apples, science, and dolphins

 October 3rd, the kids and I went apple picking for our Wednesday outing.  We went to an area called Apple Hill about an hour East of Sacramento.  The area if filled with 50+ farmers of various fruits and Christmas Trees.  We picked a bushel of apples at Denver Dan's.  

Today we have 9 remaining. 

Athan and Gavin appreciated the small trees with their low branches.  I'm not sure why Athan is wearing winter gloves, I've learned not to question such activities of children.

I had to get a picture of the kids in front of the trees and flowering plants, for it looked much different than Iowa in the fall.

Here's Obi with his structure he made at Lodi's World of Wonder museum.  Lodi is just a few miles North of us.  This museum is small, but it's all hands on activities that the kids love.  Also, it's free admission with our Science Center of Iowa pass!

 Cora spent a lot of her time with the bubbles and putting bubbles around any willing child.  She mentioned that she should go volunteer there so she can play bubbles with all the young kids.

On the 12th the kids and I ventured up to Old Sacramento.  I'd heard lots of great things about the train museum there.  

Obi's always been a big train fan, so it was a bit of an early treat for his birthday.

This poster was at the museum.  

Cora and I found it quite funny.

p.s. Cora was quite into trains for several years as well.  :)

This is at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  The Exploratorium, a science museum, is located right beside this.  

We took a nice walk around the area during a lunch break.

The 13th we were in Santa Cruz.

Athan has taking more of a liking to the sand than the water.

Clone 1 & Clone 2

Cora catching a wave.

Gavin & Phil after their ride.

Having fun!

A new sight.

Gavin and his California twin.

Athan even found a friend to play with.

Phil's catching a wave.

Cora found a sand dollar.

Obi coming in for a rest.

One of the hard things to get used to out here is meat prices!  I wanted to make Obi roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy for his b-day.

 We celebrated Obi's birthday with dinner, presents, and a movie.  Cora made his cake on the day of his birthday, but we were too full of movie theater popcorn Monday night.  

So we finished the celebration Tuesday night.  Obi decorated his own cake with a train. :)

The 19th Phil took off of work, because he had worked all day Sunday at the sight.  We decided to head back again to the Exploratorium for Dad's first visit.  

You may notice the band-aid on Gavin's neck.  It's covering his surfing wound. :(  He has gotten sand in between his skin and his wetsuit the last two weeks.

We've really enjoyed coming to this museum.  

It's like the science center of science centers.  

It's also been free for us to visit because of our SCI pass.  Unfortunately, the Exploratorium is opting out of the ASTC program at the end of this month.  It's quite a pricey place, so we've gotten in 3 visits this month to soak it all in.

Sunday we were back in Santa Cruz.

It was a bit chilly when we arrived, so we took a walk out on the wharf.   It was very enjoyable!  The sea lion was checking us out, star fish covered the poles, sea lions napped under us, and we spotted a pod of dolphins!

For lunch we enjoyed Fish and Chips, and Clam Chowder in a Sour Dough Bread Bowl.  

Gavin does not like seafood at all, so eat ate 'chips' for lunch, and the lemon for our fish.  Just before I had asked Gavin if Santa Cruz was his favorite, he said he loved everything except for all the fish stuff there was to eat.  :)

Phil rented a Stand Up Paddle board (SUP) for the day.  He's been wanting to try since we were in Maui.   It was a bit more challenging than many of the locals make it look, but he was able to get up a few times. 

Cora was next to give it a try.

Meanwhile, Athan specializes in finding different dead creatures on the beach.

And there she is, sitting in the Pacific Ocean on a SUP with dolphins swimming right by her!   

I'm certain this is an opportunity she won't ever forget!

Cora was able to make it to her feet for quite a stretch of time, while a very proud dad and mom stood on the shore and watched.

Phil took Gavin out for a ride to enjoy the sea lions up close; by this time the dolphins has gone.

On the other side of the wharf we found this dolphin that was much easier to photograph. 

There have been days that have made being out here very tough on everyone.  

Then there are days like these that make the sacrifices a bit easier to take.

All in all, we are still very thankful to be able to have these experiences.....and for skype!

Thanks for reading, lot of love, Jessica

San Francisco & Santa Cruz

 This weekend was our first planned outing.  When we first arrived in CA someone mentioned Fleet Week in San Francisco.  I did a bit of research online and discovered it would be a great experience for the whole family.  Meals were planned and a hotel was booked for Saturday night.  We would do San Francisco on Saturday, and test out those wetsuits on Sunday in Santa Cruz.  Saturday morning we settled in at Horseshoe Bay on the North side of the bridge.  We were able to back in the car and have a great view of the bay. 

