Being by the Sea

I am not brave. Let me start off with that. I wish I were. Brave in the spur of the moment kind of way. It's out of my comfort zone. To dive, head first, into the great unknown. But, sometimes, life presents itself in such a way that even I can throw caution to the wind.

Ruby LOVES the ocean. A lot. She prefers it over most any other destination. Disneyland included. So, when I was doing some research for our upcoming October trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, I decided to type a beach destination into the search engine.  And we ended up with a very spontaneous, last minute trip to San Simeon Lodge by the Sea.

 I grew up taking road trips with my family. The memories are so vivid and the times we shared are something I look back on with such fondness.  I want to let her experience these rites of passage as I once did.  Baby steps, right? 

We ended up staying in the cutest motel along the freeway, overlooking the ocean.  It felt safe, which is huge for this mama.  It was also close (walking distance) to the shore line where we spent a lot of our time searching for sea glass and shells. 

On the second day after we arrived, we took a drive up the coast line and ended up in a tourist-y souvenir shop.  It was full of over priced toys and t-shirts.  In one corner of the store however was a treasure chest holding brown paper sacks.  They were each sealed and labeled for a girl or boy and ranged from $1.50 up $3.00. The catch?  These treasures were grab bags and you had no clue what you were getting.  And the sign clearly stated, NO REFUNDS!

Oh how my girl weighed and measured and finally decided on the best choice of brown paper sack.  (Did you know there is something so very exciting about the unknown treasure?) She busted that bag open as soon as I'd laid down the $1.50 and was so happy to find a little plastic sea turtle she immediately called George. 

For the next few days, George went everywhere we did. He searched for shells, rode inside the sand bucket and had a shot gun view as we drove along our merry way.  He was a good sport really.  I loved that my 10 year old really connected with this little guy.  She is on the brink of  growing past that magical age of pretending. 

I took at least a hundred pictures, and looking at them now, I see this little girl, growing into this amazing young lady. Her sense of humor and timing had me laughing and realizing how much she *gets* this world around her.  She's so brave and smart and I find myself wanting to be like her.  I stood back and watched her interact with people. She did the talking, and I the observing.  She made friends and studied sea life under a microscope with a Marine Biology student. They talked about plankton and crustaceans. She helped rescue a star fish and offered her sand bucket full of water to carry him to safety. 

As we were sitting under the pier looking through the washed up pebbles, I wondered what her memory would be when she is older. Would she remember the sand in her toes, the smell of the ocean or the time we spent painstakingly looking for bits of glass that seemed to just appear out of nowhere. 


For now, I was happy to ride shot gun along with George, into this great adventure:)

home school homesteading

So the best part of this week has been the un-schooling we've been doing. This week Ruby's spent a lot of time reconnecting with her dolls.  I think it has a lot to do with our family's recent addition of a baby girl and a recent visit with a baby cousin for her first birthday.  But, I am noticing she isn't really pretending as much as she is practicing how to care for these new little people.  She reminds me of myself at that age.  Always loving on the wee ones:)  She's asked me a few times, " Mom, how can you dress them so carefully and not hurt them?  Do you have to get up really early in the morning?  It takes so long when you're careful!" I tell her with practice she will become a pro.  That it will become second nature.  She looks doubtful and asks if babies really vomit on you. 

This week she has put together a complete game show and hosted me as her contestant.  She wrote out cue cards and dressed in a sequined dress complete with ruffle.  The stage was set using her Hello Kitty microphone and a buzzer to ring in answers.  She was thoughtful and articulate, asking questions and feeding the audience with random facts in between:)  In the end, I won a CD player.  I was tempted to trade it in for option B, but was glad I hadn't when she revealed a small ring box holding only an eraser!  

We are planning a garden and want to grow our own summer veggies and fruits.  Today we took our time looking and choosing a few different seed packets.  Next, we'll figure out a raised garden for planting.  Spring is coming and we can't wait!

Until then, baking cupcakes and adding sprinkles make the short days seem less dreary.  The sun came out for a bit today and renewed our hope that spring is really around the corner.  I tend to wish the days away when it's cold out, but today I decided to embrace them and make them count.  I love incorporating every day living into learning.  I love that hands on baking can be a math lesson.  That game show hosting can be a geography lesson.  ( I learned a plethora of facts about both Ireland and Massachusetts tonight!)

So settling in to the last of the cold front and taking the time to research raised gardens at the library:)  Yep, much better than the alternative.