It's the perfect time of the year for our In the Orchard school theme with Mother Goose Time! We have been learning about how a seed grows into a giant tree! We talked about the tree's bark, the rings inside of a tree, branches, leaves and how some trees even grow fruit! This week we learned about many different fruits that grow on a tree AND we got to take a family day field trip to a local orchard and pumpkin patch! L-Bug was very excited to go pumpkin picking :) It was a nice way to spend the day as a family AND do some learning that tied into our theme! There were so many fun things to do it was hard to decide where to start... but L-Bug heard lots of laughter and she wanted to know where all the kids were and what they were doing! So we turned the corner and found a huge blown up jumping pillow! Kids were flying all over the place and L-Bug was quick to join in. She had daddy on there with her because otherwise she was bouncing all over! Next we had some fun in the animal garden and butterfly house! We saw a turkey so big that L-Bug asked if she could ride him.... :) L-Bug found so many fun games to play! Here she is pumping water to race her rubber ducky! I think the hill slide ride was her favorite of the day! There were carnival style basketball games, a corn maze and corn cannon launcher, and so much more to do! After we had some fun playing games we hopped on our hay ride and took a tour through the orchard farm. L-Bug was excited to see all of the fruit trees! They had apples, pears, avocados and giant cross bread orange trees! There were also blue berries, strawberries and Murry berries! Then we arrived at the pumpkin patch and got to get out and go find the perfect pumpkin :) L-Bug and I talked about the stem, leaves and pumpkin and then we discussed what might be inside the pumpkin! We will find more out about that when we do our school lesson next week. After we found our pumpkin we finished our hay ride tour and then we headed home! It was a good day filled with lots of fun & learning!
0 Comments
There is so much to see in our world and until this trip I didn't really think about all that there was to see right in OUR own country. I lived in California for 8 years before I moved with my husband to his first duty station and I never really experience traveling much of California. Maybe living in Europe opened my mind to seeing the beauty of a place, maybe it's because I'm a few years wiser.... maybe I really did get bitten ;) Whatever the reason I'm excited to be back in California and I'm ready to explore this place we now call home again! For Labor Day weekend we headed down to the airport and picked up a friend at LAX. The plan: relax, enjoy the beach, go on a hike and show our Texan friend some of the West Coast. I admit... I wasn't too suped up about this trip. The beach has never been my favorite place to go and well in my spoiled mind... "It's no Europe". But just the drive down I could feel the excitement of an adventure starting to change my mind. Honestly, I'm shocked. I never took the time during my eight years growing up California to really experience or appreciate it's beauty! What a gorgeous state I get to live in! The drive along the coast to get to Ventura was BEAUTIFUL and I can't believe how fun downtown has been! The night we arrived there was an old car show going on (the boys loved that). We ate at a Dargan's Irish Pub the first night and it was my favorite of the four restaurants we went to. If you like french onion soup definitely try the Guinness French Onion soup they have! The first day we spent a little time at the beach and L-Bug had a blast making sand castles! "Body Surfing" with Daddy! Swinging on the playground by the pier. Our second day we took a little drive to get to the Point Magu hiking trail. I'm the first to admit that I'm a total PAIN while doing hikes, but I LOVE the views from the top and the feeling of accomplishment that comes when you look behind you and see how far you've climbed! The Cinque Terre trails in Italy were probably some of the hardest hiking trails I've ever done, but they were also my favorite by far! Even L-Bug was excited to get out of the Deuter (hiking carry pack) and do some hiking! The views from the top were BEAUTIFUL! Our last full day there was relaxing at the pool and another walk to the beach. L-Bug LOVED the sand. It was a fun and relaxing weekend! I can't wait for our next trip I think Lukas and I will have to find some local places to go hiking and see what amazing views we can find!
