A Great Day

We had such a nice day today on our camping vacation.  For traditions sake we woke up early and walked on the beach to the pier where the best cinnamon rolls are made.  Along the way the girls collected shells and sand-dollars while Nutmeg loved every minute of running on the beach.  After we walked through the small beach town back to our camper we took showers and prepared for a day away from camp.

We ate lunch at the Apple Farm and toured the cute gift shop and grist mill.  Loved the home-made ice cream and boysenberry pie.  (as you can see we're doing a food tour)  We spent a fortune at the gas pump and then rode out to an amazing area called Montana de Oro.  We had a small hike through a wooded Eucalyptus area.  At the end of our short hike a beautiful rocky beach appeared.  It is a great tide pool area.  We collected tiny shells and found three vertebrae we think came from sea lions?  (picture to follow)

We rode back to our little beach town washed our feet near the pier and went to a restaurant where they pour buckets of crab, sausage and potatoes in the middle of your table to crack open.  The girls had a blast with bibs and mallots.  Cee even said next birthday she was going to come there for her birthday instead of having a birthday party.  Hmmm - sounds a lot easier.  Lastly, we came back to camp and enjoyed a camp fire with s'mores and Pioneer Woman's Marguerites.  It was a full, delicious, fun, day - now off to sleep!

When I re-read "camping on the Central Coast" in my last post I thought it may sound like we were in tents on the beach.  We're not roughing it entirely, although quarters start to get a little tight with five people after several days.

Good To Be Here

After last weekend's temp reached 110, it's good to be in cool, upper 60's.  We're camping on the Central California coast this week.  It's good to be here.

Go Dogs!

All of Central California is rooting for our Fresno State Bulldogs in the College World Series. They are playing the first game in the finals tonight.  This is the lowest seeded team to ever make it to the World Series final.  You can always count on the Bulldogs to give it their all.  Go Dogs!

Summer Favorites

It was 106 today and it was hot!  At one point my car temp reached 120, then 111, and settled at 108.  I never saw 106.  When it gets this hot every degree matters!   Here are a couple of my favorite Summer things that keep me cool.  

I love my new 'Adara' Crocs.  They're cool, so comfy and more feminine then the pair I had last year.  Crocs are so easy, we all have a pair.  I love them in Summer!

This was such a great book.  (Sign up at audible.com to get one book a month for $7.49) Recommended by a friend on my Sister's site.  Laundry and picking up the house is so much easier when you're listening to a great audio book on your ipod.  It's a great story!

These swim shirts from Land's End are great for little swimmers that like to stay in the water longer then their skin can take.  They provide UV protection and guard the lightest skin tones!

Burt Bee's Lip Shimmer has a light feel, moisturizes, adds a little Summer color, and has a fresh minty fragrance.  It's light enough to add without a mirror.  I like 'rhubarb' and 'nutmeg' of course.

My Sister's family got Swingball for Kaye when she turned 11.  We all love it.  This got the kids outside during breaks for a quick "p.e." session.  Friends like to play when they come over too.

When you're all done with a fierce battle of Swingball, there's nothing better then a snowcone.  We love the 'Icy Treats' ice shaver from Hamilton Beach.  It's safe enough for the kids to make their own.  Cee got this for her bday last Summer and enjoyed making all the kids snowcones at her bday party.  This is not your Snoopy Snow Cone maker, it's fast, shaves large amounts at a time, and the blades don't dull.  A great Summer gift.

Stay cool!  

Free Summer Movies

Yesterday was a nice Summer day.  Our local theater (Regal Entertainment Group) is hosting free Summer movies.  The girls each brought a friend (same family actually) and we went to see Nancy Drew.  It felt good walking in there free without a ticket.  The snack bar is the only place they get you but they were pretty nice about handing out six "water" cups and three "carrying" boxes so we could share two huge sodas and a bucket of popcorn.  You can check here to see if the Free Family Film Festival is available in your area.

After the movie they came over to swim.  They wanted to swim for hours which matched exactly with what our girls like to do.  Sometimes we have the kids over that swim for 20 minutes and then want to come inside to play, which is okay but it's not necessarily what our kids want to do.  Yesterday was just a good 'ol Summer day with good friends, popcorn and a movie, watermelon, and hours of swimming on a hot day.  

Something Good

First Moments as a Father

Happy Father's Day to my husband and father.  I'm so proud and in awe of how they love, provide for, and guide their children.  How did I ever deserve them...

