Egg Hunt

Who are those cute bunnies?  It must be time for the preschool Easter Egg Hunt!


This year, the kids were given a number of eggs to find. Everyone did a great job of keeping track of their eggs and enjoyed all of the yummy treats.

Pi Day

Who needs a reason for pie?  Luckily it is Pi Day and we have cherry pie!

Opening Day 2012

It's the start of another t-ball season and we headed to the opening day festivities.  Alex was a member of the t-ball A's this year.  His team led the parade and did a great job of waving their hats and starting the day off right!

After many long speeches, the kids had time to find friends and run around before posing for pictures. We discovered that we have at least one friend on every t-ball team. It is going to be a fun season!

Hunter, Seamus, Alex

Let's go A's!

Johnny Appleseed

It's Johnny Appleseed Day at Ardenwood Farms!

First we gathered around to listen to the story of Johnny Appleseed.
Then the kids were put to work planting new apple trees!

Alex was especially excited and proud of his tree planting skills.

After all of the trees were planted, it was time for a snack.  The cooks made fresh caramel and everyone snacked on caramel dipped apple slices.

Of course there are animals at the farm. Zachary and Alex liked the lambs, and we even saw a quail (the California state bird).
 

Raccoon Days

Since their camping trip, when the boys thought they heard a raccoon rummaging through their campsite, Zachary has taken on an alternate personality as Raccoon. He has even changed his name. When we discovered Raccoon Days at Crab Cove, we knew he would love it.

A group that rescues and rehabs raccoons set up the program. Zachary listened to a talk about raccoon habits and habitat, had a chance to feel a raccoon pelt, and picked up some literature to read later, including a super cool bookmark.

There were some cute puppets and stuffed raccoons to love too.

And what trip to Crab Cove is complete without seeing a crab?

I guess Zachary's experience at the last beach wasn't too traumatic.

Checking out some shells and other items under the microscope.

Crab Cove is only about a 10-15 minute drive from our house.  By this picture, I'd say Raccoon Days were a great success!

Boardwalk

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!
We got an early start and drove to Santa Cruz for a day of fun at the Beach Boardwalk. We had anticipated it would take longer to drive to Santa Cruz than it did.  On the plus side, it wasn't crowded when we arrived, but it also wasn't open.  To pass the time, we walked around and planned which rides to try out.

As an added bonus, there was a special on ride tickets, and the boys each got a bracelet for unlimited rides for the day.  It took less than an hour for them to make up the cost!  For most of the morning, there were no lines for any of the rides.  The boys would ride, exit the corral and jump back on!

We tried our hand at some of the carny games.  The boys won a handful of tickets and turned them in for some trinkets.  

Of course, there is a beautiful beach!  There was a chilly breeze, but we rolled up our pants and played in the sand.

And then waded out into the ocean.  This was Alex and Zachary's first trip to the Pacific Ocean. (Zachary's first ocean, Alex had been to the Atlantic Ocean.)

Just as they started wading in, that little wave coming in suddenly seemed a lot bigger.

Here's what I think happened:  As the wave started to come in, Alex freaked out and turned to run back to the beach.  Since he was holding Zachary's hand, he pulled Zachary with him.  Zachary fell backward into the water.  Zachary did a fabulous job of keeping his head up, as you can see.  Alex was very upset, and was pulling on Zachary's hood and yelling "he's going to wash out to sea!" Once Phil and I stopped laughing we rescued and calmed everyone down.  Zachary was not amused.

Luckily, we had extra clothes in the car so Zachary was soon back and dry.  The lines for rides were longer, but the boys went back to a few favorites before we had to head home

Zoo Day

We had a fun day at the zoo with our best friends!

Alex, Seamus, Fiona, Zachary, Calvin and Katy!