Old Shasta

California history is one of those things that I can't imagine having any worries that my kids are not learning enough about.

In fact, I can't really picture them not picking up on a great deal of the history just by the fact that they live in the state, and well, we go places and explore things.

Northern California still has a lot of wild west, gold rush type places that are easy to explore for free or on the cheap. 

 Like the cute little town of Old Shasta along Highway 299. It's tiny, and the place you could really drive by without thinking much about it, but we decided to stop there for a stroll along the wooden sidewalks.

Apparently, the town was once the hub of Shasta county, until the railroad bypassed it and went through the town Redding instead (which of course, then became the county seat.)

Now, it's a row of very cool crumbled brick buildings.  There's a museum in the old courthouse, and the gallows which actually had at least one public hanging of a bank robber. (They have a picture of the event, and his jeans with bullet holes and all from the attempted getaway.) There's also an old fashioned brick oven bakery and a blacksmith shop which are open at certain times complete with folks dressed in historical garb demonstrating what life used to be like.

Mainly, there are lots of unsafe structures to explore, and which my boy child naturally wanted to climb all over. My Girl Child looked like she was thinking that it might actually be a fun idea too, and they were both a little disappointed that I said no. I figured those remnants have withstood the last hundred years of fire, rain, earthquakes and storms, and it would be really embarrassing to have my children be the ones that knocked the historical site down in the end. Not to mention that broken bones and hospital visits tend to ruin a perfectly good outing. I know, I know....I'm such a stick in the mud.

Thankfully, there was plenty to check out around the buildings without actually climbing on them, so the kids still had a nice time, despite the fact that I spoiled their plan of balance beam walking like Ninjas on a one hundred year old crumbling brick wall.
After exploring a bit, we had a lovely picnic of cheese, crackers, fruit and Nutella on a big sunny lawn in front of a beautiful replica of a huge barn that burned down at some point in the past. Chocolate covered fruit does help ease all kinds of disappointments. They may think I'm cautious, but at least I carry good snacks.

Recycled Crayons

A few years ago, my kids got this electric "crayon making" machine, which was a very nice thought, but never came out of the box. The idea of making crayons was neat, and I assumed we would melt down old crayon stubs to make new ones. The kit however, came with a bunch of perfectly good crayons to melt and pour into new crayon molds. That seemed like a waste of energy and time to me. It didn't even suggest making swirl crayons or anything- just taking something that was already usable, and using up a bunch of time and effort to make the exact same thing. We're not fans of busy work in our homeschool or our lives- there are enough real things to do in life- so the box got buried under some of those other things.

I came across it recently, and we all decided to pass it on to someone else who might actually use it. But, we still liked the idea of making crayons, and we had a jar full of old, busted stubs that were eager for their new lives. We also had a little muffin tin that had been part of a play kitchen set leftover from my childrens' younger days which looked like the perfect alternative crayon mold, and we figured that our oven would work just fine for melting.
I remember being a child, and so badly wanting an "easy bake oven" which was heavily advertised on TV in the late 1970's. I never got one, but was very disappointed when I actually saw one in real life. It was just an overpriced plastic box that used a light bulb to cook with. Why not just let your kid cook with a real oven? I mean, I don't think it was at all about safety because people didn't really seem to focus on safety in the 1970's in the same way they do now. Kids bounced around in the back of the car with no seat belts while adultts smoked in the front, and it doesn't seem like anyone thought a thing about it. Besides, theoretically, a kid could easily burn down the house with an easy bake oven as well as a real one. In fact, I think my mom may have used that argument as to why I didn't get one, along with the fact that it was stupid. In hindsight, she was right, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

Anyway, my point was that I wanted my own kids to know how to use a real oven, and they do. I don't think it ever would have occurred to them to buy a plastic machine that made obnoxious humming noise in its' attempts to produce low hear, whether for making cupcakes or crayons, especially when they could just turn the real oven on.

So, we melted a few batches, and the end result was these cute little crayon rounds. Since the broken bits we started with included crayons with wide range of age and quality, the finished product is a bit of mix too. They all look pretty neat, but some have waxy colorless bits swirled in that don't leave any color when you try to draw with them on paper. Oh well, at least they look pretty, even if they don't function all that well for the intended purpose. Maybe we should remelt them and add wicks to turn them into tiny tea light candles, or maybe call them magical play muffins and give them to a young friend to play with.
Any other ideas as to what to do with these cute little crayons that don't draw?

Tadpole Trauma

Every year about this time, we do a massive tadpole rescue operation. The creek that borders our property flows seasonally- it goes from raging in the winter to mostly dry with the exception of a few puddles in the summer. We are down there a lot in the spring admiring all the new life, and while we catch and observe them for a few minutes, we don't take them from their home.
I've had other kids think I'm a big meanie for making them leave tadpoles in their creek home, but I figure if it has enough water to sustain them, that's where they should be- squiggling free. But, at some point when the rains stop for the season, you pretty much know that the tadpoles who still have tails but no legs are not likely to finish developing in time to hop away before the watery home dries up altogether.

