8th Grade Trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Several weeks ago, the school announced they would be taking the 8th graders on a special day trip to celebrate the completion of middle school. They asked for parent drivers and I signed up.  Then they told us we would be going all the way to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and to arrive at school at 8am and not plan on returning until 5pm.  Oh boy!  That is a long day and I definitely had some regret about agreeing to the trip before I knew the details.  

But we showed up at 8am ready for a day of fun.  My kids have never been to the boardwalk and I haven't been since college, so I didn't know what I was getting myself into.  

I was assigned six kids, but one didn't show up.  Here's my group (right to left): Mariko, Drew, Vivian, Hadley and Leo.  

Our special wristbands got us unlimited rides and a BBQ lunch. 

It was still early when we got there and the planned activities hadn't started yet, so we decided to stroll the boardwalk and check it out.  

Of course we had to stop at this photo op.  

Hadley and Leo. 

Leo and Vivian

Drew and Leo. 

I've seen this movie countless time.  Leo watched it recently and found its 80s cheesiness hilarious. 

First up on our day's agenda was a beach cleanup.  When we gathered at the beach, Mariko saw some kids she's better friends with and asked to join their group.  That mom only had three kids so I had no problem handing over Mariko.  She had a much better time with that group, I'm sure.  She seemed slightly miserable with these dorks.  

The kids all got one glove for their trash picking-up hand and I held the trash bag.  They were not thrilled with this assignment.  I had them take a picture before we started.  Apparently in just about every picture Vivian flashed a middle finger and I didn't realize until I looked back at all the pictures last night.  Ah, teenagers.  

They found a crab they needed to return to the ocean. 

We had our own private outdoor party area for lunch.  It was pretty cool.  (Strange pose from Leo and another middle finger from Vivian)

It's been over two years since I've been a field trip chaperone.  I didn't miss it, but I also really enjoyed my group.  Plus, I looked very official in my lake hat.  (Oh Vivian)

As we wrapped up lunch, Gavin asked to join our group.  His mom was also a chaperone, but for some reason she was assigned a bunch of kids that Gavin doesn't really know.  Gavin, Hadley and Drew all went to elementary school together.  Gavin is sweet and easy, so I was happy to add him to my dork squad.  Here's a photo op after bumper cars with Mr. Matlock and Ms. Steele.  

A silly one. 

The Giant Dipper is a historic wooden roller coaster built in 1924.  I felt like I should experience it. Wow, what a mistake!  I screamed so much my throat hurt the whole rest of the day and night.   It was my only ride of the day and it was more than enough. 

Gavin smartly sat that one out, so here's the rest of my chuckleheads ready to board.  

Vivian ran into her "boyfriend" as we were exiting the Giant Dipper.  He was in line and she asked if she could ride again with him.  The other chaperone was willing to take her so off she went and we moved on to the log ride.  

Gavin decided to join this one and they all came out soaking wet.  It was a hot, beautiful day at the beach (kind of rare in Santa Cruz in June) so they dried out fast. 

This was a very fancy garbage can named Leo so of course I needed a photo. 

Dole Whip cheers!  (Not as good as Disneyland Dole Whip, but it was refreshing and practically medically necessary because how much my throat still hurt from the roller coaster screaming.)

They rode more rides and played some games.  They were entirely terrible at the games, but somehow Leo won this ugly orange creature.  The other kids were excited for him.  Except for Vivian who was in a bad mood for the rest of the day because her boyfriend wasn't all that interested in hanging out with her and she ended up back in our group to listen to her headphones and pout.  At least she didn't flip off the camera in this picture! 

 We wrapped up the day at 3:45.  I returned Gavin to his mother and took back Mariko for the ride home.  We were all sticky and drained of energy.  It was way more fun than I was expecting.  Drew is one of the most delightful kids I've ever met.  They were all so easy and happy.  Plus the weather was gorgeous.  It all worked out.  I knew I would be tired when I got home, but I was beyond exhausted.  I'm still tired today!  But at least my throat finally feels better.  Ha! 

Middle School Pride Party

The Middle School has a Gay and Allies club, and they organized a Pride Day event with lots of activities.  They started out the day decorating cupcakes with their mentor groups (kind of like homeroom class).  I made big batches of frosting for each kids' class.  I used two pounds of butter!  

I helped in Serafina's classroom because Leo's classroom is very small and has some of the biggest kids at the school.  

It was messy, but the kids had fun.  

Here's Serafina's cupcake. 

I stopped by Leo's room to take this quick picture.  

Here's Arya, Serafina and Mia ready to head out to the outdoor activities.  

Once outside, they linked up with Rozalynn.  

There were lots of stations outside.  They was flower crown making, nail painting, henna, temporary tattoos, shaved ice and a bounce house. They're was also a tie-dye station.  I sent my kids to school with white shirts to tie-dye, but I told myself that I wasn't going to help at that booth since it seemed like it would be too messy and chaotic.  Well, when we first got outside, I wandered by the tie-dye booth and was slightly alarmed. I headed inside, grabbed the apron I had brought for cake decorating, some good gloves and started helping.  Of course, the most important thing I needed to do at that station was warn those kids not to wash their freshly tie-dyed items with any laundry they care about.  

Anyway, my kids visited me periodically.  Here's Leo showing off the manicure his friend Vivian gave him. 

