We have had the best two days...

Yesterday was park day, the last one at the best park. The "starting time" was earlier than before, and we were running a bit late when we arrived, but we were still the first ones there. Straight to the sandbox, where the kids started playing with other kids right away for once. After a short while, Jenny and her gang showed up, which my kids were thrilled with! They stayed in the sand for a while, then wandered in and out, exploring other favorite parts of the park. I was really glad that we had a good stash of sand toys in the SUV for all the kids that wanted to dig and build. C.J. went to check out the ducks, bumming bread off another family, while C.O. played like crazy on the swings. Then C.J. called me over to the pond to "see the little fishies", which turned out to be a squirming mass of tadpoles in various stages of growth - really, really neat. Eventually we played "Duck, Duck, Goose" and C.J. also played "Red Rover" with the other homeschooling kids and parents. On the way home, both kids talked endlessly about how much fun they had, although C.O. has cried a few times over the park being torn down. Poor boy. C.J. is mainly indignant over the whole thing, which reminds me - she's got the weirdest new habit... I'll announce something, like "We're going to the park", and she repeats me, turning it into a very incredulous question "We're going to the park?" Very strange, and funny (though she does not like being laughed at, as she is "very serious").

Today, we (the elflings, my mom, my sister and I) went to a sheep-shearing event at the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park, despite the nasty rain that tried unsuccessfully to ruin our plans for the day. So there! C.O. on the way up the path to the building. Loads of prickly pears all the way along the path

For about the first hour, we just wandered around the building, looking at all the rooms, taking a million pictures. I haven't been there since the class overnight when I was in 4th grade, so it was kind of like being a kid again. Both kids looking in the giant pot, used mostly, I think, for making soap, candles, etc.

C.O. touching the mud (adobe) brick walls - before he actually touched them he was sure they weren't made of mud

C.J. checking out the ovens, part of a very cool outdoor kitchen

Then we tried carding wool, and spinning it, both of which are harder than they look when done by someone with experience, i.e. the ranger!
C.J. trying, somewhat successfully, to card wool - spinning didn't go quite as well

Finally, we watched a sheep being sheared, which none of us had ever seen before, though my mom and I have seen steers being butchered (one of the many joys of growing up on a ranch - my sister was too young at the time to watch). The man doing the shearing showed both modern (electric razor) and traditional (hand shears) methods, which, surprisingly, took about the same amount of time. We learned all kinds of odd tidbits and facts about sheep shearing, including that somewhere in Ukiah, you can take a 5-day course in sheep shearing! Now the kids are hoping to go to the Old Adobe (as I've always known it) again for more events. It was tons of fun, so I'll gladly go again.