I'm a big softy when it comes to animals, especially young ones, and the thought of dried up tadpoles disturbs me more than captive ones. So for the last few years, each spring when there is not much chance they'll make it otherwise, we head out with buckets and retrieve as many as we can. We have a big aquarium that we set up on our front porch for just this purpose. It has rocks and plants from the creek, and is open on the top with branches to help them climb / hop out to freedom when they're ready.
In years past, we've also had water skimmers make the habitat their home, as well as a few mosquito larvae (I catch and feed the mosquito larvae to chickens- I have no mercy or soft spot for them.)

This year, we had a horrid new bug stop by to eat at the habitat. It was a back swimmer, a true bug with a piercing mouth that is used both to suck plant juices, and to inject digestive juices into prey (such as tadpoles.) These nasty creatures can both fly and swim (they swim upside down, hence the name.) We had a handful get in our human swimming pool last year- they use their hideous mouth to bite humans too and it hurts, probably because of the digestive juices, which is just really creepy to think about.
Well, I was out observing my cute little tadpoles, and the tiny little frogs in our porch habitat, when I saw a most traumatizing site. One of those evil back swimmers was under water, upside down- it had it's disgusting mouth latched onto a cute little frog and was pulling it under! It was awful! I think I probably screamed something like "Oh my gosh you evil demon creature- what are you doing?!?" and quickly grabbed a nearby cup that one of my children had left on the porch. I scooped up the attacker and his victim, who were firmly attached, and yelled for my children. I'm not sure that I really thought through why on earth they should witness this disturbing scene, but they heard me and came running. We all hollered about the brutality of nature for a minute, and then tried to save the poor little frog, but sadly, it was too late for him. Nevertheless, we promptly smashed the awful back swimmer before he could find another victim or reproduce any more of his terrible kind. Again, no soft spot here.

Later the same day, we had another interesting encounter with nature. My Boy Child was scooping cupfuls of our habitat water and checking out what was in it up close when he came across another rather ugly insect near the bottom. I almost judged it based on it's ugliness, but then I thought it looked a little familiar, like it was possibly a dragonfly nymph. We looked it up in the Handbook of Nature Study, and sure enough, it was a little dragonfly in the making. Now, for another dilemma...apparently this little fellow is also a voracious predator too. Its one thing to know that he's ugly as sin right now, but will someday be a beautiful dragonfly, and it's another to know that he too is probably going to eat a bunch of our tadpoles along the way.

We kept him in a cup for a few hours while we decided. First, we read a bunch. On the plus side, we all enjoy the sight of dragonflies gracefully skimming through the air on summer evenings, and once they take wing, they eat other flying insects like mosquitoes by the dozen. They also eat mosquito larvae in the water while in the nymph stage which is another bonus. But, they aren't particular diners, so there's a good chance he'd also eat some of our our little legless frogs to be as well. They can also take years to get to the flight stage, and there was no way I'm keeping this tank habitat up for years. We looked for another body of water that might support him- preferably one that was full of mosquito larvae. Unbelievably, we couldn't find anyplace that looked like he could live there.

None of us felt right about dumping him, and since we hadn't seen him in the act of killing as we had with evil back swimmer, we certainly didn't feel he deserved a direct death sentence. We didn't really like the idea of him munching our tadpoles, but in the end, we decided that we'd take the risk. We did have about 12 million tadpoles in the tank, so a few might be sacrificial ones for our dragonfly. One nice thing is that dragonfly nymphs are bottom dwellers, so we wouldn't need to look at his ugliness or the carnage of his feeding.

Well, maybe a week later, I was out observing again, and I saw this little guy hiding in the grass. Our little nymph had just completed his transformation to his new dragonfly form- his wings weren't even dry yet, and his empty nymph shell was still right there next to him. It was very neat for the kids to see. We spotted another empty nymph shell in the grass, and later, found another nymph in the water. Apparently, we had more than one dragonfly, which was very cool. We also still have 12 million tadpoles, so we don't feel bad about the possibility that a few were snacked on either.
We're starting to get more and more little frogs every day. I have a feeling it's going to be a noisy summer around here.

Thrift Store Madness

I just had a rather surreal thrift shop experience- the kind of thing that made me feel like there was a hidden camera somewhere, and people everywhere where laughing at my ridiculous situation. I already have a wavering relationship with thrift stores. Some days, I find an amazing deal on a vintage purse or bargain book and I love them. Other days, I see only overpriced, musty smelling junk that I hesitate to touch, and leave with the desire to wash my hands immediately.

