Mt. Diablo State Park

On Saturday, we decided to forgo yard work, cleaning house, or lazing about and head for higher ground. It was a beautiful day, aside from the ever present haze, and we've been cooped up too long. We drove over the Altamont to Mt. Diablo State Park and had a great time hiking. We stared awhile at the vultures, with their dark, iridescent wings. We scrambled on, over, and into sandstone rock formations. We forgot all about Jarom's birthday party, woops! We enjoyed a quiet hike on a less-traveled path and saw globs (a technical term) of ladybugs and beautiful red trees. All in all, it was a great way to spend the day and we in no way regretted the break from our routine.

Nap time

On of Nathan's latest words is "nap," which sounds a lot like naaaaaa (no crying involved, just a very long a sound). Lately he has a cold and doesn't feel well, so napping is a little more attractive than usual. He'll find me, back up into me (indicating I should put him on my lap), then lay his head on my shoulder and say "nap." I'm happy to oblige.

Change of Plans

Originally, we thought we were going to spend Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa G and Great-Grandma P at our home. Things change. Instead, we ended up leaving our presents under the tree and heading to Utah. Joshua, for one, was very excited. He got to exchange the gloomy blah of central California for the brilliant whites of northern Utah. We had barely begun our ascent into the Sierras and he was already asking if he could get out and play in the snow. While he still had many hours to wait, he did get to live his dream. We spent as much of our week out of doors as two boys could handle (the other little boy had a much lower saturation point). Hooray for snow!

Family Picture

So, now that the grandparents have their gift copies, I will officially unveil this year's family photo.

There are seasons in California

It turns out that there are at least two seasons here, summer and fall. I vaguely recall some season from when we arrived in March, but it could have just been still fall and, coming from Illinois, we thought it was spring. Today we went to park day and Joshua loved playing in the leaves with the girls (I brought the only boys, mine). Since our trees just drop spiky balls, there hasn't been much jumping into leaf piles around here. Joshua loved it and the girls didn't mind him throwing leaves on them. Nathan, on the other hand, just wanted to go home and take his nap. And a few weeks later, Daniel.