How fantastic is that class picture?? Chase Palm park playground, gotta love kindergarten! 

The class doing their best to walk single file back to the bus. 

The bus to go home. What a great trip! 

Sadie and I took a trip about a month ago to Carpenteria State Beach with her 4th grade classes. They had just completed reading and studying Island of the Blue Dolphins. The true life story took place right here, on our coastline on St. Nicholas Island in the 1850's. The kids were thrilled to be able to do some hands on experiments and studies of what it would have been like back then to be all alone and surviving on an island.

Clamshells and redwood to smooth logs for use in a canoe or shelter. 

Oh and who could forget the fire!  

She found she needed a little bit of help from her friends. 

Sadie trying to make herself a shovel using driftwood, seaweed and a flat rock. 

Sadie helping demonstrate how they would have built a canoe out of redwood and yukka string. 

The kids were shown how to build canoes, use yukka plants to make string, use natural pigments as paints and sealers and they got to try their hand at all of it! 

Here she is showing them all of the different tools and objects you can find regionally on St.Nicholas island where Island of the Blue Dolphins story took place in the 1850's. 

Classes sitting for presentation at Carpenteria State Beach by park presenters 

Sadie eating lunch at Carp State Beach with class field trip 

4th grade classes walking up to Carpenteria State Beach for presentation on Island of the Blue Dolphins 

Sadie working on making a 'tool 

Sadie is 9!!
We had a great birthday on Tuesday the 22nd with Sadie Jane. We spent the day pretty much as a normal day until the afternoon. Then we picked up her friend Kim and went to Zodo's bowling alley.

They had so much fun bowling! It was Tyler & Trevor's first time so it was quite the experience!

Trevor figured it out after a demonstration from Tyler.

Sadie & Kim both had a lot of fun!

Once the game was done, look at these scores,

It is kind of hard to see them all so let me summarize. Sadie-104, Kim-89, Tyler-100 and Trevor-127!! Hello? YOu see those #'s? Are my kids natural born bowlers or what? Considering I have 3 bowling trophies in my keepsake chest, I suppose they come by it naturally. ;o)

My parents used to award me with a new Swatch watch whenever I bowled a game over 150. We lived in Ankara, Turkey at the time (cough.1986.cough) & any little thing to bribe us to be happy worked. I spent as many evenings & Saturdays at the Air Force Base with my horse or at the bowling alley working towards another Swatch. I ended up with 5 by the end of that summer & my parents had to cut off that bribe. They changed the winning game goal to 200 instead of 150. sigh. I only won one more Swatch that summer. So sad.

But back to Sadie's birthday!

We had presents (George took photos, don't blame me!) and cake!

We had a fantastic time! She is getting so tall, smart, opinionated and becoming quite the grown girl. I don't know how ready I am for this but she is ready & that is all that really matters I suppose.

We love you SadieJane!! Happy Birthday!

I am pretty sure that noone out there even checks in to read this anymore but here is a summer update!
Right now there is a bit of a heat wave. Nothing we can't handle just highs in the 80's with over 60% humidity. If we are lucky we are getting down to 64degrees with over 90% humidity at night. So much fun, I tell you! Needless to say there hasn't been much playing outside for the kids in the last few weeks. Tyler broke his arm swinging from a tree branch, he was trying to be a gorilla swinging from branch to branch. He's not a gorilla so much he found out.
Sadie has been hanging out with her friend Kim, they are stuck together like glue (as Kim's mom says). It's been fun to watch her grow up a bit & have a real girl friendship with all it's drama & fun.
Trevor is just the same. Trains & Godzilla are what his life revolve around.
George is working away, his health has much improved. He's lost some weight that the medications put on last year. He's feeling good & lookin' good too! Work is stressful but that is the way life is right? Unfortunately we did have to have some repairs done on his truck. We took a big financial hit on that one. The estimate was $400 and after all was said & done we forked out $1,6oo!! Not okay but they are honest mechanics so we know the repairs & costs were legitimate. Radiator repairs, replacement, whatever cost a pretty penny!
I am just here, doing the usual routine. Cleaning, laundry, knitting, reading, designing, bulletins at the church, cooking, pretty much standard stuff. Having the kids home this summer has not been nearly as traumatic as I expected. I do enjoy seeing how they are all getting along with things, how they work out problems on their own, make-up games and things to do when they are bored, just be good siblings. That is not the easiest thing to do & so far I think they are doing a smashing job this summer!
We spent the fourth of July on the beach in Santa Barbara, our usual place. Tracy joined us of course! It was a gorgeous day, not too hot with a little bit of a breeze to keep you cool.








You can see Tyler's broken arm, we did our best to keep it dry but it was bound to get wet in the ocean with waves slapping the plastic bag.

The kids had a lot of fun making sand sculptures

Being buried in the sand, not the broken arm just the body please!

Towards evening time it was too cool to go in the water so they got dried off and played in a fort made of driftwood.

The fireworks didn't start until after 9 so we had a while to just hang out in the cool of the evening on the beach. Notice Trevor trying to sneak some Oreo's, sneakysneaky kid.

This is the only shot you will see of me from this fourth of July!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!!!
We had a great birth-day around here yesterday! Trevor woke up as happy as could be and immediately started planning for the day.
He did get to open one present in the morning to tide him over until the 'party' in the evening. A party at our house consists of all 5 family members & Tracy (who Trevor thinks should live with us, along with grandma & grandpa Sedgwick so we are one big family) plus a cake & presents. We don't do a whole lot of hoopla for birthdays with friends & big parties. Maybe when they are older but for now, we're not interested.
Trevor helped me make the cake & add sprinkles, yummy!

He also got a special treat after lunch, just because he's the birthday boy!

We spent the afternoon with Sadie and Tyler playing games, watching movies, anything to keep Trevors mind off the party & excitement to come.
Finally at 6pm we got to the presents and it was about time too! Trevor couldn't wait a minute longer!

We are on a bit of a Godzilla binge at my house right now. Who knew that little boys would love crazy japanese movies from the '60's so much?? Godzilla just died in the Mothra movie and Trevor is now crying on his way out to me. So sad...but onto more party pics from last night.


And then it was time for the cake, singing and a family movie Hoodwinked (sans Trevor, he wanted to watch Godzilla vs. Mothra alone in the playroom).





Happy Birthday to an awesome 5 year old, Trevor!!