Well, there is one awesome little thrift shop in my area that rarely gives me that feeling of needing a shower because everything in it is pretty darn clean and usually in really good condition. It's run by a group of elderly church ladies, is only open once a month, and not at all during the summer, but it's usually well worth it to stop in if I'm in town that day because they have the smoking hot deals. I am almost always amazed at the work these ladies must do to sort through the junk and organize things. Some of the stuff even looks like it's been folded and pressed. Even the idea of someone ironing a pillowcase makes me think of some sweet old time days that were long gone before I came into the world. A trip to this particular shop is usually a very pleasant experience. In years past, I've purchased a beautiful burgundy wool trench coat there for less than $10, and my daughter found some gorgeous embroidered vintage gloves for $2. I'm a sucker for a bargain, and usually love this place, but yesterday was a different story.

Yesterday, they were having their last sale of the season, and so I headed over for the last bit of my lunch break from the office. I rummaged around, but none of the clothing, household items or accessories really caught my eye. I had used up most of my break, but I hate to leave empty handed, so I thought I'd get a couple of remotely interesting books. The sign said that kids books were 10 cents, other paperbacks were 25 cents and hardbacks were 50 cents. It's hard to go wrong there. I picked out a kids book on card games, a kids novel about some kids who find a magic map, and a novel for myself. At the check out station, a lady I hadn't seen before was bagging the items and calling out the prices to the cashier in a very official way.

"O.K. Three books, $1.50,"  she told her.
"Oh, I thought kid books were 10 cents?" I asked. It really didn't matter, as it was a charity and all. I was just curious.
"You're saying you only want to pay 30 cents for these 3 books?" she asked in a rather loud and appalled voice.
"No, I mean I'll buy them anyway. The sign just said kids books were 10 cents." I mumbled feeling a tad embarrassed at the way she said that.
"I don't think these are kids books" she says in a huff flipping through them.
"Um, it really doesn't matter, but two of them are kid books." She's looking skeptical, so I explain. "Well, usually a book on card games for adults wouldn't have pictures of a smiling 8 year old holding giant playing cards on every page, and this novel about kids, well, it's written for kids."
"So, you're saying you only want to pay 30 cents for these?!" She was kind of shouting and starting to sound like the soup Nazi from Seinfeld.
"No, it's fine, I can pay $1.50," I say, but she's glaring at me, so I explain "I was actually only saying two of them are kids books anyway- the one with the kid playing cards on the cover, and the one about the kids with the magic map. Those are pretty much kid books- the other one is a paperback which I thought said 25 cents."

Why I was trying to explain this, I don't know. I just wanted to buy the books and go on my way. Why she wouldn't listen to what I was trying to tell her, and was instead looking at me like I was trying to pull a major scam over a couple bucks at a rummage sale, I don't know either, but for some reason, I felt I should defend my honor.
The cashier was looking at both of us like she had witnessed this kind of ugly price war display before, and wasn't looking forward to another episode. She asked "OK, so what are we doing?"
I started to tell her again to just sell me the stupid books and take my stinking $1.50 because I really need to get back to work when Mrs. Overcharge grabs them and says "Well, I have to show these to my supervisor and see if they were put in the wrong place by mistake."
Seriously? I can't believe she is still acting like they aren't kids books- as if adult books usually have main characters that are little kids who fight evil magicians... as if adult card books need to explain that a King is worth more than a 9 either!
I said I'd buy them for $1.50, even though I have no idea where she got that price, but she just has to try to prove me wrong. I can't believe she thinks I am actually trying to scam them out pocket change. I mean, I know I didn't iron my shirt that morning, but I don't look that shabby. And I really can't believe there is a line forming and she has taken off with my books, like I have all day to deal with this. I didn't even really want the books, and I was being trapped in a dramatic altercation over them. The cashier is looking at me in a very uncomfortable way. I like to think she was on my side, but didn't want to cross the Price Checker.
"Just go ahead and ring those people up," I say, not wanting everyone else to have to wait on this nonsense. I walk over to where Old Grumpy Butt is talking rapid fire to the boss, and I overhear her saying in a shocked tone "and she only wants to pay 30 cents for these!"
I'm mortified. This old lady, who seems to have a bit of trouble hearing, understanding and adding, is portraying me as a villain. I am so embarrassed. I hate to talk smack about my elders, but she was clearly nuts, or having a very difficult senior moment at the very least.
For one thing I said I'd pay the lousy $1.50, and for another thing, the correct pricing would have been 45 cents, not 30 cents (2 KID BOOKS at 10 cents each, and one paperback at 25) I never said they were ALL kid books, and I never said I only wanted to pay 30 cents.
The manager is looking very confused at what in the heck her over zealous volunteer was talking about, and by this time, there were like 6 more people in line at the register. I know that every transaction will take nearly five minutes, because speed and efficiency is not really possible in this crowd. I am totally going to be late by now, and Crazy Lady is clutching the books like I'd grab them and run at any minute.

