Day2: Russian Gulch State Park

With the weather not so great this morning we decided to go on a hike at Russian Gulch State Park. The 1.5 mile hike loop ends at a waterfall. We thought it would be cooler and much nicer to hike in the dreary weather than in sunny weather. We packed our a lunch and started the hike off in great spirits. As we walked we used some guidebooks of the North Coast to find the names of the different trees and plants we saw along the way. We sang and played little games as we walked.
About halfway we stopped to eat lunch. This really energized us and the girls. It never really rained on us just misted a little here and there. As we walked we saw more and more Giant Redwoods, along with the plants and animals that go with that environment. Right before we came to the split in the trail where you could go up to the falls or all the way around that would take another 1.5 miles Autumn was done. She refused to move any more. She wanted to go back and rest. Grandma volunteered to walk her all the way back to the truck and wait for us to come back. Not long after they left and we strted the climb up to the falls we were there in no time. The waterfall was big and full of water. The girls loved it and we rested and took some pictures at the falls. It was a great experience we just feel bad that grandma and Autumn were so close and missed it. Oh Well! Maybe next time!

Day1: Camping at Manchester Beach

The girls have two weeks off this month, so we decided to go up to Manchester Beach for about a week. We brought Noah's mom with us and decided we would camp for a few days. We arrived yesterday evening and got all settled in. Today we did a lot of fun things. First off Autumn was bound and determined to find a leprechaun. So she went on a leprechaun hunt to try and catch one. After we were ready we headed to Point Arena Light House. The girls love going here because they get to climb to the top. The views are amazing at the top. We even saw some humpback whales off shore. After this we headed to our favorite pizza place only to find it closed for lunch. We would have to come back for dinner. So we grabbed something else and headed to one of our favorite beaches Schooner Gulch. The beach is much different in the spring than in the fall so it took some time to get used to the difference. There seemed to be less sand and the stream flowing into the water was much wider and deeper. We still had a great time playing and exploring the beach.We found a bunch of teeny tiny red crabs all over the rocks and seaweed. They were about the size of a ladybug. The girls had a blast watching them. After our great beach day we made it back to the pier for that yummy warm pizza and a scoop of ice cream after dinner.

Catching a Leprechaun

Autumn had a homework assignment to make a leprechaun trap for school. They had to come up with a trap that would catch the sneaky leprechaun. Autumn had a great idea for her trap. She wanted to have gold coins, a trap at the top covered in grass, rocks painted gold, signs with a ladder to climb up and a rainbow to get the leprechauns attention. her dad and I helped her create this. She was really excited about it. I think we will be able to catch a leprechaun for sure this year.

Beach Cupcakes

For the Relief Society Birthday dinner they had women sign up for one of the 12 months of the year and either bring a cake representing the month or a centerpiece. I decided to make cupcakes for July. I found this idea on the family fun website. They came out so cute and were really easy.

Spring is in the Air

The rain has stopped for a few days now and the sun has finally come out. With all the sunlight the plants have started to flower. It is starting to feel a little like spring or at least a preview of what spring will be like. We decided to take a walk and have the kids ride their bikes around the neighborhood. As we walked I took some pictures of what we saw along the way. After our walk we stopped at the park by our house and let the girls play. We had a great afternoon, to bad it is going to rain again tomorrow.