The The Tar Tar Pits

When I was young-ish, it occurred to me that, if La Brea means "the tar," then The La Brea Tar Pits means "the the tar tar pits." Yes, I was an obnoxious child. Google reveals that many other people have made the same point.

When I was about seven my dad was stationed out at Edwards Air Force Base, and I remember visiting the La Brea Tar Pits. I really wanted to roll down this hill around the museum, and was quite distressed when Mom wouldn't let me. When I saw the hill I had to get a picture. (It seems smaller than I remembered.)



Kate enjoyed the "bone museum," as she called it, but was much more interested in the gift shop.




Elizabeth gets a ride with Grandma.



Barb says it stinks.

The big "pits" are all fenced off, but there are a few places around the grounds where you can find tar seeping up through the grass here and there. There's even a spot where it seeps up through the sidewalk at the intersection just outside the grounds. Peter said it's called the "sidewalk pit."

It was awfully hot. When we first got there and parked out on the street, I was putting on Kate's hat and got down on one knee to tie it on. Moments later, I realized that the sidewalk was burning my knee through the fabric of my pants. Yikes! Perhaps you really could fry an egg on it.

Redondo Beach

We spent a couple of fun hours at Redondo Beach. Karen said that the best time to go to the beach was either in the morning, before it gets too hot, or after 4:00 or so. I can see where going in the morning would have an advantage--the sun wouldn't be in your eyes when you were looking out at the water. But we had a good time!



Kate wasn't interested in getting in the water (it was moving, and obviously out to get her), but she enjoyed playing in the sand and making sand angels. She was intrigued by the difference between the wet sand and the dry sand.




Some of the more adventurous of our party went pretty far out, ducking under the big waves and bobbing up and down in the water.




Our only casualty of the day was Kyle's glasses, which were knocked off by a big wave (probably not this one) and swept away. He had to make do with his contacts for the rest of the trip.



Barb and Kyle.



Peter, Karen, and Elizabeth (it was windy!)



I just liked the light through the beach umbrella on this one.



When it was time to go I asked Kate if she wanted to go up the stairs or up the ramp, and she picked the stairs. (I shouldn't have asked, I know.) Nobody else chose to join us in our climb!

Into the Pool

I've had an unfortunate head cold for a few days and haven't been good for much. We did get out yesterday to see some of the tall ships that are in town for a few days. I'll try to post pictures soon. For now, here's some more from California.



This is the pool at our hotel. After last year's attempts to introduce Kate to the pool went rather badly, we weren't sure how she was going to react. I got her a new suit for the summer, and when I tried it on her she seemed excited and said she wanted to go swimming. The hotel pool turned out to be just what she needed--a nice quiet place to take her time getting in the water, with no other kids around and nobody splashing (or dumping water on her head--some people's kids!)

I got a pack of plastic insects for Kate to play with on the trip. They kept her entertained for long stretches. She has a rubber grasshopper that she really likes, so when I saw these insects at the zoo gift shop I figured she'd enjoy them. She named the butterfly Mariposa (yes, she's been watching Diego) and took it to the pool with her. It didn't float, but kind of drifted slowly down through the water, and then Doug would make a big production of diving down to get it. She thought that was great fun.



She got to dabble around the edges as much as she wanted, and did eventually make it into the water. Yay! Big step. Not that she was paddling around by herself or anything, but she was in the water, and having a good time.



Kate got to go swimming three times while we were at the hotel. Since we've been back home we've gone to the Stewart Heights pool and back to the Fircrest wading pool, and she did just great. She still doesn't like getting splashed, but she's dealing with it a lot better. It's hard to get her out of the pool when it's time to go!

Now we are twelve

The family is growing! Baby Elizabeth was born in January. By next year, we'll be fourteen. How exciting!

These were taken at a park near Peter and Karen's house. Karen has a friend who lives nearby, who came and took some family pictures for us. We had the usual trouble getting a good shot of everyone.



Kirsten busts a move.



Kate thinks this is boring.



Kate and Grandma--she has a wheelchair that she uses sometimes when going out of the house. Kate enjoyed riding on Grandma's lap.



Barb and Kyle. Barb's due in October. I had a dream last night that she was having boy/girl twins, but the ultrasound confirms there's only one. They're expecting a girl!




Betsey, Barb, and me. (Family resemblance?)



What, you won't smile for the camera? Well I'll... I'll tickle you, that's what I'll do!



Karen makes a clover chain for Elizabeth.




Elizabeth approves!



Elizabeth at home.



