Sam's First Halloween - 1997

Since Sam was born on July 16th, he would have been 3 1/2 months old on his first Halloween. I have a wonderful picture of him sitting up at four months but as you can see from these pictures, he wasn't quite there yet. As a result, we went for comfort in his first Halloween costume. It was basically pjs with a little Winnie the Pooh hood.

Patience, however, at 1 year and 3 1/2 months, was able to pull off this remarkable princess look.

See what I mean about Sam & Patience always being close?

Sam's Grandma Bucklin, (Sandy to me) is holding Sam in this picture. She is a kind, loving, involved grandmother. Often, she sends cards to Sam and pictures of the happenings of his cousins in Iowa. Just this Halloween, she has sent two packages. One had a singing card, a singing pumpkin man and a glowing jack-o-lantern along with her traditional homemade popcorn balls and a bag of 100 Grand bars. The second package had a light for the inside of his pumpkin (we're hoping to get them carved today), more popcorn balls and some frosted sugar cookies (his favorite).

Around the time Sam was born, his dad and I went to see a debt counselor who explained to us that in our current situation, our expenses each month exceeded our income. When I was pregnant with Sam, I'd put him on the waiting list for a daycare near our home in West Des Moines. After he was born, I was eligible for seven weeks of paid time off. During that time, I felt like I almost never put him down. He liked to be held and I loved holding him. I didn't understand how the daycare could have a 4-1 child to staff ratio for babies. When I asked, they said, you can put a baby in his bouncy seat and read a book to him and he will listen. I thought to myself, but he hates his bouncy seat. I didn't want his little heart and spirit broken at eight weeks. What seemed like a good option before he was born, no longer seemed right now that he was here.

Enter my parents. They offered to co-sign a debt consolidation loan so we could slowly start to dig our way out of the hole being young and married during college had for left us. My mom offered to watch Sam while I was at work (talk about close from the start, you should see those two play). And they even offered to let us move into the second story of their home. I didn't want to move in with them. I was a mother now and wanted to feel like an adult who could take care of myself but apparently, at 25, I just wasn't able to make it happen.

Sam had his own room, his dad and I had a room, we had our own bathroom and a tiny area with a desk and couch in a loft above my parent's living room. We didn't have much privacy or autonomy as a new family but we were owning up to the reality of our financial situation. My parent's home was about an hour away from the jobs Sam's dad and I were working in Des Moines which made for a long day, especially since Sam wasn't sleeping through the night yet.

As grateful as we were for this support, it was a strained situation. When Sam was four months old, his dad came home from a football game he'd attended at the University of Iowa and said he wasn't happy. I wasn't sure I'd been happy for a long time but I didn't know what his point was exactly. We had a child now and had to figure out how to make it work, didn't we? We tried for awhile longer.

All of us lived together in this house in Newton, Iowa, home of Maytag, population 15,000 until Sam was 14 months old. Then his dad moved out. The Labor Day weekend after Sam's first birthday, we told my parents we had agreed to separate. We hoped that we'd both be happier apart. My parents were less than thrilled. Again, they likely saw the hard reality I would have ahead of me as a single mom but they didn't see the secret unhappiness I had been harboring for so long. While it was incredibly hard doing things on my own, I know Sam and I are better off and happier than we would have ever been if I had stayed in that relationship.

We should do this more often.

On our first trip to Rodeo Beach, we had taken back roads through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to get there. When we went back with my parents, we took the Bunker Road exit off Hwy 101. This route took us by some turnouts with remarkable views of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

We didn't stop on the way to the beach but the sun was setting on our way back home and the turnouts were too picturesque to resist. If you can believe it, there is one even closer to the bridge than this one. Maybe we'll go back some evening at sunset and take pictures from it.

I'm glad my parents were able to come to California to visit us and experience where we are living.



They brought me here as a child. It feels right to be bringing them here now.




One benefit of having my folks with us is having someone we know who is willing to take a picture of the three of us together.

Sam's getting pretty good at taking smooching ones.

Back in the saddle again...

So we're calling it Rodeo Beach. And since we were so impressed with the splendor and sea life we observed the weekend before last, we decided to take my folks there last weekend. Of course, low tide was at midnight so we didn't see any starfish, sea anemone, sand dollars or crabs. We couldn't make it to the rocks because they were surrounded by water.




It was a bit cooler too but that didn't keep all of us from wading.














We had fun gazing out at the crashing waves...








and walking along the coastline.











The most remarkable creature we encountered on this trip was not from the sea. Rather, it was a dog. He approached us and literally threw his ball to Sam as a way of requesting a game of fetch. Sam took the hint and threw the ball. The dog brought it back and tossed it at Sam's feet again and again and again. Sometimes the dog would honor one of the rest of us with a toss. If the person he threw his ball to didn't respond in a reasonable amount of time, the dog would nudge it closer to you with his paw.

One other couple at the beach didn't appreciate his invitation when it came with slobber, sand and sea water being sprayed on them but we sure did. This dog could surf too. One time, he rode a wave while going after a ball. He caught it. We were hoping to arrange a play date with the dog but didn't manage to finagle the owner's phone number. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted and at least we have these pictures.

You'll never guess...

