Dad was saying something about a flat tire, and I back around the car and saw that not only was there one tire flat on the driver's side, but two! We looked at each other and I asked if he'd brought his cell phone...he said no, you can't really get any reception up there...he asked if I'd brought mine. I hadn't because I'd figured the same thing. I'm thinking - great, not only did I not bring any snacks for the boys, but I didn't have a spare diaper for Nathaniel & he was probably going to need it. I said I guess we'll have to flag someone down. Now for those of you not familiar with this part of California...let's just say it's relatively remote...and there isn't a ton of traffic over this mountain on a good day...much less a late winter/early spring day. We'd only passed two trucks on our way up (and one was a county truck). Well, just as we finish assessing our situation, a little station wagonish car nears us, heading the right direction! We flagged him down and it was a man who'd left some meds at a house over on the river over the weekend and had decided that morning that he'd better go back and get them! What luck for us. We were able to stick the carseats in the back (with me sandwiched between them) and all fit in his car. As we were talking to him, another pickup had come over the summit, but it probably wouldn't have had room for all of us. We got back down to Etna, went to the store to get Mom's car (and tell her the nice news) and then went to the house and got their studded winter tires they'd just had removed the week or so before! I wasn't looking forward to another trip up that mountain (motion sickness & I & curvy roads with switchbacks just aren't a good combo!). I'd gotten snacks and stuff at the house, but had Dad swing by the store so I could grab a Sprite or something of that ilk. Just as we headed out of town we passed a truck & Dad said, Hey, that's Richard Hiett...I was going to call him, but thought he'd be at work. So we turned around & followed him back into town and parked behind him at the bank (thank goodness for small towns where Main Street really is Main Street and everyone recognizes everyone's vehicles!) Richard, aka the Jelly Bean Man (he hands out jellybeans to kids at church on Sunday and Joshua thinks that's pretty cool!), was able to go up the mountain and help dad change the tires, etc. So the boys and I didn't have to make another trip (all stomachs were thrilled) & Dad had help (more than I'd have been...I know Mom was grateful for that!) and all was well. Joshua got to go over to Yreka with Grandpa to get new tires for that vehicle...they'd just gotten new tires for the other car the week before - ouch!
Friday we went down to Fort Jones and spent a couple of hours at Great-Grandma's and then went to the Storytime at the Ft. Jones library. I'd forgotten how tiny that library was! I don't think I've been in there since junior high when I'd sometimes walk up there on the days we did the layout for the newspaper (circa 1986!) The boys were the only kids there, but still had a nice story on recycling and even got to recycle some bottles the librarian had brought in and earned a nickel for each bottle!
Saturday was burn day. We went down to Grandma's in Ft. Jones and helped her burn piles of branches, etc. from the hillside. Brian met us there. We (well, everyone but me!) roasted hot dogs & marshmallows (that I did participate in) at the end and then we had an early birthday cake for Joshua's birthday. Our camera's been acting up, so I didn't get too many pictures the whole time we were up there.
The boys had so much fun in the garden at G&G's house...Nathaniel loves to be outside, but it was kind of cool and with my headache that kept nagging at me, he didn't get to be out nearly as much as Joshua. He has decided that his favorite tool is the rake. Here he is in the garden with one...
...and here he is with one at Grandma Darlene's. He prefers to push it in front of him or use it as a shovel...eventually he'll use it the right way! For years, Joshua pushed his little wagon in front of him because that's how Daddy pushed the lawn mower!
Nathaniel surprised us on our first day in Etna with a new phrase "I did it!" Which he announced proudly every time he put the footrest up on Mom's chair! He's gotten quite adept with the word no...only his preferred way of saying it is, "Naaah!" And he says it A LOT! And last Saturday he started walking around saying, "Hello!" He's said Hi for ages, but I guess decided he liked Hello better!! Sometimes he drops the "h" sound and says "'ello" a billion times in a row...I think he has discovered the "l" sound and is having fun with it! He also learned how to open doors at Grandma & Grandpa's. I thought maybe it was just because the bedroom doors were a little hard to latch sometimes (all those times us girls slammed them when we were growing up or something) but as we unloaded the car and put stuff away when we got home on Sunday, our bedroom door and the bathroom door kept opening up. Caught in the act, we realized we weren't going crazy, Nathaniel was just trying out his new skill. Sadly, Mommy quickly found the knob cover things and a few rooms are off limits to him, if no one is in there with him.
Joshua loved being able to dig out in the garden. He planted many leaves from the maple tree (from last fall) in hopes that they'll root. Mom & I had been talking about me taking some leaves from a plant & putting them in water to make them grow roots, so he figured that must work on all leaves. He doesn't believe me that they won't - but I'm sure Grandpa really doesn't want little maple trees growing in his nice, root & tree free garden space! With the back yard (& garden) all fenced in, he could go out there and play all by himself with no worries (unlike our front yard that isn't fenced in...and our backyard where the neighbor's rottweiler throwing himself at the fence makes me a bit concerned!)...he even got to go across the street and feed the ducks at the pond all by himself because I could see him from the window from where I sat on the couch. There's not a ton of traffic on the road and he can look both ways. He felt pretty grown-up doing that.
