The Josephson kids go duck 'hunting' and mountain...hill climbing

One of the pleasures of life is viewing day-to-day living through the eyes of children. It is a sure way to be uplifted, amused and often, a method to bring joy into one’s life, thereby being able to pass it through to others. We mentioned in an earlier blog that for us, action is the way to create contentment and smelly armpits, too. Hey, you can’t have everything.


Ellie a little pensive; Mr. Cool greets his new friends.



Shortly before embarking on Hike-about 20, we visited an indoor entertainment establishment and a few days later, the park at Poway Lake, below Mount Woodson. We enjoyed running around Chuck-e-Cheese and riding Dumbo the elephant so much, we decided to take the kids the next time. Fortunately, the kids are not ready for the mountain; we were too tired that day to climb. In our opinion, the outdoor playtime in nature is superior to indoor games and electronic doo-dahs, whatever that means. It's a treat playing with the kids (mostly) and observing the various interactions.


More bread, I'm hungry and so are the ducks.



We arrived with a bag of bread rolls for the ducks. Mommy Natalie had sent sufficient to keep the birds of San Diego fed for a week. Had we had butter and jam available, we might have sat at one of the benches and enjoyed them for lunch (the bread, not birds). After a while, we realized why Natalie sent so much food. The system worked as follows: one bite for Benny, a smaller handful for the ducks. We should have thought of that but we’ve been ‘out the parenting game’ too long—thank goodness.


Ellie lobs a long crumb.



An incident occurred that struck us as poignant, showing a little brainpower of a two year old and commonsense in personal relationships. It occurred when we left the birds for the 'Jungle Jen'. We climbed to the top where three young girls were talking. They were of Mexican origin, speaking English clearly. We always encourage the kids to greet and play with others. ‘Say hi to the girls, Benny”, we encouraged him.


"Hey, Gaga, am I cute or what?"



He turned to each and greeted them sweetly ("Hi! Hi! Hi!"). They ignored him. We found the snub surprising as their ages ranged from five to ten years old. At the time, we wondered what he thought of the incident. We went down the slide and to the usual exclamation of “more”, we went again and again.

When we reached the top, he walked up to the girls who were still conversing in English and he said in a loud voice, “Hola”. This time they smiled and greeted him back. It tickled us but also said a lot about natural perception. Leave it to kids and they'll work it out without 'social laws' and agendas.


"And now..."



Cheers,

Gaga and Papa




We left this to last hoping the Park Ranger or the parents don't see it. (We lost control of the two-year old.)

Benny's Blog, for a change

It's understandable that Ellie, Benny's big sister, took the limelight for most of the last years.
However, Benjamin, commonly known as Ben, Benny and Big Ben is tired of the background.
In typical male fashion, he is bold when not clinging to mommy, robust, big and ever so cute.
It's a good thing that this comes to you from an unbiased perspective. Should you not agree,
ask Jenni who is of course completely objective; she'll bear me out on this point.

We don't take Benny out as frequently as Ellie for a number of reasons. One might be that
he is far too tough for Jen and me to handle on our own. What do we know about kids anyway?
We didn't have mother Natalie to teach us . Actually, we did.
In fact the other day, we hiked up Mount Woodson and ran down as a warm up in preparation
for a few hours with the kids. Upon returning home after doing grandparents' favorite thing
(handing the little 'sweet things') back to the parents, we arrived at the following conclusion:
Woodson was less tiring.



It looks like a great start as Ellie leads Ben in big-sister fashion. Naturally, Ben has his aqua-bottle with him.
This will allow him to unscrew the cap off and back on at least a dozen times between activities. Apparently,
 he is also a Chargers fan or maybe that's the parents.


We headed out for Chuck-e-Cheese as part of the afternoon's festivities. A nice aspect was
the camaraderie we developed with parents of kids at that madhouse. We gave each other
the rolling-of-eyes look together with encouraging smiles and kind words such as :
"It's only another two hours of bedlam to go."



