Kickin' it at the Beach

Last week our Martial Arts school took our kicks and high energy to the beach.  

We made a short stop in Riverside to visit the beautiful garden of our instructor, Farai Muchenje.  We have been hearing about his garden for so long, and we weren't disappointed.  He loves his garden and drives all the way to Riverside almost everyday to work on it. He has worked so hard, and has so many plans.  It was amazing - a tropical paradise in the middle of a barren landscape.  Well done, Mr. Muchenje!

The kids each got a chance to throw a ninja star into a tree stump.

 Of all the kids, only Alex and Nathan got their stars into the stump.  Maybe we should invest in a few ninja stars - NOT!

A group picture in the garden before hitting the road.

We drove to Crystal Cove State Beach on the Newport coast.  It was a great beach with relatively few people.  We set up our shade structures and gave the kids the boundaries - right in front.  The kids were all so good.  They all stayed right where they were told, and they all played so nicely together - all ages, boys and girls - with no problems at all.  I was so proud of how good everyone was.  They are well trained, obviously. 

Just a cute picture of Luke.

Later we got down to business.  First there was the throw each other our of the big circle game.  Derek was one of the last two standing.  Then they did some soft sword fighting.

And of course a bit of board breaking.  I think the kids got a kick out of it!

Kiap gang!  What a day!

Memories

1. As a comment on our blog, leave one memory that you and I (or Dennis, or any of the boys) had together. It doesn't matter if you knew us a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. 

Phelps Phan

OK, I admit it, I am an Olympics junkie.  I have a problem.  It is true.  I absolutely LOVE watching the Olympics!  I have been looking forward to 8/8/08, 8p.m. since January when I realized it was an Olympic year.  I was so happy when they decided to have the winter Olympics on an alternating schedule from the summer games, so that I get my fix every two years rather that 4.  I have to say it is much better for my nerves.  The funny thing is that I am NOT a sports fan.  I think sitting to watch a baseball game is a form of torture, not to mention an incredible waste of time.  Maybe it is something about the nature of professional sports that cheapens it and takes all the drama out for me.  But there is something different about the Olympics and it goes way beyond the sports to the athletes themselves that I just love.  I am completely fascinated by all the different sports there are out there, and how different people get involved in the different sports.  I love to see all the type of athletes there are, old and young, and all the different body types from the tiny gymnasts to the tall swimmers, to those big shot-putters - there seems to be a sport for everyone.  I am fascinated to watch all the sports, to try to understand how they work, what the rules are and how they are judged.  I think it is a crying shame that they don't show more of a variety on prime time TV -  as it seems all they show is swimming, gymnastics, and a whole lot of female beach volley ball (gee, wonder why.  Do those gals really have to play in little bikinis?).

 

There is so much more to the Olympics than that. I think my Patriotic side loves the Olympics not just because I love to root for the home team, but because I really believe in America, and in the American way.  I believe that we don't have to take children away from their families at the age of three to train in camps whether they like it or not, like the Chinese do, to produce great athletes.  I think considering that and the population a China, the Chinese should be much better than they are.  But they aren't because that is not what sport is supposed to be about.  It is so sad, and those poor athletes are afraid to screw up. Here, people are free to follow their own passions, and compete for the sheer joy of it.  American gold represents freedom at its best.   

I also love to see records broken!  I am constantly amazed to see a world record smashed!  And they always get broken.  It just goes to show that the capabilities of the human being is limitless.   The only limits are mental.  When someone breaks a record, they break a mental wall, and time and time again, once someone breaks a record, then people began to reach that level more and more.  It is easier because people know it can be done.  When someone breaks a record it is good for mankind.  It is a victory over the mind as well as body.  I am also amazed at what the human body can do.  When I remind myself that these athletes are human, just like me, I am even more impressed.   a perfect routine on the uneven bars or a perfectly synchronized dive is just jaw-dropping to watch.

I think what I really love about the Olympics is the human side of it all.  I love hearing the stories of the athletes, to learn what their lives are like, wherever they are from, and see their passion for what they do. I love to learn what the athletes went through to get where they are and understand what either getting to the Olympics or winning or losing means to them.  And every athlete has a story.  I find that I cheer harder when I know the story.

