Family Vacation Part II: The Sequel

Sunday morning, the first of July, we said good-bye to Uncle Dave in Santa Cruz and pointed the minivan down Hwy 101 toward Long Beach. Along the way we thought we might stop at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. But really we just stopped for gas in that town. Not quite up to the task of seriously looking, we plugged along until we were lured to the blue waters and bougainvillea of Santa Barbara. We did a quick drive through of the UCSB campus and then focused on making it down to Los Angeles for dinner (and a quick drive through of UCLA) and then to our hotel in downtown Long Beach. It was a full day of driving for sure.

Monday morning Michael and I were up earlier than Rex and Amira, naturally. As we were so close to the water we took a nice walk down to the harbor to see the Queen Mary and the boats and shops there. We even saw a seal playing around by one of the piers.



Once the teens awoke, we began our day of looking for future lodgings for Rex. He's been connecting with a woman in Long Beach who helps find housing for international students attending Cal State Long Beach. She places them in houses with other students, families or professionals. And she is apparently like a mom to them. I really liked her. After looking at a number of options, Rex decided to fill out a lease for a room with private bath and kitchen privileges. He'll be in the main house with a couple of professionals. There is another house in the back where three other international students will be staying. There is also laundry in the house. He will be close to the beach and not too far from school.

The place that he really liked was a house just for international students. At that house each student either gets a private room with shared bath or private room with private bath. Laundry is on premises and they pay a once per semester house cleaning fee. (house cleaner!!! Comes with the place ... amazing). The place looked like fun - and very college student oriented. Unfortunately, one has to apply for those rooms at least six months in advance. Rex applied for a room for January. So, at some point in November he will either decide to stay in the room he is renting (starting this summer) or he will give notice and plan to move into the student house in January.

It sounds like this woman also puts together social events for the students (no matter where she has them housed) so that they can get together and socialize with other students. What a great idea. I like this woman!

Once we figured out the living situation, we headed off to UTI to check out his new school. We got there just in time for a tour. Rex was also able to talk to someone about assisting him with job placement. He plans to work part time while he goes to school. 

What an exciting time! Here he is in front of his new school:



Tuesday morning Michael dropped off Rex, Amira and myself at Disneyland and headed off to play golf. I think this was more fun for everyone this way. And Amira had been so young the last time we went to Disneyland, she has no recollection of it. 

We kicked it off with Space Mountain and ended on Indiana Jones. Of course I had to torment them with It's a Small World in the middle of the day. We even took a break and went out to "Downtown Disney" for lunch at the Jazz Kitchen. Not only was it way more delicious than the "cafeteria fare" being offered in the park, but it was quiet and cool by comparison.

The three of us tore up the park from 9am-5pm. I thought surely we would stay later. But those teens are so mature. They decided to leave on a high note. Good for them! (and me)

Michael had just made it down to San Clemente to visit our friends, Steve & Kelley, when he got our text and had to head into rush hour traffic to head back to Anaheim to collect us. (Thanks, honey!)

We were all excited to see Kelley and Steve at their beautiful San Clemente home on the hill with views overlooking a canyon. That place was like Club Med! Also, they had just gotten a new puppy (the name is still up for debate ...) that was ADORABLE. So, there was that in addition to the fun visit with friends. Oh, and lets not forget ping pong for the teens.

Wednesday was the 4th of July. Michael and the Bogusiewicz Family headed down to the beach while I headed to the airport to pick up Valerie. (She had just been in Oregon for another Livestock Judging event. Grandpa Alligator dropped her off at the Sacramento airport for the flight down by herself. I tell you, these teens are all grown up). She really wanted to be with us for the ride home on Interstate 5 Saturday. (Ha ha!)

Wednesday was an easy day of visiting followed by a night of watching the fireworks show down at the beach. Last time I came down Kelley had taken me to her Zumba class. Now she is doing a "barre3" workout. (First we pay. Then we play)! Honestly, it worked me.

