A Weekend All About Edward

We decided to take advantage of a four day weekend and surprise Edward with a fun trip.  I think the entire family enjoyed the trip!

It truly was a surprise for all the children.  While they completed their school work, I was secretly packing the van with a weekend of clothes and food.  Then when Michael came home, we had a quick dinner.  I told the children to get into their pajamas and go to the van.  Somehow they got it in their heads that our library was having a pajama night so they were not even the least bit suspicious....how funny for them!  As we did not turn toward the library but further south on a six hour drive!  We did not arrive at the hotel until after midnight.  This was also helpful as we approached our first destination in the dark of the night so the surprise would not be discovered until the next morning!  The only bad thing...Zaira had slept the entire trip and was wide awake running around the room until after 2am...did not bother any of us as we were exhausted and slept without any problem.  I hope the same was true for our next door neighbors!

The next morning we were able to sleep in as we were on our way to LEGO Land and it did not open until 10am...we were only 15 minutes from the gates.  The entire van went crazy when they realized where we were going for the day!  We even enjoyed the wait in line for parking as there were LEGO creations along the way.  That is the way the park would be throughout the day.  A great park for children, but also designed to help parents and children both enjoy their time.  Truthfully, his park is geared toward children 5-12 years old but the older ones were happy to be there also for this visit.  I am not sure they would come here on a regular basis, but the newness was enough to make it a fun day.  There are no big roller coaster rides but the mini replicas of cities and Star Wars special exhibit were amazing!

I took over 1500 photos throughout the day!  Here are few of the highlights:

We do have a second day that can be used any time in the next three months so will probably go back for the Christmas season.  The other great part about this park was the fact that it could be done in a day.  So...going back later in the year, we will likely be able to enjoy the very favorite spots without racing around afraid we would not see it all.  The one thing we did not do was the putt-putt golf so we hope we can go to that area next time.  The best part of the park...even while waiting in line for rides...there were LEGO displays AND best of all LEGO play areas in the center to enjoy while we waited.  Also, all the employees in the park had mini-figures to trade which was a lot of fun.  What an amazing idea that made everyone happy!

The most amazing thing to see...the creators of the display are constantly trying to make the experience better.  As we all know...LEGO creations come apart...but that is ok because the displays that are broken are re-created in a new and improved way each time....adding seasonal aspects as they go along.  It is very much like LEGOs in our home...nothing is ever completely destroyed only improved.  So the next time we go to the park...things will be a little different and we love it!

Thankfully, they did not rush us out the gates at the end of the day...the park closed at 5pm but we were able to casually walk out the gates viewing things we did not notice as we rushed in that morning.  And with the park closing at 5pm we were able to go back to our hotel and relax for the evening.

The next day we drove to Santa Monica along the beach route.  We had thought we would stop but our desire to make it to another national park led us on our way into the mountains.  We arrived at Santa Monica Mountain NRA for a short stop.  We enjoyed watching the many artists who were painting along the grounds of the visitor center.  This was land donated to the National Park system by the Gillette family.  This included their mansion in the mountains.  We did not take the tour of the mansion because we wanted to take Edward on another type of tour....

Yeah...we did it...the tour of the stars in Hollywood!  We drove down the mountain road into Hollywood.  We parked near Hollywood Blvd and walked down the path of stars that led us to the Chinese Theater.  I am not sure why this interested Edward but he had talked about doing this since we mentioned the idea of coming to California.  So, there were were with crowds of people taking snapshots of the stars we knew and placed our hands and feet in the molds of those we thought interesting in front of the famous theater.

When we were back in the van heading to the Hollywood sign, I asked him if he enjoyed the walk of stars.  He said...it was great and he never needed to do that again!  LOL!  I agree...the experience was a ONCE in a lifetime event.  And the same was true of the famous sign.  We did not get as close as we had hoped but we did get to the top of a hill and had our picture taken.  SO glad we can have that touristy moment and move on.

