Beach Bum...mer (KIA)

Beach Bummer Blues....
But in a good way.

I should have spent more, I should have bought more. I should have gotten more blueberries from the Farmers Market. First of the Season Blueberries.

A Sensory treat for my pallette. Some were deliciously sweet and some were deliciously tart, but it was a surprise for my toungue. Even Ki ate some. He wants to make milkshakes with them next time.

Yesterday was grey, gloomy, overcast. and chilly. I never seem to watch the weather. I had been hoping to go to the beach. Today started out a beautiful day. Ki suggested we go to the beach today since it was nice and I didn't get to go yesterday. We went to Oso Flaco. I like is best, I think.

Due to the recent rain, the hills are such a bright green! it is lovely to drive anywhere. But I keep missing my exits.

The sand dunes are always awesome as they welcome us to the beaches!

We paid our Parking Priveledges and as I was getting out of the van, Ki closed the van door for me.... before I could snatch my bag out, with the keys. Yes, the doors were locked. Yes, we were outside of the van. Yes, my phone was in the bag, too. No, I don't even have anyone's number memorized for borrowing a cell phone. No, my husband isn't home from Ohio yet. Yes, I did have the skylight partially opened.

Ki found a stick, climbed the van, and tried to fish out my bag. Or maybe push the unlock button. The stick was too short and too flimsy.

Enter Beat-Up Orange Pick-Up. Exiting the pick-up was a young man, our To-Be Savior! He asked the Obvious; "Locked out?"

I answered to Obvious. "yes"

he asked if they inforce parking fees, he hadn't planned on coming, just decided to kill some time fishing in the lake.

I helped him with his first catch of the day:

I have NO IDEA what we would have done if he didn't come along with his last minute plans to go fishing!

After we got the van situation dealth with, Ki and I took off down the path to the beach. It takes about half an hour to actually get to the ocean.

We start with a walk down a wide path:

(I said something to Ki about his jeans.. he replies; "They Fit!" to which I say; "if your Huckleberry Finn!" the toe shoes make pants look even shorter, too)

At the end of this road there is a lake on either side. To the Righ is just a lake, it is pretty.

On the Left is a larger lake, with a board walk:

There are lots of water fowl. duscks, egrids, commorants, etc.

After the walk across the lake, we continue down the boardwalk through native plants. I always love this part of the walk, I love the colors in the native plnats. I like how they can look brown and dead and yet have a sprig of new and vibrant color.  I like the thick leaves and the feather flowers.

And there are plenty of lizards out sunning along the edges:

I got a couple pictures at the ocean... then my battery died. it was sad.

I spent the time laying on the sand with my eyes closed, listening to the roar of the ocean.  I could hear the waves crash from right to left up the shore.

DASH1

DAY 1 with our foreign exchange student from Mongolia. Slightly out of sequence.

KI, CONNOR, DASHNYAM, GAVIN - at Pismo Beach. It was Dashnyams first time to a beach. He and the other boys had a fun time wave jumping. Itt's too coold to swim and I am too fearful of sharks to want them out too far, The have fuun waavee jumping and if the waves are good enough, my boys will also body surf. I'm sure Dashnyam will get to enjoy larger waves some time whle he's here. Dashnyam slept on the way home. He slept on the way there, too. Jet Lag from a 15 hur time difference. Dinner was Lemon Pepper Chicken (crock pot) with bread & dipping sauce and asparagus. The asparagus had a delightful glaze of Balsamic Vinegar with a touch of soy sauce and brown sugar.

Connor & Gavin decided to make Spaghhetti Sauce Yesterday and had Dashnyam help. But Connor used too much much oregano. I told him tooo much, because I wasn't paying attention and forgot he also was using some Italian Seasoning. Dashnyam would have been better off eating the ham sandwich he packed for hiss lunch. He ended up only doing a placement test at school yesterday so he was home by noon and just ate lunch with us.

Dashnyam's family own a restaurant in Mongolia. I look forward to a Mongolian meal!

Below is Dashnyam on his first day at the high school, but iit was just testing, so not a full, real day.

And here are some pictures from the beach ....

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Yesterday, aftr the beach and while I was working on dinner, Gavin and Dashnyam went for a walk in the neighborhood. After dinner, they played on Xbox. I made banana bread. Dashnyam liked that a lot! with 6 of us eating, I need to make a double batch of banana bread next time! And I'lll have Dashnyam help. He says he likes cooking.

