Mother's Day treat

As if a mini vacation was not enough celebration for Mother's day... My three favorite guys had managed to sneak out and get gifts, wrap them and even decorated the house while I did a quick run to Safeway for bagels after church. We had a lovely afternoon, hanging out, lounging and relaxing before heading to the beach and a surprise birthday party for a friend. So Mamma did not have to cook, again!

Mother's Day trip

Bob arranged for a fun mini vacation for us this past weekend, to celebrate Mother's Day, and to get away and just hang out as a family. Although we try very hard to not get over committed, we found ourselves with one free day in the foreseeable future, so we grabbed it and left town.

Strawberry Pancakes

Sharing raspberry pancakes, and we still had left overs!

Banana Fosters Pancakes... no left overs, we all licked the plate!

Noah packed jelly beans in his pockets for provision on the hike

The Redwoods are just soooo tall!

Not a new backpack, just the emergency one... :-)

Lunch on a log in the woods.

Bob taking a picture of a Redwood

This is the picture he took!

Some fun along the way

Can I hang from this branch?

Waterfall, and we did hike there, all of 40 stairs...

No, we did not get any free bagels..

Capitola Pier

Lukas taking his own picture

Just to start off the vacation right, and to avoid dishes and messes in the kitchen, we went to the Breakfast Club known for its large pancakes. The three that we ordered served us well for several days!
We headed to Big Basin, north of Santa Cruz for a hike among the Redwoods, and to see some pretty waterfalls. It turned out that the easy 4+ mile hike to the falls was closed, so rather than the 11+mile hike we to drive to another set of falls and climb down the stairs to see it. It seemed like a good compromise as we got in a 4.5 mile hike and we got to see water flowing fast down the mountain. Noah on the other hand reluctantly accepted the notion that the we did not hike to the falls, but rather drove. Cookies from the Pacific Cookie companies seemed to soothe the disappointment quickly.
We ended the day in Capitola eating Thai food at a restaurant located right on the beach, Thai food holds a special place in our hearts, our first dinner date was at a Thai restaurant 13 years ago this week.
It was a wonderful and very special outing with my three favorite guys.

Roses...

Whoever said it is hard to grow roses have not tried to do it here in Monterey. Our backyard has almost two dozen rose bushes that were planted a long time ago. Before we moved in, this house was empty for three years, which probably meant little if any TLC for the roses. Anyone who knows me knows that gardening, and horticulture is not my strength.... From talking to people and dear friends, I learned two important things about roses and Central Coast California; neither seemed too difficult to implement, it was never a case of daily, weekly or even monthly chores, it was a once a year and it is done, manageable even for this reluctant gardener. This is the result, we have had roses blooming since early February and they just keep on coming. On one bush there are so many roses it is almost hard to count. Noah keeps cutting and bringing in roses, and the scent is amazing, and the colors are so incredible. When life gets busy, looking out the window, ignoring all that needs to get done and simply gazing at the roses is the best recipe for a quick pick me up. Enjoy some of our bounty!

Like Hondurans.....

The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, how could one possibly stay inside?  The promise of a beach trip proved to be the right incentive for efficient school work, and then we headed to the beach to spend time with friends. The boys began their customary digging, deeper and larger than ever before - then again there were three of them. It did not take long to have a hole large enough for all three of the boys along with the sisters to join in the fun. A bit sweaty from digging so hard, sun beating down and lots of sand everywhere - what is a boy to do? Well, the ocean is blue, inviting and it is indeed the quickest way to get rid of sand. That we had not brought swimsuits did not bother them at all. "We are like our Honduran friends, Mamma, they do not use swimsuits." and off they went to play in the surf. Yes, the Pacific is blue, and the sun is shining, but it is still very cold in the water. Not wanting to find out empirically since it would involve me getting wet and therefore very cold, I am relying on reported sources for a water temperature in the mid 50s. After an hour of body surfing, boogie boarding and getting caught up in waves, the low body temperature finally forced everyone up to warm up.

 A snack and some more digging and the adults thought it prudent to head home, it was after all almost dinner time. Before we leave however it is important to refill any holes, since they can be dangerous to anyone else walking or jogging on the beach. The sand was flying, was more hitting and staying on bodies than landing in the hole? Nobody knew for sure... all I know is that a nice Dad picked up a large shovel and began to make some real headway, probably because all adults were ready to leave. Lukas and Noah agreed that going home would be a good idea, a hot shower even better. Only one dilemma remained, sand, sand, sand everywhere as they had dug in wet clothes that were now slowely drying in the breeze, making the sand stick even more to every fiber of the shirt and every crease and pocket of the shorts. Back in the water for a final wash off, and some body surfing - just could not resist the wave. Back at the car, all wet, now shivering a bit as the realization of what they had put their bodies through for a long time finally dawned upon them, they quickly rinsed off their sandy feet to prevent us from exporting all the sand from the beach. Our car only has a maximum weight capacity after all...
What a fun day - sun, beach, fun, friends and sand of course!

Solved it!

Lukas and Noah are participating in Monterey Lego League this spring and it is coming towards the end.. no more time to free flow experiment, it is time to make things happen. So, the teams were a bit frustrated when they could not get the color sensor to work as desired. Bob to the rescue! The three Severinghaus' boys spent some time trouble shooting and of course solved the dilemma - now the NXT Robot is walking around telling us if the surface is white or black...

Sand, sand, sand

The weather is absolutely fabulous right now, clear blue sky, sun shine, a gentle breeze and a comfortable 68 degrees. Bob is discovering academic deadlines comes on weekends as well, so the boys and I headed to the beach while he worked. The weather was too nice to even think about driving, so we headed out on bikes, conquering some pretty steep hills which we can do now that everyone has a geared bike.
Lukas and Noah spent their beach time building a sand castle, with 55 towers around. However, there was no deep hole, so Noah had to complete our beach time by burying his leg, at least one part of his body has to be underground when on the beach.
The birds were enjoying a fun game of chicken with the waves, which kept Mamma amused and entertained while the boys constructed.

De-throned?

There is a new waffle king in town. Up to this point, Dad has been THE KING of waffle making. Mamma has made several valiant attempts, but to no avail, the verdict has always been: "Dad's are better." This morning Lukas cracked the secret code and cooked up waffles for his brother...