family vacation

There is much to say about our trip. It was so full, and impactful and fun. It was definitely our best family vacation. (Jonas took this picture of me and Caleb.)

It all began in Valencia. Our close friend Esther got married. Although it was a very hot day, everything was beautiful (especially the bride). 

Me and my kids were in it. I was shocked that Jo made it down the isle, and with some help from Charis, he got flowers to the moms.  We had a really good time reconnecting with old friends. Many good conversations were had, and lots of loud laughing. Just like being back in the dorms.

We spent a night in (the beautiful) Palmdale with some of our favorite people. The Brents are our twin family. Rochelle finally had a baby without me, and she is tiny and precious. (ahh, no pictures.) Our kids had a blast together as always. (This was the most modest picture I could find.)

From there we went to Caleb's brother's house in the Bay Area. Cousin Elijah has been blogged about before. My kids love him, and Lydia is awesome too. She has this amazing hair and these big blue eyes (see pics below). It wasn't too hard to say goodbye (after 2 days) because we knew we were coming back on the return trip.

Then onto the first night of camping with SD unschooling friends. It was beautiful site (near SF) with a cool little hike the kids did 3 or 4 times. Paxton turned 5 that day, and strangely, one of the friends we came with has the same birthday (same age too). So we celebrated with a pinata.




I love Oregon. Have for a while. Caleb and I have talked about moving there many times before. This trip was no different. I don't know if its ever meant to be, but I loved being there. The green, and the trees, and the openness are all nourishment to my soul. We had to forego the camping experience the second night when rainy weather was predicted.  So we stayed in a hotel instead. That was a disappointment to me but not so much to Caleb. 

We finally arrived at our ultimate destination of Vancouver, Washington for the unschooling "Life is Good" conference. It couldn't have been a more kid-friendly, fun, inspiring weekend. There were endless activities for the kids, and lots of good seminars for the adults.  

We called this the mushroom tree. They were all over town. I've never seen anything like it. 

Balloon swords. Charis got really good at tying them.
Face painting. I love this girl.
The hotel where the conference was, and where we stayed, was right on the river. So lovely. Please note the pirate ship in the background. It was actually used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

We walked to coffee, farmer's market, dinner. Such a great location. We really got to know the town.

One of my favorite seminars was by Scott Noelle. I was very impacted by his encouragement to be more creative and less competitive with your kids. For instance, it doesn't have to be their needs vs. your needs.  There are creative solutions that can allow all people's desires to be met (sometimes). This picture is evidence of Caleb putting this theory to practice. He wanted the kids to take a bath and they wanted to watch The Hobbit. As you see everyone got what they wanted. Im so glad we're doing this parenting thing together. 
Paxton was a permanent fixture in the game room. He loved playing the board games, and got super good at DDR. He was always the littlest one out there but he held his own. It was shocking and super duper cute.
Here he is practicing the moves even when he's not on the DDR pad.
Jonas was into the drum circle time.

This pic displays fairy wings, mermaid hair and t-shirt surgery all made by Charis at various fun shops. Other fun shops not pictured: acting improv,  paper bag puppets, artist trading cards, beading fun, and cardbord box fort (which took up an entire room). 
I think my favorite night was the talent show evening. Charis had planned a hoolahoop demonstration. Nothing fancy, just an ability to never drop the thing. Really she's quite impressive. But I got a bit worried when I saw other's acts were more choreographed than hers. I started to get nervous for her - maybe we should have planned more of a routine. But Charis didn't seem phased (even after another hoolahoop routine done by other girls). She got up there totally confident and unaware that she "should" feel nervous. I loved her for it. And her show was fabulous, because it was totally her. 
After she got off the stage, Pax was bawling. He wanted to do a show too. When previously asked, he had said no. But now he desperately wanted to do karate. He has never taken any karate classes, and knows zero real moves. I was able to slip his name in and after a long wait he was called up. I really thought he would change his mind before being called, and then thought he would chicken out once the stage loomed in front of him. But he stood up there so cute, and threw out a few punches and kicks, and then left the stage. I was so  proud of him. It couldn't have been better if he'd been a black belt. He totally proved me wrong, and I loved him for it.
Here they are in the car. On the long journey back from Washington. Lots of movies were watched. The Hobbit was viewed at least 8 times (for real).
Hagen cousins pyramid. We spent one more night and part of a day in the Bay Area. Again, very very fun. 


The end of the pyramid and the end of this very long post.

Blog?