We spent the night in another hotel and returned to a second look at the Mojave desert.  We had hoped to experience the famous "Singing Dunes" as Edward thought this would be fun.  Did you know that he loves to sing?  He is actually quite beautiful when he sings hymns in church.  However, try as we could...the dunes would not sing for us.  We would find out at the visitor center that this phenomenon only takes place in April and only with certain conditions!

We did learn about the history of the area and I was able to take some amazing pictures of the friendly and photogenic hummingbirds!  We decided the best choice was to move along and make it home before midnight.

However, just before leaving the visitor center the park ranger mentioned that we might be interested in viewing the lava tube on the way out of the park!  So...off on a dirt covered back road we made our way...it was well worth the trip.  We were able to walk down into the lava tube and light shone down on us for these amazing photos!

We finally made it home late in the night...thankfully closer to 10pm instead of midnight.  We were all exhausted....fitting for a whirl wind trip geared toward our little (growing up so fast) tornado!  I hope Edward remembers the trip for years to come!  And he was quick to tell us not to forget his REAL birthday this weekend!  LOL!  Of course not...he would not let us if we tried!  God bless him!

The Rest of Our Historical Weekend

 After our trip through a Civil War encampment, we continued to take advantage of the History Fest events.

We joined a walking tour through the downtown area of Monterey.  This is the town where a lot of historical government events occurred as this was once the state capitol.  Our tour was mainly about some of the historical structures in the area.

We started by learning how the native culture of the area (Rumsen Ohlone) were not sedentary because of their lifestyle as hunter-gathers.  Their structures were usually made to move or be left behind.  They lived a simple and peaceful life.

In 1602, the first Spaniards entered the bay area; however, it would be another 167 years before they would try to settle the area.  The native Rumsen were recruited to become Spanish citizens and learn the ways of this new culture.  This included the adobe structures of the Spaniards.  Our guide showed us the basic technique of adobe and how the Spaniards layered this adobe with a smooth covering to ensure the structures would be water proof (mainly with the use mixture of limestone, shells, and aloe vera oils).  The other difference of the time was the second story structures.  Most adobe were only single story.  This also led to the veranda around the upper floor.

Our guide also showed us the many trade items of this era.  This would include items from the east coast, Europe and China.  We were especially interested in learning about the hides that were a form of currency...as these hides would be sold for $1-3 and were exported in the thousands which were then sold for as much as $10-20 each!  WOW!!! That is some kind of profit!

I suppose with all this profit it would not take long before better structures were desired.  So, the tour continued with a walk to the first brick building in Monterey (and California) built in 1847.  This would be considered the American Gold Rush era.  Although Monterey was never a part of the Gold Rush boom of the day, it was a place to hold collected gold.  So our tour took us to the Casa del Oro (House of Gold...now a little shop for historical goods).

On the way to these structures, we came to a special sidewalk...it was made of whale bone!  These sidewalks were built by Portuguese whalers in the late 1800s.  Hard to believe that these sidewalks were made over 100 years ago and still used...and these were the sidewalks throughout the wharf area until recent years.

After this walking tour, we tried for one more to end the day.  We had learned a little about Edward Ricketts thanks to a geocache a few weeks ago.  So, when we found out there was a tour in his lab, we thought it would be interesting to learn a little more about this man.  Unfortunately, our little princess had other ideas, so I took for a walk while the boys made the tour.  This is what they had to say about the tour:

Even though, Ricketts did not have a degree in medicine, he is often called Dr. Ricketts.  In actuality, he only allowed the children of the town call him by this title.  He had the children come to his lab because he had found a cure for infantigo...a childhood skin disease.

He spent most of the time in his lab studying marine biology, ecology, and philosophy.  Along with his contribution to science, he was also an inspiration for John Steinbeck.  In 1940 Ricketts and Steinbeck journeyed to the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) in a chartered fishing boat to collect invertebrates for the scientific catalog in their book, Sea of Cortez.

Later, Steinbeck would use Ricketts as a model for his character "Doc" in several of his novels, including Cannery Row, Burning Bright, and  The Grapes of Wrath.  Ricketts was not impressed with these characters showing up in his likeness, however, he knew that Steinbeck did not do "write with malice."

