All Aboard!

After a relaxing morning and brunch of homemade waffles, we set out on a bit of a family outing today with my parents, brother, and his sweet family.  We headed to the town of El Dorado, a historic mining town on Highway 49 in gold country.

Destination - the El Dorado Western Railroad.  We have visited numerous times, but I never tire of this living history railroad program of the El Dorado County Historical Museum.  On Sundays (weather dependent), volunteers generously give their time to help educate all of us about this historic railways of El Dorado County.

The El Dorado Western Railroad runs out of  two stations (they alternate each week).  One in the town of El Dorado, and the other in Shingle Springs, California.

Rides are approximately 30-40 minutes long on small "gang" cars, which were utilized by railroad inspectors, officials, workers and passengers.    Each car holds about 5-6 people,  A donation of $7 for adults and $3 for children is recommended.   The engineers hurtled us down the track at 6 mph. It's a little rough in some places, but thankfully they do give you a cushion to sit on!  Riding these rumbly bumpy cars helps take you back to when the era of transportation of goods and people relied heavily on the railways.  Many a log, and lumber, peach and pear made its way along these tracks.

Gang Car Engineers getting ready to board our group.  These folks volunteer each week, and from what I've discovered in conversation generally used to work on a railroad somewhere in the U.S.

Don't forget to get your ticket punched!

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These amazing people are my parents, Grandma and Papa.  We have our moments(like all families), but they have been always been there for me when I needed them...even when I've been at my most unpleasant.  Love you Mom and Dad!

My mom loves trains, so she's always up for a ride!  Her favorite will always be the Skunk Train stationed in Fort Bragg, CA.  It is a beautiful ride through the dense redwoods.  I recommend it too.

Miss M rode in the other car with my brother and his family.  Bummed there was a glare on the window.  She's a cutie for sure!

I believe this was C-Dawgs first train ride.  Thankfully he had Papa's finger to hold on to.

  

 Not pleased that I was taking his picture while he was trying to get some shut-eye.  Probably a long nap today is in order for Handy H!  

California is so dry this Summer.  You can tell all the plants are just longing for a long thirst quenching drink of water.  Hang in there!  They say the El Nino is coming.

 The hope for the El Dorado Railway is to restore more rail cars and such and develop a larger railroad park.  It will be fun to keep coming back, to see the progress.

If you find yourself along Highway 49 near Placerville, on a Sunday...stop in and ride the train.  It's fun for both young and old.

Cheers!
Forestry Mama

April Antics

Well, it's July but what the heck.  I thought I get you all up to speed on what we've been up to over the past few months.

April turned out to be a fun month of field trips, finishing up our 6 week American Girl Group, hikes, and a lot of hands on tinkering activities.

 We subscribe monthy to Tinker Crate  .  I highly recommend these kits.  They come once a month, and are super fun.  The children are able to do much of the "tinkering" with me there for help.  I'm thinking I'll blog more about Tinker Crate at a later date.  This month, they worked on a drawbot, and the other was mixing chemicals together to make such things as goop, and silly putty.  We did this one while C-dawg was sleeping...messy, but fun.

This draw bot has a little motor that sends it drawing all around the large paper.  Changing the weight  and shape of the clay attached to the motor caused it to move in different directions.  Super cool!

Blowing goop bubbles 

Timing to see who's goop could stretch out the longest before breaking

Hiking the Table Rocks is always a great Spring event for us.  Lots of flowers, but too dry this year for vernal pools.

Our homeschool group sponsored a special performance with the Rogue Valley Symphony Chamber Players.  This quintette gives performances for school children.  A great way to share the arts!  Miss M.  even won two free tickets to the Rogue Valley Symphony.  The two oldest children and their dad attended a performance later that week.

We all participated in the annual Pear Blossom Mayors Cup Fun Run.  We all had fun with the 1-mile, so we did the 2-mile as well.  This race day is always guaranteed to have inclement weather. Thankfully, it did not snow!

I love a good family selfie!

This past year my wonderful friend and fellow homeschooling mom Stacey and I put on two different American Girl 6-week unit studies with a fun group of girls.  This time it was the historical character Kirsten.  Over the previous six weeks, we met once a week for two hours to discuss the books from the series, and do some fun related activities.  The girls worked on handmade doll quilts for the six weeks.  

It was fun to see all the hard work and different patterns they chose to design and sew.  I was truly impressed.

This week, the children also made Native American picture stories on faux leather (crumpled, wetted paper bag), then told us the stories.  We made animal track casts, and we even listened to one of our girls play fiddle for us.

Making plaster of paris animal tracks

We enjoyed our weekly Tea Time Tuesday - fun treats, tea, and poetry reading.

Sniffing pretty flowers from the garden.

The last field trip that we were able  to attend for the year with our Five in a Row group was to the Mercy Flights headquarters.  They do an amazing tour for children.  Mercy Flights is our local ambulance service as well as mediflights.  It's so great for the children to see how things are done in the event they ever need emergency medical attention.

Miss M. after hearing this mannequin can be used to practice birthing..silly girl

We learned this helicopter is moved around with a little handheld device.  Cool!

