I like that Mama is only working outside the home half-time and more importantly that being a teacher allows her to take some time off over the summer. I’m sure it’s not enough time for either her or the children, but it’s wonderful that they get to play this summer and I can really see in both Sofi and Natalie how much they appreciate getting to spend time with her. Surprisingly, I am rarely jealous that they’re out having fun together and enjoying the weekdays without me.
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.
For the most part, the pictures on this site have been taken by either me or Mama, but I know that other parents take pictures of their children, and mine, when they’re together. Fortunately for us, Michele Shumaker decided to share photos that she took earlier this month when the girls went to Rancho San Antonio with Michele’s children. Obviously, we think the photos are great, and hopefully if you haven’t been to Rancho you will consider this an open invitation as it really is a great place to take your kids. Sure looks like mine had a great time - thanks Michele!
Papa
If seeing the goats was fun for the group, I believe, for the kids at least, the beach afterwards eclipsed even that, and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. We started with lunch at the picnic tables beside Pompono beach just north of Pescadero (south of Half Moon Bay) and then walked across the parking lot to the sun, sand and surf. I hate to rub it in to anyone not experiencing the wonderful weather right now, but we were at the beach (some children in bathing suits) in early March! How cool is that?!?!?
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.
Bill Vaughn has been quoted with the wisdom of saying, “a three-year-old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.” Any parent that has taken their child to the park on a Saturday afternoon knows the truth in this statement, and our weekend showed how wonderful that truth can be.
“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.
Watching the news in California is always a treat. And on weekends that show other parts of the counry in blizzrd-like conditions it’s always nice to know that we have the beach. With that in mind, we took the girls for a coastal trip this weekend - with a unique destination in mind; see the next post - and one of the places that we stopped was a small beach just south of Half Moon Bay. It was sunny, in the mid 60s, and when protected by the rocks downright warm.
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.