"For here you are, standing there, loving me

Whether or not you should

So somewhere in my youth or childhood

I must have done something good."

Spring Garden Tour

Welcome to our Garden.  Lisa at The Preacher's Wife is hosting a spring garden tour.  I'm not sure it's so much a garden as it is our yard.  We have a "mow and go" guy to cut the lawn and kill some of the weeds but that's it.  We do the planning, pruning and planting.  

This is our courtyard today full of sun-loving day lillies.  We added the lamp post and a few smaller things but for the most part this was here in it's beginning stages when we came here eight years ago.   We loved the courtyard immediately when we looked at the house.  

A different view of our courtyard in early Spring.  

Although we forget to fill and turn on the fountain most days we still enjoy it and will remember this for years to come because many pictures have been taken in front of it.  When I was growing up we always took pictures in front of our beloved Blue Spruce.  

These lillies are so easy and beautiful this time of year.  I recommend them to the insecure gardener - they'll always boost your confidence.

This is our backyard BEFORE we decided to redo it in 2006 after we came to our senses about wanting to move to two and a half acres in the country.  I'm so glad God knocked some sense into us and we stayed here.  

We designed the pool and the yard together.  It was a stressful Summer but the excitement made it worth it.  I think we drove our pool and yard guy a little crazy.  There are a few things we'd change but for the most part we love it!

Here's the pool in action and the three reasons we built it.  You don't know how much begging we hear to go swimming starting on the first sunny day in February.  It's usually about April before the first brave one jumps in.

This is our path to the bathroom.  Before it was an unused area of the yard.  Now we use it all the time and love the path.  These hydrangeas are now a little faded from the sun but were beautiful just a couple weeks a go.

My brother-in-law and husband built the playhouse for Christmas one year maybe 7 years ago.  Telling the girls that it was a tool shed.  They fell for it.  You may notice from the BEFORE picture that it was located on the other side of the yard.  It took a lot of muscle and effort but about 5 men were able to do it.   This is a favorite area for the kids when they can't be in the pool.

My daugther built a fort here after seeing Nim's Island.  You can see the azalea's in bloom.

I love to watch the birds in the yard.  This is a view from our school room window.  We have many dove, purple finch, and a couple pesky jays that run the rest away.

Another favorite area to watch is our hummingbird feeder next to our area dedicated to the Blessed Mother.  

This is our patio.  We have a lot of society garlic spread throughout the yard.  It's so easy and I think beautiful.  Here are some in potted plants.

My favorite thing about the whole project was not garden related at all but putting in our french doors.  Before we had a heavy slider that was hard for the kids to open.  These doors have added a lot of convenience.  I'm glad we added them.

So thank you for visiting.  Nothing grand but we are thankful for the fun, peace, and rest our yard provides.

Go here to see the other gardens on the tour.

Baked by Beans

This Summer I've pledged to get to know my kitchen, laundry room and art table better.  I've also pledged to read more with Jae, have more get-togethers with the girl's friends and cousins, and helping Cee (aka 'Beans') find that interest that is just hers.  No big prize sitting at the end of it, just the reward of accomplishment.  

After expressing a concern to my homeschool consultant, she gave me a suggestion to help Cee find that one thing that is hers.  Something she alone is good at and loves to do.  She does not like competition or sports that much.  Because she is two and a half years younger, she is usually outdone by her older, more competitive, perfectionist sister.  All in all I don't think that bothers her too much because she has a more laid back personality.  

I asked her what little hobby or activity she would like to learn this Summer.  Without hesitation she said "baking."  She did not say cooking, she said, baking.  Excuse me when I honestly say "I suck at baking."  So hey that works with what the consultant said, "what she alone is good at and loves to do."  She'll at least have confidence that she can bake better than her Mother.  "We" baked some pretzels today.  I should have started with a boxed cake mix and had her make cupcakes, but oh well.  I found this recipe from All Recipes which sounded easy enough.  I couldn't say no to Jae who walked in and wanted to help.  I knew she wouldn't last long and I told her Cee was the Baker.

The finished product and a big smile!

Making a well for the dough.

Kneading the dough

Twisting the pretzels like she's seen in the Mall.

Sprinkling salt after the baking soda bath. 

The finished product!

Things we need to look into:  why our dough didn't rise to double the size, rolling out the dough thinner so it bakes more evenly, why the drawer beneath the cutting board is sprinkled with flour (oh I know why - our little baking assistant shut the cutting board while it was still a mess.  Note to self:  fire baking assistant.  