Steve took Rex for a ride in his old Renault. Just a couple of shirtless dudes.

Thursday was a beach day. Look at all these beach babes!

Friday was our last official day (before our departure Saturday morning to head back home). This was a day for Michael and Steve to jam with their friend Brian, who plays drums. Kelley and I briefly played the parts of back up dancers and good audience members. Sure, we were groupies.



Rex whipped up some salsa and guacamole. He does such an amazing job.

After all the sun, fun, music and food we fell asleep to music in Steve's "stereo" room. Here's Kelley with her sleeping puppy. Awwwe! I think we tuckered them all out.

Thanks to everyone who hosted us or helped transport us around for an awesome summer vacation. 

Family Vacation Part I

Friday at high noon we departed Chico for the first leg of "Family Summer Vacation 2018" to Santa Cruz. Our minivan cruised through the dusty heat of the valley and we observed fields of sunflowers and squash whip by out the windows between orchards until we reached the desolation of the brown grassy hills before Vacaville. The next couple of hours were sunk into Bay Area traffic - which wasn't as bad as we'd anticipated. We arrived at Uncle Dave's house about 5pm. What a relief to escape the heat of the valley to the cool coastal fog of Santa Cruz. Dave welcomed us with a delicious slow smoked pork dinner that he began preparing at 2am. Sooooo delicious!

We set up a family sleeping area in Dave's home theater where the Rex and Amira popped on the VR headgear and played a bar fight game that was hilarious. Saturday morning I woke early and headed over to "People's Coffee" (a tradition on our visits) where I grabbed my deliciously potent cup of joe and headed back to Dave's where I enjoyed the quiet morning of coffee and reading. Morning solitude is always savored ... as long as there is good coffee. 

The teens slept until about 11am or so in the blacked out home theater while Michael and Dave watched the World Cup game downstairs.

In the afternoon Dave lead us out to Wilders State Park for a hike along the coast to observe birds and harbor seals. (Adorable!)

I learned that if I hand my phone to Amira to take photos, there will be flattering selfies. I can only imagine she took this photo in the hopes that I'd post it to Tifftown:

Bwahahaaaa!

Anyway, what a relaxing day along the coast feeling the excitement of standing on the edge of the continent ... knowing that we had to wear sweatshirts here while it would be about 107 degrees back at home. Valerie was there looking after the farm in anticipation of her own trip back up to Oregon with her Livestock judging team. (She'll fly down to Orange County on Wednesday where I'll pick her up and she can finish the family vacation with us down there).

Waves, caves, sand, salty ocean breeze, birds, bees, seals and a great family visit with Uncle Dave. Why don't we do this more often?!

Saturday night was Pork Part II: Tacos! The rest of the evening we enjoyed the wildlife visiting Dave's back yard. There were gray squirrels, black squirrels, a number of birds and finally a skunk. No photos. Use your imagination. They were adorable.

Today we drive down to SoCal where we will start our adventures in Long Beach to check to check out where Rex will be moving in August.

More adventures to come ...

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Amira jumped right into June with a post-graduation 8th grade trip to Washington, DC and New York. She went to the capitol, many museums, Arlington Cemetery and saw lots of monuments in the first part of the trip. As she traveled up to NY in a bus with her companions, they were treated to ferry rides to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, World Trade Center, Wall Street, Ground Zero, dinner in Little Italy and a Broadway play, Hello Dolly. She also got to take boats out in Central Park. It was fast paced!

Upon her return, we had planned a family camping trip up to Lake Siskiyou (right in the shadow of gorgeous Mt. Shasta). But, alas, family members dropped out of that trip like flies. Rex couldn't take that weekend off work, so he stayed home. Michael was compelled to take a job in San Francisco that weekend. Valerie had "forgotten" that she had a sheep/livestock judging event in Oregon that whole week. So, I let Amira invite her friend, Sarah, along for a "women's weekend camp trip".

