Strange thing about birdseed...

Who would have guessed that from our birdseed we would get such big sunflowers. Sometimes in Cape Cod we would get a small one or some weird "grass-like" stuff but never anything like these.

Weekend....

This past weekend was the opening of the soccer season here on base. K is playing again and there is a HUGE difference between the league in Cape Cod and the base league here. First, it's much smaller, second it's co-ed. She has yet to have a game, they just had an opening ceremony and their pictures taken on Saturday. It should be a lot of fun for her though. After soccer we
headed to La Purisima Mission. M made a small broom, K made a small toy and both girls made baskets. Not much going on there this weekend except for the mountain men. It's all pretty interesting though and we have a good time there. Here's the website ... Check it out if you'd like http://www.lapurisimamission.org/ I'm sure anyone who comes to visit will be forced to go. And what would one of our post be without some pictures from our mini adventures? So here you go!

Opening ceremony and yes, that is all the teams in all the year groups

One of the fountains at the mission

M making a broom

Success...

The first day for both girls went off with out any problems. M had a friend in every class and had plenty of friends to hang out with at lunch. She is very excited about the video tech class. They will be making their own movies and they even have a "green screen" , very exciting stuff I'm told! K had two girls from our neighborhood in her class (one is actually on her soccer team also) and made friends with a new girl who just moved here. She hasn't stopped talking about the many field trips she'll have this year. Not much on schoolwork just no homework unless you are bad in class.... I don't think that's the best message to send but who knows if she got that whole part right and I'm not sure about the independent reading. The book she brought home tonight was only 77 pages so needless to say it's finished. Overall both kids are very happy and have agreed to return tomorrow....lol!

First Day of School...

Summer is over and M & K are back to school. I can't tell you how happy we are with our decision to come out here in April instead of moving during the summer. Instead of being thrown into a mix of new kids on the first day they both all ready had friends in their classes, know their way around the schools and had made plans of who to sit with at lunch. So I think it should be a good day. M is in 8th and was very excited to get a video tech class she wanted. K was excited about the first day and ended up with the teacher she wanted. Tomorrow morning I'm sure she'll be laying in bed begging me to home school her so she can sleep in a bit later. She is not a morning person!

Here are a couple pictures of the girls from this morning. K's school wears uniforms which is great and makes our morning a little easier.

M first day of 8th grade

K first day of 5th grade

The girls...let's hope they look this happy everyday

Monterey Bay Aquarium

This week we headed up to Monterey to visit the aquarium and guess what? So did a million other people. LOL! I think everyone had the same idea to take a trip before school starts. So there we were at the aquarium waiting in line to look at the tanks. I'm sure it is always busy but the last week of summer vacation probably wasn't the best time to visit. All in all though we had a great time and everyone really enjoyed themselves. Since we were only spending the night there and not a few days we decided to stay at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. The Navy took it over in 1951 (I believe) and before that it was a resort. It was nice, reminded P and I a little of the movie The Shining. As you will see from the pictures they have filled the pool up with sand and the girls had fun there. They also have a couple peacocks that roam the grounds and one was happy to pose for us.

Posing as usual.....

Ocean sunfish...odd looking guy

M & K with the Jellyfish...

M's hair has gotten curly

in the last few months , lucky thing

Goofing around at NPS

Peacock checking us out

View driving along Rt. 1

with the ever present marine layer in the distance

Day out...

It was one of those mornings when no one felt like getting ready to go somewhere yet everyone wanted to go somewhere. So after getting a late start we decided to head up to Morro Bay. We have been here a few times so we decided to check out a couple of places along the way. We stopped at the much talked about Apple Farm. I admit it's a tourist trap but still a fun place to stop and get out of the car for a bit. We continued on to Morro Bay, shopped around the farmer's market and walked around a bit. On our way back home we stopped by the Pismo Outlets and will be visiting there once P goes back to work in a week. He's not a shopper,folks!

Apple Farm...

Checking out the area...

We wanted to do a couple of local day trips this week since we are heading out of town for a few days next week. First we headed to Nojoqui Falls just outside of Solvang. Since there has been a drought the falls were dry. It was a nice day for the short walk up to see them though. We also stopped at Quicksilver Ranch to visit the mini horses.

Along the path to the falls

The Falls??

Quicksilver Ranch

27 Days of Leave...

This is what happens to you when you have that many days off...




This isn't really P. It's Dobbie, one of our cats hanging out. He thinks he's human at times.

Avila Farm...

With P having to take 27 use or lose days of leave in the next two months we are planning some fun things to do during the days. He had two days off this week and we headed up to Avila Farm which a friend of ours from the Cape who had been stationed here before recommended. We had a great time. Everyone enjoyed picking raspberries and picking out some fresh veggies and baked goods. K was so happy to score some honey sticks. They also have wonderful ice cream. Everyone agreed this ice cream was as good as Somerset Creamery. Somerset was an all time favorite summer hangout for P! This place is located a bit further away then Somerset was so the trips will be less often. Which can be a good thing. Hopefully our friends back on the Cape are making trips to Somerset while it's open for the season. Thanks to Kim for recommending the farm to us!

Picking away in the raspberry bushes

Enjoying a treat

It almost felt like a little stand in New England until you see a Palm tree near a corn field...

Rollerblade Hockey...

Here are a few pictures of P and the girls playing hockey at the base roller hockey rink. They all really have a great time and M is a great goalie. K ususally bores quickly and just skates around on her own while Dad thinks he's playing a professional game.