Mission San Juan Capistrano

The field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of my favorite ever. First of all, it ties in with the fourth grade curriculum. While studying about California and the establishment of the 21 missions statewide, it is exciting for the students to visit an actual one. Second, San Juan is a beautiful structure, the church and the grounds are well maintained and enjoyable for the visitors. Third, we end our field trip with lunch at Dana Point, where the kids can enjoy some of the beach. It's an excellent field trip!

Mi Familia

Nerd Day

Our school has a lot of fun spirit days, including dress up days such as this one. I told the kids that wearing glasses and being "nerdy" is a good thing: to be a good student who follows directions and does their best at school is someone who can be very successful in the future!

Shadow Scenes

Memories of Ted

Ted

Ted passed away on the morning of January 8th. Kim wrote a lovely tribute on Facebook for her dad. Several photos were posted, including the collage I made. He was a wonderful man, and we all miss him very much.

Turtles, Past and Present

Emi, Surfer, and May are in a lovely habitat in the living room, with rocks to sun on, heat lamps and running water through a filter. Sam also made some photo collages of our previous red-eared sliders, Ray and Olive.

Crystal Cove

Crystal Cove is one of our "go-to" spots for a quick day trip. Usually we like going to Ruby's Shake Shack for a snack before heading down to the beach. If the tide is low we like to check out what critters are out for viewing, such as hermit crabs or starfish. The rock formations are quite stunning and I never tire of the whole view of the cove.

Sam's Special Celebration

We started Sam's birthday with an assortment of birthday gifts for him to open. Then we headed over to Grandma's house for the traditional New Year's Japanese breakfast. Afterwards Christie, Carter and Bob met at our house for a pizza lunch. The timing was great since Carter had a volleyball tournament nearby. Sam's activity of choice for his special day was a round of miniature golf. What a great way to spend Sam's 10th birthday.

Sam is 10