You'll never guess where we decided to go first thing Saturday morning. That's right, Muir Woods. My family has an affinity for this place and since all of us could get in free. We figured, "Why not?" Cam took the token sign shot.

At 8:30 am, we had the place nearly to ourselves again.


Sounded like it had been nearly 10 years since my folks had been to this park.



We marveled
at the
wonders.











And pointed out things of interest.

The main trail makes a nice easy loop. The entire thing is paved and there is little to no elevation change. However, Sam and I had been itching to try the route we took with the Sierra Club, shortly after his arrival in California, again.

With the club, we'd started on the Dipsea trail from the parking lot, hiked that mostly uphill for a mile or so on a ridge along the coastline until we reached the Ben Johnston trail. Then we turned toward the park and hiked down a bunch of stairs into it, eventually arriving at the park floor.

This time, we'd follow the route in reverse. Everyone said they were up for trying it. So after seeing one buck, we crossed bridge four and started up the Ben Johnson trail. At one resting point, I thought I saw monkeys (hear no evil...)

The basically straight uphill climb of Ben Johnson was more strenuous that I'd remembered and we expected but we didn't quit. The above link describes the loop's difficulty as moderate. This description, from mytrails.com calls it a "spectacular challenge for the energetic hiker" and refers to the "steep, steep Ben Johnson trail."

At the top, we enjoyed the views of the ocean as we hiked the ragged dirt trail down the Dipsea back towards our car. Sam found an intriguing resting spot in this tree. I am proud of all of us for completing the hike. It was an invigorating way to start the day.

Afterwards, we went home and had take-out from In and Out Burger and Lucinda's (veggie burrito for me, chicken quesadilla for Sam.) Then we rested, relaxed and played for awhile with plans to watch the sun set later at the beach or on top of a mountain.

To see what they could see...

Friday, while Sam and I were at school, my folks had coffee and read the paper in the coffee shop at the foot of our hill. Then, they went into Mill Valley, to investigate our neighboring town.

We all met back at the apartment later and discussed options for our first adventure. My mom had been saying that they were getting older and weren't as good at climbing hills as they used to be.

As a result, I'd been driving them up and down hills. I'd thought we'd go to the top of Mt. Tam since it is the biggest mountain in the area and since we drive most of the way to the East Peak, there wouldn't be too much walking.

But Sam had a different idea. He wanted to climb Ring Mountain. They agreed to give it a try. I assured them that we could take our time.

We drove to the trailhead and within minutes of starting up the mountain, Sam asked permission to run ahead. My mom had been looking forward to climbing with him but we let him go.

A few minutes later, we rounded a bend in the trail and noticed him perched on top of this giant boulder.



On Sam's first trip to Ring Mountain, Cam had done the same thing and we'd walked right past without noticing him. Then they climbed it together.





This time,
my mom
and I
climbed
up with him.
















My dad, continued on. When we were done playing and started looking for him, we noticed he was nearly to the top of the mountain already.
Sam ran ahead again,
in an attempt to catch up.

He made it.













They had time to sit and talk while Mom and I climbed.







I made it and enjoyed the views with them.






Mom was close behind.









When everyone arrived at the top, we walked around, looking at the area from different vantage points. Here mom, dad and Sam are perched on top of Turtle Rock.




And fearlessly climbing down.





Every other time Sam and I had climbed Ring Mountain, we've needed to climb back down the way we climbed up. Cam found a route up the mountain from the side closest to our home within walking distance.

This time, we'd driven around the mountain and climbed up the other side. Since my folks had a rental car making two cars available to us, we decided that instead of climbing back down the way we'd climbed up, we'd walk along the top of the mountain and down the other side towards home. We planned to bring a driver back in our car later to retrieve my folk's vehicle.



I've wanted to climb all the way over the mountain before but it hadn't been a viable option before. This time we did it. And they said they weren't good at climbing hills...

The creek

My folks came for a visit last week. They arrived on Thursday. It was great to see them.





We enjoyed showing them our home and visiting.





After awhile, Sam wanted to go down to the creek. The creek is a drainage ditch at the bottom of our hill.

It isn't nice but apparently it is interesting if you are a nine-year-old boy.

I think getting to and from the creek is half of the allure. Sometimes, we walk on the sidewalk to get to it but that isn't the most direct way. Often, we (especially Sam) hike up and down the steep hill which is our area's backyard.

This time, I drove the grown-ups to the bottom of the hill. Then, after being there for a bit, my dad wanted to see how Sam got to the creek. Sam led him back up the hill.




Mom
and I
watched.











We were about ready to drive back up the hill when Sam came back.

He showed my mom how he likes to walk across the creek on this metal beam.

Cam made it home about the same time we did. He set out some cheese and bread and got drinks for everyone. We enjoyed these refreshments while lounging on the patio. Then for dinner, we ate some roast pork we'd made in the crock pot. We served it with BBQ sauce, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, macarroni salad and some ice cream for dessert. Then we relaxed and talked some more while Cam helped Sam study for his spelling test.

It was a nice evening.

Chillin' with the folks.

My parents are here (far right in this old pic). They arrived Thursday night. We are enjoying each other's company and have already had an adventure. We still have all day Saturday ahead of us. At some point, they are heading south to see my brother and sister-in-law. When they do, I will post about their time here. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend.