Ready for Summer Exploring

     

On Friday I was reading the girls' weekly school newsletter and right there in the first paragraph was a sentence that really jumped out and caught my attention: "There are only six weeks of the school year left". Six weeks! Eek! I can't believe that the long Summer vacation is almost upon us again.

With the realization that Summer is almost here I really got thinking about our plans for the break. Ava will be attending a Summer camp for two weeks for the first time ever (I'm just as excited about it as she is!) but apart from that we have absolutely no plans. The thought of all three kids home, all Summer with no plans kind of freaked me out a little, so I started thinking about activities that we can do to keep ourselves busy. We're sure to be doing lots of crafting at home, but with limited space in our apartment, and the lovely Summer weather, I like to take the girls out as much as possible over Summer.

We're really lucky here in the Bay Area that we have access to both stunning urban and natural environments. We'll most likely spend plenty of time hanging out in San Francisco visiting museums, galleries, cafes, playgrounds and amazing outdoor spaces along the waterfront. But you can guarantee that most of our time will be spent getting in touch with nature here in the East Bay where we have a wealth of parks filled with all sorts of natural wonders to explore. We sure do love to explore!

Curiodyssey

A few weeks back we took the girls to Curiodyssey in Coyote Point just south of San Francisco.

At Curiodyssey kids and adults alike can "Touch Science. Meet Animals" and the girls did just that.

The girls got to see plenty of creatures native to North America including possums, bobcats, turkey vultures (possibly the ugliest bird ever!), coyotes, otters, tortoises and porcupines. They were able to meet some of these up close and personal (the possum and tortoise) but most of the others were best kept behind their locked gates - I'm looking at you coyote! There was a raccoon enclosure but the furry little guys were very well hidden and we couldn't spot them. Ten months of living in America and I'm yet to see a raccoon - I'm not counting the one I saw squished on the side of the road on our drive to Sacramento!

All animals at Curiodyssey are rescue animals unable to be returned to their natural habitat. They have either been rescued after being injured or, such as in the case of the coyote, were illegal pets which have been imprinted by humans.

Ava helps Lola pat the possum gently

Winter?

It's Winter here in California - although it seems that nature missed the memo...

While it was actually quite chilly here today, this cooler weather was uncharacteristic of the weather we've had recently and for much of Winter. A few days ago it was 21c and sunny. 21c and Sunny! That's like Winter in Brisbane. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is supposed to be cold and grey; or at least that's the impression you get in Australia. For the most part, Winter here has been warmer than I anticipated. Most days have greeted us with blue, cloudless skies which, considering we don't have a car and the girls and I walk everywhere, is not a bad thing. A little variety would be nice though.

The trees seem to be really confused about which season it is at the moment. While walking Ava to and from preschool this week I couldn't help but notice the amazing variety in seasonal attributes amongst the trees.

Some trees have decided that Spring is already here and are covered in blossoms in varying pink hues.
The sweet scent of their nectar fills the air and the sound of bees gently buzzing by imparts a warm fuzzy feeling - although Ava is freaked out by the bees and she runs as fast as she can past the trees with blossoms!

Spring blossoms