Next we walked through the park toward the lake. There were loads of wild blackberries along the paths…and a cool stream with shady spots for some lucky ducks.

Our favorite pink sparkly paddle boat was waiting for us at the lake. My copilot was intrigued by the sailboat, and we also saw some surfboard paddlers…they did not fall in or get wet the whole time. Looked like fun!

What a super way to cool off!

(This is part two of our weekend reunion with old friends…see part one here.)

The next day we got together again for a barbecue. Madame was excited to visit again after getting to stay up late to play the night before…she said she dreamed about the marble run.

The guys lounged in the backyard while the kids played and our hosts cooked…sushi and barbecue.

The weather was perfect, sunny but not too warm. After dinner we strolled over to a nearby park.

Did I mention their almost grownup kitten, Smores? She’s so cute!

Do you know what I dreamed about last night? Caterpillars at Filoli! - Lucy

One of the neat things about visiting Filoli is that you never know what you will see. The flowers are changed often, and the wildlife varies as well according to the season.

Recently we have seen wild turkeys and deer, and even both in the same day! The turkeys are hilarious…very self-assured birds who sometimes walk in front of a car, puff up, and gobble gobble at you.  The deer are so used to Filoli that they do not bolt at the first sight of visitors…esp. since we stay mostly at a distance.

There is also a resident rooster at Filoli, and though we have never seen him, we hear him often. Sometimes they let one of the chickens roam around in the garden…the last time that happened, Lucy was just a baby. She was scared of it even from a distance, and wanted to run away.

Oddly enough, her grandmother was also scared of chickens. She related this to me one time when we were walking through Filoli (possibly the same day as the chicken episode). Lucy has also shown a great dislike of chickens and roosters at petting zoos…so I think this might be an inherited trait.

Anyway, the last few visits we have been noticing…caterpillars! There are the little tiny green ones that dangle on strings hanging out of trees and get stuck in your hair (they have these every year at Stanford too), and the regular sized ones with stripes or spotty patterns. Here are some of the cool caterpillars we found recently.
Anyone able to identify them?

We’ve been to Filoli three times since it reopened in February. We went on Grandmommy’s birthday with the family, as has become our tradition.

Looking back through our photos I am reminded how happy Grandmommy was there, despite her illness. (The first photo below is Lucy now…the one next to it is Grandmommy in the same space 3 years ago. )

How peaceful and relaxing and ‘away from it all’ it is here.

Mommy, I wanna see the volcano interrupting!

-while watching Kilauea’s latest eruption

We just got back from a snowy weekend. Lucy enjoyed playing in Gma & Gpa’s yard, where there was still a bit of snow left over from last week’s storm.

Before:                                         After:

Here are some snow cats we made in the big pile of snow in the driveway:

We went up to Soda Springs for some snow play at Planet Kids. Lucy had a blast.

She rode on the tube ride, climbed the snowy volcano, and coasted down the hill. We checked out Boreal, which will be great next year for some ski lessons!

We celebrated Grandma K’s birthday with a cake made by Lucy, and played trains with Grandpa.

Grandpa gave Lucy a treasure chest, and let her pick out some shells to put in it!

“Lets get our helmets on.”
— Lucy as we get prepared to go outside on the big island

We had a wonderful time visiting Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. This was our second time visiting, and it was much different than the first.

The first time we were there, there had been a SO₂ unhealthy fumes warning which confined us in the Visitor Center for a half hour or so, closed the Jaggar museum, and much of the direct viewing of the caldera. Once it was safe to leave the Visitor Center we drove down the Chain of Craters road instead.

This time, the air was clear enough, so we went to several spots around Kilauea‘s caldera. We walked behind the Volcano House hotel (currently closed for renovation) to get our first view of the caldera, the steaming bluffs, and the Halema’uma’u vent.

Next we visited the Thurston lava tube. We walked through lush rainforest to the tube and crossed a bridge into a dripping, clammy cavern with puddles on the floor.

Next we drove toward the Jaggar museum. On the way we saw a strange sight, the steaming vents in the meadows we had seen from the overlook, so we stopped for a closer look. If you’ve been to Lassen, the smell of sulfur will be familiar.

We walked the path through the meadow to the edge of the steaming cliff we had seen from the other side. With steam venting out of the ground all around you and a smoking caldera in view you really feel in the middle of a volcano!

We arrived at the Jaggar Museum at dusk. It is very close to the Halema’uma’u vent and has a spectacular view.

What an amazing sight! The park is open 24 hours (you can walk out to lava flows in the dark if you dare) but it was a bit spooky as it got dark and we were happy to reach the road to Hilo as the last bit of light faded into night.

Lucy: “Wubie wears a brown dress.”
Dad: “What does he do in his brown dress?”
Lucy: “Walks around like a cat.”
— a conversation with Lucy

I took a bike ride over to my mom’s place this morning. For the ride back home, I decided to goof off a bit and take some pictures. I took a few shots at Piedmont Hills High School, about a mile from my mom’s place. I thought my older siblings might get a kick out of the pics. They all went there.

By the time my little sister and I were old enough for high school, school busing was in effect. We never got a chance to go to the school down the street. Instead, we went to Independence, which was about six times the distance of Piedmont Hills.

In addition to the school photos are shots of various scenes that caught my attention. I would have taken more pictures, but unfortunately my bike ride was cut short by a pesky thorn (yes, I took a pic of it!) that flattened my rear tire.

It figures that on all my previous rides I’d brought along a pump, repair kit, and spare tube and hadn’t encountered a single problem. So this time I thought, “Man, my bike is heavy enough as it is. Maybe I’ll just leave that stuff at home this time.”

So today I get a flat tire and wind up walking the bike home the last 2-3 miles on a hot summer day. Also, during the walk I figured out that once the flat lost all its air (which was about a mile from home) I’d have to lift up the rear of the bike so that the rim wouldn’t get all bent up during the walk home. Lovely!

Oh well, good exercise I guess. I ended up biking/walking about 15 miles all together. Once I finally got home I learned that I was six pounds lighter than I was at my trip’s outset. That’s a lot of sweat! I also learned a valuable lesson: I sure won’t be leaving my bike repair stuff at home any more.

It was a lovely day so we all decided to have a picnic in the park, then come back home for cupcakes. It was so relaxing in the park, I forgot to take any pictures, so we’ll have to start with the cupcakes Lucy and I made…

the gang’s all here…

about to sing the birthday song…

partygoers and birthday celebrants. Happy Birthday Grandpa and Auntie!

“Shhh…I’m baking.”
— Lucy, while making banana bread with her mom (and wearing apron and chef’s hat.)

Part 2 of the summer pic series…more beach, boating on the lake, painting with auntie, and playing at the park.

Last week we had our first adventure in kite flying, on a big hill overlooking the valley. Madame was a natural!

The weather was warm, wind was blustery, and the view was spectacular…you could even see the water of the bay and the hills in the distance. What a perfect day.