Summer Lovin'

Since we moved west of the Mississippi we are on a mission to see as much of the great outdoors as we can. This summer we have done long trips, day trips, and weekend trips. We have slept at friends, in a tent and in an RV. Lucy has grown and gain so much confidence hiking on uneven terrain and experiencing a vast array of scenery. We kicked off the start of summer with a weekend tent camping trip to Yosemite. Water was cascading over the top of the cliff at every waterfall like it hasn’t done it years. It was like watching a painting come to life. This is where Lucy developed her love for dropping/throwing pinecones, stones and sand into water. “Plunk!”

This is also the trip that we realized there is way too much packing-up, setting-up and breaking down to make this sort of adventuring sustainable. This was before Utah and our discovery of our strong desire to have a camper van. We are looking forward to tricking out the new mini-van to make outdoor exploring less stressful. The amount of time it takes us to get everything just to come home 24-48 hours later and schlep it all back inside is outrageous. Every time we leave I try to consider what we could possibly leave at home, but I always regret not bringing something. Below I have constructed lists of what feels like the “must haves” for our family when we take off for the woods. Packing food has become important to stick to our monthly food budget. Having meals out and buying day time snacks for the rock has far more expensive than preparing in advance, no matter how much more time consuming it may seem. I pack EVERYTHING in zip lock bags in case of bad weather. It also keeps everything organized and easy to find quickly. I have been bringing my little breast milk cooler with a small ice pack, but that only lasts for one day. Hopefully I can figure out a solution for this soon.

Activities for adventure days

• ·        Indestructible books (very light)
• ·        Small shovel
• ·        Jar of plastic insects
• ·        Two Dollar Tree trucks
• ·        Bubbles
• ·        Small, inflatable beach ball

Food for Lucy for a full day away from civilization

• ·        Cliff Z granola bar (gagakaba, as she would say)
• ·        Avocado
• ·        Banana
• ·        Clementines
• ·        Bowl of berries
• ·        Bowl of Annie’s bunnies
• ·        Yogurt (cooler)
• ·        Cheese stick (cooler)
• ·        Boiled Eggs
• ·        Two pouches (only way I can figure out how to bring veggies)
• ·        Muffins (homemade)
• ·        Pack of gummies
• ·        Spill proof water cup/bottle
• ·        Short, square Tupperware
• ·        Knife, Spoon and Fork
• ·        Bib

Blue Backpack Items

• ·        6-8 diapers
• ·        Mostly full individual package of wipes
• ·        Warm coat
• ·        Winter Hat
• ·        Long wool socks or fleece pants
• ·        Extra onesie
• ·        Extra cotton pants
• ·        Extra cotton socks
• ·        Sunny Funny Hat
• ·        Sun Shirt
• ·        Sunblock
• ·        Bug spray
• ·        Hand Sanitizer
• ·        Two burp clothes (good for a placement, face wipe, towel..etc…)
• ·        Parachute Blanket
• ·        Hammock
• ·        Sunglasses

In addition to all of our destinations in Utah and Yosemite, we wanted to get up to the Sierras, namely the Lake Tahoe area. We ended up spending two back to back weekends in the Donner Pass/Donner Lake area. The scenery is breathtaking and the climbing is easily accessible. Shade was a bit of problem for Lucy and there was lots of water to play in, but it was all freezing cold snow melt. We were close enough to the car that I drove her around for a car nap one day and we built a for with the parachute blanket for a hammock nap another day. Lucy as no end to her enjoyment of discovering rocks, moss, pinecones, stones and dirt. I hate when she pours dirt on my hands, on my legs, on her own legs. It makes my toes curl. But I smile, delighted with her innocence and willingness to try so many new things. She easily spends the whole day at the crag with us, reading books, “paying,” digging in the dirt or sand, and, her favorite, scaling VB boulder problems. When she asks where someone is and the response is that they are climbing, she raises her hands above her head and says, “up.” If she is tired, she isn’t thrilled to see me walk away, but if Nana is out with her she curls up in the hammock for snuggles and a rest.

