Santa Cruz Boardwalk & Beach

On our second Saturday in California, after weeks of cleaning, packing, unpacking, organizing, and arranging, we were ready for some fun. What to do on a Saturday in September? In Washington it might have been a visit to an apple orchard. Here, the answer was, "Go to the beach!" So, we packed up sunscreen, hats, swimsuits, and a picnic and headed to Santa Cruz, just a 45-minute drive away, for fun on the boardwalk and beach.

 

We started off eating our picnic at a table on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean. Then we bought a pile of tickets that allowed everyone in the family to go on a couple of the boardwalk rides each. I didn't get photos of everything, but here are a few highlights:

 

Gunnar and Holly rode Bulgy the Whale, giving smiles, waves, and high fives as they bobbed past us.

 

 

 

Damon, Adah, and Maggie drove bumper cars. It was a little different from the ones I grew up riding, as you were required to travel in the same direction around a center barrier. Still, there were plenty of crashes and bumps to make for a fun ride. Here's Adah in the blue car:

 

Here's Damon zipping past. I'm not sure what that gesture was, but I'm sure it was friendly. He reserved his "road rage" for chasing down the girls and bumping into them.

 

Maggie prepares to side-swipe Adah:

 

 

With our ticket allotment exhausted, it was time for the beach! It was great timing, too, as the boardwalk was beginning to get crowded. After changing into our swimming suits it was just a quick walk down a flight of stairs from the boardwalk and we were on the beach.

 

The kids and I had a great time jumping in the waves. We didn't do any full-on swimming, although I was a bit tempted. The kids are becoming pretty good swimmers, especially with the neighborhood pool, but having them in the ocean with those famed "sneaker waves," still makes me nervous. I was happy to not go in too far and stay near the kids.  Damon mostly observed and Holly mostly played in the sand.

 

I think Damon may have been a bit surprised at how much I got into playing in the water. I can seem like a spoil sport when it comes to wading and getting wet, but that's only when I'm in my regular clothes. With just about any activity, as long as I'm outfitted correctly, I'll get into it. If I have a rain jacket, I don't mind a walk in the rain. If I've got on comfortable shoes, I'll go for a hike. And if I'm in a swimming suit, I'll jump in the ocean.

 

 

We eventually decided to head down the beach. I can't remember why. We ended up at the pier looking at sea lions. I don't know if we knew they were there and intentionally went to see them, or if it was only once we heard them barking from the beach that we realized there was something to go look out.  I think I had read about them in a brochure, so we knew where we were going. Thinking back on that walk down the sand with our stroller full of gear (not full of a child, mind you) & continually urging the kids to keep moving and stop going back in the water or looking at seaweed, we must have had a goal, or we would have given up.

I digress. On to the sea lions. I have never been so close to sea lions.  There are many places along the Pacific Coast where you can see them in the wild and I've also been to Sea World. But these guys were right below the dock, just a few feet away! We walked down some stairs to a deck below the main pier, and then about 25 sea lions were just hanging out on a platform. Mostly they were sleeping, but a few were slipping in and out of the water. One was causing a ruckus that the sleepers didn't seem to appreciate, but he eventually calmed down.

 

This photo is not zoomed in at all, and we have no idea how that big guy got up there. High tide?

 

There he is again just beyond the railing where Gunnar and Holly are standing and peeking; maybe this gives a better idea of how close they were.

 

From the pier, Damon hurried back to fetch the car while I found a bathroom where the kids and I could towel off all the sand and get into our clothes. Once Damon picked us up we found a burger stand for some dinner and then drove home. We were back in our house in less time than it used to take us to drive through the Gorge from Portland. When we decided to move here I actually didn't know there was such a great sandy, sunny beach so close to us. I thought going to the beach in foggy San Francisco would be our best option, so discovering Santa Cruz was a delight. And I love amusement parks, so those season passes sure look tempting . . . .

 

The Best Thing About Our New Home

Two words: NEIGHBORHOOD POOL

Three more words: SWIMMING IN OCTOBER

 

We are renting a house in a neighborhood that has a pool which is open to all residents and their guests. It's about a block from our house and is absolutely wonderful. I love to swim; I always have. Being able to relax at the pool in the midst of all the unpacking and adjusting to a new place was a very welcome break for all of us.

I never thought I'd take my kids swimming after school on a school day, but I did.  A lot. We have made some friends from church who also live in our neighborhood. They have two girls about the same ages as Adah and Maggie and then a son who is Holly's age. We would often meet up with them at the pool, but frequently we had the whole thing to ourselves! It was certainly never crowded.

