Since the last time I wrote, we haven't had too much going on (which is a change for us). We did hand out hygiene kits to the homeless people in Balboa Park and downtown San Diego with our small group. We included McDonalds gift cards and also gave them some punch to drink and they were all so grateful. Before we were even out of sight we saw many of them already washing up with the wet wipes from the kits. Such a simple thing to do that was so appreciated!
We also had several visitors in May. First some friends from VA stayed with us for 5 nights while they did some house hunting. They will be moving out here in July, so it will be nice to have a couple of familiar faces from the past living close by. It was in the 90s the whole time they were here so of course that was the time that our portable air conditioners decided to stop working! We were able to get them working enough to keep us cool but not without a lot of headaches! A friend of mine from IA also came into town for a work conference so we met her for lunch one day out at the Boathouse (which is a restaurant on Harbor Island across from the airport with great views of the marina and good food). And finally, our friends from Phoenix came to visit over Memorial weekend. We went to Sea World with them where Paul won a 6 foot long Shamu that is bigger than I am (see pictures from 5/24-5/25). They will be coming to visit again over July 4th weekend to watch the fireworks with us from our bedroom porch.
We did go on one trip since I last wrote (imagine that). It was a trip I've been planning for almost a year now, so I was so excited to finally be able to go on it! We started the trip by heading to Lake Tahoe to meet our friends from WA who decided to join us on our adventure. On the way to Tahoe we stopped at Red Rock Canyon to see the unique rock formations, the Manzanar Military Camp (which is one of the places where the Japanese people were sent during WWII when we thought they were a threat to our national security), and Mono Lake. Mono Lake is supposedly one of the oldest lakes in the western hemisphere and is so salty that nothing lives in it except certain algae, brine shrimp (which are found no where else in the world) and some bird species. The main reason we stopped there was to see the Tufa Groves. For all you science-inclined people reading this, Tufas are limestone formations that form when calcium-rich underwater springs come in contact with carbonates in the lake and form calcium carbonate towers. Walking amongst them was like being on another planet (see pictures from 5/31). Once we got to Tahoe, we stayed two nights in a 3 bedroom condo that the Coast Guard owns and rents out to members of the military. We were able to spend one full day driving and hiking around Lake Tahoe seeing the beautiful lake, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, trout, and some of the original summer homes and resorts that were first built on the lake. The next day we headed to Yosemite National Park. On the way we stopped at the Cal-Neva Resort & Casino which was built right on the California-Nevada state line. The casino is on the Nevada side and the hotel is on the California side. The state line runs right through a fireplace in the resort and the hotel pool! We also went to the historical ghost town of Bodie. Bodie is one of the only truly preserved ghost towns from the days of the gold rush. It was very interesting to see all the untouched buildings as they were so many years ago (everything from houses, stores, hotels, churches, saloons, banks, and even a town hall). Made me think of Little House on the Prairie meets Bonanza! Once in Yosemite, we drove all the way across the park from East to West on the Tioga Pass Road. There was still quite a bit of snow at the higher elevations, and since our kids haven't been able to really experience much snow in their short lives we had to get out of the car and enjoy it for a bit (can you believe we are from MN?)! We stayed in Curry Village, which is a huge complex all the way at the end of Yosemite Valley. Because I made our reservations 9 months in advance, I was able to score wooden cabins for us to sleep in. For not much of a price difference, they are a huge step up from the canvas-sided cabins that most people have to stay in (imagine 600 tents all crowded together with no sound barriers)! I planned our trip for early June because it is the peak flow time for the waterfalls in Yosemite. They did not disappoint! We spent one whole day seeing Yosemite Valley (which was incredible), and then another whole day on Glacier Point road (which overlooks Yosemite Valley from above and was even more incredible). I'm not sure that words or pictures can even attempt to do justice to the beauty of this park. You really just have to see it for yourself. All I will say is that there is definitely a reason Yosemite is called the gem of our national parks system. From Yosemite, we headed to San Francisco to see the lighthouse at Point Reyes. Unfortunately, when we got there the winds were so strong that we couldn't take the steps down to see it close up. Paul and I went out on the overlook and could hardly stand still enough to try to take a picture! We also spent some time at the Palace of Fine Arts (one of my favorite places in San Fran), Golden Gate Park, and Twin Peaks. From San Francisco we decided to head back home, stopping in the agricultural heart of CA to visit the hometown of some friends of ours here in San Diego. Rather than extending our vacation one more day to see Sequoia National Park, we decided the best way to spend our 5-year anniversary on 6/7 was to get home and be able to sleep in our own bed!!! It was such a great trip but it's always nice to come home after being away for a while.
As for our family, Kade is 2 1/2 now and definitely has more of an opinion about a lot of things than he used to. We want him to be independent, but we have to pull in the reins every now and then to remind him that he needs to respect our authority and guidance. He is loving getting back in the pool and is jumping in and swimming on his own now (with the help of a buoyancy jacket). Jacey turns one-year-old this weekend (can you believe it?). She just got four new teeth in last week so she was a bit cranky for while, but she is eating on her own now, learning to go down the stairs, and starting to attempt to pull her chubby little self up to a standing position. She's definitely going to follow in her brother's footsteps and not walk until she's at least 15 months old! Jacey also loves hanging out in the pool. She is just happy as a clam in her shaded float. Not much is new with Paul other than I think he is in the best shape of his life (which means he isn't working too hard at his two jobs). I, on the other hand, am probably in the worst shape of my life. For those of you who don't know, I am 12 weeks pregnant with our third child and have been feeling pretty crappy for the past month. It definitely made hiking on our trip with Jacey on my back quite interesting. I am due the day after Christmas. Kade came 4 days early and Jacey was 2 weeks late, so we'll see when baby Nystrom #3 will decide to make his/her appearance. We are not going to find out the gender of this baby ahead of time, so it will be fun to hear "its a boy" or "it's a girl" when the day of delivery does come.
