Apple Hill Blossom Festival Trail Run

Yesterday Rachel ran her first race. It was a 4 mile trail run at Apple Hill called the Apple Hill Blossom Festival Trail Run.

 Here she is pre race with her swag.

 Here's the line up. Rachel is somewhere in there.

 There she goes.

After we saw her off, we went back to the car to drop off her bag. The kids invented a game of hide and seek played in the car with a blanket that served as an "invisibility cloak" and a  pillow that that was dubbed "the pillow of consciousness."  I would explain more if I could.

After a little while we went back to where the race would end, and in no time at all (it seemed to us), there was Rachel flying towards the finish.

 Meghan joined her for the final straightaway. It was, to use my grandma's favorite adjective, darling. That's Meghan's hair in front of Rachel.

 There she is post race. She did awesome.

After sticking around for the awards and the raffle, and some free fudge samples, we were hungry and went to Kids Inc. where incidently we had an awesome apple war last fall.

This time there was no apple war, but there where some chicks and ducklings the kids were allowed to hold:

 Meghan's favorite stuffed animal came along for the trip.

The kids weren't happy with their dining options at Apple Hill, so Rachel and I decided that since we were nearby, we would drive back to Placerville and eat at a place we've wanted to try for a while: Tortilla Flats. Here's the runner posing in front of the side of the restaurant.

The food was good and the restaurant was fun.

Abby's Daisy Chain

Like many funny stories, this one began with a trip to the library. (I don't really know any funny stories that begin with a trip to the library, but I thought that would make a catchy opening line.)


A few weeks ago Abby went to the library and checked out a book called The Daring Book for Girls which is patterned after one of the best books ever, The Dangerous Book for Boys (which Lennon has, by the way). Both of these books are kind of like reference books for everything girls or boys, depending on the book, should know to be awesome. Anyway, when I saw the book Abby brought home I was curious what awesome knowledge lay within its pages.

Upon perusal, I discovered that one of the things that it explained was how to make a daisy chain--something about which, I must admit, I have pondered from time to time.

But that's not the funny part. The funny part is that on the Friday before Easter vacation, I walked over to Abby's school to pick her up. On the way, I noticed a bunch of daisies on the ground and  thought, "Hey, I'll pick a bunch of these and impress Abby by making a daisy chain for her." So I got down on one knee and started picking daisies. After I felt like I had enough, I stood up, and as I did so, I found myself looking at a grown woman who was about two feet away from me and grinning. I smiled and walked away, and heard her breathe a little one syllable chuckle as she passed me. I wonder what she thought as she watched a grown man (by all appearances) kneel down a pick a handful of daisies.

At this point you think you've made the connection between the story and the accompanying picture, but you're wrong. I was ultimately unsuccessful in my attempt to make the daisy chain. I had too few daisies and the stems of the daisies I had were too short.

I told Abby about my plan though, and last week she brought home a very large handful of very long stemmed daisies, and I put my new found knowledge to work--the results of which you saw in the picture above.