So...true to our style...we did not get enough history in our little neck of the woods.  We headed out to San Francisco on Sunday!  Off to our favorite church...Star of the Sea and then on to the San Francisco Presidio.

We had been to this park a couple of months ago.  We spent most of our time driving through the area and stopping in the national cemetery.  Today we were able to enter the visitor center and learn about some of the historical people associated with the park.

Hopi Indians: They refused to integrate their children into the American culture.  When they resisted many of the elders were taken to jail at Alcatraz for almost a year.

Dora Thompson:  Led the Army Nurse Corp and was especially important during the 1906 earthquake.
Juan Briones de Miranda:  Mexican-American businesswoman who was also a gifted healer.  She lived on the Presdio and was given special permission to retain her land rights after California statehood.

Colonel Charles Young:  The third commissioned black officer graduating from West POint Academy.

General Albert Sidney Johnston:  Interesting man...who was a Union officer before the Civil War but left his position to follow his Southern heritage.  He did not leave for the war until the Union arsenal was secure and the Fort Point (used to fortify San Francisco during the war from Southern attacks) was completed.

We picked a great day to visit because it was the only day of the month a special exhibit was open to the public.

This is from the NPS website:

"The army built Battery Chamberlin on Baker Beach in 1904 to protect the harbor’s minefields. In 1977, the Golden Gate National Parks acquired a 97,000-pound cannon of the type originally emplaced here, and visitors today can still see this “disappearing” gun that can be cranked in and out of its hidden emplacement."

We arrived at the site to find a lone volunteer docent eager to teach us about the equipment.  To our surprise, we also were able to activate the mechanism to "fire" the gun!  The boys loved this and talked me into helping as we needed a 13-man crew.  Some of us were able to double up and get the job done!  And then...BOOM!!!! (Thanks to our loud crew we made quite an "explosion")

These guns were used back before the computer technology of the day...so glad to have my children hear the importance of those math skills we are learning...Pythagorean Theorem and such...with just the use of pencil and paper!  The accuracy of the weapon depended on these skills and knowing the distance of the landmarks as ships entered the harbor!

The recoil of firing a shell pushed the barrel back behind the parapet -- enemies would have seen a flash and a puff of smoke, but wouldn't have been able to eyeball what, exactly, was firing at them.  This would then prepare the firing crew for the next shot.  We were told a effective crew could shoot two rounds in less than a minute.

This site is the last working gun in existence although there are several set up around the country fixed in a stationary position.  It was a lot of fun to be a part of the adventure since I am usually the one snapping pictures.

Not much for the day...we had a quick lunch and headed home.  A great historical weekend!

History Fest

Hard to believe I have not had anything of interest to write about for almost a month!  However, it was a busy September...mainly getting through our first month of school and attempting a few geocaching challenges (24 in 24 hours, the beginning of our 365 days of caching, and a geocaching event).  I guess I just did not feel like writing about the everyday stuff.  I did start a new blog due to the suggestion of our priest...I now have a blog dedicated to my new hobby of painting peg dolls.

This weekend we had a great time visiting some historical spots and re-enactments in the area.  We started out at a Civil War re-enactment.  I have been asked why there would be such an event in California, so I have two answers...number one answer...Why not?  I guess people in California has an interest in the Civil War just as much as anyone.  However, the better answer (at least for this event) has to do with the actual California connection to the war.  Yes...there was actually quite a bit of action related to California during the war!  I did not know most of this information until this weekend so here is what I learned:

Families (new settlers) would often travel with the military troops before settling in an area.  This was a common practice as they would have protection as well as provide services to the troops such as cooking meals, laundry, mending, and bartering other trade goods.  Some settlers would travel with the military for long campaigns, while others would only travel until they arrived in an area for settling.

One settler of interest (portrayed by a re-enactor) was a widow left to raise eleven children.  She chose to follow the military in hopes that she could teach art lessons to the families.  Her story (Diary of Cornelia Peak McDonald) was recorded in her diary and published in recent years.

