It's Still the Del Mar Fair to me

Yesterday at the fair I experimented with a new parenting technique called, "Let them eat whatever they want." Between them, they ate: a Tower of caramel apples and whipped cream, a pizza on a stick, shaved ice, polish sausage, and deep fried oreos. In between pushing the bounds of gastronomic good sense we played games and watched the pig races, and just generally moseyed around. Now if we get to the beach this week, summer will have officially begun.

I'm back

Blogging seems to be a summer thing. I'm sitting here, drinking a cup of tea, no report cards to write, no articles to read, caught up with my housework (more or less) and ready to rejoin my blogging community.
So, summer plans... this is my summer of creativity. I'm going to sew, try to learn to play the guitar, and Go To Mexico for an art class with Candace Lopez: http://www.sdccinsanmiguel.com/ . In the meantime, I'm up for getting in touch with neglected friends, going to the beach, and lots of reading what I want to read (starting with The Kite Runner).

Speaking of creativity, I'll close with a photo of the painting Molly made for my Mom for Mother's day - it's about 2" by 3". Someday I hope to have the talent of my daughter.

How I spent my summer vacation

During the school year, I'm thrilled if I have a clean table cloth on the dining table. Now that I find I have leisure again, I'm drawn to more creative domesticity. I have been buying one bunch of various flowers and breaking it into mini bouquets & arranging them around my house. This activity feels a million miles from research papers and practicum reflections.





Susan & Martin gave me this orchid and Molly painted the leopard in the background.

My mother gave me this incense burner - one of my prized possessions.

My favorite room. Lots of light.



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Well, I could apoligize for how long it's been since I posted, but since I notice that many of my friends have been off and on during the summer, let's just say I'm part of a trend.

First, our trip to Maryland, to see my parents and the sights.

Photo one: John in the creek behind my folks house. They don't live in the country, just a middle class suburb (Silver Spring). This reminds me that San Diego is a desert, after all.

Photo two: We pay a call on our nation's leader. The lights were on, but nobody was home.

Photo three: Molly, John and Bill had a vip tour of NASA's Goddard Space Center, courtesy of a dear friend of CJs. They saw many wonderous things and talked to space engineers, scientists, and astronauts.

Photo four: Another hightlight was a visit to the National Air and Space Museum. We are without a doubt, a family of geeks.

Okay - This link should take you to my album page which contains all the photos I've uploaded for this blog - including the Northern Arizona ones. Let me know how it works.
http://picasaweb.google.com/rileydoggirl/TheLifeAndTimesOfMorganFamily?authkey=h03rPCj0dF4

Kinder families in the wild

Emmett on the rocks


What we did: ate, talked, laughed, and ate some more. Oh, yeah- we went hiking too.

Our second toad

Claire with a dragonfly nymph (how do you rotate this, Emil?)

The lake

Intrepid rock climbers. Note camp mascot, Snowy.

This trip was an unequivocal success. We had all the essential elements: great food, delightful weather, camp fire singing, fantastic friends of all ages, and a little nature magic: toads, bats, an owl, hawk feathers, and perfect rocks for climbing. I have to say my favorite aspect of the trip was the opportunity for conversations with all my friends, large and small. Let's do it again!

Back To Nature

Joey and her worm friend

My darlings in the organic garden at Stein Farm in National City

Toad House Near Classrooms in Sacramento

Flow waterfall - created by students at the college

Outdoor parent lounge - in my mind anyway.

I believe that life gives us a theme sometimes and lets us explore it. Recently, that theme for me has been the sense of wonder and oneness to be found in contact with the natural world. The inspriation for this (as for much else) comes from my kinders. Together we share amazement at finch eggs, earth worms, flowers, cloud shapes, and rain storms. A couple of weeks ago, we also grooved on sea stars, octopi, shark eggs, and cuttle fish. And, with my parent-friends Amy and Lauri, I am seeking inspriation for nature-enhancement of our new school site. The images above are from the Waldorf School of Sacramento - my model for the idea child's environment - and from our field trip to Stein Farm (http://nsd.us/community/poi/steinfamfarm.php). But just wait - in five years, people are going to be travelling to Linda Vista to get inspiration for their gardens.