Gaga looks in good shape (you owe me big time for that Jen), Ellie is a little off-center while Ben
is slightly apprehensive. The big question on everyone's mind was whether  Ben would
regain his confidence. We could only wait and see. It was a nerve-wracking few moments.




It looks like the kid captured his usual form and in no time was driving both the car and his grandparents...


What we found interesting is that we are second generation Chuck-e people. By this we
mean that we took our children to this establishment many times and now we are again
visiting with the next generation. Naturally, we hope to be great-grandparents one day
but without wishing anyone harm, hope that Chuck-e-Cheese moves out of state.


A few more photographs lend some color to the afternoon's experience.




My favorite: Benny asking his buddy if he too feels something warm flowing down his leg.



Back to the table so we could continue the ritual: Unscrew the cap; screw the cap back on...



It seems universal these days: Ellie giving the Middle-East peace sign.
Chuck-e takes a far less controversial position.




In the meantime, the mature Ellie was beating her Papa in foozball.



At this stage, clearly without inhibitions as his behavior breaks all the rules
of the establishment. Proud grandparents try their best to coax him off but
end up hiding under the closest table while sending Ellie to sort out her brother.


Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

Ellie's First Hike

The news is good. Ellie may not follow in her Mom's hiking footsteps. Truth be told, Natalie has never made footprints on a trail. In fact, she may never have been on a trail. Over the last two years we have encouraged Ellie to ask her Mom for hiking boots but to no avail. We suspect one of the reasons might be that the young lady's shoe closet is full. No space for another pair of footwear. As a compromise, Ellie mentioned that she would wear sneakers (tackies) initially and should she enjoy the outing, Mom and Dad may buy her boots. Good enough. Should we be honest, we would express some doubt that our little sweetness would take to the trails. Nevertheless, one does not want to be negative so we'll switch over to some photographs taken at the base of Mount Woodson.


Ellie peaks, a first time event. Okay, so it's builders' rubble, let's not get technical.


Ellie begins the rather tricky descent.


The kid faces all types of hazards including a duck attack.


Two of the County's deep thinkers. (What about a snack?)


The 'girls' below the shadow.


From hiking to fishing but without a pole (rod).


Ducks and birds intimidated by Ellie.



Getting comfortable in the environment...nearly time to go to the playground.


Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

Arguably, the most delightful girl in the world

Our bias is horrible but we stand by it with pride. What follows is a sequence of photographs in which we support the argument proposed in the title. As we are realists, we recognize that every grandparent has the best grandchild/ren in the world. Nevertheless, we are not in any competition. Rather, we thought we'd share something different from the usual mountain beauty.

The scene is set at the local La Jolla diving, or water jumping, competition. The favorite, odds are two-to-one, is Miss Ellie Lael Josephson. She is enthusiastic, four years old and carrying a little burden which is generally referred to as a tummy. She is also weighed down slightly by a pound or two on, as Jenny Josephson is wont to say, her delicious thighs. Other than that she is in superb condition. Her hair was brushed carefully and so she is ready.

She has practiced on and off this summer for the competition. In order to gain her fitness, she likes to go shopping, especially for shoes and always perfectly matched outfits. A purse or handbag is a fitting accessory, placed strategically at the poolside, for the return to the apartment. Finally, for energy she does enjoy mac(aroni) and cheese. A bowl of ice-cream provides the additional energy boost or that which turns the tummy into a floater.

We hope you are ready as the favorite and only contestant approaches the low diving board:


The contestant readies herself. As she prepares her posture, a little communication hitch between the brain and stomach arises. Perhaps, it's the mac and cheese, who knows?


The take-off. Notice the carefully shaved armpits...at least on one of the family members.



The contestant is about to hit the surface. Judge Jenni L has already awarded her the first prize.



After the competition, discussion focuses on, dare we say, 'love'.




Back in the apartment, a bath and rub-down for a tense competitor, 'The Cheeky Look'.

Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

Local sunrises on Mounts Woodson and Iron

Peruvian photographs that did not make the main blog.