I'm having a strong aversion to extended amounts of time on the computer these days. And blogging tends to take said "extended amounts of time". Hence, the lapse. Caleb said this is how it starts. The giving up on the blog thing. You just don't feel like doing it for a long time, and eventually you are done. So, maybe I am done. Apparently not tonight, since here I am typing away. And I plan to post a few pictures too. But as I sit here Jonas is pulling at my arm and wanting my help. (Halfway through that sentence I got up to help him for a few moments. Sometimes it's a few hours - and this is my point - blogging is not very practical for me right now.) But Caleb - the blog abandoner- is back to it. He has a rad new site where he is doing book reviews. And Charis wants to keep hers up, so I think I'll be content with those 2 Hagen blogs for now. 

But I can't NOT blog about my incredible visit with one of my favorite people, Kari Roller. The week was perfect. A much needed time of adventure, good talks and nature loving. We also got to hang out with some old and loved friends from Valencia. 

And how do I not show you the picture of the grapefruit we picked that was the size of my head?

Also, Charis turned 7 (she'll be posting pictures soon), and we made homemade chocolate

and celebrated earth day. What else?...Caleb shaved his beard, homeschooling is NOT illegal, Charis and I are enjoying a mother daughter book club, and we are loving our new unschooling friends the Canhams, and still doing gymnastics. 

We've spent a lot of time painting recently (in pajamas, of course). And it's been SO beautiful outside, that I just can't make the time to sit in front of a screen for hours. Im attempting my first vegetable garden. Oh, and big news - we got a new couch. Only a big deal because I have loved my lime green couch, and it feels like abandoning a member of the family. So, we put it in the play room, and put the new couch in the living room. 

Fallbrook is beautiful and allergy invoking (for Caleb).  Im glad we'll be here until November, and after that...who knows? Well, I suppose God knows, and that is where I put my trust.

baptimatized!

This is what Paxton called it - baptimatized - he says it like John Travolta in Grease when he sings, "It's e-lectrifyin'!" We cracked up.

Last Sunday was a really special day for us. In church Charis asked if she could take communion. She has asked this before, and we always explained that its for a person who believes Jesus and has given Him their life, and its a big decision. We didn't want her doing it just to have a snack, or because we do it. But she has repeatedly asked so many good questions about what Caleb and I believe, and about life, death, and God. She has claimed to love and follow Jesus for some time now. But again, we  assumed this is because she hears us talking about what we believe. 

Last week her and I had a really good conversation about being a follower of Jesus. And I felt she "got it" (best she can at 6 years old). So when she asked to join us in communion, Caleb felt that we shouldn't hold her back from expressing what she believes. She was really cute - looking over at us - excited.

Communion isn't some big ceremony at our church. But she was excited none the less. 

Caleb feels that when a person believes in Jesus, one of the first things she should do is be baptized. So, we asked her if she wanted to be baptized and demonstrate physically what had happened spiritually. She wanted to (she'd wanted to for a while), so we called our families and invited them to my brother's jacuzzi for the baptism. Several of them could come (so last minute) and we had a really fun day celebrating Charis' faith and enjoying each other. 

I have my fears - that she is only believing because we do. That she will have false assurance of salvation. That she will feel she has to be good to make God happy, rather than just be humble and believe. That she will tend toward legalism. That she will not experience sweet communion with God. But I don't have control over these things.  She is her own person before God. And He is good. And I trust Him with her.  

Today

Paxton was telling me a story about something that happened yesterday, today and tomorrow. He was painfully cute as he was talking, and I just wanted to eat his face off. So when he finished I said,  "I love you yesterday, today and tomorrow!" He said, "Yah, but you love me today the most." 

And that is my life lesson. Be about TODAY. Focus on the moment; be satisfied with what is. Paxton's wisdom helps me.  

a little bit of our life

Cousin Elijah. The name which evokes so many emotions. This kid is awesome. He is four. And we wish we lived closer to him (and his parents). Sister Lydia is a favorite too. Jonas likes to say her name, and I like to hear it.


New friends! We now have a few friends who actually live within 10 minutes of us. (Although we're not abandoning our southernly-dwelling friends.) This picture is taken at Professor Pennypickle's house in Temecula. It is the BEST kid's "museum" I've ever been to. We are definitely going back soon.


This finely-crafted toy, "the claw", ($2 dollars, made in China, from the grocery store) has been an amazing teaching lesson for my kids. I have been trying to teach them about too much stuff and how to be kind to the environment. Well, after this toy broke within 10 minutes of purchase, and then the replacement only lasted one day, my kids were convinced. It's SO cool! They don't want cheep junk, and they're getting the sad reality of cheep labor and deforestation. They now ask me which toys are made in China, and if they are good for the environment. I'm really hoping it lasts. We recently ordered them some fair-trade toys. And plan to do so whenever possible. We're teaching ourselves this lesson as we teach them. I'm all cool with this until I realize it means no more $8 Target shirts for me. I want to buy less, and buy local or fair- trade when I do buy.  


