Pumpkin Field Trip

The kids' kindergarten class went to Johnson's Farm in Boulder Creek yesterday to pick pumpkins. The air was chilly, but the sky was crystal clear. A true sign that harvest season is upon us.

There will be many more pumpkins around here before the other next festive things take over... Christmas trees? Cookies? Snow? Nope... none of that this year!

Two wheels!

We took his training wheels off yesterday. It took 10 minutes max for him to get comfortable, and now, he is a pro! Just like that!

Warning: watching this video may make you dizzy!

Snoopy

Snoopy is the official friend in the kids' kindergarten class at Westlake Elementary. Each day, one kid gets to take Snoopy home with him/her, along with a journal where Snoopy (a parent) records what happened to him during his day with each child.

Our kids have both brought him home separately. I am not sure who is more excited about it, me or them. But it is a special day when we get to have Snoop here, and out and about with us! Maybe I am trying to relive my own Kindergarten (did I go to kindergarten?) with them.

Harvest Festival

The annual UCSC harvest festival was held today, amidst the first rainfall of the season (!). We had not felt a drop of rain since we got back here at the end of July... Strange, but true.

Practically every children we know in town were there, some had grown so much in the year we were gone that I did not recognize them at first. Good thing most of the parents still look the same!

Our beloved farm was not quite the same with hundreds of people, a band, food stalls, and everything else. We like it better when it is calm and quiet. Regardless, the kids had fun painting, and harvesting sunflowers and tasting apples. Our good friend, Sophia (in last picture), has been going to the event with us since the kids could walk. It was fun to have her there again today!

Bean Hollow

The beauty of their Kindergarten program is that they get out at noon. The rest of the day is up to us... and most of the time, we play!

Yesterday we found out that low tide was going to be in the early afternoon, so to Bean Hollow Beach we went. This was the same beach we went to on my birthday, as you may recall...

The tidepools here are probably one of the best in the area with lots of sea life to see when the tide is low, not to mention hundreds of crabs! Our little marine biologists loved exploring these tidepools.

We didn't find any sea stars, but we found plenty of hermit crabs, bullhead fishes, giant sea anemone, snails, sea urchins and tons of seaweed.

The fog was looming over head the whole time we were there, so it was not quite a day to sun-bathe...but we had a fun-filled afternoon regardless.

Happy Fall

Baby Gopher snake

Resting on an avocado tree

"Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall" is a hand-written sign outside of our door today. It was made by Claire who decided that we were celebrating the change of seasons during our dinner last night.

Indeed, today is the Fall Equinox, so.......Hello Fall!

We had such a full summer... It started way back in Cambridge, where the kids went to summer school, learned to swim at Walden Pond, and we all made it cross-country back here to sunny California.

We will not have the same brilliant and dramatic fall as we did last year in New England. In fact, fall here is more like a long Indian summer when the days are warm and the nights are cool. There will be several harvest festivals around town from now until Thanksgiving. We will not fret the imminent long and cold and dark winter... but there will be no sledding or snowman-making either...

Oh, the pain and beauty of transitions... We will savor it all!

First week and Field Trip

Our kindergarteners made it through their first week of school! So far, so good. They are making new friends, learning new things, and growing up fast!

Today I joined their class on the first field trip of the year to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville (fruit capital of the world!). The place is known for their apple orchards, and their fruit pies! The kids enjoyed picking apples, learning about them, and playing around the ranch.

When the farmer asked if anyone knew how the apple fruits are made. Guess who shouted out:

"The bees pollinate the blossoms!"

Yup, our very own children! First it was Claire, and then Momo chimed in. They were with 40 other classmates...

I was a proud Mama.

First Day

You are looking at our brand new Kindergarteners!

They had a good first day. I think it was harder on me than on them. As I anxiously waited for them to pop out of their classroom, I saw a peek of their smiling faces.

"It was great, Mommy!" said Momo excitedly.

"I had a great day, Mama!" confirmed Clairey.

I felt a big weight lifted from my shoulders (and chest, and head). Yet I realized that this is just the beginning of many many more junctions in life I will be going through with them. One down, many more to go. But this was a big one for sure.

Blog to visit

Back earlier than expected.

Please visit this blog and pass it along: Women against Sarah Palin.

I am saddened that I can not vote yet... Perhaps in four years!

A year ago

With the cool foggy days here, I am reminiscing of last summer in Massachusetts. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, isn't it? It's also fun to see that indeed the kids were younger a year ago! Sometimes I feel like they don't grow...

In truth, we have been busy here, so I have not been able to blog as much as I would like.

Will be back soon, I promise.

Thirty Three

When you think your birthday is just another day, little children change all of that. We baked a cake last night, not so much for me, but for them to help me celebrate the day!

We spent most of the day on the coast, looking for tidepools, treasures, and crabs! It was another gorgeous day in Northern California, filled with a lot of happy birthday wishes and memories.

Flip Turn

It would be unfair of me to say that I 'taught' him how to do the flip turn. I used to know how, but hadn't done it in a long time. But the little man was sure ready to try it, so I told him that it's like doing a somersault in the water.

It took him one try, and he got it. The smile on his face after he had done it was priceless.

By the way, he also does a 'back-flip' which I will get on video another time... And it may look like all he does in the pool is doing laps, which is not at all the case. He sure plays in the water like any other boy would, too! His sister is his favorite pool companion, of course.

Sand and Sea

Wilder Ranch

Wilder Ranch State Park is just minutes away from our house. It's an old working farm with New England - like houses and barns, tractors and pens. But the most exciting thing for the kids there yesterday was the big old tree with dozens of branches to climb on. They had been on it before, but now they are just that much bigger and more able to enjoy this natural climbing gym. "It's our tree house, Mommy" they called out and disappeared in there for quite a while playing their imaginary games together.

We also walked down the path toward the cliff where you can get a good view of the Monterey Bay. They were determined to get to the lookout point, despite my warning that it was rather far and I was not going to carry them - at all. I was proud of them that they did it, with minimal whining towards the end.

Our newest friend

A baby Skink!

Farm picnic

The late afternoon light seemed perfect through my sunglasses, but still a bit too bright in reality. After having an early dinner picnic by the chicken coop, we wandered to the big field where the crops were putting out more food than can be eaten or sold by the UCSC farm people.

The kids found that if they dropped the huge (abandoned) squashes onto the ground, they could brake it open and get out the seeds easily. Claire went on to using sticks as a tool to help pry the squashes open. I told them that they were doing what people used to do in the old days...

That thought interested them. They asked what seemed like endless questions about the old days and how people used to live. I had a flashback about my own childhood, and how I wanted to live like people used to way back when. We chatted until the sun got low enough in the sky and finally created that perfect late afternoon light that a lot of photographers yearn for.

Progress

It's been less than two months since these kiddos started swimming and they are doing so well!

We have been going to the neighborhood pool everyday. It's no Walden Pond, of course, but it gives them a chance to practice strokes and to gain confidence. We are proud of them, to say the least.

Sun in the field

I have not been carrying my camera around too much... But here are some photos from our last visit to the UCSC farm.

We have been busy doing summery things during our last summer vacation days. It feels like it has been a very long, fun, adventerous summer!