Although President Lincoln never made it to California, he had always wanted to make this journey.  One of his last conversations before he left for Ford’s Theater on the night of his assassination was with House Speaker Schuyler Colfax, who was himself about to depart for California. The two leaders discussed Colfax’s trip, prompting Mr. Lincoln to say in farewell: “Don’t forget, Colfax, tell those miners that that is my speech to them, which I send by you. Let me hear from you on the road, and I will telegraph you at San Francisco. Pleasant journey and good bye.”(Willard H. Smith, Schuyler Colfax: The Changing Fortunes of a Political Idol, pp. 207-208)

SIDE NOTE:  We had the joy of meeting "Mr and Mrs Lincoln" and they were such a perfect couple for this role.  "Mr. Lincoln" has played this part for over 18 years and only recently found out that he is in fact related to Abraham Lincoln through his mother's ancestry.  "Mrs. Lincoln" had only been involved with this for about a year.  The couple met about three years ago (both in their 70s) and "fought" over a church seat.  After a time, they came to enjoy each others company and were married in 2014 and they now both enjoy their part in living history.  I am so glad we had opportunity to meet them.

One connection with California and the Civil War was the mining of gold and mercury.  We spoke with a historian who explained that the largest mining of mercury was in California.  This was used in the production of munitions.  Of course, gold was always of value but especially during this time.  The Union was concerned that the South would invade in order to obtain both of these valuable resources.  We also learned about the Copperheads...a group of Southern sympathizers throughout the country.  They would remove the copperhead from the penny (Lady Liberty, not the head of Lincoln as we know on the cent today) and wear them as pins to represent their desire for state rights.  In California, these Southern sympathizers were rounded up and sent to Alcatraz.

Finally, we learned about a battle that took place in Glorietta Pass, New Mexico.  This was at first considered a Southern victory until they returned to their encampment to find out it was a ruse to come from behind and destroy all of their supplies.  An interesting story for California as it was based on an attempt to forge a Southern supply-route from California, in defiance of the Union Blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf ports.

Many Californians wanted to assist in the Civil War on both sides.  Troops would join several different groups.  One group was known as the California Column, a group of 5,000 Union volunteers from California. During the summer of 1862, the California Column marched 900 miles to El Paso, Texas in an effort to keep the Confederate Texans from entering the Arizona Territory and to remove them from New Mexico.

A number of high profile officers of the Civil War were stationed in California before the Civil War including William Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, and Joseph Hooker.  Mark Twain, who moved to California during the Civil War at the age of 29, following a stint in a Confederate State Militia.  Though they fought against each other during the Battle of Gettysburg, Winfield Scott Hancock and Lewis Armistead were good friends when they served as quartermasters in Southern California.

Throughout California there were a number of Camps and Forts used for Pro-Union state militias and the Union Army. One of these many forts was the Drum Barracks, which served as the headquarters for the Union Army in Southern California and Arizona Territory.

We had a few sailors share information about the ironclads used on both sides of the war.  We learned that the Union ironclad was smaller bu t used a device that was inspired by the merry-go-round.  The Southern ironclad was larger and was actually just a war ship that was given an iron cover.  Their ships were harder to maneuver in battle.  We also learned that the sailors held an edge over other military service as they were paid $14 a month (compared to $11 with the Army) and they were taken care of better.

SIDE NOTE:  When this leader of the group saw our boys, he immediately tried to recruit them for the next re-enactment.  It seems that there are never enough young men to participate in these events.  He was so excited about our three oldest boys that he offered to let the entire family participate.  We are trying to decide if we will go to this event or not.  So I might not be finished with my blog posts on this topic!



We also visited booths set up to explain the weapons and munitions.  Then we saw the methods of medicine used at the time.  We ended our time at the re-enactment with a cannon demonstration.  There were actually two different size cannons as well as a rifle group.  If you look at the picture here of the cannon, you might notice the flame spiraling out of the cannon...very dynamic effect of the explosion.

It was a great learning experience for all of us.  However, we were not finished with our historical journey.  Since this post is so long, I will try to write about the rest of our historical weekend another day.

