California Trip Part III - Manhattan Beach

It was very hard to leave Yosemite, but it certainly made it easier to know that our next destination was sunny southern California where we were going to hang out with some very good friends.  Callie and Reese wasted little time jumping into their swim suits and joining Kate, Ashlyn, and Zoe on the beautiful sands of Manhattan Beach.

The next morning John took JP on his offer to run along the Strand, which brought back a lot of great memories.  It also highlighted why John looked forward to running every day when he used to live here.  Sarah and Lauren took the girls to downtown Manhattan Beach and did their traditional Noah's Bagel and Coffee Bean routine while the girls played in the fountain.  Downtown Manhattan Beach has changed quite a bit since Sarah and Lauren first started doing it in their mid-20s.

No trip to LA is complete without catching up with Auntie D.  She was there every step of the way so she could make time for both the little girls and the big girls.  For dessert one night we had s'mores and nothing says safety like Auntie D teaching five little girls how to toast marshmallows over an open flame.  The only thing that made this event more exciting is the fact that she was doing it while juggling her wine glass.

The girls loved Auntie D's lessons, but also couldn't get enough of Auntie D's dog, Joy.  Joy is the perfect size, especially in comparison to Colby, Lauren and JP's dog.  And Joy was more than happy to have the attention of so many people.  All the girls seemed to get along well together, especially when Zoe introduced the slo-mo video function on her mom's iPhone.

Although we would have loved to have more time, schedules only allowed us to get together with Josh and Auntie Gret for breakfast one morning.  Josh is officially in middle school, getting taller every year, and is still one sweet kid.  It was great to hear about everything he has been up to and it was good to catch up with Gretchen.  Hopefully we will be able to spend more time with both of them in the not too distant future.

Another must-visit took us out of the South Bay and into Pasadena where we got a chance to see the hunky Tyler Leshney and his family.  They had a pool at their house and we were all excited to get in the water.  You can tell from this picture who has put in a few more hours both at the gym and in the sunshine.

Grammy's pool accessories continued to prove useful as the swimmies made Reese extra comfortable taking big leaps into the pool.  She wasn't quite up to Clare's standards - Clare and Tyler had a routine that included a running jump, a basketball, a dunk, and a huge splashdown.  We have a video of this that we hope to play when she takes her athletic talents to the ESPYs.

Nora and Callie had a great time playing in the pool as well.  It was fun to see, especially because we hadn't all gotten together in a couple of years.  Nora and Clare are a little more than a year younger than Callie, but they all got along swimmingly.  Paige is then a year younger than the twins and a year older than Reese.

In short, the whole crew fits together quite well.  And if you had told Tyler and John fifteen years ago that in the summer of 2015 they would be hanging out in a pool in Pasadena draped in girls they would have loved the idea.  And the fact is that reality is so much sweeter.  This is a scene that just doesn't happen often enough, but it is great to make it happen whenever we can.

One of the best action pics we captured while we were there took a couple of tries, but the subjects of the shoot didn't seem to mind having to jump in the pool over and over.  Unfortunately we only had the afternoon there, but we certainly made the most of it.

As many of you know, the East Coast and West Coast tend to be a little ahead of the rest of the country in some things, and their family friendly outdoor bar scene is one of those.  Not only did our party include six kids, but also one dog.  We had a great dinner while the kids played, ate a little, and made slo-motion videos.

One surprise of the visit to Manhattan Beach was that it included Jen Dean and her daughter Zoe.  When they found out that we were spending a couple of days in the South Bay they bought tickets to fly down from northern California and join the party.  These efforts constantly remind us how lucky we are to have the friends we do.

Another highlight of our visit was getting time with Auntie Pi and Bradley.  These two couldn't be more adorable.  It is a blast to see Alicia as a mom, and Bradley is not only hip in terms of style but also extremely well mannered.  He also is a ladies' man, and that helps when you are the only boy in the gang of little ones.