Amira and Sarah are professional campers. They got their tent set up lickety split. While I was still struggling with mine they set up the camp kitchen. We roasted s'mores under the stars that night. And might I add, those girls volunteered to do the dishes that night. Seriously, I didn't even ask. I was in heaven!

The following morning we made an awesome camp breakfast and then packed down to the beach at Lake Siskiyou where we spent the entire day. There was a little "beach Yoga" to start. We played in a raft that we brought along. And then the girls spent the rest of the day on some floaties (slides and docks and other inflatable toys) while I sat on the beach with a book. It felt like a real vacation.

Sunday morning we packed up camp relatively quickly and treated ourselves to breakfast at the Original Black Bear Diner in Shasta City. This is becoming a tradition now that we have done this twice. I kind of want to go back and stare at the mountain, stars and water again. It was kind of magical.

When we returned to the valley, the cousins (Maya and Anya) came down from Oregon for a visit. There was much splashing in the pool, painting of the nails and a trip to the movies.

Picture above are the cousins with Anya and Maya in the front row. Age ranges from 10-18 this year. Wow!

And now we are getting ready for another week of real summer vacation. Mmmmm! Summer vacation!! Feels so good.

It's been a relatively quiet post school-year lull here at Tifftown. I've been catching up on actual work. I'm less interrupted now that I don't have to jump up and coordinate something or drive somewhere with the frequency that I do during the school year. And in those down moments, I've taking to sitting on the back patio and looking out over the garden and listening to the fountain trickle. It's like a much needed waking nap.

Rex is off with his friends at Six Flags and San Francisco to celebrate graduation. He sent us this photo of himself with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Looks like he couldn't have asked for a better day in the city.

Valerie has been out working in an almond orchard daily. She has been earning money by pruning the almond trees and generally working on her blisters, calluses and sunburn while building character. Today she smartly left wearing a hat, long sleeves and long pants. Her first days in the orchard she looked more like she was dressed for the beach. But now she looks like a proper field hand. No photos of that girl for this blog post.

Sometimes Shutterfly sends me "memories" of some number of years ago. Below is a memory from five years ago of Rex and Valerie out shooting ground squirrels in an orchard. Also captured are flowers from our yard frolicking in the new pool. 

 As it is June, it is boysenberry time. Our neighbors have always provided us with berries from their yard. Good neighbors! We loved them so much we also planted some in our yard. Really, I cannot get enough. They left on vacation this year for Oregon and asked us to go into their yard and pick their berries and eat them. Yes, please and thank you! So, it's also pie season here!

Amira is on her post-8th-grade-graduation trip to Washington, DC and New York. Below are some photos I was able to collect from other people on the trip who kindly shared them. You have to look closely for Amira in the group photos, but she is there. Clockwise from top: Wall Street Bull (NY), Einstein Statue (DC), White House (DC), Some museum or something, and Statue of Liberty (NY) with her friend, Lakeyn.

Trips, trips and trips! How fun for these kids. 

Michael is hanging back to earn money to support these adventures. On his off-time he digs in the yard on a quest to get the gophers that seem to elude him, hits golf balls at the local greens, stacks and chops firewood for next winter, repairs sprinklers so our plants will survive and plays guitar. 

We have a few family trips scheduled for the summer. We'll be staying in state for them. Before we know it the summer will pass and Rex will be living on his own down in Southern California, Valerie will be a senior and Amira will start her freshman year of high school. 

CLASS OF 2018

Oh my! Rex (and his girl friend Dylan) are pictured in the collage below graduating class of 2018 from Chico High. Rex is the 2nd generation Wilhelm to graduate from this school. He sat with all of his College Connection (a group who finished their senior year at the local college instead of at the high school) friends, including his girl friend, during the ceremony. We got a close up of his cap complete with logos from his beloved car as well as the institute (UTI - ha ha) that he plans to attend in the Fall down in Long Beach.

I didn't expect to be so overwhelmed with emotions. But as I eagerly tried to pick him out in a crowd of 461 students all dressed like handmaidens, flashes of his first day of kindergarten and the first day I held him in the hospital after his birth all flooded my mind. 