"You know, it's OK, I actually have to go back to work now. I don't need the books. It really wasn't that big of a deal. I was just saying that those two are actually childrens books."
So, I left- embarrassed and empty handed. I was also a bit confused myself. I can't believe I just had that ridiculous and illogical exchange. It's very frustrating to not be heard or believed. Of course it was just a couple of books and a bit of change, but it was also the point. This lady wouldn't or couldn't listen to anything I was trying to get across, nor would she just let me buy the books without a scene.
I probably should have just said "You're right. Those are adult books," even though they clearly were not... "and I'd be happy to pay whatever price you decide to make up for them- I'm sure those price signs were just a suggestion anyway." See I can't even pretend to do it without sarcasm, but I don't know if even a completely sarcasm free apology would have helped because she seemed to be on a mission to make me suffer. Besides, biting my tongue is not my strong point. It's not often that I feel like throwing a cuss word at someone older than my grandma, but this was one of those times. Thankfully, I resisted the urge.
Hopefully, by the time they open the shop back up in the fall, she will have moved on to another volunteer committee, or at least stopped being near the register to harass customers. I feel like she has marked me in her mind as a trouble making criminal, but hopefully, she'll lose my face in her short term memory. I hate to think of her spoiling all my future excursions there.
I told this story to a friend, and she knew exactly who I was talking about because apparently, she had seen her action as well. My friend is just nicer than me, and didn't open her mouth in the first place. At least I can take solace in knowing I wasn't her only victim.

BeesWax Sculpting

Just about everyone has played with clay in some form or another- or at least I would hope so. Some get to use real kiln dried clay at some point in their lives, but most most get to play with Play Doh as a toddler at the very least. But, have you ever sculpted with beeswax? This stuff is really fun.

I came across it in a Waldorf homeschooling catalog years ago, and it reminded me of the wax around those little Baby Belle soft cheese wedges. I used to smash them up and sculpt with them as a child, and my own children have carried on the tradition.

Well, I am all about the recycling when it comes to crafty projects, and we do enjoy cheese and all. But, even we don't eat enough cheese to go very far in collecting wax to make a sculpture larger than an inch or so. Besides, I need variety, I can't just feed my family Baby Belle. Most of the cheese we eat doesn't have a rind except Brie, the edible rind of which just doesn't make for a lasting piece of art.

So, we got a box of the Stockmar modeling beeswax. It came in 15 lovely pastel colors, so not only could we make larger sculptures, but they were also no longer limited to the red of cheese wax.

This stuff is hard as a rock right out of the box, so you might want to put it in a sunny place to soften it up. Of course, not too sunny of a place, or you'll have a rainbow puddle on your hands. After letting it warm near the stove for a bit, we began to play. I was surprised at how hard it still was, but after kneading and rolling it in our hands for a few minutes, it began to become more pliable. It actually has a really neat feel to it once it softens up, very different than clay, with more of an oil, but very inviting and workable.

My kids often do handcrafts while I'm reading aloud, and the beeswax was very conducive to this. They loved working with it, and came up with some nice new artwork. It can't go in our sunny window shelf where we display a lot of sculptures- in fact, the skateboarding model my son made of himself started to slant a bit after spending a warm afternoon in the kitchen, and I'm a little nervous as to how it will make it through the hot summer anywhere in this house- but, we'll find a shady place and hope for the best. I still think it's a fun and worthwhile project in itself, and a great way to keep hands busy while listening.

Books, Books, Books

Books are just everywhere in this house. It's kind of out of control, but I no longer worry about it. I'm pretty sure that books are one area of my life that will just always be cluttered, and it's going to have to be OK. There are bookshelves in every room, books on tables, counters and in stacks. We have hundreds of our own books, borrow dozens of library books every month, we have books borrowed from friends, books, books, everywhere books.

I find it interesting how many times people have said to me... "Oh, I (we) don't have time to read." Of course, just like anything else, it's one of those priority things. I sometimes say "I don't have time to exercise" but in reality, it's just that I don't make time for it, and my thighs are showing the evidence.

I am sure that TV, computers, and video games are big distractions that are keeping people from books. It's pretty hard for a book to keep up with the sensory stimulation. All of these things have their merits too, and we enjoy them all, but I still love books. Compared with television, a book requires the effort of actually reading, instead of just watching, and I imagine a lot of people just are too tired to deal with that. There is even talk of the hand held reading devices replacing books, which to me, would just never be the same.

I'm very thankful for the few years when my kids were tiny, we lived off the electrical grid up in the mountains. It was definitely a different way of life than your average American kid. Mine never had the option of a TV being on all day. TV was a couple of times a week max endeavor when we fired up the generator to do laundry and timed it with Sesame Street. Although we've been fully powered for years now, we still don't use the television daily. Whenever I hear of a good new show, and I think about checking it out, I think about how many other things I'd rather be doing with my life. We only get a few local channels anyway, so in most cases, I couldn't watch the show anyway unless I wanted to start paying for TV, which is something I philosophically can't bring myself to do. If I'm paying for it, I'd feel I needed to actually use it more, and I really am not that interested in that. The computer is already sucking enough time that I could be spending doing other, more productive things with- like creating art, planting something, visiting a friend, or that I could be using to read a good book.

