Morning Run/Bike Ride

This morning the girls rode their bikes around the neighborhood while I ran along beside them. This was a huge moment for us. I have seen moms in our area doing this for years and I have been longing to do it myself for quite sometime. But for some reason my children have never been into bike riding. Lindsay and I have been trying for the longest time to convince these girls that riding bikes is awesome and freeing and just plain fun but to no avail. Then finally about two months ago they got it and now there is no stopping them. Then this morning I decided to give the run/ride a try and low and behold it worked, it really worked - woot, woot!

Riding around one of the lakes in our hood.

Abi not looking too happy while riding but I promise she was in pretty good spirits for the ride.

Coco leading the way.

Washi Tape Fun

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Tennessee Valley

Just outside of Mill Valley is the most amazing family hike/walk that you could ever imagine - Tennessee Valley. I was introduced to this lovely place about ten years ago when I first moved to San Francisco. I will never forget the first time I took the walk down this breathtaking valley only to end up at an even more breathtaking site, the ocean. The walk in is very short and mellow - perfect for kids. Once there the small beach has plenty of places to picnic and explore. For the more adventuresome there are additional trails leading up the valley hills that will take you to any number of places and views. Still to this day as we take the much longer drive in from Sacramento I start to get overly excited as we head up the windy road to the trailhead. This place never gets old and is always a great getaway from everyday life. I will worn you though It does get crowded on the weekends. But with that being said even on the busiest of days once you get past the headache of parking and onto the trail the crowds seem to thin out and you don't even notice all of the others around.

The trail in is wide and well maintained for strollers

A great spot for picnics

The beautiful black rock sand

Believe it or not this was last January. It was just a perfect warm winter day - the kind you dream of. This place is wonderful anytime of year.

All kinds of collecting fun for the kids

Pure bliss

Color collage

While the only male in our house watched basketball today, the girls and I cut up magazines. Anytime we can use scissors and glue in this house we are all pretty happy. After we cut for quite some time and the floor became covered in little specs of leftover paper, we then assembled some collages - always a classic activity. I tried a new twist on it today though to add a little more challenge to the process - choosing one color. I encouraged the girls to only cut out pictures that were in one color scheme and then see what they looked like all together as a collage. Here are our results:

Good Day Sunshine

So we celebrated the Winter Solstice last night for the first time in our house. We kept it simple and quiet, reflective and fun. My girls really enjoyed it and woke up this morning still talking about it. Although we had a few very chaotic moments in our house last night we at least had this peaceful moment to come together as a family, celebrate the sun and daylight hours, talk about what is currently working for us, and to announce hopes and dreams for the future year to come.

This was the dinner I made for the kids. I just found stuff we already had and plated it to look like a sun. So simple but they totally ate it up!

We read this book and talked about what Winter Solstice really is and how people for centuries have celebrated.

We each lit a candle and announced what we wish for our family in the coming year. I made a simple sun to write our wishes down on and placed it on our fridge to remind us. If you look closely Coco stated that she didn't want any of us to end up with TV heads because of too much television :)

Lastly I made a sun cake out of stuff we already had in the house. I am pretty sure this was everyones favorite part of the evening.

Caroling

This is something my kids look forward to every year - our annual neighborhood Christmas caroling party. All that is needed is a home for a little before caroling food and cheer, song sheets, bells, santa hats, and willing participants. What Fun!!!!!!!

A Simple Emigrant Christmas

I just came across this in the Sac Bee Ticket section and thought it looked like a great activity for my girls. Weather permitting we will be stopping by tomorrow for a little old fashioned Christmas fun.

A Simple Emigrant Christmas

Saturday, Dec 12 10:00a to 5:00p

at Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, Sacramento, CA

Price: Adults $4 (18 years and older) Youth $2 (ages 6 to 17) Children Free (5 and under)

Phone: (916) 445-4422

Age Suitability: All Ages

Costumed docents will be interpreting and demonstrating the many different Christmas traditions that would have been celebrated by the early immigrants at Sutter’s Fort. Come learn about the tradition of the Christmas tree and help us decorate our own Fort tree. There will be a popcorn and cranberry stringing activity, and making paper cut-out ornaments. Visitors can also participate in dipping candles, and the young at heart can keep one as a remembrance of their visit.

Decisions, decisions

This looks like fun:

Hmm this looks like fun too:

December 6th
32nd Annual Christmas Parade
1:00PM
This big parade takes place rain or shine and starts at the Mountain Democrat parking lot on upper Broadway in Placerville and continues down Main Street.

Sponsored by Jim & Cathy McIntire.
For info call (530) 621-5885

Decisions decisions - what will you and yours be doing this holiday season weekend?

2009 Advent Calendar

Each year I like to make a new advent calendar for my kids. This year I decided on a service based calendar made out of recycled boxes. Here is how to do it:

1. First collect food boxes, postcards, dvd covers, or anything else made out of stiff paper or cardboard that you would otherwise dispose of.

2. Use an X-acto knife to cut 25 christmas tree shapes out of the recycled cardboard

3. Turn them over and write one service your child can perform each day. Some Examples include:

Tell someone you love them

Clean your room

Compliment 3 people

Take food to the food bank

Next place sticky backed magnet pieces (you can purchase a strip of these at the craft store) on the back of each tree

4. Place a round sticker on the front of each tree. Write one number up to Christmas Day (25th) on each sticker.

5. Place all trees on your refrigerator and have the kids turn the appropriate one over each day. They are sure to end up on Santa's good list if they complete all of the tasks!!!

20th Street Art

We took the kids to 20th street art gallery today up in Sacramento. It was the 2nd Saturday Art Walk and this gallery was having a reception for their 20/20 show.

Each artist created 20 small panels for this exhibit. Coco's preschool teacher was one of the many talented artists who had pieces in the show. We were all excited to go and see her work. Here are a few examples of the art:

This is Ms. Setsuko's work

Loved these, they used a pointillism technique

My girls were into the butterflies

This is a great show for kids to attend. It was extremely engaging and it opened the door for a little art of our own. When we got home we each attempted our own 20/20 projects but on a smaller scale. Here are our results:

Java Lounge Kids' Time

I was surfing around on the Sacramento Downtown Grid website, which by the way is a great place to check out the local scene, when I came across this:

I have driven by this place a number of times but have never taken the time to stop, but now I do believe I have a reason. We were planning on a little Art Beast action this Saturday so maybe after we will swing by the Java Lounge to have a little lunch and check out the Kids' Time. I'll let you know how it goes.