texted and told me to meet them out front. Ever was fine by the time I joined them. (False alarm, apparently.) We changed diapers and hit the road, feeding the girls in the car. It was not easy, but we finally made it to the hotel in Santa Maria that Jim had booked for the night. The girls didn't get to sleep until after midnight, thus beginning the severe sleep deprivation.

We had breakfast at the hotel Thursday morning.

Twice that morning, Wren locked the bathroom door and then exited the bathroom and closed the door. We had to call the front desk and have somebody unlock our bathroom door twice within about an hour. Rascal.

We took the girls to Hearst Castle and did the recommended tour, which includes the dining room and movie theater. (They charge a lot of money for tours that cover a very small portion of the place.) I realized too late that Ever probably would have enjoyed a different tour that included some fancy bedrooms more than the one we did. Oh, well. On the bus up the hill:

In the dining room, the girls spontaneously became incredibly affectionate. 

It was probably the cutest thing anyone's ever seen. There was lots of patting and stroking. Jim got a little video.

We desperately wanted to swim in the luxurious indoor pool and discussed how much money we'd pay for the right to do so.

After the tour, we got ice cream treats at the visitors center.

They look happy in the above pic, but I think a fight broke out and people got in trouble shortly after that. 

Jim booked a guest house in Sacramento on Airbnb for that night. Even with Hearst Castle's being our only stop, we didn't get to the guest house until super late. We wished we'd been able to use the pool and enjoy the place. But alas, it was another midnight night.

We detoured for a bagel place Friday morning and then drove to Dawn and Ed's in Yuba City. Ed had taken the day off for us, and we didn't get there until close to the time he would have gotten off work. We felt terrible about that. We decided that afternoon would be the best time to go to Bridgeport. We'd forgotten to bring Wren's floaty, and Jim wanted to stop at Walmart to buy floaties for her and Tiny. I was worried about the time and didn't really remember what a giant swimming pool the place is, so I voted we forego floaties and hurry to Bridgeport. Man, was that a bad decision. The littles would have loved floating around by themselves in there. As it was, two of us had to hold a baby at all times. Wren thinks she can swim and wanted to jump and swim around on her own. Jim was still in his boot for the Achilles tear. He took it off to get in the water but couldn't walk at all without it on, so he couldn't really hold a kid in the water. It was tough times. 

It took her a while to muster the courage, but Ever jumped off one of the big rocks a couple of times. Mid-air (look closely):

Jim, Tiny, Ed, and Dawn relaxing:

Wrenny didn't want to be held. I held her hand and let her play around in the shallow part, but I had to keep reining her in lest she drown.

She was so tired.

Saturday morning Ed had doughnuts for us when we awoke. We rafted down the Yuba River that day. Dawn and Ed had to do some scouting to find a safe place for us to raft with the littles. We hung out on the beach while Dawn and Ed dropped a car downriver.

For most of the trip, Dawn and Ed had Ever in their raft, and Jim and I took the babies. Tyna's giant vest immobilized her, which was good, but she seemed uncomfortable and very unhappy most of the time. The river was lovely and very cold. I jumped out to swim a couple times but didn't stay in long. 

I tried to keep Tiny happy with snacks.

Dawn and Ever rode briefly on an inner tube, but they had a hard time getting comfortable.

We weren't exactly sure where the take-out spot was. The signage wasn't very clear. Jim and I were ahead of Dawn and Ed, so we had problems. We never really saw where we were supposed to get out, but we saw Dawn and Ed stop behind us and knew we'd passed it. We tried frantically to get out. I was holding Tiny. Jim tried to hop out and stop the boat, but he couldn't walk since he was missing an Achilles. It was especially bad on the rocky bottom. So I left Tiny in the boat and got out to try to pull it ashore. A group of middle Eastern men called out to us from shore, "Do you need help?" Jim answered something like, "Yeah, maybe." The guys ran down by the shore and out into the water to help us. They hauled the boat in, and Jim crawled on his hands and knees over the rocky bottom to shore, where he then sat and put on his boot. We were pretty pathetic. The men were so nice. They even pulled our boat up the steep cliff by where we got out. 

Ever really wanted to get all the way in the water, but she was scared of the cold. While others were dealing with boats and cars, she tricked Dawn into dunking herself by saying she'd do it, too, but she chickened out. Ed, Dawn, and I went down to the water with her for one last chance to dunk before we left. She wanted to so badly but was so scared. She kept balking. Ed gave up and headed back to the car. I finally got her in baptism-by-immersion style in the nick of time. She was proud and happy that she did it, and so was I. I told her about how, for the longest time, I wanted to dive from the pilings in the Kawaihae Harbor but couldn't get up the courage and would cry because I'd get so frustrated with myself. I was so happy when I finally did it. There's nothing like the pride and satisfaction that come with overcoming those little mental blocks.

All in all, it was a successful rafting trip. 