Well we've done it again! Of course the Alvarez family is all about ROAD TRIPS! So when my in-laws planned to come out to stay with us in Italy for Christmas 2014 & New Years 2015 we HAD to plan a road trip. This was by far our BIGGEST YET! 7 day trip to 10 countries, 1910miles and 41hrs 20mins in the car! I I loved all of the amazing sites and experiences. We started off by going to Plitvice Nation Park in Croatia. This was my second trip to the park, but MIL loves waterfalls so we had to make this our first stop so she could see these beauties! I have to admit it was 10X prettier with all the snow <3 A few tips about Plitvice, your entrance ticket includes the tram that takes you from one "level" to the next and the ferries. There is one ferry that will take you all the way across the lake and there is another that takes you to the paths for the "upper falls". The upper falls are actually closed during the snow part of the year though so that ferry wasn't running when we were there. Here is the fairy that came to take us across the lake! Because of the snow and rain the lower paths were a little muddy so there were these wooden slat levels for us to walk on to stay out of the mud. It was nice because getting through some of these trails would have been REALLY difficult! In some places the water was actually rushing over the path (like on these stairs) so there were rocks to step along! We stayed in a small hotel in Zagreb, Croatia. Then the next day we got back on the road and we took a quick drive into Bosnia since it was only 30 minutes to the boarder! We stopped for some coffee before getting back on the road and heading up to Budapest, Hungary. We stayed in a small AirBNB apartment rental for two days. We did a hop on hop off bus tour and we finished off stay in Budapest with a Christmas Market ♥ Honestly the hop on hop off bus tour was a bust to me. Usually I LOVE doing these, but it was just too cold during this time of the year. Below deck you don't really get those beautiful views (and it was over packed) and above deck we were FREEZING cold and couldn't even stand to stay on the entire ride. Luckily Lukas was able to get a few good pictures but L-Bug and I were too bundled up for me to even get a hold of the camera.
We drove from there through Slovakia and into Poland. The drive was QUITE the experience.... first a main highway was closed so we took some INSANE back roads with cars being towed by tractors and vans that had such bad smog our whole car smelled like an exhaust pipe. Of course that couldn't be all.... we had to stop on the free way for a minute to grab something out of the back, well the hatch has an automatic shut, but it hadn't closed all the way when Lukas decided to take off... yeah ALL of our luggage went flying out of the back! Luckily we got it all picked up and back in the car. But my camera lens took a hit :( Once we arrive in Osweisim we stayed two nights. We went on a humbling experience through the Auschwitz concentration camps. The Gate of Death. This is the gate where the concentration camp prisoners were brought through on a the train when being brought to the camp. No history lesson or book that I've ever read could have prepared me for this part of our trip. Being at this concentration camp and walking through these rooms was so humbling. Seeing this place and reading all of the tough details about what happened there really makes you sit back and think about how blessed you are and makes you thank God for your family and the freedoms you have. Arbeit Nacht Frei "Work Will Set You Free" From Poland we drove to Prague, Czech to spend New Years! There was a beautiful Christmas market set up in the main square. We went on a river boat cruise with a buffet!! We got to watch the fireworks from the boat. They were launching them literally 20 feet away on the shore! The next day we saw a little more of the city and then headed home that evening. We drove through Germany and Austria to get back to Italy. This was probably one of the prettiest sights we got to see in Prague! The beautifully decorated Christmas Tree in front of the huge Cathedral it made the whole feeling of the Christmas market even more magical :) Our New Years River Boat Cruise! L-Bug didn't quite make it to midnight but our dinner seats were perfect because I was able to lay her down in the booth and she slept the rest of the night away! Our trip was busy and fast paced, not much time for true sight seeing, but it was a nice way to see a few countries and experience the Holiday feel in each of them!
This is the newest page to my blog, but my posts aren't ready yet! Please be patient some great reading is coming soon!
|
{Wanderlust}wan·der·lustˈ Categories
All
Life is full of adventures!
You can be the kind of person who sits back and watches as other people experience the things you "only wish you could do" or you can be the kind if person who chases those adventures down and experiences them to the fullest. {You can make excuses or you can create memories} How you live your life is up to you. Life's full of adventures, it's about making them and experiencing them! Archives |
Everyday 365 Life
Oh To See The World....
Some might say I've been "bitten by the travel bug"... but ever since our move to Europe it's like I just can't get enough. It's a thrill to plan your next adventure and then GO! I can't stop thinking about "where to next". There have even been a few times where my husband has looked at me and said slow down, enjoy the adventure your ON before you start planning the next one! I've realized now that I have been beyond blessed! I have an incredible husband who has taken me to see so many wonders of our world. Thanks to him I have been given an opportunity to realize the love of travel. I've been to 22 beautiful countries and have made incredible memories with family and friends on our travels! I'm excited to share my experiences and tips with you, enjoy your adventure!