More hiking fun!

The Bushnell Girls spent this Saturday morning hiking. The weather was perfect - cool, sunny, and just a little breezy. We went to Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Area, because we had seen on a hiking blog that there were some caves on this trail. The blog also categorized it as an easy trail, without much change in elevation. The girls and I got a map at the trailhead, and then we were off. The first part of the trail was paved, and then we took another path that was not paved but was fairly smooth and flat. There were many other hikers, joggers, and cyclists sharing the trails, so we figured that it must be interesting since it was so popular.

There were hills around the hiking area, and because it had rained recently, everything was green and gorgeous!

The first place we stopped was Cave Rock. It is a huge sandstone formation that has natural holes in it, creating shallow caves. Some of these are connected to each other, like tunnels. The girls crawled right in, although I was too tall for most of it. We rested there in the shade before continuing on our quest to see Dripping Cave.

We went back to the main trail and walked along until we found the trail marker indicating the turnoff for Dripping Cave. That part of the trail was shady, almost a tunnel of trees, with wooden footbridges over little stream beds. Dripping Cave was much larger than the caves in Cave Rock, although it was not a deep cave. It was quite tall, with some blackened places on the cave ceiling. This is from long ago, when stagecoach robbers once used it as a hideout after pillaging the stagecoaches that traveled between San Diego and Los Angeles. The girls were disappointed that the cave had no drips, but I showed them that the ground above the cave was covered with plants, so I am sure that it gets drippy in wet weather. There is also a small footbridge in front of the cave, to cross over a stream that exists in wet weather. We had the cave to ourselves for a while, and then we were joined by the men's volleyball team from Servite High School - a nice group of young men.

We could have hiked further and seen The Old Corral, but we were all getting tired and a little warm. We stopped to play on a plank bridge where a small stream crossed the trail, and then we started back. We played with a long stick, trying to poke one another's shadows one the ground, running and laughing, and finished our outing at McDonald's. We had been hiking (walking) for about three hours! Abigail managed to stay awake until we got home about 2:30, then fell asleep with a thud!

Eleven years old?! What?!

So Frances is 11. Wow. She had a "Roller Disco on Ice" party at a local ice skating rink, complete with our own boom box of disco/70's music in the party room. Abigail was excited to ice skate... until she actually got out onto the ice. She clung to my hands and cried! Frances and friends alternated between skating and playing games in the party room. It was a fun day.

Learning to hike

Okay, not like hiking is something that you actually have to learn how to do; after all, my girls and I know how to walk and climb. However, we needed to figure out if this is indeed an activity we can do successfully as a family, with our varying ages and levels of physical fitness.

I have found a hiking blog that lists all sorts of "easy" hikes here in Orange County, and I told Abigail that if she could get through our first hike without asking to be picked up & carried, she could come along on subsequent hikes. For our first hike, we chose the James Dilley Preserve, in the Laguna Coast Wilderness area. Our friend Dana came with us. The trail led to Barbara's Lake, which is one of only 3 natural lakes in the county. We saw lots of evidence of wildlife, and once I convinced Abigail to be a little more quiet, we saw several rabbits. Abigail wanted to be the line leader, which was fine, as the trail was clearly marked. The lake was really pretty, and I let Frances use my camera to take pictures of it. We had a terrific time, and Abigail proved herself to be a capable little hiker (though not a very quiet one).

The next hike turned out to be more of a "walk in the park." The trail began in a city park, in Irvine. We didn't go very far, because the hill was steep, it was a cold & windy day, and after about 45 minutes, it started to rain! This time, I thought to bring binoculars, and the girls enjoyed using them to look at birds, surrounding hills.... and houses! Dana came with us again, and we did have fun, although it was a bit too "civilized" for all of us. We are hoping to keep up this activity, perhaps on a bi-weekly basis.

Happy New Year!

We didn't have any plans for New Year's Eve, but I had bought a bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider to share with the girls. After a day of playing outside and riding bikes, we got an invitation from the family of Frances & Abigail's best buddies, to come have dinner with them. We brought dessert, and another family cooked an amazing stir fry meal. The food was delicious!

The kids played legos and all sorts of games & activities until dinner, and afterwards, we settled them for a movie (there were 9 children; we needed a little peace & quiet). A few minutes before nine o'clock, we tuned in to a station that was showing the ball dropping in Times Square, in New York. We distributed glasses of sparkling cider to all, and counted down to the new year!

Once the ball had dropped and we had all toasted each other and the new year, we went out into the driveway to do party poppers - those little plastic canisters that have a pull string. BANG! SNAP! Confetti everywhere! So much fun!

Several of the children were yawning at this point, so the girls and I were headed home by about 9:15 p.m. What a fun way to ring in the New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We had a fun time on Christmas Day. Grampa B drove out to our house, and we all opened presents together. The girls got DVDs, toys, some terrific hats from Aunt Judy & Uncle Mike, and Santa brought them each a new scooter! The scooters are cool; the wheels light up as they spin! The day was sunny and warm, and the girls tried out the new scooters in the backyard.

Chistmas Eve 2011

As has become our annual tradition, the girls and I went to the Hunters' Christmas Eve open house. Every year, a big group of us walk a few blocks to a cul-de-sac of about four houses (which are all extravagantly decorated) and see Santa. Abigail was not sure that she wanted to go. "I already talked to Santa," she told me, with a worried look on her face. True, we saw Santa at Bergstrom's a few weeks ago, but it never hurts to tell him again about your Christmas wishes! When we got there, a sign told us that Santa was scheduled to be there from 6:00-7:30 on Christmas Eve. It was 7:45. Oops! Despite being reluctant to see Santa, Abigail was bitterly disappointed that he was not there. Oh well. We returned to the party, where Abigail had a big plate of fruit salad, and both girls retreated to a back bedroom to watch cable television! In previous years, the party has gone late into the night. This year, the Bushnell girls were the last group to leave, at the incredibly late hour of.... 9:30!

Ahhhh.... we love bubble baths!