Ed made us a feast for dinner that night that included fish he'd caught. Sunday morning he made us biscuits and gravy and other yummies, and then we all went to church together at Dawn and Ed's church. We said goodbye there and headed to Salinas. 

Dawn and Ed were such generous and kind hosts. Ever was so excited about spending time with them. Dawn had spent a day with us in June when she was on her way back from her mission trip to Mexico, and they had started reading a book together then. (It was a book Jim's dad had sent us that used to be a favorite of Dawn's.) Ever refused to let us finish it with her, instead taking it up to Yuba City with us so Dawn could read it to her when we visited. It was very cute. We'll have to get back up there again soon.

July Stuff

One day Wrenzy was sitting on the counter while I prepared dinner. Next thing I knew, she'd picked up a pepper I'd taken out for the salad and was biting into it like an apple.

She also read/sang Down by the Bay. In her rendition, every page says, "Down by the bay where the watermelons grow," except the way she says it, it sounds like, "Down by the bay where the water can go!"

We LOVE Tiny's snuggles.

I let Wren eat while standing on a chair by the island, and that was a bad choice. She did more counter cleaning than she did eating. A conversation with Wren (the "Wrenzy-poo Lovey" thing never gets old):

The girls always want to help me in the kitchen. I want them to want to help me in the kitchen, but really I never want them to help me in the kitchen. It makes it so much harder and more time-consuming and messy, messy, messy. I have a really hard time letting my kids make messes, which I know is not right. This was one day when someone helped me top something with grated cheese:

The fourth of July was on a Tuesday this year. Jim ruptured his Achilles on Saturday, June 24, so the beach and most other outdoor adventures were out. Ever made some suggestions for home activities, and we ended up watching T.V. in the morning, making a brief trip to the gym, playing a new game and painting pictures (Jim, Ever and I) while the littles napped, and going to In-N-Out for dinner and Baskin Robbins for dessert.

Wren loved the tube watching.

Ever and Jim loved each other at Baskin Robbins.

Wren loved her ice cream.

Picture of Tiny because she's so cute and has fun hair.

One morning Ever came down and told me she did her own hair. At first from the front I thought, "Well, it could be worse."

Then she showed me the back.

I was relieved when the 'do fell out before we had to go anywhere.

I introduced the girls to Adele - "Hello," in particular. For a long time, I was pulling it up on YouTube because I didn't own it. (Eventually I made the purchase.) The girls were mesmerized by the video.

I posted the below two pictures on Instagram with this incredibly long caption that says it all:  "I can't figure out how everyone else with three or four kids is out doing all sorts of neat things every day. My only goal today was to get to the Y around 11a, do a short workout, take Ever and Wren to the pool, and get the kids home for naps by about 2p. Getting kids ready and sunscreened, food prepared, bags packed, etc. took hours. I tried to put Arden down for a short nap, but she didn't sleep, possibly because the rest of us were being too loud. W was tired, but I ignored this because of the aforementioned goal. (Haven't really successfully transitioned her to one afternoon nap.) She gets uncooperative when she's tired, which makes me crazy (and abusive). When we were finally almost ready, A poured water from a sippy cup all over herself, so I had to change her. Finally made it to gym, did short run, picked up kids from child watch, and went to eat by pool. Took A back to child watch. Got W into swim diaper. Started getting my sunscreen on. Worker came out to tell me I had to pick up A because she was crying. Because by now she was missing her second nap of the day. E didn't want to go in the little activity pool. W isn't supposed to go in the big pool unless I'm in with her (even if she's wearing a floaty). I wasn't prepared to take A in the pool, so I couldn't accompany W. In the end, W and E got an hour in the big pool only because a) a friend lent us a floaty, as I had forgotten ours, b) A passed out on the bottle and slept for a good half hour, and c) somehow the lifeguards didn't say anything when I let W go in by herself. Miracles. Of course, despite my efforts, I had to feed them again when we got home and didn't get them down for naps until about 3:30. And dinner plans were out the window because I couldn't make it to the store. So seriously: what is wrong with me? Why can everyone else do stuff all day every day, and I can't leave the house? I have a feeling life will be a lot easier in about a year, when A can walk, W and/or A is potty trained (heaven help us), A can feed herself regular food, W can do more for herself, and they all don't need to sleep so much."

I caught sight of Wren and Jim reading one night, so cute and cozy.

Tiny got silly at the end of lunch one day.

Ever and Wren got dressed up for a short and anticlimactic performance.

Lucy flew into LAX after her trip to Thailand. Her itinerary said she'd arrive at 10:15 P.M. on July 12 (Wednesday). Tuesday morning Anna called. She had heard from Lucy, who was already en route, and Anna was realizing that the trip couldn't possibly be that long; Lucy had to be arriving Tuesday night, not Wednesday night. For some unknown reason, her arrival date and time were in the departure time zone. Good thing Anna figured it out in time! 