After a number of incredible experiences, the time had come to say our good-byes to California until our next visit.  And because we had a late morning flight we could go downtown, grab a coffee, and look at the ocean.  It was unintentional, but you would think from this picture that John purposely exposed his UCLA t-shirt to show people that he belonged and wasn't just a tourist.

The Manhattan Beach pier is just a cool place to be.  We even have a big photo of it in our dining room that Sarah bought John as a graduation present back in 2004.  It is fun to go back and see it in person - for both John and Sarah it is a bit of a time machine that reminds us of a really fun and important part of our lives.  John and Reese enjoyed standing along the railing and watching the surfers catch waves.  But it was time to get back to life in Lexington.

This is not Lexington.  This is an Orange Line train that runs from Midway Airport to downtown Chicago.  This picture was taken at approximately 12:30am, or about two hours after we finally got to Chicago following numerous delays and other travel fiascos.  The biggest fiasco being that we couldn't make the last leg of our trip and would not get on another flight until 7:30pm the following day. We managed to find a hotel room, but it was in downtown Chicago and slightly expensive.  So that led to our late night train ride and a walk to the hotel that had us telling the girls to just look straight ahead and don't stare.

We made it to the hotel, but our bags stayed with the plane, so our free day in Chicago started off with a momentous event.  In our household you have to reach the age of 5 to have chewing gum.  Reese was still about six months shy of her fifth birthday, but without any toothpaste or toothbrushes in sight, we broke that rule.  Needless to say she was more than happy to partake.  And we headed out into the hot Chicago sun with our carry-on luggage and the same clothes we had on the day before.

Again John gets to demonstrate why Facebook is not a waste of his time.  He posted about our issue and got some great advice and information from friends in the area.  For instance, a short bus ride took us to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is free.  So now we had a great activity to take up our day. One stop on our visit included a tiger who was extremely active and vocal while we stood there watching.  Our first thought about a free zoo was that while it would be inexpensive it would not be of high quality.  We are happy to say that we were wrong and it gives us one more reason to love Chicago.

While our hotel was expensive, it did have a free breakfast, and Sarah expertly planned ahead and raided the breakfast options to pull together a picnic lunch.  We pulled up a patch of grass, sat down, and talked about we had seen thus far.  We also tried to figure out what we would do for the rest of the afternoon, which included more public transportation and more Chicago treats.

One treat was a quick walk through the American Girl store.  We saw it from the bus and simply had to revisit the site of Callie's 6th birthday celebration.  Fortunately our circumstances made it easy to say that we could not buy anything on this trip.  The Lego store is right next to the American Girls store and we participated in a scavenger hunt that rewarded us with a couple of Lego passports and we rewarded the store by buying a couple of very small sets.  Oh, and we also went into a very large candy store where we showed the girls how much we appreciated the great attitudes they had displayed throughout this entire adventure.

That is perhaps one of the biggest parts of the story that we need to tell.  The flight delays, the hours spent on the tarmac in Indianapolis, the midnight train ride, the no clean clothes, and everything else tested us all and the girls showed their true colors by enjoying the ride.  It didn't hurt that our free day was spent in a great city.  And as you can see in this picture, we helped our cause by getting some popcorn from Garrett's.  Crazy as it may seem, we still had the entire summer ahead of us.

California Part II - Yosemite

Upon leaving Coalinga, perhaps one of the least attractive points in California, we headed about 4 hours up the road to Yosemite, perhaps one of the most attractive places in the state.  This is just one of the incredible views you see as you enter the valley.  No picture really does it justice.  Over the five days we were there we never got used to how beautiful the landscape is.

We weren't sure what to expect from Camp Curry, our home for the entire week we were there.  We had booked online and just knew the basics.  We were greeted by "Mother Curry" and a set of questions about crumbs and car seats that made us realize the bears of Yosemite mean business.  We had to make sure our car was cleaned out and the car seats hidden from view.  The bears have come to learn that car seats mean kids, and kids mean food crumbs.  They will literally tear into a car if they see a car seat through the window.  Incredible.

We had reserved a tent cabin, which is essentially a wooden frame covered by canvas.  We had to keep all of our food (and we brought a lot), our toiletries, and anything else with a scent in the bear locker provided outside the cabin.  We quickly made this our home. Because we arrived after Memorial Day the heaters inside the cabin were no longer functional.  We quickly learned to sleep in full sweats with all of our blankets.  The girls were snug in the sleeping bags we bought for this trip.

Day one at Yosemite was full of activities meant to introduce us to all that was around us.  We started the day with a show at the Camp Curry amphitheater with Ranger Ned.  He taught us all the dos and don'ts of life in the Valley and the girls loved it.  Next up was the Green Dragon tour of the Valley floor.  This was literally an open tram as pictured to the right, and we spent about two hours driving from one beautiful spot to another.  It gave us a great orientation to what we would want to explore more in the days to come.

That night we returned to the Camp Curry amphitheater for their night time show.  And we are so glad we did.  It was a documentary about an incredible tradition that connected Camp Curry to the Glacier Point Hotel thousands of feet above.  This tradition was known as the Fire Fall.  It is too long to tell here, but the basics are this.  Each night at 9pm, the folks at Glacier Point would have a bonfire of redwood bark perched on the edge of the Point.  Following a series of calls and responses between the folks on the Point and the folks at Curry, the men on the Point would push the embers of the fire off of the point to create a spectacle that looked like a waterfall made of fire.  This was, not surprisingly, referred to as the Fire Fall, and it was performed nightly for decades up through the 1960s.

Needless to say, we all thought this was both obscenely cool and highly irresponsible for a national park.  The girls loved the documentary, and especially loved the moment when the person at Camp Curry shouted up to Glacier Point, "Let the fire fall!"and the person on Glacier Point responded, "The fire is falling!"  Once the show was over the girls put on their headlamps for the walk back to the cabin.

Our accommodations did not include a private bathroom.  Instead we used community bathrooms where one of the options was a family bathroom that had a toilet and a shower.  No privacy within the room but at least you were among family.  That night, as we got ready for bed, everyone had to make sure to use the toilet before heading back to the cabin.  John is unique within the family for he can stand for this activity.  And following the earlier show at the amphitheater, Reese quickly noticed and yelled, "Let the pee fall!" It is quite possible that this was the loudest we had all laughed together ever.  And once it started we couldn't stop.  "Let the pee fall!" became a routine exclamation on nearly every trip to the bathroom from that point forward.

The girls enjoyed having their sleeping bags and separate beds in the cabin.  And every night we had a little downtime to color, read, or play cards before we turned the lights out.  And because every day was filled with so many activities, as soon as the girls put their heads on the pillows they were asleep.  Their parents didn't last much longer.

On day two we decided to see the Valley on bike.  And what made it even better was that Callie could have her own.  There was a lot of ground to cover and the fact is Yosemite makes it easy to get around on bikes.  There are great bike paths that will take you anywhere you want to go.  And at any given moment you can stop and take a picture in front of one more incredible piece of scenery.

We planned ahead and packed lunches to ensure that we could stop at some isolated spot along the Merced River and enjoy a bite to eat.  As you can see, we were successful on all fronts.  In the distance you see Half Dome, which became a point of reference throughout our stay.  During lunch Reese nicknamed a visiting duck Delilah.  This was the beginning of the animal naming game that produced Donnie the Deer, Bob and Tom the squirrels, and Barry the Bear.

After lunch we parked the bikes and hiked to the base of Upper Yosemite Falls.  It was quite an experience for a number of reasons.  John (a.k.a. Captain Caution) had just a tad bit of anxiety watching Reese and Callie scamper up trails that were relatively narrow and had a steep drop on one side.  Hence, as you see to the left, John took the lead on the way down.  He  could be there to catch anyone who slipped and fell...but really he led so he didn't have to watch anyone else.  We looked at the guidebook afterward and the hike was labeled "strenuous" or words to that effect and was about 5-6 miles.  Impressive for the girls' first major hike.

