Micah's First

Amazingly, one year has passed since we welcomed Micah into the family. And while the year has appeared to fly by it's easy to see how long it really is by looking at the progress Micah has made. Apart from having his older brothers and sisters (usually) at his beck and call, he has also charmed quite a few friends of the family. Probably something about those blue eyes and easy grin ...

So we celebrated his successful completion of his first year on the planet with the usual gift-giving and a family dinner, the menu being a favourite of the celebratee. Gifts included a ride-on car -- he has very strong legs -- and a mini basketball. He loves to throw the ball and chase it. A fairly good arm too.
Micah is quite a fan of moving places fast -- so we thought he should have a new set of wheels.

The menu was chosen by Gaynor which she based on careful observation of the speed with which he wolfed down certain foods. Consequently, we enjoyed a lovely dinner of chicken drumsticks and corn on the cob. Of course, Gaynor's now-traditional, Year One Gateaux was a particular treat.
Too busy with a drumstick to blow out your own candles? You need Family Helpers(TM)!

Summer Holiday 2009

One of the ironic exchanges made for us when moving to the US from Europe was the vast improvement in weather coupled with a vast reduction in work holidays in which to enjoy said weather. So it was with a fair bit of anticipation that we organised a couple of weeks away.

There had been an intention to make it all the way up the west coast to Vancouver and renew our entry visas. In the end, a lack of available appointments at the US Consulate in Vancouver meant that the focus of the trip shifted to relaxing with a bit of sightseeing. Northern California was still on the radar starting with a few days -- including the Fourth of July -- with some good friends in San Jose. During those days we made our second trip into San Francisco with Gaynor desperate to hunt down some `decent Chinese food'. Apart from the House of Nanking, sights included Coit Tower and rides on the cable car. The cable car was fun but seems mostly for tourists as the waits to get on were fairly lengthy.

The owners of some cute backsides look over San Francisco Bay from near Coit Tower

Gaynor gets some satisfaction.

We also enjoyed a little time down at Santa Cruz

So after the hospitality of San Jose we headed north-west to camp and relax. Basically days of doing nothing but eating, sleeping, reading, talking and running amok. We did rouse ourselves for a day trip into Sacramento -- nice but a return visit probably isn't necessary -- and another day in Yosemite National Park -- popular, spectacular and well worth going back!

The trip back through the San Joaquin Valley was a bit warm, especially without air conditioning in the van. I believe the high was 41C (106F) and the children coped with it very well using cooler packs and spray bottles to keep themselves from over-heating. Micah was a pretty fair traveller and we arrived home just on his first birthday.

Strolling through the gardens of the Capitol Building in Sacramento

Mara is speechless at the spectacular scenery.

Panorama of Yosemite Valley taken on our way out of the park.

More photos from this trip on Flickr.

Father's Day 2009

Father's Day is quite the event in the US and the third date on which we have celebrated it[1]. It's almost as big as Mother's Day and very similar in many ways -- breakfast in bed, children shower you with presents and adoration and generally have a bit of a bludge. Ariana is usually the one who insists on providing the breakfast in bed and made me a couple of things with an Australian theme, Vegemite on toast and a glass of cold Milo[2]. The presents were a bit light on the further you went up the child tree but Micah, with the help of his mother, complemented the Australian breakfast with Nanny's favourite stand-by present, a packet of Iced Vo-Vos. And Bryna presented a lovely photo of herself, courtesy of her kindergarten teacher. Ariana and Mara also made a pair of thoughtful cards. Actually, they usually are a pair of cards those two but this time they constructed some as well.

The children gave me a bit of time-off to rest during the afternoon and by evening Gaynor had even managed to coax, not exactly adoration, but certainly a positive comment from Joshua.



[1] Australia: First Sunday in September.
Germany: Ascension Day. Actually, it slipped by, forgotten, one year and wasn't much of a deal the other years. Here's why.
USA: Third Sunday in June.

[2] Spoils of Gaynor's recent journey back to Oz.

Summer Holiday Plans 2009

After saving up my holiday time from work we are thinking about a couple of weeks away. Specifically, a trip to Vancouver, BC, Canada to renew our US visas and a trip to a campground in northern California where we intend to do pretty much nothing for as long as we can get away with it. Perhaps somewhere near Yosemite or Lassen National Forest with a couple of day trips to see the sights. So, glaciers and geysers in one holiday. What's not to like? :)

Rugby 2009

Being Australian we do enjoy a lot of sports and, having left the country, we often go to some lengths to ensure our children receive a good sporting education. This usually involves grabbing relevant sporting events -- Tri Nations, Super 14, State of Origin, AFL Grand Final -- from the internet since they don't receive a whole lot of coverage here. While the education is a whole family affair, the boys, in particular, also enjoy playing. So we felt relatively fortunate to have found a rugby club within half an hour of our place.

The club itself has only been going a couple of seasons, this season fielding both U16 and U19 sides for the first time. Rugby has an odd reputation here in the US, at least here in southern California. It is generally viewed as a brutal game without rules. Generally, American football high school coaches don't want their players playing it for fear of injury. So consequently, the first practice of the season -- which runs January to April -- was bit light on with only six boys. I chatted with the coach, who had supplied a couple of the boys, and appreciated that he was working hard to develop a club with a traditional rugby team culture. I was a little concerned before hand that even rugby might have been infected by the American competitive hype and drive in sports. There were a couple of teams that we played who seemed to have bought into that but, by and large, it was usually sane.

Elijah has always been the most keen to play but Joshua -- who revels in being a bit different from many of the other teenagers in some ways -- also joined in, preferring fly-half to Elijah's wing, centre or fullback. Unfortunately with only a U16 side available the boys were punching above their weight most of the season. The good news is that by the end of the season the club was sporting a roster of over fifty. Our boys did their part in spreading the word with a total of five friends training and playing for the season and a few more who came along to check it out. Too much running for some of those however. The ones who did stick it out loved virtually every minute of it, even when the team didn't perform so well. The fact that rugby allows most of the players to be involved most of the time (well, except for those glory wingers) makes it a fun game to play. I'm hoping they'll get involved again next season too. They'll only enjoy it more with a season under their belts. Oh and Elijah and Josh managed a try each during the season. :D

I also got involved in the administrative side of things. There were three coaches for the club and one of them was handling all the paperwork so it was the least I could do. Having never really played myself, I don't feel qualified to coach but administration I can usually do without too much trouble. We ended up with some great parents contributing to the club and we will only have a better season next year. I can't wait. In the meantime, we'll just have to get by barracking for the Reds and the Wallabies.

Joshua looks for the ball.

Elijah with the ball in hand.

One of the boys' friends (back left) who took up rugby after hearing the boys rave on about it.

More photos of the team.