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This morning Dashnyam slept in till 9. He didn't have school in the morning. Gavin helped me hang a load of laundry ut to dry while Ki started making pancakes. Connor made the pork bacon and Gavin made a batch of turkey bacon (for Ki). Dashnyam set the table and made scrambled eggs. I supervised and started a load of laundry.

Laundry is Ki's morning job, but during the school year he has a deal where he makes breakfast a couple days a week instead of doing laundry. This school year he is doing breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While we ate breakfast, I read the first section in our Story of the World book to the boys. after a few weeks I'll have to ask Dashnyam how much he understands from my reading. Or maybe just have him take a quiz with the other boys.

Matriculation Monday

ma·tric·u·late

tr. & intr.v. ma·tric·u·lat·ed, ma·tric·u·lat·ing, ma·tric·u·lates

To admit or be admitted into a group, especially a college or university.

Monday (pron. IPA: /ˈmʌndeɪ, ˈmʌndi/) is the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday. Origins of the name The name of the day's origins revolve mostly around the moon, which in turn gets its name from Mani (Old English Mona), the Germanic moon god. Similarly, the names in Latin-based languages such as the Italianname (Lunedì), the French name (lundi), the Spanish name (lunes), and the Romanian name (Luni) come from the Latin name for moon, luna. The Russian word, eschewing pagan names, is понедельник (poniediélnik), meaning "after Sunday." In most of the Indian Languages, the word for Monday is Somvar, with Soma being the Sanskrit name for the moon. The Japanese word for Monday is getsuyōbi (月曜日) which means day of the moon.

Bright and early Monday Morning, I will accompany Gavin at AHC while he enrolls in an art class. Then I will drive him across the (very small) campus to the Testing Building where he will take his College Placement Test......yes, for a art class.

I had Gavin read up on the START test. Turns out, you can fail, get a Big Fat 0 and they still admit you. The test is just to help them give you placement advise. I'm assuming you don't need a high score in math and English for an art class.

I think math should be capitalized. English is capitalized; math should get the same respect.

I think after G & finish his ACH enrollment & testing, we should all 4 go to the beach with boffer swords. I'll check Gudalupe's weather forecast for tomorrow. If it's too chilly we'll go to Oso Flaco.Maybe the whale carcass will still be there.

Gavin is leaving on a jet plane Tuesday morning. He is visiting grandparents in Omaha, Nebraska. His aunt, uncle, and some of his cousins live there, too.

Tuesday I will drive K up to SLO for one of his Volunteer Cooking Class Helper gigs.

I think by Tuesday or Wednesday I might be ready to start compiling ideas and plans for school.

Beach, Wind, & Sand

BEACH TRIP!! Halfway to the beach my cell phone rings. Ki answers it, has a somewhat confused look & says; "Dishwasher???"

-- OOPS! I forgot the dishwasher repair guy was coming this morning. He's at the door knocking, apparently. I tell Ki to tell him to just go ahead and go in and fix it. Ki tells the man; "We're not home. You can just go on and fix it anyway."

:pause:

Ki= "Sometimes you have to wiggle it" (the door) "bye"

*** does that make me a bad renter? ***

The beach was sunny and warm! We met our friends and laid out all the beach paraphernalia. Warm Sun. A light Breeze. Beach. Water. Dead Crabs and crab parts.

15 minutes or so later......

No More Sun.

Lots of cold Wind.

More Dead Crabs.

A guy is walking on the beach with his daughter. The other moms there recognize them from the charter school (My boys & I are the rebels. the only homeschoolers in our group not going to the charter school).

He asks is his daughter can play with the girls in our group (the little girls seem to recognize each other and were playing together). We said "Of Course" and invited him to come join us if he wanted.(we had a bit of a lean-to [to block wind] and cupcakes [to eat]).

He said no thanks, and something about how he's not a single dad so doesn't really fit in with us.

he did not recognize us (well, them. not me)

We all found that to be an odd statement and each had our own theory as to why he'd introduce himself as a non-single dad. This became out topic of conversation for a bit and when he came back, Theresa asked him why he introduced himself like that... if he thought we looked desperate or something....

*** *** *** *** ***

my dishwasher will never work. (well, the dishwasher in this house that we rent, to the House Owners Dishwasher)

Unless we spring for a water softener. I doubt this will happen. I guess I need to wash dishes more often.