Elizabeth gets a kiss from Aunt Kirsten.




The cousins! (Looks like neither one of them is quite sure about this....)



That's my sweet family! I wish we could get together more often. It's hard when everyone's so scattered. I'll have more pictures from our trip soon!

Kate 3.5

Guess who's three and a half today! Our cute little girl--likes to help cook, makes up stories and songs, plays computer games but hasn't quite got the hang of doorknobs. We love you!

Little Traveler

This is the tale of our trip to California (which will probably take several posts).

Originally we had been thinking about going out to Ohio, but Peter and Karen (my brother and his wife) weren't sure if they'd be able to make it, so we decided to congregate in California instead. They live in Torrance, south of Los Angeles.

A couple of days before the trip I started telling Kate that we were going to ride on an airplane and go to California. She had no idea what California was, but she was excited about it. She kept mentioning it at random moments, like when she was in her high chair and I asked her if she wanted anything else, and she said, "No! I need to get down and go to California!"

We left on Monday and came back on Saturday. Traveling with a child certainly complicates things. Kate was convinced there were "games" in the airport (where she got that idea, I sure don't know) and she was quite put out that we wouldn't let her go look for them while we were waiting in line to check our luggage. Then when we were almost up to the counter, all of Alaska Airlines' computers went down. We put Kate's car seat down on the floor, had her sit in it, and pulled out one of our strategically-prepared toys. How will it be with two kids? Hoooo boy.

On both flights we ended up with seats that were near but not actually next to each other, but we were able to get people to trade with us. On the way out we were right in front of the galley area and right behind the wing, and the only window by us was a bit farther forward, so Kate had to sit on my lap and lean way forward to see out the window. She thought it was very cool to see the little buildings and roads on the ground, and the geometric shapes of the farmlands. I mentioned to Doug that I hoped we got better seats on way back so Kate could see out the window more easily. We did, but right after take off she curled up and went to sleep with her head on my lap, and slept almost the entire way. All that excitement is tiring!

My mom and dad flew out from Ohio with Kirsten and Betsey. My sister Barb and her husband Kyle, who live in Utah, had been up in Solvang visiting Kyle's grandmother, so they drove down for the week. The last time we had everyone all together was two years ago for my parents' fortieth anniversary.

We stayed at a Clarion Inn in Carson (we got four rooms for everybody). The shower head was about at my nose level, which I suppose is convenient if you've been swimming and want to rinse off without getting your hair wet, but not so great if you do want to wash your hair. When I saw it I thought, "Barb and Kyle are going to be hating this!" (They're the tall ones.) Doug also noticed that both knobs were marked C. I told him it was C for cold and C for caliente.

I think Kate got a kick out of the hotel room. We got to watch a lot of Discovery Channel, and I flew home with the Boom-de-ah-da commercial stuck in my head.

Home and Tired

We are back from California! Washington is green and beautiful and full of trees.

Happy Father's Day!

Attempting to get a picture after three hours of church:





We've been teaching Kate "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" and "My Daddy is my favorite pal," so she could sing with the primary kids in Sacrament Meeting. She got the first one down fine (with motions--those are fun) and was doing pretty well on the second. I figured she'd be excited to be able to sing along. Well, she seemed excited enough to go up there, and she did do the motions, but she didn't sing at all. But we still thought she was awfully cute. :)

Doug said to me recently that, more than just being a dad, he loves being Kate's dad. Sometimes he'll watch her when she's sleeping, and he'll tell me how much he loves her, and I can just see him turn into a big puddle of goo. Our little girl sure knows how to melt Daddy's heart. I know he'll be a wonderful daddy to our new little one, too.

Eight about Kate

Kate got tagged by the Calls a while back, and I hadn't gotten around to doing it yet. So, here are eight things about Kate!



1. Kate's name is Katherine Elizabeth. That's Katherine after my mom (who goes by Kathey) and Elizabeth after my sister (who goes by Betsey). We do call her Katie sometimes.

2. Kate is the first grandchild on my side of the family and the fifteenth on Doug's side. She now has two younger cousins and one on the way.

3. Kate is very interested in animals, but toy animals always win over real ones, which we think is kind of funny. She'll play with a new animal toy for hours. She likes to line them up and talk to them. Lately she's been developing more narrative play, and wants us to join in. She'll hand me an animal and say "Can you talk to him?" (meaning talk for him), and then we'll make up a story.

4. One of Kate's very favorite things in the whole world is the miso soup at I Love Bento. We get it with extra tofu for her. She just gobbles it up.

