Crossing the County Line

Wilson Boulevard ends here.

When coffee ceased to be a goal for our morning walks, Tim and I began to take other hiking routes around our area.  Today was the second time we took the route that involves crossing the county line.  We started from the end of the Wilson Blvd. and onto a footpath that eventually joins Iron Point at Empire Ranch in Folsom.  This is a very good walk except for the fact that we have to climb really steep hills twice!  We tried to reverse our path by starting on the other end - Treviso Way but it was the same - we still had to climb up the same hills.  These walks definitely make me want to take long hot showers afterwards. 

Also, I have joined a hiking group of women from church.  During the last two months we hiked on Salmon Falls Trails.  I'm amazed to see bikers there considering that the road is rough, narrow, and steep.  Our group has to stand in line at the side of the pathway for them to pass.  And then there are runners who can manage to breathe and talk to us while running to pass us.  We are the slow hikers but we talk fast while we walk.  We go once a month and so far it has been fun. (It might be different in the summer when the weather is really hot.)  These hikes makes me want to sit down and watch TV after my long hot showers.

Watching Rose Parade

Everyone is cozy with blankets and hot cocoa.

New Year's Day 2012 is on a Sunday.  As a result  the Rose Parade was held on the following day - Monday.  We were all looking for Shannon's dorm mate who was banner-bearer.  Unfortunately, he was right behind the float with the surfing dogs.  The commentators spent a long time talking about the float and how it (being the longest float) would make a turn around the corner. We were all disappointed not to have seen him there. 

We also watched the HGTV Dream Home 2012.  We always dream of winning a dream home.  Who knows, maybe this year we will be the lucky ones to win it.  :)

Note that Shannon's face is its full swollen-size. 

American River

The American River

Sometimes I wonder how the American River got its name.  Of all the rivers in the country, how come this river was named American River?  Could it be because gold was first discovered by James Marshall on this river?  The promise of more gold  brought people from all over the world to California to pursue the "American (River) Dream" known as the Gold Rush.  But I really do not know the origin of the river's name.

 

First Bridge

There are trails on both sides of the river - biking, hiking and even horse-riding trails.  Every once in a while Tim and I would shift from our normal "home-to-coffee shop walks" to driving to Old Folsom and then walking along the river.  Miriam was on vacation last week so we brought her with us. 

 

Second Bridge

 

Third Bridge

 

Resting

Apple Hill - It's The Season Again

Apple Hill Farms are open again!  It has now become a tradition of our family to go to Apple Hill to buy apples in large quantities.  Tim figured out that it takes thirty minutes to drive from our house to the Hill - which means that we can go there during his lunch break and be back in an hour depending on traffic.
Tim and I drove up to Apple Hill yesterday.  'Gravenstein' apples are in season - they are flavorful and cook well as in pies and apple sauce.  We purchased a 20-lb box of apples.  I bought a big seedless watermelon along with some fresh corn.  We could not resist trying the blackberry dumpling from Boa Vista Orchards.  They were good or should I say - it would have been good if we that was all we ate.  Instead, we drove to Abel's Apples and there we bought apple donuts.  In fact we brought some to bible study last night and shared some with the folks in our small group.   So good and so fattening. 

It appears to me that Apple Hill is like a year-round Farmer's Market.  Families love going there to have picnics; purchase apples; soon the hay mazes will be open for little kids and adult as well.  Pumpkin patches will soon be ready to be trampled by small feet.   We love going there to buy apples.  Our favorite apple varieties are Gravenstein, Pippin, Granny Smith and Fuji.  Fuji is sweet, juicy and crunchy for eating.  The other varieties I mentioned are particularly excellent for cooking although we love them also as table apples just because they are tart.

It is the time of the year when we eat a lot of apples.  Already I made some apple sauce which my children enjoyed with their dinner last night.  It was so good!  This morning we had apple sauce with breakfast and I put sliced apples in their lunch also.  Maybe tonight I will make apple pie for desert. 

Horse Camp

Getting ready to play some games.  Miriam is the second from the left.

Miriam is a very confident rider.  She's getting Romeo to trot.

Miriam and 'Romeo' the horse at the arena.

Learning to prepare the horse before the ride.

Petting 'Trinity'

Feeling alone during the first day but it did not last long.  She made friends quickly.  

Miriam just completed her third day at camp today and she's still very excited with all the things that she's learning and doing.  She keeps telling me about the different horses she works with and their identifying characteristics.  Sometimes I wish that her siblings were here to hear about all her stories.  Each camper is assigned a horse to ride throughout the week but they get to work with different horses when it comes to doing related jobs (grooming, learning how to give horses a shot, training young horse, and maybe feeding).

Visiting an Old Time

To Shannon and Brahms it did not seem right that Miriam was not home.  So far they have spent a decade together that they didn't know what to do without her, never mind that they don't even pay attention to her when she's around.

I remember the time when Brahms went to first grade and Shannon was in third.  Miriam, who was probably one and a half at that time, was watching the TV.  When the show Dora came on she ran to the stairs and called her sibling, "Annee, Atee!  Dowa's on!"  (She used to call Brahms Annee, we didn't know why.  Shannon gets the title "Ate" for being her big sister.)  They've spent a summer long together and the pattern got stuck in her.  When the show was on she'd call them but this time she was alone at home.  Loneliness sank in.  It was not fun watching TV without brother and sister.  I had to step in and take their place. 