We also had several visitors in May. First some friends from VA stayed with us for 5 nights while they did some house hunting. They will be moving out here in July, so it will be nice to have a couple of familiar faces from the past living close by. It was in the 90s the whole time they were here so of course that was the time that our portable air conditioners decided to stop working! We were able to get them working enough to keep us cool but not without a lot of headaches! A friend of mine from IA also came into town for a work conference so we met her for lunch one day out at the Boathouse (which is a restaurant on Harbor Island across from the airport with great views of the marina and good food). And finally, our friends from Phoenix came to visit over Memorial weekend. We went to Sea World with them where Paul won a 6 foot long Shamu that is bigger than I am (see pictures from 5/24-5/25). They will be coming to visit again over July 4th weekend to watch the fireworks with us from our bedroom porch.
We did go on one trip since I last wrote (imagine that). It was a trip I've been planning for almost a year now, so I was so excited to finally be able to go on it! We started the trip by heading to Lake Tahoe to meet our friends from WA who decided to join us on our adventure. On the way to Tahoe we stopped at Red Rock Canyon to see the unique rock formations, the Manzanar Military Camp (which is one of the places where the Japanese people were sent during WWII when we thought they were a threat to our national security), and Mono Lake. Mono Lake is supposedly one of the oldest lakes in the western hemisphere and is so salty that nothing lives in it except certain algae, brine shrimp (which are found no where else in the world) and some bird species. The main reason we stopped there was to see the Tufa Groves. For all you science-inclined people reading this, Tufas are limestone formations that form when calcium-rich underwater springs come in contact with carbonates in the lake and form calcium carbonate towers. Walking amongst them was like being on another planet (see pictures from 5/31). Once we got to Tahoe, we stayed two nights in a 3 bedroom condo that the Coast Guard owns and rents out to members of the military. We were able to spend one full day driving and hiking around Lake Tahoe seeing the beautiful lake, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, trout, and some of the original summer homes and resorts that were first built on the lake. The next day we headed to Yosemite National Park. On the way we stopped at the Cal-Neva Resort & Casino which was built right on the California-Nevada state line. The casino is on the Nevada side and the hotel is on the California side. The state line runs right through a fireplace in the resort and the hotel pool! We also went to the historical ghost town of Bodie. Bodie is one of the only truly preserved ghost towns from the days of the gold rush. It was very interesting to see all the untouched buildings as they were so many years ago (everything from houses, stores, hotels, churches, saloons, banks, and even a town hall). Made me think of Little House on the Prairie meets Bonanza! Once in Yosemite, we drove all the way across the park from East to West on the Tioga Pass Road. There was still quite a bit of snow at the higher elevations, and since our kids haven't been able to really experience much snow in their short lives we had to get out of the car and enjoy it for a bit (can you believe we are from MN?)! We stayed in Curry Village, which is a huge complex all the way at the end of Yosemite Valley. Because I made our reservations 9 months in advance, I was able to score wooden cabins for us to sleep in. For not much of a price difference, they are a huge step up from the canvas-sided cabins that most people have to stay in (imagine 600 tents all crowded together with no sound barriers)! I planned our trip for early June because it is the peak flow time for the waterfalls in Yosemite. They did not disappoint! We spent one whole day seeing Yosemite Valley (which was incredible), and then another whole day on Glacier Point road (which overlooks Yosemite Valley from above and was even more incredible). I'm not sure that words or pictures can even attempt to do justice to the beauty of this park. You really just have to see it for yourself. All I will say is that there is definitely a reason Yosemite is called the gem of our national parks system. From Yosemite, we headed to San Francisco to see the lighthouse at Point Reyes. Unfortunately, when we got there the winds were so strong that we couldn't take the steps down to see it close up. Paul and I went out on the overlook and could hardly stand still enough to try to take a picture! We also spent some time at the Palace of Fine Arts (one of my favorite places in San Fran), Golden Gate Park, and Twin Peaks. From San Francisco we decided to head back home, stopping in the agricultural heart of CA to visit the hometown of some friends of ours here in San Diego. Rather than extending our vacation one more day to see Sequoia National Park, we decided the best way to spend our 5-year anniversary on 6/7 was to get home and be able to sleep in our own bed!!! It was such a great trip but it's always nice to come home after being away for a while.
As for our family, Kade is 2 1/2 now and definitely has more of an opinion about a lot of things than he used to. We want him to be independent, but we have to pull in the reins every now and then to remind him that he needs to respect our authority and guidance. He is loving getting back in the pool and is jumping in and swimming on his own now (with the help of a buoyancy jacket). Jacey turns one-year-old this weekend (can you believe it?). She just got four new teeth in last week so she was a bit cranky for while, but she is eating on her own now, learning to go down the stairs, and starting to attempt to pull her chubby little self up to a standing position. She's definitely going to follow in her brother's footsteps and not walk until she's at least 15 months old! Jacey also loves hanging out in the pool. She is just happy as a clam in her shaded float. Not much is new with Paul other than I think he is in the best shape of his life (which means he isn't working too hard at his two jobs). I, on the other hand, am probably in the worst shape of my life. For those of you who don't know, I am 12 weeks pregnant with our third child and have been feeling pretty crappy for the past month. It definitely made hiking on our trip with Jacey on my back quite interesting. I am due the day after Christmas. Kade came 4 days early and Jacey was 2 weeks late, so we'll see when baby Nystrom #3 will decide to make his/her appearance. We are not going to find out the gender of this baby ahead of time, so it will be fun to hear "its a boy" or "it's a girl" when the day of delivery does come.
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