A Look Back at 9-11

The planes crashed,
And the towers fell.
The day was very sad.
But there were many heroes on that day.

They came by land,
And also by sea,
They fought hard to make sure
All reached their homes safely.

The bridge was closed.
What would they do?
There was no hope in sight.
The people cried,
“What would they do indeed?”

There were boat owners in the harbor,
And they had heard the clamor.
You could see it in their eyes,
As they heard the cries
They would be brave,
And lives they would save.

They had boats big and small
That would come one and all.
The people on the walls were scared,
So would they dare?
Find a way to trust
They knew that they must.

The bridge was closed
What would they do?
There was now hope in sight.
The people cried,
“We can see our homes and family.”

Because of those who came by land,
And also by sea,
Who fought hard to make sure
All reached their homes safely.

On that day the planes crashed,
And the towers fell.
There still was hope to see
Because of the many heroes we had a victory.

Photo via nine-pulse.org

Another Year Stronger!

While many around the country started school a couple of weeks ago and my Facebook feed was filled with 1st day of school pictures...we have just began our new year today.  I think we are going to have a strong year of adventures.  Our plan is to take advantage of the surroundings and learn school subjects in relation to these surroundings.

We started out slow but thankful for the home-made bagels Michael made us yesterday!

If you are wondering where Little Miss is in the picture...she decided to crawl away from the scene in defiance...see no sugar coated new beginnings for us!

Then we began the day with our 11th Annual Walk to School Day!  Woohoo!  A great start to our school year and we try to continue to do this each day until we mess up the routine or just do not feel like it.  Usually this is because of bad weather...but this year we are going to see how many days we can make this happen once again!

Here are our first day of school pictures...

12th grade with his sights on college in a year!

11th grade and all smiles

He could not wait to open the books for 6th grade

1st Day of First Grade

Official Preschooler Ready for the Adventure

So amazing that we are set to enjoy this 17th year of home schooling!  I never would have thought it possible that very first day of school so many years ago!  So here we are...our motley crew of homeschoolers...ready for another year of learning to become life long learners of all we have to discover around us!

More San Francisco Parks

After a couple of weeks of enjoying the local area searching for geocaches highlighting our days, we needed another adventure.  Thankfully, it came on a four day weekend, so we enjoyed our Labor Day weekend in San Francisco!

We woke up early so we could make our way to the Rosie the Riveter Memorial.  Many might remember seeing this hard working woman flexing her muscles on a poster...now on your Fb feed.  Actually, she represents the hard work of women to help in the war effort.  I am sad to say that I am not sure women even today are truly appreciated.  The memorial is not kept clean and we had a hard time reading the memorial signs due to goose scat and sand covering a lot of the area.

When we arrived at the visitor center we were surrounded by women park rangers who were glad to see the children and share the story.  However, we soon found out a special program was taking place so they kind of rushed us along.  Zaira was able to take a break and have a snack with Rosie and we completed another junior ranger booklet to earn our badges before moving to the next park.

This next stop would actually take us to two national parks.  We arrived at the John Muir National Historic Site and were able to walk around a famous tree grove and visit his home.  Don't know who John Muir is?  Well...if it were not for him, we might not have national parks today!  He met with Theodore Roosevelt over 100 years ago to present the need for protecting our natural resources.

He also has a special place in our hearts as we know he was a lover of trees.  On his ranch he planted many different types of trees.  There is still evidence of these trees along side the area that was once his peach grove.  We were able to see redwood, quince (We brought one home to try...found they are quite tart and better to cook before eating.), olive, live oak, pear, fig (ripe and ready to eat), and more.  A great place to tour and reminded me of our forestry days.


We actually came here to take a tour of Port Chicago National Monument.  I little known spot here in California that was the location of a tragic event during World War II.  This location continues to be an active military facility that prepares and distributes munitions for the military.  However, back in the early days this place was where many of the African American men came to serve our country.  They were to assemble munitions and load them on train cars to be distributed to the war ships going out to fight in the Pacific battles.  The demand for these munitions was so great that labor was intense and often dangerous.  Adding to this already volatile situation, there was also the explosive division of race.  The African American men who were working so hard to help defend our country were not treated fairly and pushed to their limits.  This led to the harsh conditions that would allow for errors in judgment for all those involved.  An explosion of epic degree as the men loaded munitions on a ship...killing 320 men...220 African Americans among the casualties.

