End of Winter and Spring adventures

Time is really flying: winter quickly gave way to spring, and now the signs of a hot summer of 2011 are visible. And, as it turns out i was too busy to record any of our happenings in February and March, and almost missed April. But that is probably a good sign - we were busy experiencing life, enjoying each other, learning, growing individually and together as a family.
Among the latest family accomplishments i would list:
0) S goes to pre-school, 3 full days per week. Never a single cow on the subject -- amazing!!!! I think my father was the one who was surprised the most by that. Sari comes home with the ABC song re-mixed with "Twinkle, twinkle". And suddenly we are compelled to count from 80, including Carlos' favorite numbers as "eight-eleven". At home glued-on letters are decorating the fridge.

1) Our first trip to Channel Islands was great, although the next trip has to include camping overnight on the island. The scenery was beautiful,

and the time spent was both relaxing and invigorating. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we had to run the trail on the way back in order not to miss the only departure of the ferry.

2) Trip to Santa Barbara to celebrate our California Feb 10 anniversary was a smashing success. We enjoyed the time to be the love birds that we are, walking around town and checking out the local "cool stuff",

relaxing, dining out, and getting frisky in the Botanical Gardens. The whole trip was a model of love and harmony! The best dining experience was at a fancy sushi restaurant, where we got to sit outside, on the main street, watching the move festival "pretty people". And, after the botanical gardens we had time to visit a historical church, which rounded our trip into a sightseeing gateway.

3) Great success was achieved by C on the ski slopes, as he conquered some intermediate and difficult slopes at Big Bear. I am so impressed by how fast he learned to ski so well!!! We had a Sunday of all day skiing, and a beautiful show of clouds cuddling the mountains on the way back.

3) C and I finally went for the weekend to Joshua Tree and enjoyed some nice hiking and even nicer photography opportunities, with two tortoises and a very large lizard, not to mention the scenery and cacti. The Lost Horse Trail turned out to be much longer than i expected and included a variety of different types of scenery, much different from the Oasis trail. I think next time we will explore the other ones that we have missed this time, although we may have to wait another year if we want to see the blooming desert flowers again. Time and time again i confirm to myself that being away in Nature gives me the type of rest and enjoyment that no most fascinating city activity could ever provide.

4) With documents in our bags, we were finally at liberty to take a trip to San Diego, which we did via Amtrak, a wonderful train ride it was, and oh, so relaxing!!! In San Diego we visited Sea World and San Diego Zoo, and got a chance to check out the rest of the city. The most enjoyable part was just to be spending time with C, away from the daily grind.

5) S had her first boat ride on a whale watching tour, and we happen to run across a large herd of dolphins, following the boat, playing, and jumping, -- the site so unique, i have never imagined it!

The kid liked the boat ride very much, although she was compelled to run around it on the way back, which was not allowed, so she proceeded to have a cow... But that's more of the usual :) We finished the evening at the "Crab Pot", which was yummy and pleasant, although a little low brow for the bill amount, i thought.