After the graduation the high school parents put on a "Sober Grad" party at the fairgrounds for the seniors where they are basically allowed to bring only their phone and get locked in for a party from 11pm-5am. For the last year he insisted that he didn't want to go because it sounded like jail to him. But right after graduation when he saw all his friends headed there, he miraculously happened upon an extra ticket (not available at door) and got in. I understand that there was karaoke, raffles, poker, roulette, climbing wall, sumo suits, giant balls they could wear and slam into each other as well as other activities. He said he won two of the raffles that night for a total of $270 cash. Now, that's one lucky duck!

Pictured below is a collage of his graduation complete with Dylan adjusting his lei before walking on. In the group photo he is in the center wearing the lei next to a guy with beard and glasses. (Thank goodness for Michael and his great camera with long lens. We were up high in the bleachers).

I loved watching the legs and feet that were visible beneath the gowns of the graduates. Lots of flip flops. Only in California!

The following morning we were up and back out of the house early for Amira's 8th grade graduation. It was less crowded by comparison and definitely had a different energy from the high school graduation the night before. Now she and all her friends are looking forward to high school. Most of them (but not all) are headed to Chico High where we can look forward her graduation in four years.

Our end of the week excitement wasn't entirely over though. Amira had a few graduation parties to attend before coming home to grab a few hours of sleep before heading back to the Junior High to depart at 2am for her 8th grade class trip to Washington, DC and New York.

Here she is with her friend, Lakeyn, just after 2am all tagged and ready to head out for some adventure.

Needless to say, we are all a little exhausted and looking for a break from our usual routines. This morning Michael and I sat and had coffee and enjoyed a cool morning breeze in a quiet house. Valerie is still sleeping (or possibly just hiding in her room). Rex is at work as a referee down at the paintball park. Amira is on a flight to DC. Michael looked out the front window and noticed some quail in the front yard. Magical little visitors!

Lastly, in farm news, last weekend I was shocked to see a turkey back in my garden. Michael had put all the poultry behind a six foot fence and there was some wing clipping involved for good measure. How could this be? "Turkey in the garden! Turkey in the garden!" I exclaimed hysterically. Rex looked out the back door and said, "That's not one of ours. It's a wild turkey hen."

Here she is strutting on the opposite side of the fence from Major Tom. Of course he was showing off for her. Our other turkey hens were not pleased with the interloper. The outlander soon took off over the back fence. My garden is a bird magnet. (Well, last year it was a gopher magnet ...)

This place is like Wild Kingdom, I tell you!

How Hard Can It Be?

It's Memorial Day weekend here at Tifftown (as I'm sure it is elsewhere). I woke up at 6am to get Amira ready to care for the horses and critters down the street before heading off to meet the Girl Scouts (and Boy Scouts) to put flags on the graves of soldiers today. Valerie was up ambling about getting ready for auction day at the Silver Dollar Fair. She'll be there all day. (Michael and I will go see her later at the fair. Also, we want to see the "Wild West Turkey Stampede" because it's "not like we can get that at home"). Rex is absent as he is at a weekend long concert in Napa with his girlfriend, Dylan, as they celebrate the completion of final exams last week and look forward to graduation next week (not to mention Rex also turning 18)! Michael was left home alone. Well, that's a qualified alone. He was left home with all the critters. And they were demanding more attention than usual.

For this story, we have to back up a bit. Last Fall we kept 4 of our heirloom turkeys (Major Tom and 3 hens) in the hopes of raising our own flock and not having to rely on hatcheries. One of turkeys went broody this spring, sitting in all kinds of weather upon her nest of, what we were certain, was a pile of infertile eggs. So, we robbed a collection of eggs from the hen we were pretty sure was fertile and put them in the incubator to also sit for 28 days. We timed the hatch so the eggs would pop just a day or two after we returned from China. 

