I think it’s universally true that “the fair is fun.” Heck, even I can remember going to the Del Mar Fair in San Diego. The Santa Cruz County Fair is no exception, and I’m glad that the girls got to experience it this year. The great weather, wonderful sights (games, rides, food) and exposure to 4H animals was outstanding.
One of the local K-5 private schools off Union Avenue had a special Easter treat this past weekend, and after seeing the Easter Bunny announcing the event we swung a quick u-turn and decided to take a peak. We arrived with the first group of 15 or so children – most of whom seemed to be students of the school – and we got to follow the bunny himself before starting off on a very exciting Easter treasure hunt.
As most of you already know – any good thing can be made better when your friends are along and so back to Harley Farms we went this weekend. This time, though, we included our friends and made the day of it. Babi even decided to join us and seemed to love the goats. Of course, Babi went crazy for the dairy’s cheese, too, so we left our mark on their small market.
“The Cheese Stands Alone” may be their slogan – and the cheese is very good – but the goats stand by the dozens, and this time of year it’s all about the kids. No, not those kids, the baby goat kind of kids. That’s right, we took the children to see Harley Farms and we’re now recommending it to every person we can, because the 60 odd 5 – 10 day old goats are overwhelmingly cute, and the personable, professional staff at Harley make it a location not to be missed.
Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners. ~Author Unknown
Mama and the girls having a standing Tuesday play-date which allows the girls to get together with their friends Audrey, Cole and Sydney. Not everyone can make it every week, but it’s usually at least one group or the other. And, with all the special deals going between the Zoo and the Children’s Discovery Museum, it always feels like they’re up to something fun.
What an awesome weekend! After an invitation and very little negotation we decided to make a trip down to Preson Ranch this weekend. And What a great choice that was. The weather was outstanding. The children were (for the most part) very well behaved and the company, as always, was marvelous. For those that don’t remember from the previous post, Preston Ranch is the family home of Jean and Victor, our friends in Paso Robles (which also happens to be where the ranch is). It’s a log cabin and vineyard atop one of the taller rolling hills which offers commanding views and beautiful views of the mountains, other vineyards, and the city of Paso Robles.
So I know that it’s been a while since I last wrote and I even said in my last posting that I would be getting back to it, but work has been busy and our extraordinarily fun life has been even more enjoyable the past few weeks. We have been getting out and we have been enjoying everything the beautiful weather has to offer.
This past weekend we took in the farmer’s market and then took our feast home and made dinner with it. The girls had a wonderful time and Sofi actually made her fist Boboli pizza while Natalie made the salad. The food was outstanding! Not to mention a heck of a lot of fun to make. I enjoyed every minute of it, and since they cooked Mama and I even agreed to do the dishes while they snacked on some chocolate for dessert.
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Some of the best trips that we’ve had as a family are to places that don’t cost a lot of money and don’t add too much other than a place for the children to have fun. The Coyote Point Recreation Area, just outside of Burlingame, is one of those places. I’m not sure how they started, but what it really ends up being is a combination golf course, picnic ground, beach (the San Francisco bay), playground, marina, and museum. I’m sure there’s more there, too, but that’s what I saw during our day there and our travels.
First, I should really apologize for the really long delay between posts. I’ve been busy, which isn’t really a good excuse, and I was having a problem uploading photos to the site. Fortunately for everyone, I have resolved the photo problem (woo hoo!) and I am back to writing. So for fans of my children you can rejoice.
Better news is that we didn’t stop doing things while I was busy and struggling with Linux distros, but instead we go to enjoying a variety of different things. One of our favorite activities continues to be the zoo and this time we went and met the entire Shumaker clan, who also joined and will hopefully enjoy their membership with us from time to time.
After visiting Natural Bridges State Park we went a few miles North on Highway 1 to Wilder Ranch. None of us had been before, and frankly if it hadn’t been recommended by the guide at Natural Bridges we probably wouldn’t have even tried to go. Fortunately for us, we did, and this brief trip off the beaten path was well worth the visit – on this day more than most.
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