This year I am enthralled with Michael Phelps.  Being a swimmer, I have some appreciation for what he is accomplishing in Beijing.  How does he do it?  I don't know what I like better - when he blows everybody out of the water, like the relay where the camera couldn't zoom out far enough to get the Americans and the rest of the teams in the same shot because the Americans were so far ahead, or when he comes from behind to snatch the victory away from another at the last second, like the unreal 100 butterfly race last night.  That was heart stopping - .01 seconds difference!  It was that last stroke he took while his opponent who was ahead glided into the wall.  That made ALL the difference.  That is why he is so great.  That is why he is unstoppable.  I love watching him swim, and analyze his flips and starts.It makes me want to swim just a little bit faster ans workout just a little bit harder.   I am impressed with his story - his father left when he was small, he had ADHD and teachers told him he'd never amount to anything , kids picked on him because he was so tall, and his feet were too big, his arms too long, and his ears stuck out.  Then he started swimming, and his coach saw something there.  We can learn a lesson from that.  We should all try a bit harder to see the potential in others, and ourselves.  Tonight I will be watching when he gets his 8th gold medal of these games in the medley relay- hopefully, and becomes the greatest Olympian ever.  I'm so excited! 

 I think I'll be sad to see it end, and I know I'll be so sad when the Beijing games end and the Olympic magic goes away until it comes to Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012.  But for now I am going to stay up past midnight (an incredible feat for me actually - I am NOT a night person) every night and cheer, and hopefully my jaw will drop and my heart skip a beat a few more times before the games come to a close. GO USA!

Day 7 - Home Again

 

A beautiful Sunday morning, and time to say good-bye to beautiful Wyoming.  We packed up our camping gear and kids and headed south, back through Grand Tetons on our way home.  

We stopped again at stunning Jenny Lake, took our scriptures and some water bottles, and went on a little hike part way around the lake.  It was an absolutely perfect hike.  Wildflowers everywhere, tall pines provided shade, and a cool breeze was blowing through the shimmering aspens.  The view up ahead was the majestic Tetons, and to our right was tranquil Lake Jenny.  Perfect.

After  short hike we found  a perfect spot where we could be alone, a little bit of shore that we had to climb down to.  There we sang a few hymns, read scriptures and had a family testimony meeting.

One of the scriptures we read was Alma 30:44.  "...all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth and all things that are upon the face of it, yea and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

We discussed all the beautiful and interesting things that we had seen on this trip, and acknowledged the Lord's hand in all of them.  How grateful we are that the Lord created this beautiful world for us.  It was fun to think about what it had been like when the Lord decided to design Yellowstone, and laughed about how he might have come up with the idea of bison. It was the perfect setting for such a discussion.

After a family prayer, we hiked back to the car...

 

  but first we stopped at the ranger station so the boys could receive their Junior Ranger patches that they had worked so hard on.  Because of a technicality, (lack of communication from one ranger station to another) the rangers almost wouldn't give them to the boys.  But finally it was all settled and in this picture the boys are solemnly giving the junior ranger pledge, promising to be good to animals and preserve the national parks, etc.  

 

One last picture of the Grand Tetons.

On the road again.  We were even more packed in the car than we were on our way up, even minus all the food we ate - or maybe because of all the food we ate.  We drove home following the Idaho/Wyoming/Utah border, crossing back and forth into Idaho several times, back into Wyoming, and then Idaho then Utah and Wyoming again before finally crossing into Utah for the last time.  The kids thought we were going in circles and couldn't figure out why they kept seeing "Welcome to Wyoming" signs when we were supposed to be leaving Wyoming.  Alex kept telling us we were lost.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in a tiny little Cokeville, Wyoming which had a handful of tiny homes and a big Mormon church - that's about it.  I couldn't live in a place like that - but was impressed by the fact that the whole town was shut down for the sabbath.  We were happy to find the city park with a picnic table , a bathroom, and enough grass to stretch our legs on.

We drove non-stop through Salt Lake and all the way to St. George to stay at Marlynn's place again.

In the morning we all slept in because we were exhausted and not anxious to get back into that car again.

Alysa told me about a store I HAD to check out in St. George, Tai Pan Trading, so I snuck out of the house to find it.  Luckily it was literally right around the corner.  Good thing since I don't know my way around St. George at all.  I was expecting a fun little boutique - and that what I found, except for the "little" part.  This place was HUGE - the size of Home Depot - a Home Depot for girls.  It was so much fun - home decor, amazingly lifelike silk flowers, just so much stuff, and all displayed so beautifully!  I got so many ideas.  I was so bummed because I knew I couldn't buy much because our packed car wouldn't allow it.  I was so excited to find out that they are opening a Tai Pan Trading in Rancho Cucamunga next month.  That's only like an hour away from my house.  Yeah!  It was so fun, and I spent almost 2 hours there browsing.  But its the type of place where you really have to bring a friend.  Anyone out there up for a girl trip to Rancho next month?  