While we were in Beijing (I was riding on their very efficient subway toward some sort of temple) Rex texted the family that the broody turkey hatched out a clutch of 10 babies. Well! This was exciting (and unexpected) news! 

Upon our return we hatched out another 10 turkey poults from the incubator. Dang. That's a lot of turkeys. And then our third turkey hen went broody. Oh no. (She's still on the nest. I will probably have news early June).

Anyway, way too many turkeys over here. I decided to sell some of our incubator hatch. I sold 6. A hawk filched 3 out of the yard. So, now we are down to a "reasonable" 11 poults (plus whatever might hatch out of that last hen). 

We've really enjoyed watching the mama turkey strut around the backyard with her babies. Sometimes they ride on her back. She's been very attentive. She's taught them how to take dust baths in the garden and eat the choicest seedlings. They've also destroyed a few potted plants on the back patio and pooped all over the place. The domesticated incubator turkeys were flying out of their enclosure in the garage and getting lost in there and perching and pooping on bike handlebars and the like. So, while it was entertaining for a while, Wild Kingdom was encroaching on our domesticated lifestyle.

So, today was the day, Michael decided, that he would round up all the turkey poults and put them in a locked pen (with netting on top) in order to reclaim our space. Well, if he had any hope of putting it off, he quickly had proof that action was necessary as he found mama and her babies in the front yard (wrong side of the fence!) by the propane tank. These were some feral birds.

Not long after Michael rounded up all the baby turkeys (not an easy task) and corralled them in the enclosure he took a much needed break. Of course the break lasted about 10 minutes before he looked out the window and saw the feral ones in the garden again. What?! 

So, now that Amira and I were home, we went out there with Michael and a pair of scissors and rounded them up and clipped a wing on each. There is much complaining coming from the turkey pen this morning. First day in boarding school is the roughest.

When we first moved here I thought I'd gotten all the training I needed out at the GRUB CSA Farm about growing food. I mean, how hard can it be? We'll be living off the land, we mistakenly thought. Well, not only do I lack a little bit of (okay, A LOT of) discipline, but also boundaries. GRUB would never have let turkeys run wild in the garden. And they are also more vigilant about successive planting, cultivating and harvesting than I am. I'm a sloppy gardener. I'll admit it. 

Michael and I had discussed all the radishes, carrots, lettuce, etc. that we would have had were it not for the turkey infestation. (Last year it was a gang of gophers). This year I suggested that sign back up for the GRUB CSA for our veggies and consider anything out of the garden a bonus.

How hard can it be? Well, every time I udder those words I expect I'm asking the universe to show me just how hard it can be. Have I learned nothing?

In other news, and quick pix:

Rex wrapped up his Senior Year at Butte College. He still got dressed up from Prom with Dylan. Love this photo.

Amira participated in a "chalk walk" with other art students at her Junior High. The theme was "Album Covers". She and her friends created the below from the band called Logic. When this got posted on social media, it received a "like" from the actual band. This caused quite a lot of local excitement. It's a pretty amazing likeness, really. I like it too. (But I'm not famous ... so I don't count with as much weight at the actual band. I mean, c'mon!)

Valerie was elected President of her FFA chapter for her senior year. Her Livestock Judging Team placed 4th in the State of CA in San Louis Obispo this spring. (Pretty darn good for their first year as a team!) Below photo is: Josh, Hailey, Valerie & Sarah. They pretty much rule the local FFA chapter. 

She also placed 4th in sheep showmanship at the Silver Dollar Fair. This is pretty darn good considering the level of the kids she was up against. Those people do nothing but show sheep year round. 

Lastly, Michael and I tacked a few extra days onto his trip to Beijing (for business) in order to have a vacation and see some important sites like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace ... etc. It was a great trip! I'm glad we went.

And now, here we are back at Tifftown with the kids and critters. We are getting ready for a High School Graduation, 8th Grade Graduation and 18th Birthday. I'm hoping for a slightly slower paced summer ... but somehow, well, I'm not going to ask how hard it can be.