The Great American Road Trip: Day 3

Hotel Sutter had a very nice in-room coffee maker, so I enjoyed my coffee with this lovely view on Monday morning.

We packed up and drove about an hour to our next stop, the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. 

This was the site of the first BIG gold find, the one that started the Gold Rush at Sutter's Mill.

(Any proper SClaritan knows that the FIRST discovery of gold in California was at our Oak of the Golden Dream in Placerita Canyon.)

The state historic park is a sprawling site with many things to see, including various types of mining contraption.

We spent some time in the gift store, where Stace got silly with the old telephone.

We bought a gold pan, and headed down to the American River, the site of the first gold discovery yards away from Sutter's Mill.

Violet missed out on the amazing Gold Rush projects her school does in fourth grade, when Covid sent all the kids home from school. We were happy to give Vi a real taste of the Gold Rush. 

Sure enough, 170-some years later, there is still gold specks everywhere - the riverbed looks like God shook a glitter container. We all had a good time cooling our feet on a very hot day, while finding sparkling flakes.

It was quite a moment - panning for gold in THE spot that changed California history forever.

Here's the replica saw mill. The mill never became successful - all the potential workers only wanted to dig for gold.
 

We then got on the road, driving through pretty Placerville, getting a late lunch in Folsom, and then making a quick stop in Sacramento to see the beautiful Capitol building. 

We ended up at Lake Shasta, where we stayed at a hotel close to the docks that specializes in renting houseboats. 

We settled in and Stace and I picked up a pizza from town. Then, we drove with it to another section of the lake that we were told would be better for swimming. Cora got ready in a swimsuit. And on the drive there, the skies opened up, with lightning to boot.

So, we had our pizza in the car in a parking lot near a finger of the lake. Pretty amusing.

The storm stopped, and we drove back to the overlook not far from our hotel for a few more sunset pics. 

Fizzling End to Fourth Grade

Oh, how I wish Violet had enjoyed a normal school year with this fabulous teacher!

The last official day of school was to be Friday, but the last day of work and final all-class online meeting was the prior Friday.

On Tuesday, we drove through the school to retrieve Violet's things, which had been collected and bagged up. We also dropped off the class gift for Mrs. Zamperin, which included gift cards and the t-shirt she's wearing here.

On Wednesday morning, Vi and I went back to the school to say good bye, and it was nice to see that the shirt fit!

Written in the style of the TV show Friends, it says "Teacher 2020 The One where we QUARANTEACH."

Also in the gift were gift cards and this awesome card, that Christina designed and printed.

It was great being a room mom this year, sharing the duties again with Sandy.

Here's Violet saying goodbye to her class during the final online meeting.
Ugh! No Gold Rush Day, no miner project, no GATE Musical, no year-end party in the park with water play. So many missed moments!

But, at least Seb was happy to be along for the final meeting.

Week in Review

 Monday was May 4th, and May the Fourth is officially Star Wars Day, as in, "May the Force be with you." We all wore our Star Wars shirts, and started rewatching the TV series Mandalorian. I took the photo of Violet for her school, because they were having an online Spirit Day.

 Violet presented her California project to her reading group, via an online Google meeting.

 We got a great deal from the Newhall Refinery for Tuesday, which was Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, a big holiday in Mexico celebrating a military victory over French. We got all these food - tacos, chips, guac and salsa, rice and beans, and a cake - and basically 3-4 margaritas for $50. Yum! And enough for two meals.

 Schooling at home means sometimes, your sister is your math tutor. Violet had some long division with big numbers, and she has learned different ways to solve the problems than I learned. But Cora could figure out how to help her, thankfully.

On Friday evening, we took a scooter/walk to Granary for ice cream at the Habit. And who rode up on their bikes, but our friends Sue, Pauly and Sophia. Always nice to catch up with friends, especially nice these days.

Week in Review

A neighbor gave us a bag of lemons, and among other uses, Stace and Violet made little tarts. They were so tasty!