The best thing I did for swimming in the pool was to put Holly and Gunnar in life jackets. We're an anti-training wheel family. Damon and I believe kids just need to go for it on a bike. However, that philosophy does not translate to the swimming pool for me. Safety first.  And with the safety came tons of freedom. Holly just motors her little legs and goes anywhere in the pool. It is freedom for me, too. I don't have to hold her the entire time we're in the pool. I can really swim for myself.

 

Of course, someone is always nearby and I'm keeping an eye on everyone.

 

The kids rarely fight when we're at the pool. We rinse off and shampoo our hair right there at the poolside showers and then go home, get in jammies, and have dinner. It's a great way to spend a hot afternoon. Often we were still there when Damon got home from work. Sometimes we could talk him into putting on his swimsuit and joining us. The hot tub calls to him.

 

We used to go to the pool 2-3 times a week. It's now been about 5 weeks since our last trip (meaning it was mid-to-late October when we swam last). We'll have to wait a few months before it warms up again. I'm already looking forward to it.

Come On, Everybody, It's Preschool Time!

Gunnar isn't enrolled in a preschool (yet, I hope). I'd like to send him, but with a mortgage in WA while we live in CA we're having to cut back on a few things until we sell our house. So, I started doing a little home preschool with Gunnar and Holly. We went pretty strong through September and into October, but then really lost our momentum and haven't quite picked it up again.

It never was very formal, but it provided some great one-on-two time with them, brought singing into our day, included lots of reading, and gave them a chance for a little craft time. Some of our themes were the alphabet, the letter B, space, teeth/dentists, and dinosaurs.

Here Gunnar works on writing the letter B and some coloring.

 

Holly got the cast-off printable that came out the wrong size, but she didn't mind.

 

The art project on "B" day was to paint coffee filters that were then pinched in the middle with a clothespin to make butterflies. Oops--I didn't get a photo of any finished butterflies.  No matter, the kids are the real stars of the show here.

 

 

 

Gosh, writing this post and seeing these photos makes me think I need to get back in gear with our preschool.  There were some fun balloon projects we never got around to doing . . . .

Maggie's THIRD 1st Day of School

Note: See the previous post for a full explanation of why Maggie had three schools in just four weeks.

Maggie had her first day of school at her second school in Milpitas on Friday, September 21. She was a little nervous, but mostly excited. All of the children line up in a courtyard before school and then listen to announcements from the principal before going to class. Maggie wanted us to wait until she went into her classroom, but she stood in line with her new classmates, many of whom introduced themselves. Mrs. Kim (who is talking to a boy at the left of this photo) had told the children that a new student would be joining them, so they were on the lookout and welcomed her. I was pleased.

Maggie likes school again. While the situation is not ideal for me--having to juggle separate school PTAs, activities, announcements, etc.--Maggie comes bounding happily out of her classroom, down the sidewalk, and into the car each day after school, and she's ready to go back each day. We like her teacher and are happy with where things have landed...for now.

 

 Maggie is now number one (having moved up from #2) on the second grade waiting list at our neighborhood school.  Damon and I have wondered whether or not she would even want to move to a fourth school in the same school year, but she recently said that she did--because she misses Adah. We'd like the ease of having them in the same place, but admit that we'd really want to check out the teacher and classroom situation first. Mrs. Kim is great and sometimes good teachers are hard to find. Still, I do long for the days when I could walk the girls to and from school and meet the other kids and parents in the school yard. Maybe soon . . . .

The Second First Days of School

School, school, schools.  Sigh. Where to begin?  For anyone who has talked to me, emailed me, or been keeping up with me on Facebook since our move, you know that the school situation for our family has not been ideal here in Milpitas. We knew beforehand that we would be arriving after the school year started (first day was August 20), but figured it wouldn't be a big deal for our bright and confident girls to catch up and quickly fit in.  We didn't figure on over-crowded schools, however. We got wind of the situation before arriving and tried to let it inform our choice of rentals, but none of the school secretaries were particularly encouraging, so we just decided to choose a house and cross our fingers.

The day after arriving in Milpitas, my in-laws were still here and I left Gunnar and Holly with them at the house while I took Adah and Maggie to our neighborhood elementary school with all the necessary paperwork in hand.  That paperwork included your typical birth certificates and immunization reports, but we also had to have TB tests (we gratefully learned of that before leaving White Salmon and visited the doctor during our last week there) and TWO official proofs of residence.  See, lots of people try to cheat their way into certain schools in this district, and we happened to move into a very desirable school, so they really wanted to know we lived there.

