Hayden's Field Trip to Sacramento

Hayden's fourth grade class is studying California history this year. As a treat, he got to go to Sacramento to see Sutter's Fort and the Railroad museum in Old Sac. Since I was on break, I got to be one of the field trip chaperones. We had a great time!

Above is his fabulous teacher, Miss O'Donnel. Below is the whole brood.

Below: Colonel Sanders made an appearance as a trapper.

Above: Preparing for the cannon shot.

Left: Our carpool group poses by the covered wagon.

This was Hayden's choice of souvenirs. A bottle of "gen-u-ine" GOLD!!! He kept saying, "I can't believe how rich I am for just seven dollars!"

The Railroad museum was so cool! I wish I had been able to take the boys when they were toddlers. This would have been a dream come true for them at that age. Even now, the trains were quite impressive.

There's a funny story that goes along with the above picture. As the field trip drew to a close, I decided to treat the kids in my carpool to ice cream. Some of the other kids were coming out of the museum across the street and saw us, saying, "You guys are so lucky!" Hayden's SHOUTED response was, "That's because my mom is SO pretty!" ...????... Que? Apparently "pretty" in Hayden's book means cool. *Whatever.* I'll take either compliment.
He told me later that his favorite part of the trip was that I came with him. Believe me, Buddy, if I had more opportunities to do so, I'd be there every time! I had a blast too.

Beautiful Northern California

Wayne and I took the opportunity today to take in some of the beautiful sites we will be missing when we leave No.Cal. Conditions were perfect with the weather being so crisp and the boys in school. Originally, we had hoped to take a little hike in Muir Woods. But when we got there, all the parking was full and cars were milling around, ready to swoop into any spots that were going to open up. (Doesn't anybody around here have a job? They can't ALL be on Spring Break!) So, we decided to head over to Point Bonita instead. The first picture is on the drive back from Muir Woods, overlooking Mill Valley and Tiburon. We could see all the way to the Bay Bridge, it was so clear.

If I hadn't been there in person, I wouldn't have believed such colors to be possible in nature. I kept thinking of a quote from "A Beautiful Mind," when Alicia says, "God must be a painter. Why else would we have so many colors?"

So here are all the colors of the rainbow (and I'm not talking about the infamous San Francisco rainbow culture):

Red--The brilliant hue of the algae on the Northern facing rocks

Orange--The California Poppies blooming all over the hillsides

Yellow--Inside the wild lillies and mustard grass and wild brush that seemed to be blooming EVERYWHERE

Green--The exquisitely verdant hillsides covering the Marin Headlands with Springtime

Blue--The Pacific waters in various turquoise and indigo shades that looked like they could be in the latest fashion magazines

Purple--More wildflowers shading the hillsides

Brown--The rich sands of Rodeo Beach

Black--The volcanic basalt rock that houses the lighthouse

White--The frothy tide as it smashes on the rocky shores.

Yep. We saw it all at Pt. Bonita. Here are a few pictures that pale in comparison to the real thing:

These are shots from Rodeo Beach:

I love the contrast of the lagoon vs. the open Pacific waters.

A shot from the tunnel under the headlands:
No.Cal, we will miss you!

Fun With the Sobeks

We got the chance to spend some time with Wayne's sister Angie and her family. (For more special, special pictures of our children on this trip, see Angies blog. Above: the Conehead brothers. ...I know, I know... I can hardly contain my pride)

Uncle Chad is one of the boys' favorite playmates. One of my favorite family quotes of all time was at Diana's house a while ago: Hayden wanted to go to the park accross the street. Chad said he would go with him, to which Hayden replied, "No. I need an ADULT to go with me."

While Chad may not be one of the adults yet, he is still Nathan and Hayden's hero. Under Chad's fine influence, Nathan accompanied him to the store in this mask. "The Chad," as he is sometimes known, has been known to put this on while he is driving during high traffic times... Just because. Nathan (as he is such an eager pupil) wore it in the car AND into the grocery store. He said people kept giving him funny looks. Imagine that! Welcome to The Chad's world!

We went to a family fun park called "Mulligan's" in Murietta. Hayden was devistated when he couldn't drive one of the big Go-Karts, but that's not to say he didn't have a great deal of fun! Just look at that face on the squirting boats! I'm so glad I got a picture of Hayden with his tongue hanging out while he is aiming at one of the other kids. That is the expression I see whenever he is intensely concentrating (...and I know he's a big boy now, but isn't it cute? I wonder if he'll do that when he's a full grown man?)

Hayden finally got to go on the big Go-Karts as a passenger. He was so stoked!
Proof that Nathan plays dirty:
The boys are victorious!
Miniature golfing was fun. Since I have been to the actual Master's tournament in Augusta, I had high hopes for my potential skills. ...Turns out I'm more like Happy Gilmore.
Look at Angie's cute little tummy! We can't wait to meet baby girl #2.

Here's baby girl #1: Maeby was SO EXCITED to get some ice in her cup, and even more excited that she didn't have to use the sippy top.
We had a great time! Thanks for your fabulous hospitality and mighty-fine paella! We can't wait to see you more often when we are Southern Californians again for a couple of years!

Happy Easter!

THIS is what Easter looks like in the Van Cleave home. I don't get to buy cute little Easter dresses, and the boys don't really care about Easter egg hunts anymore. This year, we got to go to Uncle Chad's family's home to enjoy yummy food and Lesa Sobek's amazing hostess skills (She actually made See's candy eggs from scratch!) Hayden was a bit shredded after the pick-up B-ball game with Uncle Chad. He looks like a little strawberry!
At least Angie and Maeby got to dress up for the occasion.

Checking out our new home...

We had a pretty great time in Santa Monica. The weather was gorgeous, and I had NO SCHOOLWORK to think about. Hence the spastic, good fun in the hotel with the boys. We stayed right next to UCLA and took a little journey to the beach and around Westwood. We also went to church on Easter Sunday in a ward that could potentially be home. ...Maybe... They weren't very friendly. As our stake president would say, we sat on the "Bench of the All-Alone." When I told my sister this, she said, "That wasn't very Mormon of them!" That was only a minor detail, though. All told, Santa Monica was SO much fun and so beautiful.

We went to Santa Monica Pier. The beach was HUGE! I can't wait to live just a few minutes from this site in a few months. Maybe I can actually get a tan!


See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil ... or hear anything for that matter.

The boys were fascinated with all the things they could do to make themselves look foolish with this cannon displayed at the boardwalk. Okay...I'm really not one to talk after the "Wondernerds" picture at the hotel!
So many cool sights to see!Are the boys happy to be moving again?
Not entirely, but this was a fun step in the right direction.