The same thing happened to the two older kids during this week.  Something was wrong without their little sister.  Eventually they began to do things together like they used to.  They reverted back to the time before Miriam.  It was amusing and endearing to see them go back to their collection of Beanie Babies and began to recollect the memories associated with each of their stuffed animals.   To say that there was a lot of laughter is an understatement.  They were like toddlers again except that this time they are much bigger.

After all the amusement they arrived at a decision to pack them and send them to children who do not have a lot of toys.  What a great idea! 

Sunday Afternoon in the Backyard.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Chess

Playing chess is part of their everyday activities.  Not that they choose to do it but because Tim and I are mean parents. :)  We require them to play a game of chess first before they can play computer/PS3 games or browse the internet other than for homework purposes.   Now that they are out of school, they can afford to devote more time to electronic games on a regular basis.

Before they would just play as fast as they can possibly manage - five moves and someone is already checkmated.  That was not a good sign.  So Tim and I being the mean parents that we are devised another solution to have them use their brains a little more.  We offered to give extra five minutes to the winner.  That made the games go a lot longer.  They all want the extra time that now they have to work hard to win.  There is a new PS3 game in the Lewis library this week - 'Modnation'.  I expect that there will be a lot of chess playing as they try gain time to learn it. 

Helping Kids Do Homework

The kids were flooded with homework last week.  Yesterday it was obvious that their workload has not subsided.  It was like a homework overload; my kids look like they were about to drown, metaphorically speaking.  Something had to be done to help these poor children.  So we, their smart parents, decided to announce that we needed to go see a movie.  The kids responded positively as expected.  They produced massive amounts of essays in Biology (Brahms), History (Shannon) and solved Math problems with ease.  We'll see about the quality of their work later.

To the theatre we brought them to learn "How to Train a Dragon."  They deserved a break.

Chess Tournament

"When you see a good move, sit on your hands and find a better one." ~ Bruce Pandolfini

Brooks Elementary School held a chess tournament today.  Miriam took the 2nd place individual trophy.  I've watched her play in chess tournaments from the time that she was the youngest member of the club when she was in first grade, to this time when she's among the best players in the club.  The problem with learning chess early in life is that defeat is always the name of your game.   Lucky for her... she had me to play chess with.  She had a better chance of playing a good game with me than with the rest of the family.  She and I were almost of the same rating.  We've not played together in a long time but I'm guessing that she's now way beyond me. 

Brahms ran the tournament with a little help from his daddy.  He helps Mrs. McClurg run the Chess Club at the school.  He seems to feel that this job is getting more rewarding as more kids show appreciation to the lessons that he teaches them.

A chess player needs to learn not only to win but also to handle defeat.  Shannon had to learn the latter today.  During the last tournament she squashed Ross Grier... this time she was careless and lost the game.  Her confidence probably led her to underestimate her opponent.  As a chess teacher, Pandolfini named the two most important forms of intelligence that he taught his students:  the ability to read other people and the ability to read oneself.  He considered these to be the two forms of intelligence you need to succeed at chess...and in life.

Long Break is Over

Avocado-Tomato Panini

As we end the long break, I cant help but thank God for blessing us with the time that my children and I have spent together uninterrupted by long hours of being in school.  Among the things we shared were hugs, kisses, remembrances, eating in and out, working together, watching "Jeeves and Wooster", playing games, joy-riding to nowhere, making paninis, planning, reading, watching birds, riding with a student-driver, frustration in erradicating ants, walking to Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate, baking and eating cookies, and many more...  

Tomorrow, we will get up early, eat breakfast quickly,  pack lunches, kiss goodbye, go to music lessons again.   Fortunately, there will be evenings when we will be all together once more.

Chocolate Crinkles

Apple Hill

Apple Hill, a place in the foothills near El Dorado Hills.  Ten years ago before we moved to El Dorado Hills one of Tim's co-workers advised us to go see this place called Apple Hills.  We all made our own preconceived picture of the place.  It took us many years before we finally convinced ourselves to go to Apple Hill.  The place did not come close to that mental image I created - I imagined a green hill that is lined with apple trees and there around that hill is green grass where people can watch the apples on the hill. 

Apple Hill is a community and an association of growers.  The association probably started with apple growers only but now you'll find wineries, pumpkin fields, and Christmas tree farms featured in the area.  It is a seasonal place of attraction as they open only late in the year when the apples reached a certain level of maturity, when the pumpkins are ready for picking, and until the Christmas trees are ready to be cut and all sold out.  It is a fun place to spend a day with family.  Some of our friends go to Apple Hill every year to find and cut their own Christmas tree. 

Of the many things that you can do in Apple Hill, our family has chosen two activities as our favorites:
First of all we like buying apples in bushels.  They are very freshly harvested and inexpensive (much cheaper than Costco apples).  We were there last Saturday and got half a bushel (30 lbs) of extra large Fuji apples for $12.00.  Maybe we will go back later to get Granny Smith apples for pies, apple sauce, and apple crisps.  Secondly, we like eating BBQ-ribs with the apples laden-with-fruits for the view.  We enjoy clumping together on a picnic bench as we eat delicious Apple Hill ribs.  This year however, in keeping with the economic-crisis (frugality) theme, we decided to cook our own ribs and packed it carefully so that it was still warm when it was time for us to eat them.  Tim made them so tender, you could tear the ribs apart with your fingers. Not only did we bring ribs, we also brought our  Lewis-version of garlic bread.  To complete our calorie consumption, Tim ordered a dozen of apple donuts.  Everything was delicious.  And most of all, we had fun! 

Apple Hill - Just another reason to get together.