Letters f and g

James figured out a good way to have our pictures sink between our computer as well as with our backups.  This means that I may be able to upload pictures without messing with his system on his computer.  I may be more motivated to capture our preschool activities and post so I can remember them, since it will be easier for me to upload rather than waiting for James to do it.

Anyway, all that aside, here are just a few pictures of some preschool activities for the past two weeks:

 For one of our letter 'f' days we talked about fish.  We made felt fish, which the kids could change the patterns on the fish for what they wanted them to look like.

We read some of our favorite fish books.  "Ten Little Fish" by Audrey Wood and "Hooray for Fish" by Lucy Cousins 

And we ate tuna-cheese melts shaped like fish.

To complete our letter 'g' week, we read 'Gingerbread Friends" by Jan Brett, and "The Gingerbread Man" by Eric Kimmel

Jan Brett's book has a recipe for gingerbread in the book.  We followed along the recipe as we re-read the book.  It happened to be the best gingerbread I've ever tasted.  Brielle thought her gingerbread man would be able to get up and run away so we could chase it.  It didn't this time.  

Inland Empire

While most of the California Finlay's were in Ireland celebrating James' grandparents 60th wedding anniversary, we went to stay with some cousins in Highland (their parent's were on the trip).  I had 3 extra kids for 12 days.  We had a lot of fun together during the weekends and at night when they were not in school.  During the days I took my kids to explore a new environment.
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The first weekend we went out the the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and Beach.  Brielle was scared to climb but wanted to be with Nicholas and John.  They were so good to help and play with the kids all week.

The Nature Center

My sister Cori and her husband Jared came out for a visit as well.  We went with them to the Bracken Bird Farm, there were so many beautiful kinds of birds there, but also a lot of different animals.

We also went with them to the San Bernardino Asistencia.  Brielle was interested in grinding her own flour.  I'm hoping I can find a mortal and pestle to have at home and keep her busy as long as she was there!

 We met up with Aunt Megan and cousins Gavin and Elise at the Chino Youth Museum.  The kids loved that everything was their size so they could pretend play.

Brielle was so proud of the fact that she could do these monkey bars all by herself!

 It was a HOT week, so the kids did what they could to beat the heat.  The sprinklers coming on were a big attraction.

 As were the dogs water dishes.  Talk about a teeny tiny kid pool!  Ethan loved climbing in them.

Digging for fossils at the San Bernardino County Museum

This polar bear is HUGE!

And so is the tree this slab came from.

We went to the local library that had an amazing story time as well as an entire wall of live animals to explore.  We also went to the local parks every night for walks and to picnic, we went to the nature center and took all the kids swimming during the weekend.  We also had time to play games and hangout together.

Road Trip!

Last week the kids and I joined some of James' family for a Finlay Road trip party to the San Francisco Bay area. James had to stay home and work.

We stayed at a hostel in the Marin Headlands National Park located just across the bridge from the city. It was amazing at how quiet and empty the area was compared to the city life that was not far away. The building you see behind the kids is the hostel. It was built originally to be World War 2 officer housing. With the fog and older building we felt like we were in a ghost town.

The big kids were SO excited to be able to sleep on the top bunks at the hostel. We had the two moms and four kids all sharing a room, but we did surprisingly enough get some sleep.

These are our road trip companions. The cousins got along really well on the 7 hour drive each direction. Of course after adding planned potty stops, emergency side-of-the road potty stops and wiggle breaks the 7 hours took much longer, but we made it.

The whole traveling crew

We took a short hike to see the lighthouse at Point Reyes. We'll have to go back again though because it was closed the day we went so we couldn't tour the inside. Ethan was trying hard to tear down the fence so we could walk the 300+ steps down to the lighthouse, but he wasn't quite strong enough.

The visitors center museum had some fantastic hands-on exhibits for the kids. (well I admit, the hands-on stuff is still fun for me too)

This great climbing tree had a perfect hole in the center that acted as a play pen to keep the kids contained for a few minutes.

We stopped at the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento where our cousin Erin works. The kids were very impressed with the dragon.

We taste tested the icecream at Ghirardelli and here at Fentons Icecream Parlor in Vacaville to see which was better. Ethan was hoping he didn't have to share.

Outside Fentons is a great play area for the kids. Ethan loved pretending to drive. Brielle was old enough to realize that the cars moved for other kids (who's parents put the money in) but not for us. I just told her we were spending our money on the ice cream instead. She was fine with that idea.

We went on some beautiful hiking trails.

And we all had a whole lot of fun!

Boat Trip

Yesterday we went on a boat tour off shore from San Pedro, CA.  It was on one of the water Sanitation District's research boats.  They periodically take measurements of the effects of having treated water released into the ocean in this area.  It was a great chance to take the kids for a boat ride and let them play with all sorts of sea life.

The kids and Megan enjoyed a light breakfast on the bow of the boat before taking off.  Brielle really liked her pink donut.  She liked it so much to vomited it up a hour later after getting sea sick :)

Perhaps the reason for the rough ride at sea?

Ethan was the only person on the boat who did not get the least bit sick.  While bouncing up and down in the waves he spun circles, almost mocking us as we tried to hold down our breakfast.

Megan lost the battle.  Here is Ethan looking on as Megan feeds the fish.  Both Megan and Brielle lost it while James and Ethan held strong.

Here is the net full of creatures that were picked up.  The net was dragged along the bottom a few hundred feet down.

Brielle was very interested in the days catch.  The fish were floating because their swim bladders expanded as they went up in the water.

Hmmmm, a sea cucumber.  

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to throw all the fish and other creatures to the seagulls.  Brielle is about to toss a Lizard fish.

Here is the whole gang after the ride.  We had a great time.  Thanks to grandma for getting us on the boat!