When I returned to Marlynn's place, I saw that the front window of her house was broken, and I was pretty sure it wasn't broken when we arrived the night before.  Sure enough, Caleb had broken it when his brothers locked him out of the room, so he went outside and banged on the window with his fist.  Nice.  Sorry Marlynn!  So we spent the drive home on the phone, calling around to find someone to come and replace the window.  At the beginning of our trip, we had promised the boys that we'd stop at Buffalo Bill's on the way home and ride the roller coaster, but the new window will cost over $200, so when we got to Buffalo Bill's we just drove right by.  Too bad.  A roller coaster ride sounds like a lot more fun than replacing a window.

In Yucca Valley we stopped to visit Dennis' dad at the convalescent home he has been in since he had a stroke a few months ago.  His mom was there and we had a nice visit. The boys had so much to tell them about our trip and Nathan nearly gave Grandma a heart attack when he told her about being attacked by a mountain lion.

 Caleb made me crazy, though.  At the Yellowstone gift shop, he had begged Dennis to buy him a green fishing type vest that had Yellowstone Junior Ranger embroidered on it.  He HAD to have it.  It was pricey, you know how it is at gift shops, but he knows how to flash his big brown eyes, and get what he wants from dad. Well, we told him to put it on for grandpa to see, but he refused.  He said he didn't like it, and that people would laugh at him, and he refused to wear it - even on threat.  Flat out refused.  AARGH!  We said we'd give it to Lukie.  He said "fine".  He really was glad to be rid of it!  Don't you just love it when kids do that?  Now Luke has a new ranger vest, that swims on him.  Kids are great.

So now we are home.  I had insisted that the house be spotless before we left.  I don't know why.  Its just the thought that my house was clean for two straight weeks makes me so happy.  (Maybe it is the clean underwear thing - you never know when your going to get into an accident.)  I just thought it would be nice to come home to a clean house, and it would have been if I had insisted my kids and all the stuff just stayed in the car.  But the sublime joy of a clean home lasted for exactly three seconds.  Rowdy, car-crazy kids running around, dirty camping gear dumped into the entryway, and LOADS of smokey laundry piled in the laundry room have replaced it.  The vacation may be over, but the fun is just beginning!

Day 6 - Huge Rocks and a Pretty Hole

It is our last full day of our Yellowstone, and we decided to leave Yellowstone and spend the day in Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  To get to Jackson Hole from Yellowstone you have to drive south right through Grand Teton NP.  What a pretty drive it is too.

We stop at a visitors center so the kids could sign up for the junior ranger program here.  Caleb is working hard on his worksheet about Indians.
Caleb and Dylan pose in front of the beautiful mountain range.
Those jagged rocky mountains are amazing - so different from the other mountains in the area.  They just jut into the sky and remind me of the Alps.

 
Jenny Lake, at the base of Grand Teton is simply gorgeous!!  The beautiful mountains are reflected in the glassy lake which is pristine.  That guy I'm with is gorgeous too!

Just near Jenny Lake, we saw a bunch of cars pulled over and people taking pictures.  We thought it was probably another deer or elk, but were so excited to see it was a bear!  The boys had been hoping to see a bear all week, but they are more rare than the other large animals.  It was a black bear, but more grey than black.  He was about 30 yards off the roadway and busy eating in the bushes.  This was the best picture I could get of him.  He never rearred up on his haunches or anything scary - sorry.  I thought he was just cute, trying to eat a quiet lunch despite the snapping of the paparazzi's cameras. 
Dennis gives Luke the best seat in the house for bear watching.  He is thrilled!

On to Jackson Hole.  This place is anything but a hole... it is a lovely town.  We counted five of these elk antler arches in Jackson.  

Caleb found the best hang out in town.

Nathan on a buffalo couch.  Thats just the kind of conversation piece I need for my living room.

We loved walking around the fun shops downtown.  We each found what we were looking for for our different collections - pressed pennies, patches, pins, rocks, coins, and a tiny silver charm of an antler arch for me.

See what I mean - stage coach, antler arch, tall trees - pretty Western town.

Look, another bear and its got Caleb!  OK so its not real, but at least he takes a better picture than the black bear we saw earlier.
We had a great time in Jackson Hole, and the fact that it started raining near dusk made it even better as far as i'm concerned.

 

Our drive back to Yellowstone the sun was setting and the mountains were lit up in beautiful pinks and purples.

Once again, the picture doesn't come close to capturing the majesty, the colors, and the light of the scene.  I love my camera, but would love to learn how to really use it to get great pictures.

Yellowstone Day 5 - Close Encounters of the WILD Kind!

Now here's a FREAKY tale.  In the morning when Dennis and I were laying in our tent, putting off getting out of out warm sleeping bags, we head Nathan outside our tent.  He had fallen asleep in the  lounge chair in his sleeping bag by the fire last night, so had spent the night outside.  From our tent we heard Nathan telling one of his brothers that he had been attacked by a mountain lion.  Dennis and I just rolled our eyes at Nathan's story, figuring he had just had a wild dream.  It wasn't until we got up and out of the tent did Nathan show us these three puncture holes in the bottom of his new sleeping bag.  They hadn't been there before.

