Family Holiday Photoshoot at Mt. Laguna

We debated long and hard about whether to take family photos this year. Was this year worth immortalizing in photos? Did we want to send cards this year? Do I have the energy to plan outfits? In the end we did take photos because this year has been crap but we're all still healthy and safe and that in itself is something to celebrate. Here are a few of my faves.

Photos by Sierra Solis Photography

[Peak happiness]

Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch 2020

This year's visit to Bates Nut Farm was...different. Masks were required, hand sanitizer dispensers were scattered about and there were limited activities and food vendors onsite. It was a such a stark contrast from the year before when the farm was packed full of people, inflatable slides and vendors. To be honest, I didn't mind. I liked the toned down, quiet time we spent at the farm just checking out the pumpkins and feeding the farm animals. It was really nice for us to get out and enjoy some time together while safely social distancing from other visitors. I always enjoy watching the boys explore the pumpkin fields, testing their strength by pushing and trying to pick up the big gourds. Every time we take the boys out, we do a careful calculation of the risk and benefits of going out in public. I'm happy to report that this outing was well worth it! I hope you enjoy these photos of our annual visit to Bates. 

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Bates Nut Farm

15954 Woods Valley Road

Valley Center, CA 92802

[This entire outfit is hand me downs from his big bro]

[The boys absolutely LOVED monkeying around with the wheel barrel]

[Gosh he's growing up so fast]

[So glad I made Tuan take a solo photo. We have so few photos of just ourselves with no kids.]

[Simultaneously terrified and curious]

[Parker is famous with the goats]

 

Camp Quarantine Week 3: Space

Makers Monday

Design a space shuttle

We kicked off space week by designing space shuttles made from cereal boxes and toilet paper rolls. You gotta love the versatility of toilet paper rolls, right? I used this template from Pink Stripey Socks and the shuttles came out perfect.

Tasty Tuesday

Try astronaut ice cream

I thought it would be fun to have the kids try astronaut ice cream aka freeze dried ice cream. The verdict? It was too hard and not nearly as delicious as regular ice cream. We had a long conversation about why food needs to be modified for consumption in space and watched a bunch of astronaut Chris Hadfield's videos about living in space. 

Learn phases of the moon with Oreos

Our second Tasty Tuesday activity was learning the phases of the moon using Oreo cookies. I didn't get any good pictures but we ate soooo many cookies. Check out the directions from The Brighter Writer.

Whatever Wednesday

Create playdough aliens

I wonder at what age kids no longer think play dough is fun. It's such a versatile medium for all sorts of projects. The kids used play dough and their imaginations to create models of what they think aliens look like. This was a super simple project inspired by Rainy Day Mum.

Thinking and Thoughtful Thursday

Design your own planet

We use this free worksheet from education.com to design our own planets and then recreated our planets using perler beads. The kids had to come up with a planet name, describe how people would be able to live there and what they would do to protect the planet's environment. The real winner here was the decision to use perler beads to recreate the planets they drew. They LOVED doing it and it took such a long time. 

Fun Friday

Create a model solar system

This create your own solar system project sounded fun but turned out to be a hot mess. The paint colors didn't include brown so the kids mixed a bunch of colors together and made a huge mess, they spilled paint on the floor and the strings kept getting tangled. Perhaps this would be more successful if the kids were older? Who knows. I tossed the model after this project was done.