Category: Travel & Adventure

Hazel had her first high school soccer match, starting for the JV team. It was pouring rain and pretty cold! Hazel played great, with 3 solid assists for goals and almost a goal in the first half. At halftime they were winning by 5-0, both

Margot had her last game for the fall league yesterday. They played incredibly well against a strong team and ended tied 3-3. It was a great season. They moved up a flight, and started the season with some losses. But they didn’t give up, they

Another 5k. 1300+ entries. Margot was 3rd in her age group, 10th female overall, and 56th overall! Hazel was 14th in her age group. Proud of them both.

Margot was very happy with this assist to her teammate Selena for a goal. She’s #9 that takes the ball from the opponent in light blue then passes to her teammate right in front of the goal, who kicks it in.

Margot ran her second ever cross country meet today, at Mt. Sac. She finished 32 out of 106 in her race, and was pretty upset that she thinks she could have done much much better. Before the race we had watched other races finish (

Hazel and Margot ran a local trail 5k this morning. Both did great. There were about 60 people entered, and Margot was 8th overall, 3rd female, and 2 female under 18!

Margot had her first official race with the middle school cross country team today. There were about seventy girls from 6 different schools In the middle school category. (6,7,8th grade). Margot was 13th overall, and 4th for 6th grade! Big thanks to Coach Adam for

As part of our Asia Trip, we spent a few days in South Korea.

Our last week of our asia trip was spent in Japan.

We spent two weeks in Taiwan, and had a great time, was super fun to watch the girls navigate a new country, and to use the mandarin they have been studying for years now.

I love Ciclavia. Such a simple idea but so great.

Margot plays for the Surf Soccer Club, and really loves to play. This album is for favorite pictures of her playing from the Fall 2025 season, and I will be adding pictures throughout the season.

Even after 16 days in the Grand Canyon, Margot asked if there were any cool hikes we could do on our way home from Flagstaff. So we did a kind of really silly long way home extension and hiked Wire Pass Gulch in Grand Escalante

Video from my recent Grand Canyon trip with my 11 year daughter. Her second time down the canyon, and she has done other big river trips. But I was nervous because she was the only kid on the trip, other trips she has at least

I’ve been blessed to find myself with invites to row the Grand Canyon 3 years in a row. This year the invite came from Michael Picker and Nini Redway, and I was eager to accept. It was just Margot and I this year, but we

Scorpion story: After rigging our rafts the night before launching down the Canyon, we went to Marble Canyon Lodge for dinner. They have a gift shop, and Margot fell for a stuffed scorpion. She said ” I hope we see a scorpion!! “ Me: “Well,

This is House rock rapid, one of the first big rapids encountered. Those rafts are 18 foot rafts for scale. I was too far left and we very nearly got swept off the boat, but I caught the oar tower on the way out and

Detour in the Mojave on our way to the Grand Canyon

I love Junior Guides Rafting Summer Camp for all the fun and confidence building it provides for the girls. I also love it because it’s a great chance to meet and hang out with other like-minded parents, who often run off and go paddling during

Jr. Guides Raft camp! A favorite. It’s a three day raft camp aimed at teaching some raft guide skills to kids. That’s little Margot in the guide seat in the first two photos, with the white helmet. Hazel in the black helmet in the last

I have a bit of a reputation amongst some friends for having somewhat ambitious travel arrangements. But even by my standards, today felt a little crazy. We woke at 4:45 a.m. Saturday Japan time. Took Metro about an hour to see the tuna auction and

For anyone going to Japan and considering TeamLabs. Teamslabs Planets in Tokyo is a crowded, touristy cash grab, but a well done one and probably worth a visit. TeamLabs in Osaka is a touristy, crowded cash grab, and kinda boring and I’d give it a

Vacation rules. Coke and sushi for breakfast after a 4:45 wake-up.

Today we did a Samurai and Ninja class at the Samurai “museum”. It was a little cheesy and kind of expensive for what it was, but good fun anyway. Margot had long been interested in ninjas and similar, so she was particularly excited, but we

Kim and her mom both like matcha. Kim had expressed an interest in learning about how to make it properly, so I signed us all up for a class. It was not a formal tea ceremony, but just an informal and fun class, well done

I’ve been lucky enough to do a fair bit of travelling. I’ve seen a number of tourist attractions that I didn’t get. I think “really busy crosswalk” might be on the short list of tourist attractions I most don’t get

We have a tradition in our family where the kids get to choose their birthday dinners. Sushi has been the most common choice. Tonight, after trying a few different cuts of Wagyu Beef, Margot announced “oh, my birthday dinners are getting way more expensive. I

There are drink vending machines everywhere in Japan. Even in some surprisingly out of the way spots. But fewer ” odd” vending machines than I expected. Margot was excited to get the toy she wanted (1/4 odds) at a train station vending machine. Today we

The best ramen I’ve ever had. Bar none. When I was a kid, the only ramen on my radar was 10 for $1 in plastic bags. Once I was older I was vegetarian and then gluten-free, so good ramen was rare. I’ve made it and

I’ve been enjoying our Asia trip, but it’s definitely been a fair bit city focused. I was seriously feeling the need to “touch grass”, so I signed the girls and myself* for a half day trip rafting. It was about 45 minutes by train outside

Taiwan->Korea->Japan this trip. Inexpensive -> A little more Expensive -> most expensive Not very touristy-> some tourists -> Tons of tourists* *I’m sure there are some less crowded/touristy parts of Japan, but comparing the capital of Taiwan, the capital of Korea, and not-the-capital of Japan,

Contributing to the delinquency of the famous bowing deer at the deer park in Nara, Japan. Margot loved it. Hazel has stacks of empathy and was upset by the poor behavior of some of the tourists, but she did enjoy feeding the deer.

We had a super busy day today. I found another workshop that Kim, her mom, and the girls really enjoyed. But it meant a kind of early start to get the train from Nara to Kyoto. Dropped our luggage off and went straight to a

Kim’s mom is a longtime devout Buddhist, so I’ve been trying to include temples as we tour around. This was a particularly pretty site in a national park above Seoul.

Neat hike to see part of a 11km fortress wall that was built in 1711. Just outside Seoul. Hazel was making up hilarious haikus the whole hike. We had hiked up a pretty steep trail, then it joined a road, which the girls found a

Korean spa. Not for me so I went and got sushi.

Kim and the girls rented Hanboks for photos.

I don’t read Chinese, but I’m pretty sure it says “Don’t sit on the stairs or a ninja will come by and kick you in the head”

As someone raised not to litter, and especially as someone living in a fire risky area, releasing balloons of flaming paper seems a bit odd, but it’s a big tradition here. We elected not to.