It was a fun learning session although I think Cee desperately needs to take Grandma or Aunt S's baking bootcamp instead of calamity in the kitchen with Mom.  Even still, we'll keep trying, maybe I'll learn a thing or two from Beans.

Our Angel

A beautiful statue of an angel to place in our garden to remember that there's a part of us already in heaven - our little soul, Elizabeth.  My Dad, Sisters and Brothers gave us this angel on a very important day.  I understand it wasn't without mishap and effort.  (We didn't know it at the time but this is the second one they had to buy.)   It has sat in a temporary place for a couple of months which made me sad.  Finally we had a full weekend at home (poor Kaye has had a fever for three days), so I was able to spend time giving it just the right place.  I love it!  I found a place where we can see it from the kitchen windows.  It feels good knowing it's there in it's right place.  My sister said they wanted to find something like the angel from this post.  I can't believe how close they got!

It means so much - thank you to my family!

My Favorite Walk

This is a place I love to come.  I don't go there very often but when I do I always feel at peace and sense God in the beauty I see.  This is a walk near my Dad's cabin where old cabins sit in the shade of tall pine trees.  It begins with a  narrow dirt road and splits in two.  Little brooks trickle in the middle of the two roads and along the outer sides of the cabins headed for the creek below.  Most Cabin Owners come up just for Summer vacations while a few can enjoy the Winter beauty with the help of snow mobiles.   Here are just a few of the cabins along my favorite walk:

When I return from my walk I head up the hill to the cabin my Dad built (picture below).  In that cabin time and memories stand still.  A place spent together playing games, questioning bizarre words used in Scrabble, eating, listening to some record-breaking snoring, laughing, and waiting in line for one bathroom.  As I would climb up the hill I would long for that cool drink of water waiting for me in the orange thermos on top of the counter in the yellow kitchen.  

 

This is our little spot in the big world God gave us to enjoy and find rest.  I hope we can enjoy His gift more often.

Above and Below Expectations

Today Jae had her Kindergarten celebration.  For some reason they went to great lengths not to call it a graduation.   They really down played it but it turned out to be a really nice send-off.  Her teacher, the best I've ever come across, is retiring after 30 years.  It was a very productive year for our little Jae.  To think we worried about her being four when she started.  At every turn her teacher and speech therapist praised her work and effort.  We are very proud of her.

For some reason I feel really out of it.  It's bad when you go in a public restroom and struggle to find the paper towel and say "I guess they're out."  Then an elderly lady (80's?) comes up and explains to you that it's automatic and you must wave your hands like this (demonstrating)  in front of it.  Then your 5 year old daughter looks at you and says, "MOM!"  (as if to say Mom, snap out of it!)  I probably looked like this:

I think tomorrow I might try being with it, I might look a little better.

Treadmill Kashi Update

Well I did it!  Sunday of Memorial Weekend marked my 30 days of daily treadmill and Kashi (with the approved exception of sit-ups while out of town)  I must admit the Kashi part had to be revised for obvious reasons.  Those of you who can do Kashi GoLean everyday without incident are fiber champions.  For me, my system can only bear the lighter Strawberry Fields.  DH stressed he would hold me to the treadmill and left me to monitor my own fiber concerns. :)

Back in April DH and I agreed if I exercised on the treadmill and ate Kashi for 30 days he would buy me a digital recorder.  My tennis shoes and treadmill never saw so much action.  I even got the signal "lube belts" one morning which for me was a sign of accomplishment.   

Results?  Frankly I thought there would be more.  I wasn't running or anything but thought going from nothing to consistent exercise I would've found myself looking in the mirror one morning saying, "dang I look good."  Just kidding, I would've settled for the "not bad" feeling.  Instead things were just fitting more comfortably.  Now after a week of not excercising and not eating Kashi I find myself feeling a little more self conscious and non-fibrous.  Therefore, I think it showed more results in my sense of accomplishment and well-being more than in my waistline (although it may have been centimeters instead of inches or millimeters instead of centimeters - it does increase your appetite you know).

Now for the research on what video camera to buy.  DH did say that if I wanted to buy a digital slr camera with video he would go for that (...since our current point-and-shoot camera was free and not so great.  Afterall, at first he did promise a new car!).  Not sure which one would have that ability.  Boy, the Canon Rebel XTi is pretty tempting but I don't know if it shoots video.  I need help.

conclusion:  I do best with short goals and a carrot dangling in front of me.  Now for the next goal and carrot...(I think he'll be more cautious this time)