Good news for Adah! The fourth grade had space, and in fact, there was one spot left in Mrs. Freeze's class which included a GATE (Gifted and Talented Education; it was TAG in WA) cluster. Adah was enrolled and scheduled to start the next morning!  Hooray! The second grade story was not as encouraging. See below.

All Milpitas public schools have uniforms. They vary a bit school-to-school (don't get me started on that right now). After finishing at the neighborhood school Tuesday morning, the girls and I went to Target (only a mile from our house--it's heaven) to start outfitting them. A few days, several stores, and lots of stress later, we finally had enough of the right colors and sizes to get them through a week.  Phew! Uniforms are way less stress on school mornings--no more drama over "nothing to wear"--but it sure was a pain in the beginning.

On Wednesday, September 5, Adah had her second 1st day of school. It was her first day as a 4th grader in Milpitas. She was missing the obligatory collar on her shirt, but we figured they'd overlook it (and they did) until all our shopping was complete.  She looked adorable in her little pleated jumper, though, didn't she?

 

Setting off down the path, excited and ready to go.

 

And here's a fuzzy (sorry) one in front of her new school.

Like many California schools, it's not a single building and there are courtyards and open hallways. Her classroom is on the other side of a courtyard behind the building where the bikes are parked.  A secretary escorted us there, where Mrs. Freeze greeted Adah warmly. She was so welcoming and accommodating, explaining everything to Adah and putting her right in a desk full of supplies.  I never cried when my kids went to their first day of preschool or kindergarten, but after the stress of the move and my anxiety over getting the girls into school and then seeing her in a totally new place, I teared up after dropping her off. I don't think Adah was worried, thank goodness, and she has thrived and loved every minute of school, just as she always has.

Maggie's school experience here in California has been less straight-forward, and at times, less pleasant than Adah's. The second grade at our neighborhood school was (and is) full, so Maggie was “overflowed” to another school in the district.  It took a couple days of waiting and calling the district office before we even got her new assignment, so it wasn’t until the Monday following our arrival that Maggie was able to start school on the OPPOSITE side of town from where we live. AND, the girls’ two schools both started and ended at the SAME TIME! Talk about madness. We had to drop Adah off 15 minutes early and then zip onto the freeway and drop Maggie off just as the bell was ringing (sometimes after--they were understanding, fortunately).  It was a 13-mile round trip twice a day and each trip took an average of 45 minutes. Poor Gunnar and Holly spend a lot of time in the car.

 

Maggie was excited to have her first day of school, but when she got in the car afterwards, and I asked how it went, she said, "Terrible." My heart broke. This school is piloting a new "20th Century Learning" program that involves rotating between different teachers and classrooms and doing computer work that is targeted to the students' level and abilities. It sounded interesting to me and the principal at the school was wonderful in his attention to Maggie during that first week. He gave us a tour of the school, walking us through Maggie's schedule, and then kept an eye on her during each rotation to make sure she was figuring things out.  Still, it was a lot to learn and handle, and her original assessment put her in classrooms well below her abilities. My usually school-loving kid was bored, very unhappy, and didn't want to go to school. She felt like she kept going to the wrong place or couldn't find the bathroom or didn't know how the cafeteria worked. It was a complicated school schedule to join mid-year, even if it was only 3 weeks late.

 

This photo is more about Maggie giving some cheeky attitude than her truly being unhappy at the moment, but it does represent some general frustration we were feeling. I gave the whole thing a week and then submitted a formal written complaint to the school district, going through our entire experience point by point and explaining that having the girls in 2 different schools so far apart was causing a financial and even emotional hardship on our family. I was trying to appeal the overflow decision and get my Maggie into our neighborhood school. No luck.

I had a meeting with a district big-wig who basically said they can't make any exceptions. Her sympathy, while heartfelt, was pretty hollow since she had no power to really do anything.  Well, anything except offer us a newly-opened spot at a school a little closer to home and with a different schedule from Adah's school.

Gratefully, a new friend from church was watching Gunnar and Holly for me during the meeting and agreed to keep them longer so I could go visit this new school. As I drove into the neighborhood and around the school (you approach it from the back/side and have to drive around to the front door and office) I really had a good feeling. It looked clean and cheerful (not that the other school was dirty; it just had more asphalt), and for some reason I just felt good. I met the secretary and learned that I could bring Maggie back that afternoon to meet her possible teacher and see the classroom. Because I wasn't convinced that this commute would be better than what we were already doing, I decided it would be Maggie's choice to move schools; after all, she would be the one who had to go there each day.