Inside the ambulance

We also took a tour/ride on the local Rogue Valley Transportation District bus.  Fun to have a private ride, and to see how the whole system works.

We ended the month with a birding trip guided by our local chapter of the National Audubon Society.  Fun to walk around with knowledgeable people.  I later found out we were guided by one of the premiere birders in the valley.

Handy H thought that if he were camouflaged the the birds couldn't see him.  Smart boy!

Silly kids looking at other kids who were looking at them.

The most impressive granary tree I've ever seen!

Miss M took a 5 week robotics class from William Hennes of Think Tank Kids.  She had a lot of fun, and made a cool robot that moves around on it's own power.

 

April was a busy month, but super fun!  A great way to end the school year!

Where Have We Been?

Hey All!

I needed to take a little time away from the blog.  Come April, I just felt stressed, overwhelmed, emotional and exhausted with our busy schedule and life in general.   We made a few changes to give me more breaks( aka. time to myself), and I'm pleased to say that life is going much better now.  I've learned a great deal about the importance of taking time for oneself, and how you are a much better and more patient parent when you have a few minutes away from it all.  Whether you homeschool and are with your children 24/7 or have a different schedule, make time for yourself.  Really DO IT!  You will thank yourself.

So what have we been up to?  I thought I would update you in several blogs over the next few weeks. I'm thinking about a once a month update on our activities, and trying to squeeze in a few blogs here and there each month, if we do something interesting, or I find some tasty adult bererage that I have to share with you all.  How's that sound?

Sending out some blogs here soon!

Cheers!
Darcy
Forestry Mama

Lucky Leprechauns

Can I just say, I am a "little" obessed with peg dolls these days.  My children really seem to like them too.  I've been finding them being moved, and played with a lot.  Over Christmas break Miss M. made a nativity seen with peg dolls.  For our American Girl - Kirsten unit study group, all the girls made little Swedish peg dolls.  I'm even thinking about making some Superman characters for Handy H., and a fun little animal set for C-dawg.

Today, we thought it would be fun to get into the St Patty's Day spirit a little early.  These little Leprechaun peg dolls were awfully fun to make.  I got inspiration from the blog this little project, and the book Making Peg Dolls.  A few wooden peg dolls picked up at the local craft store, some felt, pipe cleaners, lace, ribbon, and anything else you want to craft with will do.  The glue gun is the quickest way to get these all put together.

Miss M. decided to make a flower fairy as well.  Her inspiration comes from the book, Forest Fairy Crafts.  This is a great way to utilize scraps of all your crafting materials you may have laying around the house.  Take a few minutes to make one of these fun little dolls.  It will make you smile.

Heres to hoping a little bit o' the Leprechaun luck comes our way.

Cheers!

Forestry Mama

One of My Favorite Days of The Year

Today is the day!  I woke up with much excitement.  So I'd like to think.  In all reality, I drug myself out of bed, started the coffee pot, kissed my husband and wished him a good day.

But today has been one of my most favorite days for the past 8 years.  It's the day that our local seasonal growers market starts.  Always the middle of March on a cool, and sometimes rainy morning.  Today though, it was beautiful.  The sunshine peaking out from behind big puffy clouds. The bluebird sky peaking out elsewhere,

I've loved growers markets ever since I started going Thursday nights to the big one on Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo.  Now that was a sight!  College done for the day, almost Friday, and such fun to be had.  Lots of fresh vegetables, fruits and food vendors.  Just the right addition to a night on the town.  Can it really have been almost twenty years ago?  Nowadays, I'm headed to our market, not for a Santa Maria Style tri-tip sandwich, but for all those healthy things like kale, carrots, and beets...and don't forget my guilty pleasure of a ham and cheese croissant.

Here, the vendors take 3 months off during the Winter, and boy does our family miss them.  We've been visiting with all these folks since Miss M. was a wee babe.  They've seen all three children grow and change on a weekly basis.  It's truly like having an extended family at this point.  The growers and crafters know our children by name, take the time and interest to find out what they are up to, help them with their money figuring, and talk to them about their wares anf foods.  If  I go without the children, theses folks always demand to know where everyone else is.  We even have a retired couple that always look for us.  I'm pretty sure Pam would make the children, her honorary grandchildren.

My market troupe.  I promise, they really were excited to be there.

It's getting about that time for garden planting

If you've never had a Pennington Farms turnover, you are missing out.

Sultan's Delight - Our Turkish American "Gyro Man"  Handy H's favorite guy

This time of year is so lovely with all the color.  This vendor has such a variety they is brought to market.

Pennington Farms Jam - so tasty!

I'm getting hungry.  Maybe some potato leek soup with fresh bread tonight.

I consider us "going to market" as part of their life learning.  Here, they talk to adults, visit with friends, figure out costs of food, and learn what the different foods are by sight and taste, view what grows seasonally, and figure out their wants versus needs, and what is needed to purchase those wants.  I see growth and confidence changes each year.  I hope that I am helping them to grow a love of fresh, local produce, and the experience in itself.  All of this I look forward to each week.