It's a shame how many kids don't even like to read though, and have never learned to enjoy books (or have had the potential to love books squelched with forced early reading intervention programs.) I read a study by the National Reading Council that said American 4th graders now have a higher reading level than in years past, but by the time they are teens and young adults, fewer than ever read for pleasure. Reading comprehension of young adults has also dropped quite a bit in recent decades. So, what exactly is the benefit in making kids learn to read at a young age if they don't end up liking it, rarely do it by choice, and don't end up that good at it in the end?

My kids have been exposed to lots of books from infancy. They learned to read in their own time, and know the pleasure of a good story. Personally, I love that books are cuddley. I may use my laptop in bed, but it is not the same coziness as I get with a book. I don't connect with my kids over the computer the same way I do snuggled up on the couch reading them a story.

I love experiencing the emotions that a good story can evoke in me as a reader; from smiling and laughter to sadness and even tears. My children and I have read or listened to the entire Harry Potter series together. After following the characters for years, we had grown very attached to some of them. In the final book, we found ourselves literally on the edge of our seats every time it looked like one of our favorite characters might not make it. I actually stayed up late reading ahead of my children just to see what would happen next. The kids were cheering for our side during battles, and laughing out loud at the Weasley twins pranks.

My little boy says he appreciates a good story with action and suspense. He is just passing through the difficult stage of being an early reader who finds the stories at his reading level not very interesting. When you have had the pleasure of hearing stories like Treasure Island and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea all of your life, the ability to read Dick and Jane is not exactly exciting. He is just breaking into chapter books and enjoyed reading Tarzan of the Apes with me. He does see the ability to gain new information as an important reason to read well, but there is a definite difference between what he wants to learn, and information that is being force fed to him. Reading to learn more about Pokemon is important to him, so he works harder on it. Like most children, he is sharp enough to know when he is being spoon fed a moral, and rolls his eyes at obvious “lessons” or stories with a “and the moral of the story is...” type of ending. I very regularly see themes from books pop into both of my children's play time. The Little House on the Prairie series had them churning butter and washing laundry in the creek. The Boy With the Bronze Ax had him building stone tools and buildings.

My girl child is an avid reader who devours books in the way that many children consume junk food. She and I share many books together. Last year, she read the Percy Jackson series among others. This series by Rick Riordan is full of Greek mythology, and we both learned a lot while being caught up in the story. She says that in a good book she “becomes the main character.” Whether the character is a boy or a girl, she “is sword fighting with them” in her imagination. She also enjoys being able to “do a lot of things you can't do in real life.”

A nine year old friend of ours, who also loves reading, says she loves when “it seems like the characters come out of the book and really talk to her.” I love that imagination, and I also love the fact that we know children who choose a book shop as their favorite store in town, and would read all summer regardless of the reading program the library offers.

We all enjoy those fantasy worlds that literature can take us to. Learning something along the way is a bonus, but the children I know do not appreciate simplified moralistic stories, or dumbed down tales. No one wants to be told what to think, but lots of people seem to enjoy the thinking this entertainment leads to.

We're always looking for new books to add to our reading lists, so I'd love to hear what your your family members' favorite books have been. Or whether or not you even enjoy books? Now, we're off to the next book sale at our library....

Savoring Spring

It seems like the end of the school year, and Memorial Day approaching have most people thinking about summer. I know it will be here soon, and am looking forward to all the hot weather fun summer brings, but at the moment, I am savoring spring. In the same way that I can't bring myself to focus on Christmas in October, even if the stores are decorated for it before Halloween, I also am focusing more on enjoying what's left of this season that's in front of me now before I'm ready to move on to the next one.

There's just something about the carefree feeling of spring that brings out my inner school skipping self, and has made me want to play hooky for as long as I can remember. How can we be inside- whether in my office, or our house, when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming? This beautiful weather was made for us to enjoy, so I'm trying to make sure we get out and enjoy it while it lasts.
It's amazing what a difference a little sunshine can make in one's mental state too. After the dark cold winter, a little sunshine on my face is like a shot of something yummy, with no negative side effects (well, except wrinkles and potential carcinomas, but man, it feels really nice.) I don't know how people in Alaska or Iceland make it through the winter months year after year.We've had a lot of late rain and unseasonably cold days this year, which has made the sunshine even more appreciated.

Pollen allergies have tried to put a bit of a damper on our spirits, but we decided we'd play now anyway while the weather is nice, even if we have to pay later with itchy eyes and runny noses.

The grass in our pastures in taller than it has been in years, which my goats are thrilled about, and so am I because that means less hay we'll have to buy this summer. It also means less frolicking romps through the meadows because it's rattlesnake season, and it's nice to be able to see where you're stepping. We've had up close encounters in the past, and I personally prefer to avoid them.

We've had a few late frosts, and random thunderstorms as well, but fortunately, with most of that thunder also came rain, which we really needed. Our local lakes are fuller than I can remember them being in a long time, which is a really nice way to head into summer.