Leo and Hadley got matching (temporary) tattoos.  

My kids will only be in the same school together for another week, so I made them take a picture together.  

The last activity was a "color explosion" using colored chalk.  My kids didn't participate but it was fun to watch.  

Here's Serafina getting a very messy hug from Rozalynn. 

 

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday the kids took turns running some errands with me, and then the rest of the weekend I was shuttling them to and fro to fun stuff.  

On Sunday, Serafina went to Great America (our local amusement park) with her friends.  I wasn't sure if it was the best idea with her boot, but I couldn't deny her a fun time with her friends.  She promised to take it easy. (Spoiler alert: she didn't). 

Here are the girls right as we arrived.  Left to right: Serafina, Arya, Mia and Rozalynn)

Leo and I went through the gates to go to Guest Services to resolve an issue with my pass. On our way, he ran into Snoopy and had to take advantage of this photo opportunity.  The line was too long at Guest Services, so we headed out.  That evening he hung out with his friend Vivian. 

Mia's mom Nina was serving as chaperone for the girls.  She hung out with them and sent the other moms lots of pictures.  Icee time! 

They realized pretty early on that Serafina's boot could get them this special "green pass" so she didn't have to stand in line.  The rest of the crew also got wrist bands to skip the line.  We just might hang on to that boot for future visits. 

They went on a #D ride.  Serafina reported back that I would hate it.  

Not only did Nina hang with them for seven hours on a holiday weekend, she also delivered all home!  Here they are headed out and Serafina has her foot elevated.  

On Monday, I drove Leo and his friends to see the Bob's Burgers movie.  I told them I would be their chauffeur if he took a picture in front of the movie poster in his Bob's Burgers shirt. 

It was a fun weekend with people coming and going.  I'm so happy these kids are going out in the world and (knocks all the wood) we have still managed to avoid Covid. 

 

Serafina's Stress Injury

The last dance competition/convention Serafina did was a little too much on her foot.  She was in pain after and despite icing and resting it as much as possible, it wasn't getting any better.  I took her to the doctor to check it out and he decided she should immobilize it in a walking boot for at least two weeks to allow for better recovery, and so she can be in good shape for her recital in June.  She's still going to her dance classes so she can observe and reinforce the choreography for recital.  She didn't want me to take a picture of her in the boot, but she let take a picture of just the boot.  So here it is, combined with ballet tights of course. 

 We went to the same office where she was treated for her leg break almost 12 years ago.  It brought back some less than pleasant memories for me. 

Beautiful May Tahoe trip and THE TREE

Because the kids had their Olympics day at the park, they were done early and we headed up to Tahoe in the mid-afternoon.  Getting there while it is still light out is always nice.  Discovering a giant tree has fallen in the yard is not so nice.  Oh boy. 

Here's a little video showing the downed tree. 

There were high winds about a week ago, so there were other trees and branches down in the neighborhood, but it definitely seemed like ours was the biggest. 

The fact that it fell in the space between the house and the shed is incredibly lucky. 

We could see a few branches on the roof so there may be a bit of damage up there, but nothing too major. 

The canoe that was being stored behind the house didn't make it though.  We do have some kayaks under the house, but the canoe was the vessel that would have fit all of us and maybe even Mousse if we could convince him to get in. 

The weekend was a combination of enjoyable activities and hard work.  Saturday we mostly enjoyed ourselves.  First up was a hike with just Tom, Mousse and me.  The kids weren't interested so we let them skip it this time to spare ourselves the whining.  Mousse is always an enthusiastic hiking companion.  Here he is posing in a pretty meadow at the beginning of the hike.  

We didn't go all the way to the top of the hike, but we did get high enough to find some snow, which inspired snow zoomies from Mousse. 

On Sunday, we did force the kids to take a walk around the neighborhood with us.  Leo is trying out some contact lenses.  He's tried them before but never really took to them.  This time he has these cool sunglasses as motivation to make the contacts work.  He's almost caught up to Serafina's height, which I swear happened over night. 

The kids turned back after a little bit.  Tom and I made our way through the neighborhood until we got to the lake.  We learned that before Memorial Day, dogs are allowed at the public beach.  Mousse was happy, but he also harassed some huge geese.  

Tom was very much enjoying the weather and the view. 

Lake side selfie.  I picked up this hat in town on Saturday and it's my official lake hat.  I'm very pleased with it.  

After our nice walk and some lunch, it was time to deal with the yard.  We are leaving the tree situation to the professionals, but there was still plenty for us to do.  All in all, the weekend was great with beautiful weather.  It wasn't too crowded up there, but that will be changing as the summer approaches and the tourists roll in.  
 

Middle School "Olympics" Day

The middle school held another Olympics day at the park on Friday.  It's similar to the field days my kids suffered through in elementary school.  There was one in the beginning of the school year.  I guess I didn't post about it, but I was there the whole time as a score keeper and it was exhausting.   This time I just helped serve lunch, which was a lot better.  A friend of mine was there as a score keeper and she sent me some pictures. 

Here's Leo, Hadley and Drew. 

Check out the photo bomb from Ms. Steele in the background. 

Serafina took a selfie with Selah and Jade.  

She's nursing a sore foot (too much dancing, honestly) and her friend Arya kept her company. 

Mia, Serafina and Arya.