Discoveries

Another dinner at the farm. But this time, we had little critters joining us. Well, we joined them is more like it. Recently the kids have been interested in finding critters: spiders, bugs, lizards, you name it. Momo, especially, wants to catch them, and make them his 'pet'. He has caught a few rolly-pollies, put them in captivity, and learned later that they need air to survive. I warned him of that, but the boy is stubborn, so I figured that he should maybe learn the hard way.


Today, they found all sorts of things at the farm. They caught an orange ladybug that is still alive as I write. Even Claire lets the bug crawl on her now which is a big step for a little girly girl that she is. Momo found many lizards, but thankfully they were all too fast to capture. I can't say I want him to bring one home. Maybe he is ready for it, but I am not!


They also caught a beetle, checked out the bees, and peeked at a naughty gopher. It was windy up there today, but we didn't let it deter our fun. I promised them that next time we will bring the right containers for the lizard hunt... Now I wonder why I said that (you know they will remember that one)!

Dinner at the Farm

It felt like summer today, so what's better than going to eat al fresco at the farm? Does anyone know why eating outside makes the food taste better? And you know what is even better? I don't have to clean up! Eating al fresco - everybody wins!





If the farm could talk, it would probably say how much our children have grown in the last two and a half years that we have been going there. And because they are growing so fast, each trip up there is like a new experience for them as you have seen through the blogs here.


Today we watched an apprentice harvest arugula for dinner, drove (or pretended to) a loader, decorated an abalone shell, and ate a picnic dinner. Two hours went by in a snap before we headed home for bath. We hope for many more meals at the farm before our depature in four weeks!

Sonoma weekend

Our Sonoma weekend was full this time around. We always have fun when we visit our family up there, but this time it felt like we did so much in a short period of time. With Jim needing to meet up with a couple of people near Santa Rosa, we took the opportunity to explore that area that is little known to us all.


We discovered the quaint town of Sebastopol - practically Santa Cruz without the ocean. The kids enjoyed some ice cream treats at a local ice cream parlor and a picnic at the park. It was a very warm day, so just the ice cream was not enough. Once we got home, the children undressed and jumped into the wadding pool. Water was flying everywhere. And so were small little naked bodies!


The adults also got a chance to go out for a memorable dinner at Della Santina's - one of our favorite restaurants in town. What a difference it makes to not have little people dine with us. We love them so, but on occasion, it is a treat to only worry about your own food, and enjoy complete conversations without interruptions. On the way home, we stopped in San Francisco for a quick ride on the trolley and a visit to the Ferry Building. It was a big weekend treat for everyone, with lots of great memories.

To Sonoma

We are heading up to the wine country tonight. Jim has a pseudo interview with a practice in Santa Rosa over the weekend while the kids and I get to play with Nick, Terry and cousin Anders! There will be stories and photos to share, I am sure. For now, have a great weekend and wish Jim luck!

Morning at the Beach

We can never tell what kind of day we will have at the beach as the beach seems to have its own magic. Today I took the children to Moran Lake Beach where Jim and I had our post-wedding bonfire 5 years ago. We played there last week, too, and the children loved playing in a little river on the beach created by that morning's low tide.


Today was different. That little river was gone, and in its place was a rather noxious seeming puddle. So we kept walking until we found a cliff where we could lay our blanket and plop down our sand toys. At first the kids didn't seem too enthused. "There's no water to play with, Mommy!" they lamented as they were expecting to be sitting in a shallow river, digging for treasures as we did last week.


Then I challenged Momo to jump down from the cliff to the sand - probably about 5 feet high. And he did not hesitate. This got Claire going as well, although she chose to jump from a smaller cliff. Momo landed beautifully on his feet like a little gymnast and Claire was proud of her little jump as well. "Again!" they both cried out. And as you can see here, who needs a river on the beach. We transformed it into a gymnastics heaven today!




They jumped and climbed and ran around for over an hour until their little tummies reminded them that it was lunch time.

Pescadero

With only 6 weeks left before we say goodbye to this part of the country, we felt a need to explore our own 'backyard'. Pescadero isn't quite that close, but close enough for a morning adventure. Our goal was to visit the Harley Goat Cheese Farm , but it didn't open until 11am, so we first headed to a beach not too far from the farm itself.




The coastal Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay is dotted with several big and small beaches. Most of them are devoid of people, just drift wood, sea birds and sand. We decided to explore the beach at Gazos Creek: an entirely new beach to all of us. It turned out to be a much bigger beach than we expected, with plenty to explore. We created a shelter for Brown Cloud using drift wood gathered from the beach. The kids found some flowers and rocks to decorate the 'house'. Soon it was time to head to the town of Pescadero itself - the home of the Goat Cheese Farm.


Pescadero is a tiny fishing village half way between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. It is amazingly bucolic, and has the charm of a small New England town. Harley Goat Cheese Farm was not hard to find. We were the first and the only visitors that morning, it seemed. Several goat cheeses were displayed for tasting. They are known for their quality and beautiful presentation of their goat cheeses. We even got to meet some of the goats, and the kids. I enjoyed the tangy, creamy taste of the goat cheese. Claire liked it almost more than I do. Momo took a taste of the one with sun dried tomato pesto. He claimed he liked it, but when I asked if he wanted more, he said no.