After finishing the hike we got back on the bikes for the last part of the bike trail loop.  We made one more planned stop by the Merced River where John and the girls took a plunge in the water.  It was beyond cold, but definitely refreshing.  Then we made an unplanned stop when we saw a bear.  Yes, that is right, we saw a bear and Sarah thought it necessary to stop.  John wanted to keep moving, Sarah wanted the camera, and Reese wanted out of the bike trailer so she could see the bear.  If you look at this picture closely you can make out the bear as it is almost done crossing the road from right to left.  Truly an amazing experience.

Day three brought Grammy Gayle to our little slice of heaven.  We had arranged to have a fancy lunch at the famous Ahwahnee Hotel and it was a great way to kick off her visit.  We walked the grounds and took a good look at the way you could experience Yosemite if you didn't want to deal with bear lockers and community bathrooms.  We would still go with Camp Curry.

After lunch we joined a family adventure led by Colleen, one of Yosemite's naturalists who was phenomenal.  Her passion and knowledge had us all engaged and she had the kids in the palm of her hand by the end of the two-hour adventure.  We used GPS devices to navigate a scavenger hunt that introduced us to the history of the park as well as its natural environs.  All in all, it was a great time.

That night we (and that we is actually Sarah) decided that it would be great to see a show about John Muir.  In her mind this was going to be a movie about John Muir.  In reality, it was an hour long monologue by a man renowned for his impersonation/reenactment of John Muir.  Definitely two different things.  Within two minutes, Callie was asking, "Is he just going to talk?"  Reese, meanwhile, wanted to know, "Is he real?  Is he a president?"  Fortunately, after a little bit of whining and a few grapes, both girls fell asleep and allowed the adults to enjoy some pretty incredible stories told by a guy who looked a lot like John Muir.

On the morning of day 4 Grammy got a taste of what had become our morning routine.  We brought our breakfast to the steps of the Camp Curry hangout and usually managed to stake our claim to the big stump which also happened to be right in the morning sunlight whenever we were there.  Always a great way to start the day.

Unfortunately Grammy had to leave, but we had more hills to climb.  That day we hiked the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls.  This was another strenuous hike and it was made all the more exciting by the slick stone steps created by the mist from the waterfall.  No anxiety here for Captain Caution.  The girls never hesitated or complained the entire time and we got numerous comments from folks who were taken aback at the ages of our intrepid hikers.

To mark our accomplishment we took a photo at the top of Vernal Falls.  Then we headed to the rocks to have lunch where we received a clear lesson about why you should not give food to animals at parks.  The squirrels at the top of Vernal Falls are aggressive and required constant vigilance in order to protect our meals.  This is not an exaggeration.  While the girls sat and ate, John stood near them and stared down and shooed away the 5-6 squirrels that circled our chosen dining area.  We laughed at the situation afterwards, but it was definitely a little intense at the time.

On the morning of day 5 we got up early, got cinnamon rolls, said our good-byes to Camp Curry, and headed to Mariposa Grove.  This was one of the key spots in Yosemite that led John Muir to try and convince Teddy Roosevelt to protect Yosemite beyond the Valley.  In case you were wondering, Mariposa Grove is a place with big trees.

How big?  Well this picture should give you an idea.  Cutting such holes in trees is no longer common practice, kind of like the Fire Fall, but it provides a perfect setting for a fun family picture.  As you can imagine we feel extremely lucky that we were able to spend a family vacation in such a beautiful place.  More than anything it allowed us to be together in a natural environment that is breathtaking.  It seems cliche to say we were getting in touch with nature, but it really was the  case.  And this setting allowed us to be together as a family and build memories that will drive us to plan another national park excursion in the near future.

