Party of 6

We went for our first hike as a family of 6.  Memorial weekend we went up to First Landing State Park.  We saw lots of toads, and toadstools to go with them.  Trevor and Braden had some map-reading practice.  It was a great first hike for Miles.  You can see that he was really working hard.  We'll have to do lots more when the weather cools down again!

Camping with Five

We had a great Independence Day weekend. We escaped the desert heat and headed up to the mountains a couple hours west of here. It was Fiona's first camping trip and I think she had a great time. She helped set up the tent, supervised the cooking and just generally looked cute.






We went for a nice hike through the mountain meadows. The weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous.



Apparently the wildlife agreed because we found a rattlesnake who had come out to play. He's the squiggly black thing in the picture. Ev lifted the boys up to view it from a "safe" distance. I think he and I have slightly differing definitions for that, but that's probably because I would have preferred to be about a mile away.



Ev and Trevor went mountain biking later that afternoon while the other two and I relaxed in the campsite. We read books around the campfire, talked about animal footprints and all sorts of other fun things. The campground was very quiet, so we had a peaceful, relaxing holiday. I think we'll have to go camping again soon!

UK Part II- Wiltshire, Bath & The Cotswolds

I realized after my last post, that I never shared about our last-minute changes of plans. This trip was planned as a piggy-back onto a work trip for Ev. He was scheduled to speak at a conference in London, so we booked a ticket for me, and reserved a few extra days at the hotel so we could do some sight-seeing together. Less than two weeks before we were due to leave for our trip, the conference was cancelled. Crazy, huh? So they did some scrambling and tried to find some other reasons for a work trip, like visiting British air bases to talk with their British counterparts. We changed all of our accommodation reservations and I went to work re-planning our trip and researching what there was to see in the countryside. After about a week, it became evident that we were not able to do both work and pleasure in one trip. So we bought Ev a ticket and turned it into a vacation. It made for a very stressful pre-trip week, but in the end it worked out really well. We were able to see things that we would not have seen, and meet some very nice people along the way.

Which brings us to our second day. We headed first to Stourhead. It is a beautiful house, though we didn't go inside. I wanted to see the famous landscape garden. I was not disappointed. It was a beautiful time of year to be there, as the garden is filled with rhododendrons and azaleas which were all in bloom.











Eighteenth century landscape gardens are known for their "follies," such as the Greek-inspired temples and hidden grottoes that we explored. However, Stourhead has a magnificent folly of a different sort, named King Alfred's Tower. Maybe they wouldn't classify it as a folly in the strictest sense, because it was built partially to commemorate a historical event. Nonetheless, it was built primarily to impress the visitors to Stourhead. And it is impressive. We climbed the 205 steps to the top of the 160 ft tower, and we were rewarded with breathtaking views of the Wiltshire countryside.









The next stop on our trip was the city of Bath. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived in Bath, I wasn't feeling very well. Over-tired and under-nourished, I think. We only stayed a few hours, and saw a fraction of what we had planned, but I just wore myself out earlier in the day. It was also very, very crowded. We did see the Roman baths and walked around a little bit in the city center.





Despite feeling "rather moldy," as one of our b&b hosts put it, I did get a kick out of seeing this music man in the square. I also had to have a picture of this crazy pig sitting at the base of the Bath Abbey. What a crazy juxtaposition!





We left Bath early, and began our drive up to the northern part of the Cotswolds where we had reservations for the next two nights. I admit, I slept most of the way, while Everett drove and the GPS navigated. I'm disappointed that I missed so much of that drive, but my body demanded that I give in and sleep eventually. Here is a sneak peek at the Cotswolds.

Desert Fields

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I am constantly amazed by the desert. One of the more amazing things, to me, is how fertile the desert can be if there is water. Our city is the Lettuce Capital of the world. Isn't that crazy? It is such a contrast to see the beautiful, neat rows of the fields against the backdrop of our desert mountains. All winter, the fields are filled with vegetables. I've wanted to photograph them ever since we moved here, and I finally took the time to do it. One evening, I packed everybody into the van and just drove around looking for fields being harvested. The kids patiently sat in the van, listening to Odyssey, while I snapped pictures. The next day when we got in the van, Braden asked, "Mom, are we going somewhere, or just driving around again?" Some day he will appreciate looking at these pictures; they will remind him of a place that was his home for a while.

Tallness

I've finally had a chance to check-out some of my pictures from this summer's vacation. We had a really fantastic time in the northwest, and the pictures just don't capture it. You'll see what I mean if you've ever been to any of these places. There is just no way to show how amazing old growth redwoods are. And this was only the beginning...

Just Humming Along

We've been super busy lately, doing some not so super things...like baskets full of laundry and taxes. But we've also been doing some super fun things...like watching our little hummingbird family grow. Meet Mama Hummingbird, who is enjoying the hospitality of our lemon tree for her nest this year. She fastidiously guards her nest- and is getting more and more protective everyday, so I think the time for hatching may be getting near.




It's been a great learning opportunity. We've spent several days talking about hummingbirds. We measured out grains of rice to see how tiny the babies will be, and how little they will weigh- less than one gram! Along the way, I found this great little Hummingbird Craft, which we had a great time doing.

Bloom Time

We've had quite a bit of rain recently. Combined with the warmer temperatures, the desert is really starting to wake up. And I don't think we're the only ones who have noticed.

Monkeying Around

We took a little field trip last week, with some of the other homeschool kids, to the San Diego Zoo. In fact, I think we might have even done a little learning. (Sshhh! Don't tell!) Trevor worked on a "shutterbug safari" which had him finding and photographing all kinds of different animals throughout the day. We'll get to work compiling all of the papers and pictures from the safari this week. I think the Big Kids enjoyed seeing how excited the little kids were, and the little kids were enjoying getting lots of shoulder rides. (I'm pretty sure Braden only walked for about 5 minutes the whole day.) What else can I say? It's always a great time at the zoo!