We ended our adventure at a picnic table behind the town's bakery where we got some materials for an alfresco lunch. We sat under blossoming apple trees, in the warm sun. The still fresh rain from the early morning and the aroma of a huge lilac bush made the air feel and smell like New England. And it made me smile to think that soon, very soon, I will be back there - even if it's just for a little while.

Playtime

The kids are better at playing together these days. They can spend a long time alone without needing me. I am not saying that they don't have siblings squabbles, because they sure do. We remind them all the time how lucky they are to have each other! They are playing 'tent' here in this picture. We convert our couch into a cave-like environment. Imagination rules!

Railroad visit

April 15: cometh the day, cometh the tax man for most of you, but not for our kids! It was Al Smith Day, whether you knew it or not!

To be honest, no one in our family knew April 15 could be a day of joy until our good friend John Steinmetz told us about a small railroad just up the coast, owned by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, that ran engines twice a year: New Year's Day and April 15, Al Smith Day.

Yes, just up Highway 1 past Davenport, not too far from the beach where Mommy and Daddy got married, is the Swanton Pacific Railroad!

Apparently Al Smith was a benefactor to Cal Poly and a lover of railroad engines on whose property a small gauge track with engines exists; he bequeathed the property to the University, and on those two special days a year the engines roll and children of all ages flock to our little neck of the woods for a ride.

As readers of this blog know, Momo especially is a big fan of the iron horse. It had been a long week for Mommy, since it was school vacation week; and so I decided to take the kids out for a day's adventure and leave Mommy at home to re-charge the batteries (she actually more or less took the opportunity to clean the house, but assured me it was great fun to do so without distraction).
Momo, Clairey and I had a ball!!!! Began the day with a donut, spent all morning riding trains and playing in the fields, and ended with ice cream. And the cherry on top? I got to provide a guest entry to my wife's blog! What could be better than that?
--Jim (Daddy)

Strawberries

What do you get when you take some sweet strawberries...


Add some whipping cream...


A taste...



A Happy Boy!

Morning at the Farm

I made the decision to spend the morning at the UCSC farm instead of anywhere else. The weather was beautiful and rain is expected for tomorrow. And I knew that things must be starting to grow up there.


The apprenticeship program is about to begin at the farm. Some 38 apprentices will live on the farm, in tents, for the next 6 months! If I were still in college, I would do this program in a heart beat. I wonder why I didn't know about this then? At least I got to spend some quality time with a colony of Roseate terns on a very small island in the Atlantic Ocean. That was quite an experience, too.


At any rate, we met a lot of people at the farm this morning, gathering weeds, making compost, setting up tents. One of them picked Claire a rose, one of them offered that we could pick a couple of strawberries in the field. They all seemed to adore seeing two little people tramping around the magical place. In the middle of it all, I found the two monkeys verbally fighting. After giving some attention to the content of the fight, I found out that they were arguing about the color of poop. Claire says it's brown, Momo thinks it's black. It went on a while until I had to break it up. Just imagine what else they will disagree on later in life!


We walked all over the land, picking strawberries (just a couple), smelling flowers, watching things grow. We even found a dead mole. There are not too many weeks left for us to visit the farm. I hope the kids will retain some memories of this place as a big part of their life in Santa Cruz. I know I will.

Happy Songkran (Thai New Year)

Spring Break

So it's been a spring break week for the kids. I was always a fan of spring break when I was a student myself. But now... I am not too sure about spring break.

It's spring, sure. But it's not a break for me! Yes, I know - it's meant to be a break for the wonderful teachers that take care of these little people day in and day out. They deserve a break so that they can come back fresh - ready to go again. But let me tell you something: I NEED A BREAK!


So, I exaggerate. Nevertheless, it's been a tiring week. It's partly because Master Miller (as he is known in his Thai passport) has become an occasional napper since the break began, oh, 5 days ago. He went three days in a row with no nap. Thankfully, today, as I write, he is snoozing, but that's only because I intentionally tired them out this morning on the beach.

Though it's been tiring, and the new (no)nap schedule is a bit daunting (thank goodness his dear sister still savors hers), we have been having fun, too. We visited the Children's museum yesterday, the beach and Long Marine Lab today, and tomorrow I may take them to the Monterey Bay aquarium. Or maybe I will take them back to the beach since it worked today!

San Francisco Get Away

I surprised Jim with a night away in San Francisco last night, our 5th anniversary. It was the first time for us to be away from our children over night, and we had a good excuse for it. Jim found out somewhere between the Santa Cruz mountains and the foggy city, that we were not going back home that night! I must say, the surpise thing was fun! I am proud of myself to have been able to keep it a secret until then. Hard for me - those of you who know me, know this about me.




I had made a dinner reservation at Hyde Street Bistro, our favorite French Bistro in the city. That, too, was a surprise to him. We had a great night walking up and down the steep hills of the city, and eating the best French food since who knows when. We came back to the hotel and found champagne and truffles waiting for us. A nice touch from the Omni Hotel!


A drizzly morning greeted us. We walked through Chinatown amazed that we were still in the US. Once you are in the middle of this part of the city, there is little that will remind you that you are not in mainland China. Until you get closer to the North Beach area that you realize that oh yes, we are in San Francisco, in deed. We found a wonderful French boulangerie for breakfast before walking back to the hotel and heading home.


It was a fun get away. And we have Marjorie to thank - our long time go-to person to care for our children. The children were in great form when we returned. It was wonderful to be back with them, and we will always have fond memories to look back to for our 5th anniversary.