California Trip Part I - Family Reunion

The official end of the school year happened without Callie this year because snow days galore pushed the last day past Memorial Day and past the day we had already booked our California flight.  That's right, the time had come again for us to make our way to Coalinga and the craziness that is the Lucas family reunion.  We were all very excited to see cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, great-grandmothers, and everyone in between.

After a long day of travel we made it to Harris Ranch in time for a great family dinner and family photos.  As folks were milling about we managed to snag some extra photos of smaller groups, including the one to the right. None of the kids were as cooperative as we would have liked, but we were able to get Styler, Harper, Brady, Callie, Reese, Haley, and Sarah all in one shot.  Haley and Sarah soon realized that their weekend would be consumed with tending to their kids and not catching up as much as they had hoped.

Here is one of the generational group pictures, and this captures the two oldest generations of the five that make up the reunion attendees.  The three matriarchs of the crew are front and center, with Rose Lucas, Hazel Lucas, and Sharon Armstrong.  The rest of the crew includes the descendants of the original Lucas 7, and some of the most fun people you will ever meet.  They are the driving force of this gathering and keep hoping that our generation will finally step up and take over this undertaking.

Of course much of the activity during the weekend centers around the pool.  One of many reasons why we were excited to attend this year's family reunion was to meet Zac's girlfriend Brandi.  While we didn't get as much time together during the reunion as we had hoped, it was obvious that she fit in with the family and didn't have a problem holding her own and enjoying some pool time.

The reunion also gave us the chance to meet Keith's wife Catelyn for the first time.  Needless to say this was a pretty momentous weekend and we would not have missed it for the world.  Callie and Reese had no problems latching onto Catelyn and Brandi.  In their eyes, more girls equaled more fun.

That doesn't mean that Keith has lost his special place in their hearts, however.  They still can't get enough of his attention.  What also stands out in this picture are the fantastic pool accessories that came to the reunion courtesy of Grammy Gayle.  Callie and Reese took full advantage of the swimmies and goggles every minute they were in the pool.

Few people can match the joy and spirit with which Great-Grandma Lucas tackles life.  It certainly helps that her granddaughter Sarah is always ready to egg her on.  They are quite a duo and this picture says it all.

Any time we get together with Great-Grandma Lucas we try and get a good picture with the girls.  We were definitely pleased with this one.  The reunion always flies by, and this one was no different.  Before we knew it, the weekend was over, everyone was packing their cars, and the time had come for the next part of our trip.  We got in the car and headed to Yosemite National Park.

Reese's First Hair Cut...Oops!

By the time Memorial Day rolled around, we figured the time had come for Reese to have her very first hair cut.  This was expedited by her new obsession with sucking her hair and the fact that her hair was long enough to possibly make a donation to Locks of Love.  So on Memorial Day afternoon, after seeing that Great Cuts was closed, Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands.  She braided Reese's hair, measured it, and got out the scissors.

And that's when things took an unfortunate turn.  Sarah cut through the braid, and right away began to say, "Oh no!  Oh no! John!"  This did not exactly put Reese at ease, and it certainly did not soothe the rest of the household.  So at 4:30pm on Memorial Day, John was tasked with finding a professional to fix the serious issue we now had on our hands and Reese had on her head.  The game was truly afoot when we found a place that was closing at 5:00 and willing to take us in.

Reese was pretty much weepy from the moment Sarah cut the braid to the time we left the salon.  In between Sarah was taking the salon equivalent of the backseat driver position as our new friend Billie sought to turn Reese's hair chop into a hair cut.  John and Callie kept their mouths shut and stayed in the waiting area trying not to make eye contact with Sarah even as they knew she would want this moment documented.

All is well that ends well, though, and Reese emerged from this experience with a very stylish haircut for which she received compliments for weeks.  Although she managed a smile for this photo, truth be told, she spent the next two months talking about how she wanted her long hair back on a daily basis.  Hopefully we have not scarred her too badly.