Spring, and all it's new beginnings really bring out my optimism on a number of levels.  It has the kids and I inspired to work in the yard again finding all the amazing things that have grown and thrived despite some degree of seasonal neglect and extremes in temperatures and water levels. I love discovering what plants are hardy around here, because they are the ones I deal best with. Finicky, temperamental, sensitive and needy things don't tend to do as well under my care. I do like to nurture things to some degree, but I'm a bigger fan of low maintenance. It's a quality I appreciate in all things- plants, animals and humans alike. Slight imperfections are appreciated as well, and I have no problem seeing the beauty of a rose, even if it has a little insect damage.

Speaking of hardiness, one of my favorite spring sights is the lone flower busting through a crack in the sidewalk in downtown. I've seen it over and over, in numerous concrete jungles, and it always makes me smile. I know, some people call them weeds, and will probably be there with a can of poison to stop that unruly growth soon, but personally, I appreciate the persistence of nature. It reminds me that there are things out of our control, so lightening up might not be a bad idea, and more importantly, that even in the ugliest situations, beauty can sprout.

Clouds just rolled in with cold wind, and it started to rain. I guess it looks like we'll be enjoying this spring day in front of the fire playing board games. I'm glad we celebrated the more spring like days while they lasted. What are you all doing to enjoy the last days of the season?

Dinosaurs, Art and Broken Trolleys in Balboa Park

Balboa Park is one place I love to visit whenever I am in San Diego. The buildings sport fabulous architecture, there are gorgeous plants and trees everywhere, and enough museums, art galleries, shops and open spaces for picnics and playing that we could probably spend a couple of days there.
I never have a couple of days to spare though, but we did just spend a lovely afternoon there while visiting family on our learning adventure in Southern California.
While it took my father a painfully long time to get away from the laptop and cell phone and into the car so we could actually go, my children did get to witness first hand where their mother inherited her genetic pattern of chronic lateness from.
Finally, we arrived, and started off exploring a village full of artists with sculptors, wood carvers, jewelers, painters, photographers and textile artists. Some were working on site. Others just had their work for sale, but it was like a cool little museum in itself.

Unfortunately, the botanical building was closed the day we were there. It houses a wonderful collection of orchids that always makes me wish I didn't kill expensive plants in the way that I do. We did enjoy the lily ponds, and the Timken Art Museum. The lovely display of Russian iconic art on display perfectly fit into our recent learning spree about Russia. We'd just finished reading the fifth book in The 39 Clues series, in which the characters adventurous clue hunting takes them all over Russia, and had been gobbling up Russian culture and history for a few weeks prior to our trip. It's wonderful when opportunities that seem so perfect for what we've been doing just drop into life like that. Unbelievably, the Timken is also free. It's small, but does have a wonderful collection that includes Rembrandt.

Next, we took the free trolley ride through the park. Our driver was one of those friendly type who gives a little talking tour of the sites and events as you go around, even helping a slightly confused elderly passenger find her car. As soon as we were pulling into our final stop, we heard a loud an frightening "thunk" sound. The metallic crunch made me a little nervous that our trolley had run over a wheelchair or a stroller or something, and the poor driver looked a little nervous too. We all hopped out and saw that we had experienced another technical malfunction (and wondered if this was going to be a pattern on our public rides after our Disneyland trip.) Thankfully, we hadn't squished or even bumped into anyone. It looked to me like the trolley had lost a wheel, but my husband said that actually something or other with a ball bearing or a wheel bearing or something like that had broken. (Mechanic speak usually sounds like wuuh wuuuh wuuh waaah - sort of like the teachers on Charlie Brown to me, but I think our Boy Child caught something out of it.) In any case, we weren't going to be driving any further on the trolley that day, but we were already at our stop anyway, so the timing was actually not bad.

The afternoon was winding down, and so was our time to catch any more museums before they closed for the day, so we hurried over to the Natural History Museum. It's another that belongs to the science museum association, so we got free admission with our membership cards rather than the $10 to $14 door price. They had an amazing exhibit on dinosaurs going. We only had about an hour before they closed and kicked us out, but could have easily spent a couple hours exploring this great exhibit of fossils, replicas, and interactive displays. It was a very worthwhile stop indeed, and we learned a ton.

When we returned to visit relatives later that evening, I got a few more inquiries on whether or not we were doing any homeschooling on our trip. Of course, we're homeschooling all the time- the world is our classroom, but I know, this is a hard concept for most people to grasp. Schools can take field trips and have fun learning occasionally, we just tend to do the fun stuff an awful lot. Nevertheless, it seems to be working. The kids came home jazzed about dinosaurs, not because I had planned it, or it was on the standards, but because we came across a really cool display of them, and they got to explore it.
 It was another great day of life learning in action.

Does anyone have any other San Diego or Balboa Park must see places / things? I'd love to hear about them, since I know we'll be be back again.

