Thursday, August 30, 2012

Apple Picking

We had a fun field trip to the Avila Barn Wednesday! 
Apple picking, animals, a hay ride, and lots of friends to play with. 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

On A Mission

 Last Saturday we spent a delightful afternoon wandering around the La Purisima Mission. They were holding a Village Days reenactment, so we had a great time taking part in that as well as touring the historical buildings. 

 We looked through the Indian camp and the kids stopped at some of the craft stations to make whistles and soap-stone beads.

 After a quick snack, we continued on to see the gardens and livestock.

 The pigs abandoned their lazy spots in the shade, and ran over when we threw them our leftover apple cores. They are cute, but boy, do they stink!

We went on to look through the mission buildings, and this picture pretty much summed it up; four kids in four different directions! They were really curious, and there was so much to see, so we quickly set the rule that everyone must stay together.






 We went in to what we thought was the main church, but it turned out to be the chapel. 
 It was beautiful! I love all the paintings and the wooden chandeliers.

 Confession anyone??

 
 We toured some more of the living quarters, and then made our way to the actual church. It has the most amazing altar.

 Then we went though the old cemetery, and the kids checked out the Tallow Vats behind the mission.

 We peeked in at the gardens, and looked around the clothes-washing fountains.

 This was a court yard and "bathroom" off one of the buildings.
 It was a beautiful day, and so much fun, to wander with the kids through one of our local treasures!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

New Belt

JP earned his first belt in Karate (after white belt). He was so proud, and it looked right in place with his missing front teeth and scarred forehead. 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Farmer's Market

Saturday at the Farmer's Market the weather was absolutely perfect, and we enjoyed some apples in the park before heading home for lunch. Before I knew it PT had eaten his whole apple, core and all!