The traffic near LAX was like nothing I have ever seen. Getting to the cell phone lot (which I never actually found but parked near) and then to the terminal was quite the ordeal. If I had had to circle the airport, Lucy would have had to wait for probably two hours, but we managed to time it so she emerged just in the nick of time. Then it took us about an hour to get out of the airport. We detoured on the way home to find Lu some food. There were multiple road closures, including at our exit in Oceanside. We didn't get to bed until 3:00 A.M. But we made it safe and sound, and conversation with Lucy made the trip go quickly. It was fun to hear about her adventures.

Lucy made up for the late night by sleeping in. I finally woke her at 1:15 P.M. Jim had the afternoon off, so we decided to go to BJ's and take pictures to send to Bags to make her jealous. Jim installed Tyna's new car seat before we left. While we were waiting, Lucy sat on our filthy garage floor and showed the girls her Thai money. They were enthralled (until I distracted them with the camera).

We were so full after appetizers that that we could barely eat any of our pizza. We still ordered the pizoookie trio, however, and polished them off.

I wasn't planning on doing bible camp at New Song Community Church this summer, partly because Ever's friends were going to be in the 1st grade group and Ever would be alone in kindergarten. The older kids (1st graders and up) got to choose an activity - gymnastics, ballet, DIY building, sports, or crafts. Kindergarteners didn't get to have a focus like that, so it didn't seem as fun. Ever heard about it a couple days before it started, though, and she wanted to go, even if she couldn't be in the same class as her friends. It was suggested to me that I say she was going into first grade. The thought had never occurred to me because I am that honest. By that point, kinder was full, and so was the 1st grade gymnastics group (which is where her three friends would be). I signed her up for 1st grade ballet. I love that she wants to go to these things where she doesn't know anyone. She totally loved it and gave it a 10 out of 10 every day. We developed a very complicated neighborhood carpool schedule, so I didn't have to drive her all the time. 

The last day they did a little performance on the stage. I was about two minutes late, and I missed the main dance. They did also perform the five ballet positions and some fancy walking and spinning.

They performed the dance again for us parents back in their little room, but we had to watch the whole thing from behind. Then they played freeze, where they ran/danced around until the teacher paused the music, when they had to freeze until she started it again. It was cute seeing Ever have so much fun with these girls she'd just met that week. Note how much smaller she is than everyone else (partly because she's younger). 

Kristi Rondo had also gone early for Ella's gymnastics performance, so we killed time together outside waiting for the kids to finish up for the day. Wrenzy blew bubbles outside (until she spilled it, of course).

Wrenzy does a mean "Itsy-Bitsy Spider."

Tiny got really sick. She had a fever for days and was super lethargic and not herself. She wanted to be held all the time. Eventually she got a rash. I took her in, and she was diagnosed with roseola. It's funny because the info from the doctor's office says many kids with roseola aren't bothered at all, but everyone I've heard of who got it this summer (Tyna, cousin Gunnar, neighbor Nathan) all felt really awful. 

At the same time, Wren was wreaking havoc by climbing out of her crib and getting into all sorts of mischief when she was supposed to be napping. Sometimes I locked her in her room, but these are things she did to entertain herself after getting out of the crib: take clothes off, turn on the light, try on big shoes from the closet, open and close drawers, line up wipes packages in a line across the bed and then take the wipes out of the packages, make a lot of noise and keep the other girls awake, and pull her and Tiny's clothes out of the dresser and throw them on the floor. Little imp:

This was the day she took all of the clothes out of the dresser.

I didn't have or make time to deal with organizing, folding, and putting away for probably two weeks, so we were just walking over the clothes for a while. Having them all mixed up like that made it difficult to find things.

Needless to say, Wren was making me crazy. Somehow she eventually stopped climbing out and got promoted again to the bunk bed, where she's been doing quite well.

Tracy had to cancel swimming lessons one day because of algae in the pool, but she forgot to tell me. I got the kids all ready and went over there, but Tracy wasn't there. Ever was devastated, so I suggested a picnic at home with the food I'd packed. She suggested picnicking at a nice shady spot near the tennis courts instead, which was a good call. 

Ever got super into The Lumineers. When we drove north in August, she requested "Ophelia" on repeat the whole time. The initiation began earlier than that, and Wren and Jim did some good bopping together.

We went swimming at Nanny and Papa's pool. It seriously may have been Tiny's first time in water (besides the bath). She loved it. She floated around in this little yellow thing the whole time. Wrenzy jumped in over and over (at least 100 times). According to me, she said after surfacing each time, "I wanted to do it again!" According to Jim, she said, "I need to do it again!" He always thinks she's saying "need" when I think she's saying "wanted," so I'm not sure what the truth is.

It's not very visible in this picture, but Ever lost her second tooth. Jim stepped up and pulled it even though he didn't know if it was ready.