Camping Weekend in Monterey

We went camping last weekend despite not having reservations.  In California during the summer, reservations are pretty necessary.  We found out just how necessary during our six hour drive to the tip of Big Sur and back again.  Every possible place was full (even the "first come, first serve" spots we were hoping to nab), which was frustrating but the drive was very beautiful.   We made a stop at Point Lobos to walk around and see the ocean.  Tom was concentrating on finding us a place to stay.  He succeed!  It was pretty much a glorified parking lot in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in South Monterey.  But we were able to pitch a tent and there was a playground and open field that proved to be very fun in the evenings.  And there were s'mores which makes it all worth it.
Just ask Tom...

Saturday morning, we headed to Dennis the Menace park, which we've been to before.  We made a quick stop at a Pacific Grove beach and had some lunch.  Then we visited Point Lobos again because there was a lot more to explore.  On Sunday, we packed up but stopped at Seacliff State Beach on the way home.

I made a photo album of the best pictures.  I hope the link works and it is a good way to view the pictures.  It was easier than uploading them all to Blogger.

Baseball camp

 We were camping this past weekend.  It was fun and exhausting and I took a ton of pictures.  I'll share them soon.

But today was the start of baseball camp for Leo.

 It looks like Serafina is giving him a pep talk before camp, but really she's just abusing him.

 While Leo was at camp, Serafina practiced on the balance bike.

This picture was taken with Instagram which lets you put some filters and special effects on photos.

Happy Hollow reward visit

The kids continue to practice their reading and writing, so they earned another reward. This time is was a trip to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (forever known as the place Serafina broke her leg).

We started at the carousal like always.  Leo chose to ride an ostrich.

Serafina wanted to be on the bench.  I went with her and got dizzy.  Not fun.

Leo had fun.

Looking cute and a little white from sunscreen.

Next were the swings.

And then the Granny Bug ride.

We took a break from the rides to watch an animal show.  They had some cool animals and Serafina almost made it through the whole thing without getting too whiny and restless.

Next was the roller coaster.  Leo wanted to ride with his friend James.  Serafina didn't want to ride at all.  She's afraid of heights.

Very serious roller coaster riders.

Leo wasn't too sure about the Frog Hopper, but James's enthusiasm changed his mind.

Leo enjoyed it, of course.

Serafina prefers rides close to the ground.

We visited the little zoo and then had one more ride on the carousel.  I let the kids ride by themselves since I wasn't interested in getting motion sick again.

Laurelwood Preschool's Story Time featuring...me?

Today was Laurelwood Preschool's fourth Summer Story Time. I showed up with the balloons and blankets. There were lots of people there including some fellow board members to help out. What we were missing was the teacher to lead the story time. We gave her a call, but it was pretty clear she was going to be a no-show. Another board member suggested we called other teachers, but even if we got a hold of one, it would be a while before she could get there. The solution was clear; I needed to step up to the plate, be the leader of this school and run the darn story time.

So here I am.  Leading a song.

Reading a book.  

Singing another song.

More books.

There was a good turn out and I think I did a good job.  The kids were smiling and singing and laughing.  The parents in the background were kind of scowling, but I think that's because it was boring for them and not because I was doing a bad job.  These things are painfully boring when you're the parent.

And here's a picture of my kids trying to share the rocking dinosaur even though it isn't big enough for the two of them.

Hanging out with Carrie and Maggie

Grandma Carrie and Aunt Maggie drove up from their summer rental in Venice Beach and arrived yesterday. Maggie hit the pool with the kids for a bit, but then I took her to the train station. She headed up to San Francisco to spend some time with a friend instead of us dorks.

Today I woke up with a terrible migraine so I headed to the doctor while Carrie and Tom took the kids on a hike at the arts center we've visited before.  

I'm feeling better but not 100%.  I'm hoping tomorrow is better for me, but I appreciate having time today to recover.  

Dispatches from Lego Camp

For the last few days of Lego Camp, I let Leo take my old camera so he could photograph his creations. The camp was "pre-engineering" focused and they weren't kidding. Check out what he made.

Here's a Merry-Go-Round he made.  It was motorized and he had a controller to make it spin.

He took a video of the tank he made today.   