When I picked Maggie up that afternoon and told her that she could choose a new school, her first question was, "Would I just have one teacher?" She didn't want to move around. In her school in White Salmon she had moved for reading and even had team teachers in her homeroom, but now she craved the stability of a single teacher in a consistent space. I couldn't blame her. We met Mrs. Kim who is an energetic, experienced teacher that drew Maggie right in. Maggie decided to switch, after having one more day to say goodbye at her 8-day-old school.

Movers & Shakers

Damon was gone for the last ten days before we left White Salmon. He had to start his new job and find a house for us to rent. We thought it would be easier to do it that way, rather than flying down for a house-hunting trip and then moving the whole family down before his first day at work.

We will NEVER do that again.

Just try packing up a whole house--while also keeping it clean and tidy for showings to potential buyers--and taking care of four children as a single mom, and you'll agree with me. Gathering the boxes alone was such a monumental chore that I didn't fully anticipate until it was done. (Thank goodness to some friends who stopped to say goodbye and then offered their attic-ful of boxes on moving day, or we wouldn't have made it.) It was a hard ten days.

But, we finally made it to Saturday, September 1st: Moving Day.  Damon flew into Portland from San Jose and picked up a giant Penske truck. He arrived on our driveway around 12 or 1 o'clock. I put him right to work taking apart beds and packing up the TV and computer. Luckily some neighbors showed up that morning to help pack, along with another friend who'd already put in some late nights with me earlier in the week. They got the kitchen finished and just generally saw things that needed to be done and did them.  Another friend watched my children most of the morning. I'm so grateful to the many people who helped me so much that week, whether it was taking kids, bringing boxes, or packing up. A few of you in particular know who you are and know that I really wouldn't have been able to make this move without you. Thank you.  

After Damon got home, he went and picked up the kids. He hadn't seen them for over a week and wanted to have a little time with them before shipping them off to yet another friend's house for the rest of the day while we loaded the truck.  The kids LOVED the moving truck and had great fun going up and down the ramp and running in the emptiness.

 

 

Before loading could begin in earnest, our good friend Carla arrived to pick up the kids and our luggage.  We swapped car keys and she took the kids in our van to her house for the rest of the day, even doing Damon's dirty laundry at her house that night. We spent the night there after we got our house emptied and cleaned.

That emptying wouldn't have happened without the 20 or 30 men and teenagers from our ward and neighborhood who showed up to help us load the truck. I wasn't quite ready for them when they arrived--I know, I was one of those people--but was sure I could stay ahead of them. Nope. Things went so fast. I wished I'd gotten a photo of our front lawn, since at one point it was just covered with boxes and furniture as we had to slow down and make sure we were getting the big stuff in. Many of us were quite sure that everything was not going to fit.

 

Finally, and with a big sigh of relief, we got the last of our possessions into the moving truck--some of them quite precariously--and were able to pull the door down.

 

On Sunday we attended church one last time in White Salmon before leaving town. I'm really glad things worked out that way. Every other time I saw someone and said goodbye in the preceding days, it didn't quite seem final since I always felt like there was some chance of running into them again.  This way we had most of our friends in one place and got to say goodbye and then really leave. It gave me a kind tidy finality that I think I needed after the stress of the previous weeks.

After leaving the church we drove back to our empty house so the kids could have a last chance to see the house. We had a picnic on the porch--no crumbs inside!--and changed into our traveling clothes before setting off. I drove the children in the minivan and Damon drove the moving truck. We drove to Grants Pass that night and then finished the trip the next day, arriving in Milpitas around 4:00.

At 5:00 Monday evening, about a dozen people from the church in Milpitas showed up to unload the truck. Damon had been able to attend our new ward the week before and make some contacts that helped pull together the moving crew for us.

Damon's parents also came down, stayed overnight, and helped with the kids, pizza delivery, and other essentials. That was a big help, and we're very grateful to be living so much closer to family now. We still find ourselves missing White Salmon, of course, but have felt very welcomed here and are settling into our home. I'll post some photos of the house later.

The FIRST First Day of School

School in White Salmon began on Wednesday, August 29. On Sunday, August 26 we knew for sure that we had a house to rent in Milpitas and would be moving on Saturday, September 1.

 

What to do? What to do? Should I send Adah and Maggie for the first 3 days of school in White Salmon, or would that just make it harder on them and be disruptive to the classrooms?