I hope you have as wonderful a market as we do nearby.

~Cheers
Forestry Mama

Mama's Holiday AKA... I Got Away!!

The last time I visited my folks I read one of my childhood books to the children.  I think it was More Tales of Oliver Pig, written by Jean Van Leeuwen.  In this book was a story where Oliver and Amanda Pigs mama goes away for a short "holiday".  Something about this story struck a chord within me.

For me, getting away from all of the children is a serious rarity.  Honestly, it was long overdue for me to get away.  Last November, I was starting to feel weary...not much to give anyone.  I really needed a recharge!  It's not easy though for me to ask for the money for such a luxury as a plane ticket, when we need to buy grocieries, pay bills, etc.

At Christmas, I was given a little money from parents, and in-laws.  I had thought to myself...I could either buy myself something fun....or go somewhere!  After some honest discussion with my husband, and a call to a wonderful friend.  I decided to purchase a plane ticket.

I will be honest...I had a bit of anxiety when purchasing my ticket.  It had been so long since doing something so exciting.

Needless to say, the first Thursday on February, C-Dawg, and I boarded an airplane for Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Thankfully C-dawg still counts as a lap baby. He did really great for a super busy toddler.  We were able to have a whole row to ourselves on our last leg of the trip. Yes, I didn't totally get away by myself, but it is amazing how easy it seems with just one, when you are used to three.

I lived in New Mexico for a short but very happy time in my life.  It was good to go back.  We hadn't returned since we moved from ABQ in 2006.  I had several places I really wanted to go to, eat at, and see..for old times sake.  My friend Ann was so willing to do whatever I wanted!  I know, she herself was needing a bit of a "holiday" too.

Happy Hour at El Pinto

The beautiful Sandias

Post walk refreshments from Kaktus Brewing Company - Nut Brown Ale

Sand Hill Cranes

We headed to Santa Fe via the New Mexico Rail Runner.  This was new since we lived in ABQ.  What a great mode of transportation.  The Saturday market in Santa Fe was so fun.  This time of year it is mostly indoors.  It must be amazing during the Summer.  So many good New Mexican foods!  I could see myself riding the train up to Santa Fe just to buy my vegetables.

New Mexico Rail Runner - this is a super fun ride to Santa Fe!  

A short walk to the Santa Fe indoor/outdoor Saturday market.

The smell of this chile was intoxicating!  The color so vibrant.

The waiting area was filled locals
We knew it had to be good.  It was!

Chile relleno, enchilada, taco, posole, and a tamale.
So good, but I couldn't eat it all.  Plus lots of green chile!

Sopapillas the size of your head!  Yummm!

We wandered the streets of old Santa Fe.  It is a fun place to just wander in and out of shops.  I loved all the art work and architecture as well.  The plaza was a great place to see folks selling their wares, and jewelry and listen to a man playing his accordian.

C-dawg and Ann in the Plaza of Santa Fe

 I used to do some prescribed fire work in the Jemez Mountains.  A truly gorgeous place!  2011, and 2013 brought large wildfires to the area.  I wanted to see for myself how much of the area had been changed.  The Valles Caldera for a long time has been maintained as a preserve, and kept at minimal visitation levels.  I felt very lucky to have spent time in the caldera.  It will be interesting to see what happens now that the management has been changed from the US Forest Service to National Park Service.

The meadows of the Valles Caldera

The Valles Caldera - recently transferred to
the National Park Service.

Fun rock climbing area!

 We went for a short hike along the East Fork of the Jemez River.  If you get a chance to check out the Las Conchas trail, do it!  The trail was a bit snowy and icy when we were hiking, so we did not go as far as I would have liked.  I guess I'll have to go back!

East Fork of the Jemez River

As you can see, C-dawg was completely ignored the whole time.  He looks miserable...just kidding!  I think he enjoyed having his mama all to himself.  I do know he missed his Dad and siblings a lot.  They missed him too!

I came home with numerous jars of green chile, and green chile sauce, several bags of different chile powders, and some chicos ( a type of smoked and dried corn).  We've been eating green chile with every meal for the past week!

I was very glad to have gotten away for a long weekend.  It was what I really needed.  I laughed, drank good drinks, ate amazing food, soaked up much needed sun, went on adventures, and spent time with a special friend and her beautiful family.

My friend Ann's daughter used to be our babysitter, and so we have a very close bond with her too.  It was really neat to see how much she and her brother have grown into really special people.  I got a glimpse of my world in the realm of homeschooling and teenage life.  It made me excited to see what is ahead for us, but I also realized that I need to hold on to how special my world is right now.

I greatly appreciate my husband taking leave time for me, so that I could go away, and have some fun.  It sounded like the children had some fun while we were away.  We came home to lots of hugs, and stories of all the cool things they did and places that they went with Dad.

I am definitely missing Ann and New Mexico, but also glad to be back with my own peeps.

While my world here hasn't changed, I definitely have come home with a new perspective.

Yay for a mama's holiday!

Cheers!
~Forestry Mama