We had a few hours before the Parade of Ships would begin at 11.  Phil led us under the bridge, up the hill, under the bridge again, and out to an observation area.

Then we walked across the bridge.  

I think it was one of the most overwhelming experiences I have had.  

Four kids, two lanes of on-coming traffic, and a bay of cold water far underneath. 

It was a great view, and quite neat to watch the ship pass just under us, but my heart was ready to return my family to sea level.

A view of Horseshoe Bay from the bridge.

 With feet back on solid ground, we watched the Parade from the fishing pier.    As Gavin and I were admiring a Jelly Fish just under us, a sea lion come up out of the water.  I jumped in my Iowa girl seeing a sea lion outside of the zoo for the first time amazement.   Then two more jumped out.  The man beside us laughed, but said he did the same thing his first time in his a man from Romania seeing a sea lion for the first time amazement.    Moments later Phil catches my attention of the crab net coming up.  This fisherman had more spectators around him than he probably cared for, but he had a great attitude about it. 

When the Parade was done, we headed back to the car for lunch and waited for the airshow to begin.  

These two guys spend all afternoon hanging out in the bay, catching a lot of attention.

The airshow was neat.  We couldn't have asked for a nicer day!  Gavin, Athan, and I stayed around the car and watched the show from there.  Phil, Cora, and Obi headed East a bit and caught more of the near ground show.  

Sunday morning about 11 we arrived at Cowell's Beach in Santa Cruz.  Wetsuits + bodyboards + ocean + beautiful weather = a great experience!

Do you see the extra body surfer in the photo?

Here is Athan after his first ocean wrestling match.  

The ocean won.  

Who knew you could get so much sand stuck in your eyebrows?  After this he was pretty much on the sidelines enjoying a bucket that Phil found in the water and the dry sand.

I was so proud of myself for planning a weekend away, having meals ready so that we didn't have to spend an arm and a leg on food.  Then I looked at my family's faces.  I didn't even think about sunscreen!  It's October, not summer.  Anyway, I don't think the kids will let me forget next time!

This weekend was a wonderful adventure for the Soash Family.

We are very thankful for our many experiences.

Lots of Love,

Jessica

We miss sports and a lot of other people and things!

Phil and I have come to the conclusion that taking the winter off of sporting activities is a bad idea.  

I love my kids, but 24/7 it too much!  

I've spent quite a few hours already looking at potential teams for the kids to join.  It looks like the boys will join the Stockton Elite Wrestling Club.  They meet at a school less than a mile away.  I'm still working on finding a basketball club for Cora.  As I email coaches I mention that we are from Huxley, IA.  I wonder what they think when I mention that.  I decided to Google Huxley and see what Wikipedia had to say.  I then did the same with Stockton.  There's a reason that we've all felt a culture shock, it's because it is one!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huxley,_Iowa

As of the census^[3] of 2010, there were 3,317 people, 1,194 households, and 884 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,053.0 inhabitants per square mile (406.6 /km²). There were 1,322 housing units at an average density of 419.7 per square mile (162.0 /km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.6% White, 1.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton,_California 

The 2010 United States Census^[14] reported that Stockton had a population of 291,707. The population density was 4,505.0 people per square mile (1,739.4/km²). The racial makeup of Stockton was 108,044 (37.0%) White, 35,548 (12.2%) African American, 3,086 (1.1%) Native American, 62,716 (21.5%) Asian, 1,822 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 60,332 (20.7%) from other races, and 20,159 (6.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 117,590 persons (40.3%). Non-Hispanic Whites were 22.9% of the population in 2010,^[15] down from 57.1% in 1980.^[6]

Lodi is a nice small town just to the North of us about 5 miles.  We like going there.  Last Thursday I mention to Phil if the size of Lodi was equivalent to the size of Ames.  

Wouldn't that be funny, me calling Ames a small Iowa town.

Ames:  As of the census^[3] of 2010, there were 58,965 people

Lodi: The 2010 United States Census^[7] reported that Lodi had a population of 62,134.

I also really miss fall.  Yesterday I Googled if/when leaves changed colors around here.  

Yes, they do.  They change late October into December. 

We are at the point in our venture when the honeymoon is over, it's now real and we are here and not there.  This last week has been the hardest.  Even reading about Cora's soccer team playing in Waverly was a tough one to take.

Sorry, I probably just made some of you cry, I'm crying.  

Thanks for loving us,

Jessica