Venus in Transit

Jeff brought home a couple welding lenses for us to observe with! 

He was even able to use them with the camera.

Can you see Venus between the 2 and 3 o'clock position? 

and our feast of fresh picked fruit, nuts and cheese. 

A Little Exploring

We decided that looked a bit steep - especially considering the dry, loose surface debris.

but we found something else to climb!

we watched the deer, the roadrunners, the clouds, and had a little snack 

Mimi even got to ride a pony! ;-)

God Spark

God Spark

So that's what I've been calling it. 

The god spark in every living thing. 

A couple days ago, Liv told her sister not to put a fence around it  - "you need to open the gate and let it shine out" "don't be mad, let your heart be shiny and glowy." 

I encourage them to foster a "Happy Heart"

I ask them how they feel inside when they've done something generous or loving, what color their spark is? Is it dull or shiny? It's a bit fascinating to listen to their responses.

This morning we got terrible news that one families in our MOMS had their new baby in the hospital (and later in the day that she was gone). I asked the girls to come together with me and we would feel our bright shiny god spark, and send loving energy to Baby Mia. 

It's as close as I can get to teaching them to pray....

~~~~*~~~~

Last night at dinner Liv asked, "Did God made the clouds?" 

me: "What do you think?"

"I think God made the clouds." pause... "How did God make the clouds?"

"How would you make a cloud?"

pause... "I would use fog."

"That's a great idea!" "I bet that would work!"

Splash Pad Play

The temps climbed over 90 late this week, we headed to the splash pad/ water park in town for some play.

 I was rejoicing that the girls are big enough now that I can sit in the shade and talk to a friend or read a few pages of a book while the girls play happily with each other, new and old friends and require very little necessary intervention (a couple snacks, a hug after a tumble, a potty break, and a toy dispute...)

BELLY!!!

just about worn out... must be time to pack up and head out... 

Apricot Fiesta Fun

This weekend is the Patterson Apricot Fiesta, we didn't make it in time to watch the whole parade, but the bits we did see were very fun: Boy scouts, dancing horses, a marching band.
The Lion's club bbq was very smokey - but that is a typical part of fiesta... 

What is Livvy watching?

"Look at that!! Can I do that?"

Bound! Bound! Bound! 

I hope you can see by that smile - what an incredible experience this was for her! 

Inflatable obstacle course, Big Sis waiting for Little Sis. Little Sis is doing it!! 

More climbing. Up. Up. Up!

Liv scrambled right to the top. Camila had to work much harder to reach each hand or foot hold. But she did it with very little assistance. 

Made it to the summit!

Wheeeee!

Camila chose a pony ride as her next activity.  

Mimi was ear-to-ear smiles the whole time as she rode 'round and 'round on her gentle little pony named Dolly.

Liv made the difficult decision to watch her sister ride the pony while she waited in eager anticipation of  playing in a bubble ...

Kettle Corn at the Fiesta!!

Fun party at the Baptist Church, bounce house, face-painting, games and snacks. 

Camila nearly fell asleep having her face painted. Sweet child...

And fun over-the-top supper for the kiddos... 

I

Happy Girls at Happy Hollow

 Our dear friends Klaudia and Maya (http://katelenhey.blogspot.com/) were taking their mommy on an adventure and invited us to join them! Luckily, we were able to, and we all ventured out to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo  (only we never made it to the "zoo" part).  

And dopey mommy left the camera's memory card in the computer. doh! But, happily, the camera has a bit of internal memory and I captured a few happy moments.

Again, and as expected, the favorite part is the marvelous "Keep Around Carousel"

Just like last time we visited nearly a year ago.

We spent a good deal of time in the redwood climbing area. 

Liv worked hard at climbing the cargo nets. Mimi loved the huge slides.

Later Liv lead a group of kids "protecting the cave from the boys"

Camping Kirk Creek

Our family's first camping trip.

We loaded up the van (really loaded it up!) and headed out to the coast.

The campsites were mostly reserved - yikes - but we arrived early enough to snag one, albeit, close to the road, for the first night.  The sites are 100 feet or so above the sea. with a pretty jungle-like hike down to the rocky shore.

Late in the afternoon a Norwegian couple pulled into the campground looking for a site - of course there were no open sites - but we had a very large site and invited them to pitch their tent and share our campfire. 

They joined us the next day for a hike down to the shore.

I couldn't resist climbing this.
(Bella followed me. Liv didn't think it looked like such a great idea.)

Liv lighting the way...

Jeff had an encounter with an incredibly tame/bold squirrel who was (correctly) sure we had gorp.

We had the great fortune to meet an exceptionally cool family with 2 daughters Liv's & Mimi's ages - they rode bikes, colored, and played ... and their daddy put up this swing. 

"This is SO AWESOME"  - Livvy

"SO FUN!!" - Mimi

Watching sunset from inside the tent...

The zoomy girls taking a bike-break during camp break-down.

We broke down camp and headed off to a nearby SANDY beach where the kids could dig and splash.

We continued to have fabulous luck -- weather-wise -- and it was actually a very nice day at the beach! 

What cool stuff is in the bucket? 

sand crabs! wow!

running like kids at the sea!