Spring Break on the Northcoast of CA

It seems like everybody knows who Flat Stanley is by now, and when a cousin from Illinois had her daughter send him to visit me, I ended up talking to people everywhere I took him out to take pictures. It was really fun to have him visit, and we went to this old relic of a drive-in theater. Double fun.

Especially delighted this year because the word last year was that every theater that couldn't afford nearly &100,000 to convert to digital, wouldn't have any movies to show after December of 2013. Luckily only Paramount actually quit producing film reels so we don't get their movies now, but we still get some great ones.

The other day, I was sitting reading, and we do live in Earthquake territory so when the house shook, I barely looked up from my book, but later that morning realized one of our huge old redwood snags had fallen just outside my kitchen window.

and the cats quickly scrambled up to sniff out the nests where squirrels and woodpeckers had been able to avoid them before. I trust that they got away because no little gifts ended up in my entryway.

Spring break time in my yard would make Barbie happy, as pink explodes into abundant glory everywhere.  Love the apple blossoms that open white but start bright pink

and the rhododendron

 and the cherry trees my husband is mowing around in this picture

 Right before spring break we had a huge egg hunt at our preschool through 5th grade school

 down at our harbor things have been calm and warm and I hope it lasts into next week

 and this ship has been ashore for a few decades now

 I got to dogsit my son's blind, three year old love of a dog

 and wander around taking pictures while walking the dog

 Then we got to babysit the girl we have adopted as a granddaughter and listen to her tell us a million stories about her life while we draw and color and cook and play.  She has the idea that she is beautiful, smart, and artistic, and I happen to agree.

 I love spring break but I'm also looking forward to moving on into the rest of this year. I get to take my class on a tall ship ride next week and in a month my first blood granddaughter will be born.  Life here is filled with a quiet kind of joy.  I think it may be noisier soon.