We made it

Looking at these photos, you will know that we are no longer in California. Walden Pond alone is a give away that we are no where else, but in New England. Coming back, especially with my whole family here, is like a walk in the past. But the past it is not, since I have my future with me: my two children. Today we visited the town of Concord, home of numerous authors, and the beautiful Walden Pond. The kids had a blast playing in the water. My father even got to do a blog talk by the pond. We visited a museum, strolled through the town, and treated ourselves to ice cream at Dairy Joy, my favorite ice cream shack in Weston. We went by my old high school and the children got to play in a playground there. I have only been back here two days, but so far, it seems to me that in some ways, things have not changed here. But so many years have passed that it is me who has changed, and it's refreshing to see the old things with different eyes. Stay tuned for more adventures!

This is it!

I am sitting on the floor of our empty house, with the computer on my lap. This is it:the last day of living in Santa Cruz, at least for a little while.



We had a busy week seeing people, saying good-bye, maximizing our time here. We had a beach get-together, a park get-together, pool-time, school good-bye party. I hope the kids get an idea of what they are in for!



Transitions are hard, but they are important. We will learn and grow from the changes; we will make new friends and new memories elsewhere. Santa Cruz had been wonderful to us, our little family. Au revoir, et a bientot, j'espere.

Last Weekend

The beach won't be so easy to go to in just a week or so. We got together with friends from Five Branches this morning at the beach. Though it was a typical summer morning - foggy and cold - the beach is still a good place to be for when big people and little people want to all be together.



After graduating from Five Branches five years ago, I get to see some of my friends occasionally, but never often enough. We all got busy with our lives. Some of us had children, some focused on work, and some moved away. Now that we are one of those moving away, it was a good excuse to see our friends one more time.


Claire, especially, enjoyed the extra attention. Friends and family sure come in handy with children around. It made me sad to think that we will be away from these people, but happy to know that if and when we come back here, there is a community of people we care for, to come back to.

Boston

My trip to Boston was wet, but productive. It felt like returning to my childhood home: my American childhood home, that is. Everything was familiar, even the short cuts I used to take to get around Cambridge, I remembered enough to direct and impress a taxi driver.


After living in California for 8 years, going back to Massachusetts felt like going to a different country entirely. People sounded different, the buildings looked different, the air felt different, the trees were of different species. Though I felt comfortable and 'at home', I was out of my elements. Where was my family? Where were my children? I had returned 'home' as a woman all grown-up.




To completely describe my experience would be difficult for I am still processing it days afterwards. I imagine I will be living the experience itself again soon enough. But here are some photos from the trip. Sorry if they look dreary: it rained constantly during my whole stay, so it was hard to avoid these dreary looking photos.

Farewell to my Grandmother

My dear grandmother passed away peacefully last Wednesday at the age of 78. She was a tremendous part of my young life in Thailand. She lived a full life, but the last 5 years or so had been trying for her with throat cancer and lung cancer that invaded her fragile body. She was a trooper and fought hard. She fought so hard that she was able to see her great-grandchildren twice, and saw her granddaughter as a mother.

I will miss you grandma. You were an incredible soul, the sweetest heart, the anchor for the family. I told the children that now you are our angel, who will watch over us. I know we will meet again some day and glad that you are resting in peace.

All my love to you, from all of us.

Mother's Day 2007

Happy to be their mother.

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!