Even though we are so close the San Francisco Bay, the water is quite cold and a bit dirty. We took her to Alameda beach, but the breeze was just too cool and the water had “swimmer’s itch” bacteria (which they don’t tell you until after you pay and walk down to the beach with alllllll your stuff for a fun day with a toddler in the water and sand). We found an absolutely wonderful spot at Point Reyes in Richmond. We can easily bike there on the Bay Trail, which Lucy loves, and there is a great playground (which Lucy loves) right next to a small beach area with water that is cool, but bearable (which Lucy loves J). I was shocked the last time we were there. She walked right into the water, shoes, socks, pants, everything still on. She has been nervous about trying this out, but she had such a great time doing this in the shallow water of the third emerald pool in Zion that she was completely at home with her feet in the pacific salt water. She played until the breeze cooled her down to far, then I snuggled up my baby, who only sits still in my arms when she is cold and when she doesn’t want me to leave, and we had a picnic lunch in the warm sun on a grassy hill.

I have worked hard to take her to see and experience so many different adventures this summer. We have been to a million playgrounds, multiple libraries, waterparks and a small, local amusement park, called Happy Hollow. Mahalia went with us on this trip for her fourth birthday and Lucy followed her around like a little duck following her mama. We got to see and pet farm animals, play in a fort and plop on her first amusement park ride. I thought she might be terrified and cry, but Mahalia was sweet enough to ride the little round and round cars with her. She started sobbing at the end of the ride and signing “more, more.” So, we got back in line about 6 times and she went round and round in circles until she was so exhausted she passed out in the stroller.

I was hesitant to be a SAHM this summer with my LucyBug. I thought time would drag on and we would be bored. I made an extensive list of activities we could do in case we were ready to go stir crazy. I had it all wrong. Time has flown by faster than any other part of parenthood so far. We have less than two weeks until we leave for Wyoming and South Dakota and Lucy starts at Nia House the day we get back. Lately Lucy has been bringing me puppets (puppiyas) and asking to do play outside. It seems like I may have over done it on the action items for the summer. She is thrilled and delighted to see her cow puppiya eat pretend apples after she pretend cuts them up. She can read books on a lap for hours at a time. She loves simple finger paint art on the project mat in the kitchen. Her vocabulary is exploding, in Spanish and English. She has started telling stories with a mix of signs, gestures, Spanish, and English.

We took her to Marina for the Fourth of July festival and we bumped into a pony ride. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, so we paid the $7 for her to have her first pony ride. When it was over I told them her the horses were tired and needed to eat dinner. This is how her story goes:

Lucy: Neigh, neigh.

Me: The horses? Did you ride on Strawberry the horse?

Lucy: Aahhhh. (Signs all done)

Me: They were all day giving rides? Why were they finished?

Lucy: Chhhoooommmpppp (while signing eat)

Me: Oh, they had to eat dinner. That is right. It was fun to ride the horse, wasn’t it?

Lucy: Nods head.

She has stories about everything now. About the “coco” (crocodile, or cocodrilo in Spanish) puppet we played with at the library. About Dah leaving for a work trip in his airplane. About the baby we heard crying who wanted her Mami to give her milk. She has started reading books along with us at the parts she can sign or verbalize. She can do the entire book Moo, Baa, Lalala by Sandra Boynton. She was practicing vowel sounds in Spanish with Nana yesterday. Every day I think she adds four or five new verbalizations to her expressive vocabulary. When we were playing with buttons yesterday, she picked up a star and I asked her what it was. She held it above her head and did the sign for star. She knows the primary colors plus a few more in Spanish and English.

Lucy is going to do half days her first week of school. I am hoping that we can keep having special time together until my classes and the mayhem start back up. When she is at school I need to get my butt moving on my first position paper (that I haven’t touched all summer). I also want to get a couple months’ worth of meals planned so that I can use reuse them and maybe make it through the whole semester without having to worry about a meal plan. This made a big difference over the past year and it was worth the effort. Other than reading, writing and organizing, I want to play puppets, read books, do projects and explore the great outdoors as much as we can for the rest of summer. Luckily the weather is fairly consistent all year, so we can always get outside, but I want to savor every moment of this extraordinary time in my darling girl’s development.