5. She's been really good lately about things like getting her hair washed and her teeth brushed, and her nails trimmed. I appreciate that.

6. When Kate hears the other kids in the complex playing outside, she always wants to go out and play with them. Even if she can't really participate in what they're doing, she just likes being with them. They are good, sweet kids and don't mind having her around.

7. Kate cracks me up sometimes. Once we were walking between two buildings, and, observing the acoustics, I asked her, "Hear the echo?" Kate said, "A echo is a kind of lizard!" and I said, "No dear, that's a gecko." Ha.

8. Kate loves to sing. She's started making things up and adding her own words. It's so cute to listen to. She especially likes songs that have motions.

We sure love our little girl!

The vicissitudes of life and the vagaries of Trader Joe's

We like Trader Joe's. A lot. We used to have to go all the way to Federal Way to get to one (which didn't happen very often), so we were thrilled when they opened a store nearby. Unfortunately, their business model calls for them to regularly evaluate their inventory and discontinue products that are, for whatever reason, not selling as well as others. And this time, one of our favorite products got the ax.

We did not see it coming. There were no warning signs, no portents or premonitions. We just noticed that we were running low (as you can see in the picture), so on our next shopping trip we went to pick up some more--but upon reaching that familiar spot in the aisle, we scanned the shelves in vain. No Mojito! Where's the Cuban Mojito Simmer Sauce? That tangy blend of orange and lime juices, accented with garlic and spices? We inquired; we received the fateful news. Discontinued.

Alas! This stuff is great. Wonderful in black beans and many other things, in our house it is particularly known as the condiment of choice for carnitas. Kate loves mojito on carnitas. (She used to call it "hito," and when she asked for more she'd say "mo' hito!") The first thing I thought upon hearing it had been discontinued was, "Oh no, what are we going to tell Kate?"

Doug emailed Trader Joe's, and they said that it just wasn't selling well enough, but that if enough people complained they might consider bringing it back. I can see that it might not have been a big mover--I mean, how quickly can you go through a jar?--but we did buy it pretty frequently. If we'd known it was going away, we would have stocked up!

We did find a substitute recipe that we'll have to try. I don't know how well it would keep in the fridge, though. Perhaps we could freeze it in small batches.

Baby!

I had an ultrasound today, and came home with pictures! You can see the baby's profile, and a little hand up by the face.



This one isn't as clear but you can see the umbilical cord, which is kind of cool.



The baby's measuring 10 1/2 weeks, which gives us a due date of December 31, or thereabouts.

Things have been going well. I haven't had the really bad food aversions like I did with Kate, which certainly makes eating easier. I get a little queasy or light-headed at times, but it's not too bad.

We are pretty amazed by this whole thing. We tried for a few years before having Kate, and then I found out I had cystic ovaries and got on metformin. (I only had to take it for a month and it worked right away.) This one came about completely unassisted. Must be a little one who really wants to come to our family!

Queen of June

At the elementary school that I attended in Ohio, the playground was always covered with clover the last few weeks of school. We used to spend recess sitting in the grass making clover chains. There's something about seeing a nice stand of clover that still makes my fingers itch.

Wednesday Kate and I were outside, and I found some lovely long-stemmed clover. I just couldn't resist. I found some other fun things to use, too--not wrapping the stems, just sticking them in and wrapping the clover around them. It worked out well and held together nicely. (The long stems help.)



When I put it on Kate she said, "I'm the king!" So after that, of course, I had to go in and get the camera and take some pictures. I had the usual trouble getting Kate to actually look at me, and ended up with a lot of shots of the back of her head.

Here she's checking out a ladybug.



I won't even attempt to describe the kind of noises I had to make to get her to look at me. (Saying "Kate!" produces absolutely no effect at all. Perhaps I could try random words, like "popsicle!" or "triceratops!")



This is my favorite. Awww! (More screen-saver material for Grandma!)



There were a few big daisies, too, but I didn't find them till after I'd finished the wreath. That would be pretty.

Olive You!

I suppose every child figures out how to do this without any prompting. Yum!



And here's Kate with a pomegranate juice popsicle. We got these popsicle molds at Target a couple of weeks ago (they're cool--the cross-section is star shaped) and we've been using them a lot. Quite a lot. Sometimes Kate will sit in her high chair and eat three popsicles in a row. (At first she was calling them "postickles.") We've always had trouble getting her to drink enough, so we figure this is not a bad thing.



She realized she could see her reflection in the camera lens, so she's making eyes at herself. Ha!