Even though this was an unbelievable situation, the men remaining were expected to clean up the bodies and wreckage.  Then return to 'normal' production in less than a month.  This tragedy continued to grow worse, as the men left behind refused to work in the harsh conditioned established.  They mutinied and reaped the havoc of this decision.  They were forced to either return to their jobs or be held for treason.  Fifty men chose to face charges of treason and were sent to jail for the remainder of the war.  The others chose to go back to work but were also punished severely.

 This was a tragedy in many ways but the worst is how the men were treated as they tried to serve our country during war.  It would not be until recent years that this was brought to the forefront.  Even still..today only a few even know about the tragedy and only a small number come to visit this site (less than 500 annually).  We were blessed to be one of those few and now pray for the military who continue to put themselves in harm's way (past and present).  Our ranger guide (Ranger Stephanie) was such a great representative for the fallen military and the circumstances that lead to the tragedy.  She grew up in this area and shared her own experience and understanding in relation to the situation.  I really think she did a great job of keeping us objective while explaining the facts.  This was a terrible time in our history; however, we also need to look at the overall dynamics and try to be fair to all those involved.  And of course it is always easier to look back and wonder why, but not so easy to live through the experience.

We then returned to John Muir and walked through the trees again.  The children earned their junior ranger badges for the John Muir NHS (not one available for Port Chicago although there were trading cards associated with the civil rights issues).  As we were leaving for our hotel, one of the park rangers asked if we were interested in a night program.  The children were excited to stay as there would be marshmallows to roast.  We did some geocaching in the area and had dinner before making our return.

It was such a great program!  So glad we made the extra effort to stay!  There were to pits set up with camp fires.  The rangers led us in songs and told stories related to John Muir.  It was a lot of fun and then we roasted the marshmallows.  We could not thank the rangers enough for all the events of the day!  Not only Ranger Stephanie but also Ranger Nate and Ranger Jim, made us feel like we were at a neighborhood party back home!  Thank you so much!

We arrived at our hotel that night ready for sleep.  A great feeling of accomplishment as we closed our eyes for the night!

The next day we had time to do a little more geocaching.  This took us to a fun location in downtown San Francisco.  We also found ourselves driving through Chinatown and Japantown.

We were able to return to our favorite church in San Francisco (Star of the Sea).  Such a great experience once again.   The priest remembered us from the last visit (Is this a good thing or a bad?  Praying it is a good thing...he did have a smile on his face.).  He asked if we would be coming every week.  Michael said we would try to come once a month.  Little Miss shared our saint dolls with him and he was very excited.  He asked Michael if I had a blog about my saintly pegs.  SO...now I have a new blog to share (Saintly Pegs)!  I look forward to sharing with him on our next visit.

We then made our way to the Fort Point NHS.  I will be honest...I did not research this park very well.  It was a pleasant surprise to see the line of defense for the bay from the 1800s.  This fort was very interesting and full of many cannons and exhibits associated with the era it was in use.
We had a little more time before leaving the Bay area for home.  We thought it would be easy to cross the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands NP.  However, we ended up in terrible traffic...10 miles ended up taking us an hour.  We did not let this deter our plans and we persevered in our journey.

Again to our surprise we ended up at the defense for the bay during the 1900s!  There was also a lighthouse at the end of the trails and we were happy to make our way to this location.  We worked on our junior ranger booklets as we walked the trails.  We were so glad to discover the wildlife of the area as well as learning about the difference 100 years can make in defense.

We spent a lot longer on this adventure then planned but had a great time in the process.  We arrived home just in time to put the children to bed and follow right behind them.

We still had a day left in our weekend...yay for four day weekends...to rest before we started our first day of school!  We spent it lazing around the house!  Perfect for a day to remind us of our labors!