11.13.15: Field Trip | Natural History Museum

When the class goes on a field trip to the Natural History Museum, everyone has to climb on the gray whale out in front, then slide down, then climb back up (repeat)

 When you live in Santa Cruz, this is where you have snacks....

 Stella

 Fiona

Daphne

11.11.15: Henry Cowell State Park

 Today we adventured up to Henry Cowell State Park.  This is an amazing park about 15 minutes from our home on some very curvy roads.  Upon arrival the trees are taller than you can even imagine and the surroundings are so peaceful.  We love this park as it is a great place for hiking and exploration.

 Just one of the many gigantic redwood trees.

This tree can hold 50 people inside and according to the ranger, people actually used to live inside the tree.  The girls were shocked with how deep they could go inside the tree.  I was a little less enthusiastic about this.

10.31.15: So much trick or treating

We started our afternoon downtown, where the main street was shutdown just for trick or treating at the local shops.  Turns out A LOT of adults like to trick or treat downtown too, so the candy was a little light, but still it was a wild experience.

After a quick rest after downtown, we headed to Scotts Valley to go trick or treating in a friend's neighborhood.  The neighborhood had some seriously fancy houses which seemed to correlate with some seriously large candy yields.

Overall a very successful first trick or treating experience in Santa Cruz.

10.30.15: Halloween Parade

Fiona, Daphne and Stella ready for the Halloween parade at school.  All of the kids get together on the upper field and hold a parade showing each other their costumes.  The girls had a great time, except it was really hot and Daphne and Stella were in pretty thick costumes.  Fiona was very proud to be the only Easter Egg at her school, Daphne loved being able to make animal noises all day, and Stella found a teacher dressed up as a panda too.

10.30.15: Our Special Person - Stella

Stella was the special person of the week.  This is a very exciting honor with a special activity each day.  On the final day, Stella even got to bring Daddy in as her 'special person'.  This fabulous poster was in class all week and the kids spent time getting to know Stella.  Fiona and Daphne helped to create the lifesized painting.

10.28.15: Field Trip | Pumpkin Patch

Today there was a class field trip to the local pumpkin patch with their 'Big Buddies' class (4th graders). Fiona found a snail, Stella had an easy time blending in with the other pumpkins and Daphne made sure to pick out the biggest pumpkin possible.

And then they carved the pumpkins in class!

10.25.15: Monarch Migration

Apparently every year starting in October, monarch butterflies swarm a certain natural reserve area of Santa Cruz.  Walking through nature surrounded by hundreds of butterflies is something that everyone should experience at some point - magical.

Daphne, Stella, Fiona

10.18.15: Pumpkin Patch

A beautiful day to pick pumpkins from an actual pumpkin patch (Fiona, Daphne, Stella).

and visiting some animals

Brant was thrilled when he discovered a wheelbarrow...apparently he wasn't looking forward to juggling five large pumpkins....or three small children

 Fiona

 Stella

Daphne

Our loot!

10.16.15: Popsicle Man

At a park minding our own business and a popsicle truck drives up.  This was the girls' first experience with such a truck, they weren't exactly sure what it was all about but knew they needed a popsicle - clearly we had to oblige.

Daphne, Fiona, Stella

10.16.15: Our Special Person - Fiona

Every week in class one kid is selected to be 'Our Special Person'.  While Nene was here, Fiona was selected.  This meant that Nene was able to be Fiona's special guest.  Fiona was very proud to bring her Nene.

We had to sneak in one last visit to the beach before Nene returned home.