Roaring Camp Railroad

Before we headed home from our staycation in Santa Cruz, we stopped at Roaring Camp Railroad in Felton, CA. Despite having read through their website ahead of time, I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The grounds are peaceful, nestled against the Santa Cruz mountains and evoke a small California town from the early 1800's.

As we waited for our train ride, the boys explored a covered wagon, visited the general store to look at model trains and watched as people "panned for gold".

Train Depot

The train ride itself was an hour and 15 minutes and was awesome! The steam locomotives are authentic trains, once used in the logging industry and now carry guests through the surrounding forest on tours. The scenery is just beautiful and serene, and the conductors narrate about the trains, the history of the area and the redwood trees themselves. The whole family loved it and I'm so glad we visited this charming town. 

This weekend turned out (unintentionally) to have a theme around early American days. Although it wasn't planned, it reminded me how many learning opportunities there are for our kids and by getting out of the house and exploring, their worlds become just a little bit bigger. 

Santa Cruz'n

We hit the road for a family mini vacay in Santa Cruz!

Staycation bound

Awesome blown glass jellyfish chandelier - I think I need this in our living room.

Enjoying the salty sea air along the lovely Capitola Esplanade.

Brothers

After a yummy dinner at Thai Basil, we headed to Gayle's for dessert, for choices aplenty!

Too many choices

Window shopping

After much deliberation we settled on carrot cake, strawberry fruit tart, chocolate chip cookie and a slice of salted caramel chocolate cake. So decadent! 

On Saturday we started our day at the Aptos Farmer's Market, which was voted California's Best Farmer's Market in 2011 and 2012. Not only is the selection of produce plentiful, but you can also get specialty items such as homemade organic stock, fresh sauerkraut, grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood and unique flowers. 

After the farmer's market we headed to Wilder Ranch State Park for the Harvest Days Festival. We weren't sure what to expect and it turned out to be a demo of old American fall harvest days. Cruz had a fun time making chicken feed and apple cider the old -fashioned way! Lucas' favorite activity was a draft horse-pulled wagon ride. It's always interesting to see how Cruz reacts when we explain that's how people used to live and work- such a far cry from his current high tech world!

Grinding down apples for juice

Choosing a dried corn cob

Running the cob through to remove the kernels

Cup of kernels

Grinding down the kernels for chicken feed

Using elbow grease!

Our last activity of the day was good ol' bike riding along West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. The weather was gorgeous and the sweeping landscape of sand and sea breathtaking. 

Biker boys

Fall in California

Tomorrow we'll take the boys to Roaring Camp Railroad for a steam engine ride through the redwoods!

Adventure Down Under

As we speak my Dad is on a vacation in the land down under and I couldn't be happier for him. In 2004 my mom booked a trip for the two of them to Australia, but she was diagnosed with lymphoma shortly after and they were never able to go. And even though he's not going with her, I know she is smiling down on him and is happy that he finally made it to Australia for both of them.

Bon voyage!

BOO-ed!

When we opened our front door this morning we saw this awesome surprise waiting on our porch!

A surprise to start the day

A fun little poem informed us that we have been "boo-ed" - how cute is that? I have always wanted to live in a neighborhood where people are as into the holidays as much as I am, and I think my wish came true. Our street has several houses all done up in Halloween decorations but I'm told that Christmas is a sight to see - I CANNOT WAIT!

Excited

Cruz dying to eat the candy corn

Our loot

In order to pass on the Halloween spirit you must boo two other homes. Cruz decided which neighbors he wanted to boo and we put together our version of the goodie basket. The first is for our next door neighbor who has a 12-year-old daughter, so we chose fun socks, Halloween sticky notes, Halloween Oreos, funky glasses and of course candy.

Basket #1

The second basket is for a neighbor a couple doors down with 3 children. For them Cruz picked out slap bracelets, pencils, Halloween themed Mac and Cheese, kettle corn, candy, and a Halloween picture frame.

Basket #2

We can't wait to stealthily deliver these to our unsuspecting "victims" later tonight! Happy Haunting everyone! 

Cruz demonstrating how to "boo" someone

And just like that, Lucas is 2

I've said the words "I've been busy" so many times that even I am tired of hearing them. Between work, Cruz starting kindergarten, traveling and life in general, I am barely keeping up! And as another reminder of time flying, Lucas turned the big 2 last week...I swear I blinked and missed it all. We debated whether or not to have a party for him, and since we recently took a mini-vacation to Maine for my cousin's wedding, we decided to forgo a party. But after giving it some more thought, we agreed we wanted at least a small celebration for him - birthdays are a big deal to me and I think every person deserves to have a little extra love and attention on their one, personal holiday a year. In an effort to keep it small and low-key, we invited just our closest friends who live in Benicia or Vallejo for a casual lunch at a nearby park on a Sunday afternoon. But if you know me, you know I am obsessed with party planning and I couldn't resist having a theme. I try to choose a theme that reflects the child at that particular stage, because the phases they go through can be fleeting. For Lucas I chose to have a "Puppy Pawty" because he absolutely adores dogs. It was such a fun party to put together! Some highlights: canine-inspired kiddie snacks included Beggin' Strips (fruit roll ups), Puppy Chow (cocoa puffs), Scooby snacks (graham crackers shaped like bones) and Fetch Sticks (pretzel sticks). I also found some adorable accessories like bone-shaped sippy cups and doggie-ear headbands from Oriental Trading Company.