Lunch with Daddy

Lego Camp isn't too far from Tom's work, so we went there for lunch.

The best part about lunch with Daddy is he buys awesome dessert.

You wouldn't expect a workplace fully of adults would have a frozen yogurt bar, but there were plenty of geeks there loading up on fro yo covered in gummy bears.  Go figure.

Lego camp

All summer Leo has been anxiously anticipating Lego camp.  He was excited to be going but he was especially excited that he would be attending with his best buddy Doug.  The first day of camp finally arrived this morning and it lived up to his expectations.  He had a great time and said he made gravity cars.  

Here's a silly picture of Serafina.

What we've been up to

After a weekend of recovering from our big trip, I shook off my jet lag and dove back in to regular life.  We went on playdates and cooked dinners and had meltdowns.  We didn't swim because the pool was still recovering, but I'm happy to report that it's finally back to normal.

On Wednesday, we attended Story Time in the Park.  A board member suggested it might be good free advertising to have teachers read stories in the park over the summer.  People would see kids having fun and the teachers being engaging and sweet and may get interested in our school.  We've had two story times already this summer, but this was the first one I was able to attend.  I brought the balloons and introduced the teacher; she took it from there.
 

Leo was right up front.

The teacher leading will be Serafina's teacher next year, Mrs. Mouritsen.  She had to tell Serafina to sit down and be quiet at one point so it's good warm up for the school year.

We've been also working on writing and reading.  They earn points for practicing these skills as well as being kind, cleaning up and doing "sports" (swimming, bike riding, playing catch).  The point system has been more for me to make sure I carve out some time to sit down and work with them each day.  It is such a struggle to get through just a few flash cards or lines of writing, it makes me realize I could never homeschool.  They earned enough points to get there first reward this week -- a trip to the ice cream store.

I'm still trying to get use to seeing Leo in glasses.

Yesterday I decided we should go on an adventure to the Oakland Zoo.  We've never been there and between camps, visitors and playdates, we don't have that many free days left of summer.  So, why not?

Here they are seeing the tigers.  

Playing at the children's zoo.

Giraffes.

Watching an elephant take a bath.

There were some rides too.

I also made some refrigerator pickles and carrots.  It was much easier than real canning and they turned very tasty.  I like how this picture makes it look like I photoshopped the jars in, but really it just looks weird because it's the inside of the fridge and I took the picture with my phone.  

Boston

By the time our Boston leg of the trip rolled around, I was feeling a bit of travel fatigue. Also, our hosts, Tom's college friends Karl and Stephanie, are not people I know very well.  In fact, I wasn't sure if I could pick Stephanie out of a crowd since I only met her two brief times.  But when we got to their beautiful town of Needham, they were so excited and warm.  They had a private bedroom in the basement with a separate place for the kids to sleep.  A washer and dryer were also in the basement and I immediately put them to use.

It was really hot there, but after dinner it cooled down enough to go to the nearby elementary school playground.  My kids instantly globbed on to their kids.  Serafina fell in love with Payton, 12 years old, and Leo turned into 10-year-old Miles's shadow.

Despite the high temperature and holiday traffic, they were nice enough to take us into Boston.  I've never been there, so I loved just driving down the streets and seeing the city.

Here are the kids posing in front of a fountain.  It's fuzzy because my camera was cold but the air was very hot and the lens fogged right up.

Wearing his Boston hat in Boston.

There were a lot of these guys wandering around.  Historic city plus the Fourth of July, I guess it's to be expected.  

The main attraction for us were the historic Swan Boats.

Here's a famous statue based on the popular book Make Way for Ducklings.

There was also a carousel in Boston Commons.

And the Frog Pond.

It was really hot, perfect for some fresh squeezed lemonade.

We didn't stay in Boston long.  The heat and the crowds were increasing so we headed back to the suburbs and to the swim club the family belongs to.  It was really nice.  Even though it is a little droopy in the bum, Serafina wore her patriotic swim suit.

It was a great visit and Stephanie and I even got a chance to go to a yoga class Friday morning.

But it was finally time to head back home.  Here are some happy kids.  Of course, this was before they had to sit on a plane for over six hours.

Shew... what an adventure.  I'm very glad we did it but I'm glad to be home and finally over the jet lag.