My 2025 Resolution

I want to do it all. There are too many great places to see and experiences to share with the family. And I feel the pressure to do them all right now while the kids are still young. My list of proposed vacations is only growing (the Utah National Parks, the Arizona National Parks, Palm Springs, New Zealand, Mexico City, stay-cations in California and more) and that is in addition to our annual traditional weekends and holidays.  It was only the first week of January and Martin had to give me a reality check that doing too much ended up not being any fun. We needed to slow things down and relax. He was right.  

And so this year’s new year’s resolution was created: try to keep things simple, not overschedule the family, and try to enjoy the everyday moments that don’t take much effort, coordination or money. It is about the time together and not the place. This past weekend was the perfect example.

Oskar and I were going to have a Saturday afternoon together. I was excited and wanted to make it special. I researched and googled and chatGPT-ed and narrowed it down to either go kart racing or bowling or miniature golf. The night before our big day Oskar was super excited to hear the options. And for some reason, I changed course completely and suggested playing tennis together. He was in! And from there the weekend shaped up to be an incredibly fun, family filled relaxing one. 

That Saturday afternoon Oskar and I played tennis at our local playground and it didn’t even matter that we had to wait for a court, we opted to play against the wall together. Fully energized for the exercise and laughter, we then bought ingredients to make sushi at home using our new sushi making kits we got for Christmas.  Alva, Oskar and I had a great time assembling the various sushi rolls and making our own creations with cucumber, avocado and mango. 

And Oskar and I had so much fun we decided to play tennis again Sunday morning with the whole family.

Hiking in Scottsdale

I had to go to Scottsdale for a week for work. Most of the days were spent inside a large ballroom or eating meals with co-workers with little time for anything else. But I jumped at the opportunity to take a hike as one of the team building activities. The hike was straight up the side of a mountain and I tapped out halfway through, but at least it was outside.  

No photos were taken unfortunately.

Hiking on the Coast

Post New Years but before school started again, three German families went for a hike at Muir Beach, hung out at the beach watching the Californian surfers and then had a late lunch at the English Pub at the Pelican Inn.

Hiking Rain or Shine in Yosemite

Between Christmas and New Years we somehow managed to get reservations for our family and my parents at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite. It had been on my bucket list for years, so we were going, rain, snow or shine. And it did in fact rain, all day Saturday. But not surprisingly, that did not deter Martin from encouraging the entire family to take a hike that day. The one benefit of hiking in the rain in the winter… we had the path almost all to ourselves. 

And while the Ahwahnee was magical, and I am glad we got a chance to stay there, fancy accommodations aren’t needed to enjoy the beauty of the park or time with the grandparents. Both kids would be happy to exchange the nice hotel for our tent cabin at Curry Village and our gourmet dinner at the Mountain Room for pasta from the cafeteria.