 

On Tuesday, August 28, I took the kids over to the elementary school to see if we could find some of their teachers and friends and say goodbye. At that point, I was planning to NOT send the girls to school. Even though Adah and Maggie both really wanted to go, I figured it would be more trouble for the teachers and the school and didn't want to be a bother.

 

As we stepped up to the front door of the school, it suddenly hit me that we were really moving. I'd been going to that school with my children for four years and I suddenly realized all that it meant to me and that we weren't going to be there this year. When we walked through the front doors my friend Marisa was sitting at a PTO information table. She could see that my eyes were filled with tears--I was trying to hold it back for the kids' sake--and she just gave me a big hug. From then on, each familiar face I saw made me about lose it and I pretty much just couldn't talk to anyone for about 15 minutes.

 

The whole episode came as quite a shock to me. Up until then we had been saying goodbye to people--we even had a big goodbye party in the park just before Damon left town--but I always felt that I'd see them at least one more time before we left. But now, at the school, it really was becoming a reality to me.  We wandered around visiting all of the girls' old classrooms and teachers and then visiting the teachers that they were supposed to have this year, and I was really grieving for leaving behind such a wonderful school and community of teachers, administrators, and parents.

 

We talked to the girls' assigned 2nd and 4th grade teachers and I wasn't sure if they wanted my girls to come for the first 3 days. They told me it was up to us and that they had desks for them (since up until then I'd been telling the principal that I didn't know for sure when we were moving--it all depended on if Damon could find a house right away). It was when we saw the principal and she told me that the teachers really did want my girls there and she said, "Just send them!" that I decided we'd do it.

Maggie with principal Mrs. Prendergast



Damon had been gone for about 5 days and we hadn't done a lick of school shopping, but we still managed to pull things together for an 8:15 a.m. start the next morning! I found a few unpacked school supplies that I thought the girls might need for the first few days, made lunches (although I think the lunch boxes were packed), and helped choose some clothes from their summer wardrobes.  I know it was the best decision. It gave my girls something to look forward to; they were thrilled to be out of the house and with their friends during their final days in White Salmon. I was happy to have two less kids in the house while I was trying to pack.  At that point in the summer and the stressful moving process, we all needed a little space and this was the perfect remedy.

 

So, here's Adah on her first day of 4th grade, ready to set out from the house:



And here's second grader, Maggie: 

 

Holly insisted on wearing her backpack, so here she is ready to take her big sisters to school:

 

Here are my school girls outside of Whitson Elementary. I've always hidden the name of the school on the blog for security reasons, but now that we're gone and that's not where they spend their days anymore, I figure it's okay, and time that the school got it's full due. : )

 

Maggie's teacher really was ready for her. Her name was on the poster outside the classroom.

 

Maggie's teacher was Mrs. Beseda. She was also Adah's second grade teacher. She is fabulous--so much fun, very loving, and good at challenging her "Einstein kids." She also has class pets. Maggie was pretty bummed that she would be missing out on second grade with Mrs. Beseda since she saw her sister have such a great year in that classroom. I'm so glad Maggie got to have her three days with Mrs. Beseda, who had a special treat for the class to say farewell to Maggie on Friday. She told me that Maggie had become such a part of the class already and they almost forgot she would be leaving.

 

Miss Mayfield was Adah's 4th grade teacher. While there was no older sister to give Adah a sneak peek of what Miss Mayfield's class would be like, I had worked with Miss Mayfield in the PTO for a couple of years and came to really like and respect her. More than one person had told me she was the best teacher in the school, and I was really looking forward to having Adah in her class. She was so great for those 3 days and told me that she was sorry to have Adah go since Adah was engaged and answering questions and just a delight to have in class.

 

While kids were back in school on Wednesday, I left Gunnar and Holly with our friend Rich while his wife Carla took a bunch of my friends and me out to lunch. We had such a fun time chatting and enjoying good food and then good ice cream. I love these women. I've got stories about each one of them rescuing me in some way over the last seven years. I miss them dearly.



Jody, Kate, Brooke, Carisa, Jillaire, Aimee, Andrea, and Carla at Mike's Ice Cream in Hood River

We made one more stop on that first day of school. Adah had a final brief piano lesson and said goodbye to her piano teacher, Jenni (and her two pit bulls Baba and Lulu).

 

More than once I have wished that I could teleport my girls back to White Salmon each day from 8:15 to 2:55 and for their weekly music lessons. We were set up to have some really fantastic teachers this year. Still, after a bit of a bumpy start (more posts to follow), the girls are really enjoying their schools and teachers here. We will always remember Whitson fondly.