He told us that he woke up when he felt something tugging at his bag.  He opened his eyes to see a mountain lion was doing it with his teeth.  I guess the mountain lion was trying to figure out what Nathan was because when he saw Nathan wake up, he let go and went into the trees nearby where he stayed and watched Nathan for a long time.  Poor Nathan was just too scared to move or even yell, for the rest of the night.

I couldn't believe it until I saw the holes and a few large feline footprints near-by.  Can you imagine how scared he was?  Poor Nathan.   I was freaked out just thinking about it.  I'm sure Nathan will be sleeping in the tent for the rest of the trip.  Had it been me, I'd be sleeping in a hotel for the rest of the trip, no doubt!

After breakfast, we broke up camp and loaded up the car to drive south to camp at Grant Village on Lake Yellowstone.  We were glad to be leaving that blood thirsty lion behind.

Hey, What's that guy doing in the carpool lane?

Of course, it wasn't long before we came across a large herd of bison, and we stopped to watch them do what they do.  It is fascinating to watch them.

Lukie with his new buffalo toy and Alex watch the herd from the hood of our car.

Nate gets a closer look with the binoculars.

This guy was kind of close to our car, but he was looking away and doing nothing more than slobbering and grunting.

Suddenly he turned around and started heading straight toward us - Not charging or anything - but coming right at s nonetheless.  We all freaked out and jumped into the car.  Whew - until we realized we had left Luke sitting on the hood of our car!!! Lightning fast Dennis jumped out and scooped little Lukie off the hood and safely into the car.  It turns out that the buffalo changed direction and wandered off looking for a tasty wildflower, but we decided to stay in the car and continue our drive.  To many close encounters with wild animals for one day.
This hot spring in called the dragon's mouth, and it is aptly named because steam pours out like smoke, water laps out as a great tongue regularly like a wave pool, and it makes a loud growling roar, just like a dragon.  It was my favorite hot spring, I think.
We made it to Grant Village, and got our camp all set up before some of the boys took off to explore our little corner of the great Yellowstone Lake.
Luke watches the boys play from a small bridge.
Dylan and Nate do some surfing on a log in the lagoon. 

We take the long way back to camp, hiking up to the old bridge and across.

Later we drove to another part of the Lake where the boys tried their hand at fishing again.  It was simple beautiful out there on the lake.  So quiet except for the frequent splash of fish jumping out of the water - which was the only time we saw any fish.  We never caught any.  It seems the only wild animal we didn't encounter today was a fish.  
Nathan took the time to perfect his stone skipping technique across the glassy surface.

I don't have a picture, but for me the funnest part of the day was tonight.  Driving back to camp, Dennis dropped the 4 older boys and I off at the ranger station for a ranger presentation.  The presentation was o.k., but when it was over it was pitch black dark, and we realized we had to hike a trail back to our campground and we had  no flashlight.  We started down the trail in the dark, and soon caught up to another group that were in the same situation - it wasn't dark when the ranger talk started - so we are all in it together.  I think the other group were LDS too.  They informed us that their soon-to-be-Eagle Scout was leading the way, so we confidently followed.  We had fun laughing and joking as we hiked along in the dark, though I would have been freaked out if Caleb or Luke had been with us.  It was fine.  The boys thought scary made it great.  I was just hoping not to have another close encounter with a wild animal. There were a few times when I realized that the ground dropped off both sides of the trail.  Stay on the trail!  Then we came to a swinging bridge, of all things, and the excitement rose a notch.  Swinging on a rope ridge in the dark.  Does it get any better?  Finally, our traveling companions had to take a different direction, because the were camped in a different loop, so we were on our own.  I made an educated guess as to where to turn off the main path, and after following it a short distance we saw a light.  Guess what? It wasn't any old light.  It was actually Dennis' lantern!  We not only guess right on our loop, but hiked right into our very own campsite.  Not bad for hiking in the dark.  Did I mention I was a Summiteer?  Who needs a compass or a flashlight when you've got me?  Of course that trail would have been no big deal in the daytime, but at night it became a real adventure.  It was just so fun and scary and I thought it was cool that our own light was the first one we saw coming through the woods.

Back at camp, we had run out of propane for the stove, so Dennis cooked dinner pioneer style, over the open fire.  He thought it was great.  Did I mention Dennis is an Eagle Scout?  And even though we had no fish again, and we were even out of spam, dinner was great.  I think food tastes better cooked over the fire, anyway.

Luke pretending to be a bison, butting heads with Dennis in an attempt to show male dominance.  Not convincing.

Smore's anyone?