And while we're teaching our kids to take care of the environment, why not teach them to shoot guns too? Especially our 2 year old.

Charis Asparagairus

My hilarious and spritey daughter has started her own blog. Yes, its true. She wanted to; so now there are three Hagen blogs. Why not? She has 2 posts on there so far, and seems like she'll be keeping it up. Much thanks to Amber for leaving the first comment. She was thrilled! If you know Charis, you will not be disappointed with the authenticity of this blog. Get ready to laugh.

You can find her at Charis Asparagairus.
Hallie was the first one to call her this, and it stuck. Its hard to read but is the word asparagus with the word Charis (kinda) thrown in there. It rhymes (kinda).

Best friend's adventure

We were supposed to meet friends at a class Tuesday @ 11. Everyone was in the car ready to go except Charis. The back seat of the van was pushed down and she couldn't get it up. I tried to help her, but after pulling and pushing every leaver I could find, I decided to call my friend and tell her we wouldn't make the class. But my cell phone said the SIM card wasn't in it. But it was in. So I couldn't call her or Caleb (to help me with both problems). Then as I was trying to get the seat up again Paxton said, "Mom there are 2 men walking up." I turned around to meet an attorney working for my neighbors. He wanted to get the low-down on someone up the street. The bottom line is it freaked me out, and the lack of cell phone use and seat problem didn't help. So I emailed Caleb and asked him to call our home phone ASAP. For some reason he didn't find my situation quite as distressing as I did. But he did help me fix the SIM card problem and told me how to get the seat up (oh, that lever).

Since we missed the class we decided to go on an adventure. You see, I used to be fairly adventurous. In fact, I love wandering around finding new and undisturbed places. But having 3 kids has really put a halt on this hobby, and I have mourned the fact before. But the old Kate is back (that's what I told Caleb).

Since it was lunch time, we did something Pax had been asking for for a while (that I really haven't wanted to do). We got hot dogs at Circle K. It only took forever to pick them out, get ketchup on them, etc. Once we got to the cash register, the lady said someone who had been in there earlier wanted to pay for our hot dogs. He thought we were cute and left money for us! How awesome is that?! So I saved $4. It was a really cool thing, and my kids are still talking about it.

After our healthy lunch, we drove over to Rainbow, the next town up from us. Just the name makes me happy and the old weird signs bring even more joy. Rainbow did not disappoint. It is a tiny town full of nurseries and dirt roads. We had already driven around the nurseries earlier, and this time stopped at the town store. We got water and sat at some picnic tables to drink. It was such a beautiful day and I felt so happy to be there, so I decided we should make up a best friend secret hand shake. My kids were so into that. It was cute.

Then we explored the amazing antique store there. It really was one of the coolest antique stores I'd ever seen. There were treasures everywhere. It is entirely outdoors with this labyrinth lay out. After spending a long time looking around, we decided to walk down to the creek. 

We threw acorns in the water for a while, and Charis climbed this tree that hung over the water (until I got too freaked out). Then we found a spot where we could get closer, and as I was trying to help Jo down there I heard Charis yelp. Then she started running down stream. I realized she has lost one of her (new) pink Crocs down the creek. It was steadily moving further and further away from us. She was so cute trying to stick branches in the water to reach it. I couldn't really help her because I was holding Jonas. She starting crying. It was really picking up speed, and if you looked way down stream you could see the creek went under the road and into ??? (maybe the sewer). We tried running ahead, but it was so far off now that is seemed hopeless. But it finally got stuck in a tree root on the far side of the creek. In an attempt to calm Charis down, I said we could drive up the road a bit and see if there was way to get down to that side of the creek. If she hadn't been so upset I would have been cracking up at the hilarity of the situation.

Now imagine overgrown, wild creek trees and brush and mush. That is what I bush wacked through to get the beloved pink Croc. After traipsing my kids across the road (Charis dramatically hopping on one foot the entire way), we climbed over a small barrier and walked through some crap. I set them on a rock and put Jo in C's lap (which was the scariest part of the day).  I climbed down the boggy slope to the edge of the creek. The shoe was just out of reach, and none of the nearby branches were sturdy enough. So I submerged one of my tennis shoes into the water and saved the Croc! I held it up announcing it's survival and my kids cheered. It was such a hilarious and surreal day. And I got to be the hero.

The end (did anyone actually read all of this?)