Flower Fields

Carlsbad, California is a formerly quaint little beach town in northern San Diego, which unfortunately has exploded in the last few years and is now home to probably 7 Starbucks and countless houses that all look exactly the same. But, I still love Carlsbad because it is also still the home of some wonderfully beautiful scenery, and some really cool people- including some of my favorite relatives- plus, the town just has a good feel to it. There are glorious beaches, some cute old beach homes that haven't yet been mowed down to put up condos, and a surprising amount of farmland that hasn't been cemented in yet either.
The most famous farm is the flower fields. If you drive by during the right time in spring, you'll be wowed by over 50 acres of fabulous blooms all lined up in rainbow stripes.


It really is quite a glorious site- one I haven't seen in years, and my kids didn't really remember ever seeing since our last few visits have been at other times of the year. This year, we lucked out and our visit timed perfectly into sunshine and blooms, and I'm thinking they'll remember it. The main crop at the flower fields is ranunculus, but the gardens also include miniature roses, sweet pea and anemone. Years ago, you could just take a stroll through the rows anytime, but like everything else, that has changed too, and now it is a big tourist attraction with wagon ride and educational tours that costs in the range $10 a pop to get in.


Despite my nostalgia about the days when the flower fields were free to roam, I'm glad that they've found a way to keep their farm going by successfully combining agriculture and tourism. They're also bringing something a whole lot prettier to the world than another soy field or a cattle lot.

We weren't feeling up for a tour, but did stop to admire the views from a walkway on the hillside street above. I suppose I could have gotten all educational about it and created a unit study on the flowers grown there, their history, the horticultural hot points, imports and exports etc, but none of that really appealed to me at the time. I just wanted to appreciate the beauty of the flowers with my kids. So we did.

We did end up having a very philosophical talk about politics and economics though. Seeing all the farm workers prompted a discussion about immigration, legal and otherwise, and low paying agricultural jobs that not many people really want, but are really important that keeping things like farms going. This led to talking about consumerism, cheap labor and political backlash looking at several sides of the issues. I love the organic way learning just happens, and it was especially poetic that it happened on  farm- and a great looking farm at that.

GRR.... California Adventure

I mentioned in an earlier post on our most recent vacation / learning adventure) that we are not exactly gated community kind of people. Well, we are also not exactly Disney people either. I'll admit that their princess style story lines have gotten slightly better over the years with less of the weak "Oh, please save the day so we can live happily ever after" type female characters, but still, my kids aren't exactly growing up watching all their movies and dreaming about being a princess.
We aren't big theme park people either, as large crowds and long lines tend to annoy me, especially since I've had kids. I had been to Disneyland a number of times in my pre-child life while going to college in Southern California, and it always amused me how many wanky, cranky, tired children were throwing fits at "the Happiest Place on Earth" while their frustrated parents who had just spent a fortune drug them by the arm to go on yet another ride hissing "We're having fun here whether you like or not, so stop your crying right this minute and get in that darn giant teacup!"

But, I don't want my natural cynicism of things to mean that my children never get to experience these foundations of American culture, so I took them to the original Disneyland once a few years ago. We had a whole lot of fun that day, although none of us wanted to take on the multi-day, multi-park, breakfast with the characters Disney vacation marathon that costs as much as college tuition and some people feel is what the Disneyland experience is all about. One day, one park was about all I could do.

This year though, I thought Disney did an incredible thing  with the "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. Volunteers could give a day of service to an approved charity, and in exchange, get a voucher for a 1 day pass at a Disney theme park. It's a great situation where everyone involved wins- Disney gets a tax write off, a million people get to spend a day in a park that would normally cost them about $75 a pop, and the charities get a whole lot of volunteer help that they probably wouldn't have otherwise. I think three months into the promotion, they had already given out a million tickets .
Well, this was a great opportunity for our family. I'm a big fan of both giving back to the community, and free fun. So, we signed up, spent a morning giving away food at our local homeless mission and got a chance to experience Disneyland again. The food give away was an experience in itself which deserves it own post, and I'll have to write about it later.

For our theme park, this time we wanted to try out the California Adventure Park next door to the original Disneyland. My kids are totally into roller coasters, so we checked out the website to find the best rides and attractions ahead of time. There was no way to avoid being at the park for one of the "High School Musical" parades, but we always enjoy new things to make fun of, so that was fine.  Unfortunately, a few things that looked fun online were closed when we got there, but we all agreed that "California Screamin" was one of, if not the best roller coaster we've been on. It was smooth (as opposed to the ones that jerk your neck and spine in rough ways and opposing directions) and had lots of crazy spins, turns and loops. It was super fun, especially the rapid take off. Our other favorite was the water raft ride "Grizzly River Rapids" (also known as GRR, which ended up being quite appropriate later that day) Since it was fairly hot, getting wet was a blessing we happily appreciated. By the end of the day though, our appreciation of refreshing wetness waned, but I'll get to that later.

