Silverstrand Beach

For some reason this summer we didn't go to the beach as often as we usually do. That may have to do with the fact that our favorite beach is obsolete now. For the last two years we have made Marina State Park Beach our go to beach but when we were there earlier this summer two thirds of the beach was pretty much gone. We're still not to sure what happened but for a majority of the stretch on the beach it was full of huge rocks. We don't know if the city put it up or if it all washed in. After a little research I found Silverstrand Beach in Oxnard. We had been there once before but only to eat lunch after our whale watching trip. If you get there early enough you can park in their parking lot. The beach is real clean and there were no rocks or pebbles as you got into the water. The waves weren't huge either but they were big enough for boogie boarding. Since Judy, my mother-in-law, was in town we hung out at the beach all day soaking up the son, enjoying the waves, and playing together.

Descanso Gardens Part 2 : Now and Then

I knew I had some older pictures of the boys in the same spot when we were at Descanso a few years ago. I love comparing pictures to see how big they've gotten and how much they've changed.

April 2014

April 2017

April 2014

April 2017

I'm finding it's harder to get pictures of the boys as they get older. They just don't want to cooperate! Anyone have the same problem? I know that one day they'll appreciate all these pictures....or at least their wives and kids will!

The Getty Center

It's Spring Break.......well, it's almost over but we are really enjoying some time off from school! Thankfully this year we were actually able to take our break. We are up to date with all of our curriculum and we'll have all the compulsory attendance dates in by the end of the year.

Tuesday we headed to The Getty Center. I know, I know........why would 2 boys be interested in going to an art museum? Jojo is taking an art class at PSP and I really thought he'd be interested in seeing artwork from the artists he's been studying. The day wasn't entirely a failure and the boys did have fun with the audio tour. The museum gives you an iPod with headphones at the entrance and at select art pieces there is a number you can enter into the iPod to learn more about the art work. It would take a few days to go through the whole museum listening to the audio tour but the boys were "educated" on some artists and paintings.

Nathan enjoyed watching a short documentary on how these type of wooden statues are made.

Rembrandt........this is Jon's favorite painter.

Edgar Degas.........this painting was created with pastels (chalk).

Van Gogh.......this is the museum's prized painting and the most popular. Took a while just to get near it.

Claude Monet.......one of my favorites

The gardens are beautiful.

The boys aren't very cooperative with pictures any more......Nathan refuses to be in most pictures.

The entrance to The Getty Center is free but you do have to pay $15 for parking. They are closed on Mondays so I would suggest that you do not go on a Tuesday........it was crazy! Took forever just to be able to park.

Descanso Gardens

It's been absolutely beautiful lately so last week we headed to Descanso Gardens. One of my friends from Russia was visiting so it was a great opportunity to spend time together amidst the beautiful blooming flowers. The boys tagged along too even though they would have preferred to stay home.

As you can see the tulips were in bloom! I love tulips and I was so happy to see them. Thankfully, we got the opportunity to enjoy them because I was told that in a few days they were all going to be pulled.

It was a great time to catch up with my friends. Masha, on the left, will be returning to Russia after her husband completes his studies at the Master's Seminary in May. Tanya, on the right, was here visiting the whole month.

On the third Tuesday of every month, Descanso Gardens is FREE!!! It is regularly $9 for admission so it's definitely worth it to wait until the third Tuesday. They open at 9:00 a.m. and the earlier you go the less crowded it is.

Forneris Farms

This year we almost forgot to go to the pumpkin patch.... even though it's one of the things I missed the most when we lived in Russia. Admittedly, I remember looking at everyone's pumpkin patch pictures on Facebook and always feeling a little sad that we couldn't go to a pumpkin patch.

Not too far from where we live there is a family owned farm and they do a great job at putting on a "harvest" festivity. This year they are actually celebrating 100 years of farming in the same location!

Los Angeles County Fair

Our first field trip of the year was to the L.A. County Fair and it was all FREE!!! They have a great homeschooling field trip option where you can attend the fair before it opens to the public from 9 a.m. - noon and the entrance and parking are free. Your children can also fill out book reports and receive free passes for rides.

We met up with some friends from our PSP. We were looking at sharks here.

There are several exhibit halls. Here we are in the "Heroes" hall. We spent a lot of time in here.

Huge petting zoo. There are over 100 animals in this corral.

Nathan got to milk a goat!

We spent a lot of time in the Big Red Barn petting animals, milking goats, and looking at a bunch of farm animals.

Must be a boy thing but we spent about 45 minutes watching the blacksmiths.

Time for school, kids!

Cute little calves! This one had huge dark eyes.

This was our favorite....pig races and duck races! So funny!!

This was our very first time at the fair and we can't wait until next year. We plan on taking Jon with us next year and hanging out all day. There are so many things that we didn't even get to do so we'll definitely get to them next year.

Los Angeles Public Library : WHY WE LOVE IT!

When we returned from Russia last year one of the first things we did is to get the boys acquainted with our local public library.

The boys were so excited to have their own card.

I have to confess that we have pretty much been at the library every single week since! Sometimes we are there twice or even more a week. So, here are some reasons why we love the library so much.

1. BOOKS
I know, I know. That one is obvious. Not only do the boys have a blast finding books to read but I do too. I've expanded my reading genre quite a bit this past year and I am really enjoying all the books I'm able to borrow. The boys check out a lot of story picture books since daddy reads every night to them. Sometimes we bring home over 20-30 books!

2. DVDs
There are so many great DVDs we're able to check out. You can only check them out for 2 days but you can renew them online for an extra 2 days. Educational DVDs you can have out for 7 days. We've recently discovered that the other local branch in Porter Ranch has a way better selection of DVDs.

3. ONLINE SERVICES
LAPL.ORG is so convenient. Online I am able to search for books that my local library doesn't have on it's shelf. If I put the book on hold it is then delivered to my library. I then get a reminder email to let me know the book is waiting for me at my local library. I also get reminder emails when a book/DVD is going to be due. Plus you can renew books online.

4. SPECIAL EVENTS
Every week or so the library has a special movie, craft time, and even reading to the dogs on the first Saturday of every month. We don't really go to the movies but Jon did take the boys to a puppet show one time. And last month the boys read to the dogs!

Naynay reading to a dog

Jojo doesn't love dogs but he was happy to do it anyway.

5. READING PROGRAMS
During the summer the library puts on a reading program for children and teens. This year it's called "Paws To Read" and the boys received a chart to fill in as they read along. You color in 1 paw for every 1/2 hour of reading and you color in 1 ball for activities that you do. I'm proud to say that the boys have completed their chart early! YAY!!! It's been a great incentive to encourage them to read.

Whitacre Park

Yesterday we joined a few people from our Sunday school group for a hike at Whitacre Park. I had never even heard of this hiking trail but it was a great hike plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I do have to admit that the first part is all up hill but it was doable. Plus the boys weren't even really complaining about it. The hike has an amazing view of the San Fernando Valley and it mostly all shaded.

We really enjoyed getting to know some new friends.

I was so surprised how green everything was considering what a dry season we've had. 

 

 

At the end of the hike we found a shady spot and enjoyed a nice picnic.