I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Apr 5th, 2018
The rains held off enough for us to head over to Sutter’s Fort the next morning. Then we headed over to the Capitol building for a tour.
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Apr 4th, 2018
Our next stop was Sacramento. They’ve preserved much of their historical downtown as a place for museums and tourist trap shopping. We skipped the tourist traps and looked into the Sacramento history museum, historical schoolhouse and Wells Fargo offices, and the California State Railroad museum. For lunch, Derek found a great burger dive, home of […]
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Apr 3rd, 2018
My back was hurting so much from lugging around my 8-lb lens that I changed it out for my cheapo kit lens on Wednesday when we went to Alcatraz. Turns out something is wrong with its focusing mechanism, and I spent the day angrily trying to force the camera to work, then giving in and […]
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Apr 2nd, 2018
On our second day in San Francisco, I wanted to give us a break from museums and tours, so we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands, where it’s mostly state parks and beaches. We visited the Marine Mammal Center, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing sea mammals and helping rehabilitate them for […]
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Apr 1st, 2018
Derek got us a hotel right on Fisherman’s Wharf, so most of our time in San Francisco was spent right along the Bay. On our first full day, we explored WWII submarine USS Pampanito and liberty ship USS O’Brien. Then we took a cruise of the Bay! There’s a Susie behind all that hair […]
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Mar 31st, 2018
In fourth grade, all California children are supposed to visit one of the missions and study it as part of our state history. Last year, it didn’t fit into what Tommy was studying in history, so we did it this year, splitting the difference. We read Zia (the sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins, […]
Posted in California, Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Mar 30th, 2018
We were so glad to have the sun shining Sunday morning as we left San Simeon! The beaches across from Hearst Castle are a rookery for elephant seals, and we were lucky enough to run into a volunteer who could give us some details about the weaners (300 lb babies who are newly weaned), the […]
Posted in California, Homeschooling on Mar 29th, 2018
Hearst Castle is the closest the kids have been to Europe. We learned how William Randolph Hearst and his mom traveled all over Europe back when noble families were going bankrupt, and they snatched up furniture, ceilings, artifacts, and floors. Most museums would be happy to have one or two historic European ceilings–Hearst Castle has […]
Posted in California, Homeschooling on Mar 14th, 2018
We got up early to tour Alcatraz and then, for a complete change of pace, headed over to a historical home that survived the 1906 earthquake and is a great peek into the lifestyles of the early San Francisco leaders of commerce. The kids did a remarkable job of following tours all day that were […]
Posted in California on Mar 13th, 2018
No time to download pictures, but we’re staying busy. The rain has been sporadic, giving us enough time to see quite a bit without getting totally soaked! After touring ships along Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday, we drove across the Bay to the Marin Headlands. The only picture I took with my phone was this one a […]