While we had our backyard camp set up, Stace and Cora did some singing and playing. Their rendition of The Cave by Mumford and Sons got dozens of encouraging compliments when I shared it with my Facebook friends.

I've got a puzzle of cats to complete, and a cat who wanted to help.

My friend Lara, Violet's mom, is finishing her teaching credential and wants to specialize in junior high P.E. She was student teaching at Cora's school when school went online for the year.

Lara set up an awesome fitness course using chalk on the front entry to Placerita. We decided to challenge ourselves with it...meaning I forced the girls to take a bike ride to the school so we could try it out.

It was a great little workout, and made me think I should get back to doing some core training.

We had steak Friday night! A rarity for us... but when Vallarta has a two-day sale on T-bones for $3 a pound, how could we not? (These two fed the four of us, and the leftovers stretched into a taco meal.)

Violet chose to learn about the cougar for her fourth-grade California project. She presented her little guys to her reading group online this week.

Having the tent out for two days wasn't so good for the grass! Yikes!

TEN!!!

Our Violet Mae has hit the double digits!

Of course it's incredible to think a whole decade has passed since our sweet, artistic, dragon-loving affectionate girl entered the world. We're well into a new phase of family life, with a teenager and the "baby" turning 10.

Ten, being such a milestone, was supposed to bring with it a party with friends and long-awaited visit from Nan and Pop. But, the coronavirus lockdown nixed those plans.

Violet was a bit sad heading up to her birthday, but we made the best of it, allowing her to plan some fun things, and surprising her with some other treats. One plan - she asked for a pineapple-upside down cake, something my grandma used to make, and it turned out beautifully.

She also asked for crepes for breakfast, Stacey's specialty, and since he was working from home, he was happy to oblige. We also spent two nights sleeping in the tent in the back yard.

After breakfast, we video-chatted with Nan and Pop and Dean and Jen, and Vi opened her gifts and cards. Here, she's opening her silly presents from her sister.

But then came the good gift! Violet had just one wish, a drawing tablet. The whole family went in on it, and she was absolutely thrilled. Here, she's showing it to our family in the UK.

Then, Vi went in to take part in a video chat with her class, and everyone sang her "Happy Birthday." I'm so glad she had that moment, because it was one of the things she had been sad about missing out on.

The birthday girl gets to choose meals all day long - we enjoyed Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and homemade orange chicken for dinner.

In and around doing school work, Cora and Violet had a silly string battle in the back yard, using one of Cora's gifts to Vi.

And then - surprise! Vi's best school friend Victoria stopped by with a card and gift. Vic gave Violet a special necklace, and has a similar one for herself, so it's kind of like a friendship necklace.

And, surprise! Liana and Colleen also stopped over, with a gift and home-baked goods. It's so good to see our friends! We will appreciate that so much more when this corona storm has passed by.

Chocolate cranberry bars and lemon scones - hope Violet will share! They were absolutely delicious. Liana is taking after her mom with baking talent!

Then, just before dinner, we jumped back online for a group birthday song via Zoom. This was such a fun way to include our loved ones who don't live close enough to come to a party anyway; maybe we can retain this Coronavirus trend in years to come.

Violet loved all her cards - Alli's included a confetti bomb!

S'mores before bed and a night in the tent - despite the worldwide pandemic, it was a good birthday for Violet!

Baking in our New Life

Our lives have dramatically changed in just a few days - from Disneyland and flying to Arizona, to school being cancelled and getting together with friends, frowned upon.

The girls have school work to complete, and they are self-motivated, so the homeschooling part of our world is pretty simple for me.

I'm missing seeing my own friends, taking walks with them, and having alone time in the house. But we're all good, and it's for the good of us all, to lessen the spread of coronavirus.

We've been cooking and baking more - here, Cora is making pumpkin muffins, using the pumpkin we've had since the fall. 

 Violet made our latest batch of oatmeal cake pretty much on her own.

We've watched lots of Horrible Histories, the British show that's as entertaining as it is educational. 

Working from home, fourth-grade-style.