Spring Break

This highly anticipated week never seems long enough
but is always a welcome diversion as our

endurance and spirits wear thin.

Day 1

Recovery

We bid my parents good-bye after their three day visit

and spent the rest of the time recovering from a big

church weekend, doing laundry, and putting stuff away.

Day 2

Flea Market Shopping
We saw lots of stuff, bargained for some stuff, and 

bought very few items.

I think we often go for the experience rather than

lugging home lots of great deals.

Day 3

Attack Tiana's Room

Tiana was off to an all day play date so Bethany and I rolled

up our sleeves and attacked the mess that had been 

put on the back burner way too long.

Day 4

Field Trip Day

One son asked if we could go to the ocean during break.

On further inquiry as to what beach he had in mind,

 I found that he actually meant San Francisco for the sole

purpose of dining on sea food.

I told him that the city was out but I was not opposed to something

a bit closer with less traffic.

We settled on a general vicinity but I threw in the requirement

that we first stop at Mission San Juan Bautista as part of 

Tiana's 4th grade California history studies.

 San Juan Bautista is named after St. John the Baptist and was founded in 1797.

 Father Junipero Serra founded many of the CA missions.

One of the bells that mark the historic El Camino Real (The Royal Road or The King's Highway)

which runs 600 miles through CA and connects missions, presidios, and pueblos

from the time of Spanish rule.

A large and active fault line runs right along this rise we are standing on.

The fields sit significantly lower that the park property due to earthquake activity.

 At lunch time we wound westward and settled on this restaurant along the highway in Moss Landing.

 This was our  lunch-time view.

 Exactly what we came for.

After lunch we drove between strawberry fields to get to a near-by beach

but our road suddenly ended.  All of the rain must have expanded the estuary.

  

A few miles down the highway we were able to access a fairly unoccupied beach.

There were no bathing suits on anyone this particular day.

Hoodies and long sleeves were the most comfortable attire.

Everyone managed to stay out of the water and stay dry.

I think that is the first time that has ever happened in our family.

Day 5

A some point we needed to stay home and do a little work around here

but I ended up doing some errands in the morning.

Tiana had her American Girl book club to go to in the afternoon.

Their current book series is "Rebecca" which is about a Jewish girl, so to 

dive into the food experience we made challa bread to share with the class.

There was one loaf for the class and one loaf for us.

It was amazing bread. 

 I wouldn't be opposed to eating it every Sabbath.

Day 6

Project Day

Rudy and I were able to do some rearranging to give

Bethany a private room-within-a-room.

It takes some muscle and lots of creativity but

when one person does not respect boundaries

drastic measures have to be taken.

We had a productive week with some down-time mixed in.

It was just what we all needed.

What makes me want to rant and rave though are the college

professors who see the week as an opportunity to heap

on more work and even make assignments due that week.

I am not sure what they don't understand about the word
BREAK!