San Elijo Tidepools

Today we drove down Pacific Coast Highway 101 to San Elijo State Beach to visit the tidepools.


This rock was the perfect spot to dip your feet. It had a small pool about 3 feet deep.


The kids looked at small crabs that flitted all over the beach.


Annie holds up a dead lobster that had washed up on the beach.


Kelly holds one of the tiny crabs she found.


The kids climbed up this cool rock.

After we came back from our walk down the beach we had lunch on the rocks and let the kids play.


Annie checks out what's on the bottom.


Kelly enjoys jumping off the rocks.



The kids have fun swimming in the ocean

Kelly had her ears pierced!

Since Kelly found two pearls that were about the same size, we had them made into earrings. That brought on a conversation about Kelly getting her ears pierced. Her cousin Annie, who is visiting had hers done last year, so Kelly finally decided to have hers done too. We took her to Claire's and she chose her earrings. She was nervous as the girl prepared everything, and afterward she said it hurt, but she didn't cry. The excitement was almost unbearable, as if our little girl was getting ready for her first date. She sure is growing up (sniff)!


Here she is getting her ears cleaned and marked.


Before...


During...


After!

Fun at the Fair

We visited the San Diego County Fair on Saturday and enjoyed the food and sights. While we were there each of the kids picked an oyster to find a pearl. Cousin Annie went first and she found 3! Kelly went next and there were 2! Jonathan chose two oysters and found 2 black pearls. The kids were really happy with their choices.


Here they are waiting to see how many pearls are in Annie's oyster.


Annie had 3!!! The jeweler cleans and polishes the pearls in regular table salt.


And here's Kelly picking her oyster.

The parrot rescue people let the kids hold the parrot.

We had fun walking around the animal buildings. We saw all types of goats, sheep and cows.

Kelly and Annie had front row seats at the pig races.

The potbellied pigs were the funniest to watch.

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

The other night the kiddos watched and waited patiently for the ice cream truck to drive by. It finally came and they enjoyed the yummy treat!

Beach Day

This morning we visited the Oceanside Farmers Market then headed to the beach. It was pretty crowded considering school just let out, but everyone had a good time.

Kelly and her buddy, Annie were eager to hit the waves.

The girls had fun frolicking in the water.

Even Jonathan enjoyed jumping the waves.

Point Loma Tidepools

We visited the Point Loma Tidepools on Wednesday. The kids had a blast playing on the rocks and by the water. The tide wasn't low enough to look in the tidepools, but everyone had fun anyway.

Cabrillo National Monument Junior Park Rangers

While we were visiting Cabrillo National Monument Kelly and Annie took part in the Junior Ranger program. They completed 5 or more activities in their booklets and turned them in to the park ranger.


Here they are taking the oath.


Our official junior park rangers!

Visitors!!!

Tom's Mom, brother, Jonathan and cousin Annie came out to sunny CA to visit us. Tonight we went out to dinner at Ruby's at the end of the pier.

Kelly is so thrilled to have her cousin, Annie out to visit. We went out for dinner to Ruby's on the pier and they just HAD to bring their American Girls along.


Here they are enjoying a taste of Uncle Jonathan's milkshake-YUM!

Above Boards Art Show

Kelly entered one of her watercolor paintings in an artshow at the studio where she had lab for school. They had an open house on Friday. We walked around and looked at lots of different types of artwork.

Here is Kelly's picture displayed with other pieces of artwork. Her piece won an Honorable Mention.

Thursday was Kelly's last 1st grade gathering. We had lunch at the park and the kids played. It was a fun time.



Kelly and her friend Zoe shoot their cereal guns.

Kelly with her penpal from A track.


Kelly sitting on the tall wall with her friends. They had fun jumping off the wall.

Last Day of Workshop

Kelly's last workshop was on Wednesday. Her class sang songs, recited poems and watched a slideshow. It's hard to believe this school year is almost over. Here are two pictures, one from the first day of workshop and one from the last. I'm sure her appearance has changed, but I have a hard time noticing it.

Some of the kids from Kelly's class recited poems. Kelly and her friends recited an excerpt from "The Cat in the Hat".

Kelly received a few awards from her teacher. She was the student with the highest reading level.



One of her awards was for citizenship and character education.

Coastal Academy Writing Celebration

One of Kelly's literature pieces was chosen for the Coastal Academy's Writing Celebration. A student was chosen from each track (A, B or C) in each grade. Her piece is on display at the Oceanside Public Library for the entire month of May. Last night they had an awards ceremony. Kelly was nervous about being in front of a large group, but she did fine. Here she is after reading an excerpt from her writing and receiving her certificate.



The Reading Specialist, Kathy Scott gave out the certificates.



Kelly read her excerpt and jetted out of the spotlight as soon as she could.

This is a photo of the entire group of classmates who had their writing chosen.

Here is our smart girl standing under her writing with her certificate of achievement.