Every ride had an important safety sign to let people know that unbuckling your seat belt and trying to jump out of something traveling at high speeds and going upside down was a bad idea. No reading necessary for this important message. They also had a friendly recording playing that had a super sales guy voice and reminded in multiple languages "Parents, please watch your children."

My homeschooling mom mode kicked in at some point, and we had to check out the educational opportunities like the 5 minute Mission Tortilla Factory experience where you could learn about the history of tortillas and corn and watch them being made. We got a tasty tortilla hot off the press at the end. We probably should have stopped by there before buying $50 worth of miniature taco salads for lunch, but oh well.

We also did the sourdough bread bakery, and sampled some of the the most delicious, warm, chewy sourdough bread I've ever encountered. Our delight was spoiled though when my husband noticed the sample server was fondling the door handle (which is I'm sure one of top 10 germiest surfaces in the world) with his gloved hand, and reaching back into the bag to give unsuspecting people samples. I made the children spit / throw their samples out, and they were starting to sadly protest, until I pointed out that the server was now running his gloved fingers through his hair and then dialing his cell phone. At that point, we were all both disappointed and disgusted. We were really enjoying our bread up until that point, and then it not only ruined my sample, but also made me think about all the other food I had eaten that had been prepared by strangers that day. How could he not know that the gloves were supposed to be keeping the samples sanitary, and that by fondling every germ covered surface in reach he was defeating the whole purpose of the gloves?!?

Earlier that morning, I had laughed and said that the handy hand washing tips provided in every bathroom were one of the stupidest things I ever saw, because what idiot knows how to read, but not how to wash their hands. Well, Mr. Grubby Fingers and his bread samples helped me realize that maybe they need to add something on these signs about the fact that your hands, or hygienic gloves for that matter, are no longer clean once you start touching filthy things. Maybe picture directions would help too. So, on top of our little factory and baking lessons, we also got hygiene, food safety and common respect lessons as well. We truly are learning all the time.

Anyway, despite the fondling bread boy, one thing I have to say about Disney is that they really emphasize the service with a smile attitude with their employees. I didn't see anyone who worked for the park scowling- from the Princesses in the parade to the guy driving the shuttle bus to the parking lot, those people all had the friendly act down. That is a refreshing change from the attitudes you get with a lot of service people who don't rely on tips. All of those smiling faces were contagious, and really helped the mood when shuttles were late, and other annoyances happened.

We ended our Disneyland Day with what was kind of a big annoyance, but it was hard to get too mad with all those toothy grinned employees saying they were sorry for any inconvenience. We had less than an hour before the park closed, and really wanted to squeeze in a couple more rides, but we got stuck behind this musical Bug's Life parade full of singing, dancing, back flipping people with the most insanely over caffeinated huge smiles of all for about 20 minutes. It was a little scary for toddlers and me too. Just when we thought we could cross, one of the security people told us we had to wait. She had the Disney smile too, but she also had a look in her eye like "Don't even think about it lady." I thought she'd probably jump me if I tried running across between floats, and since seeing your parent be tackled to the ground by a smiling security guard at Disneyland may just cause emotional scarring, I waited it out.
When we were finally released to get past our mandatory entertainment, we ran like linebackers through the crowd to the Grizzly Rapids. There was hardly a line and we thought we were in luck. Despite the lack of line, the boarding seemed to take forever. When we got in and started floating, my son commented that he thought we were moving awfully slow. I thought it was just his perception because he knew we were running out of time, but soon we bumped into a stopped raft. A few minutes later, another raft bumped up behind us, and then another. We were right before a big drop- the thrill of the ride, and wondered why the employee wasn't opening the lever to let our rafts go.

Well, then she announced the "unexpected technical difficulty" and asked that we remain seated and buckled while they drained the ride so we we could be evacuated! We were wet, in the shade, and one of the kids really needed to use the restroom. We were good sports and waited- of course we had no choice on waiting, but we did choose the good sport part. My poor kid had to hold on for at least 20 minutes with the sound of water sloshing down drains the entire time, but thankfully made it. The interesting part was that we got to see the "Cast Members Only" behind the scenes view during our emergency exit.

We went under the man made mountain, and saw all the not so pretty gears and rusty parts and things that make the rides run. By the time we got out of there, the park was closed, so we were out of luck on taking one more spin on the roller coaster. My Boy Child was sure that the rusty parts were responsible for the breakdown, but apparently, there had been a power failure, and several other rides, including our beloved roller coaster, had stopped too. Surely it would have been more alarming to be stuck on a ride 100 feet in the air, and it probably would have ruined my admiration for the ride and given me new phobias, so it was probably best we got stuck where we did.

We laughed about our Disney dreams being dashed, made sad pathetic faces, and thought maybe they would give the kids a balloon or a sucker or at least a sticker for our troubles. They gave us big smiles and apologies, and pointed to the exit.
Regardless, we had a great time on this leg of our California Adventure.