Entrepreneurs

Isn't trying to sell something to your neighbours a right of passage for childhood?

Who as a kid didn't try to make a buck some how?

One Saturday the kids went in the back alley and gathered a bunch of pumice which they call "chalk rocks" since they will mark the pavement and set up shop.

Ethan and Abby even solicited the neighbour kids to help them
I think they ended up profiting about $2.

What did you sell to your neighbours as a child?

For me it was Kool Aid and rocks.

Abby's new found freedom!

She FINALLY DID IT!

Yay for Brad teaching this child, since I had to teach the other 3.

Now she'll be ready to ride to school!

In the land of the giants- Day 4 & 5: July 16 & 17

Another thing I loved about the place we stayed was that Brad and I had our own bedroom and could sleep in. However you never quite know what goes on while you're sleeping... I found this clip on the camera when we got home...

Ethan loved the wood stove and wanted to make a fire every morning and evening and even did it himself one morning!!

The house also had no internet or TV, although it did have a dvd player so we let the kids watch a movie while we were there, but other than that we were pretty much "unplugged." While initially frustrating, it was also refreshing to be seperated and spend time playing games together and relaxing outside.

The flowers in the backyard were so pretty.

Thursday we went Trinidad State Beach to check out the tide pools. Again, it was pretty chilly.

Samantha's "Ariel" picture

Since Harry Potter opened the day earlier we decided to go into Eureka to check it out (and so Brad could get more salt water taffy :D).

Very good film, and I'm not really a Harry Potter fan. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you go (we've been to see it again since)
Friday it was time to say goodbye and head home. A MUST stop on the way home was "Paul Bunyon." As a child my parents took us through the redwoods and I have a very clear memory of stopping here, so we had to do the same. He is cooler now though since he now talks to you.

Redwoods vacation: Success!

In the land of the giants- Day 3- July 15

Wednesday we decided to go to Fern Canyon, packed a lunch and ate on the chilly foggy beach near the canyon. The chilly air didn't stop the kids from playing around in the sand though.

It was a really cool canyon you could walk up with a little creek running through it.

It was very cool lookin'

Abby wanted me to take a video of her "taking a shower"

At the end of the canyon we went on a little hike and saw these HUGE leaves

After our trip to the Fern Canyon we stopped by "Big Tree"

This was the tallest redwood in the forest there until a few years ago some of the top broke off, but you can't see that high to know the difference anyway.

Then we went to the lookout the Park Ranger suggested to go see the eagles.

Check out the amazing view and all the eagles:

I was surprised by how cold it was the whole time we were there (with the exception of Tuesday afternoon). We wore jackets or long sleeved shirts and pants most of our time there. Brrr!

In the land of the Giants- Day 2: July 14

Tuesday morning we went to the Humbolt University Marine lab and checked out their "touch tank"

Then we took a walk out on the pier and on the beach of Trinidad Bay and found this guy snoozing
Trinidad used to be a big whaling town and was known for the horrible smell from the whale processing plant. These are remnants of the slip where they used to pull the whales up to shore.
This guy just came off a chartered boat fishing tour with his halibut.
We headed into Eureka for the afternoon and watched the pelicans dive for fish off the pier and checked out the cool old buildings downtown. Brad's favorite stop was the salt water taffy shop where he got a big bag of the stuff.
We went back to the house in Trinidad and spent some time just hanging out in the backyard and watching the waves come in with the sun shining on our faces, and a slight breeze. One of those days you wish you could put in a bottle and open whenever you wanted to.

After hanging out at the house for awhile we decided to go down to Agate Beach and well... search for agate. There were tonnes of cool rocks on the beach and Brad and the kids left with pockets full of "cool rocks." What we are going to do with them... I don't know, but it was fun hunting.

Abby enjoyed the beach and wrote this message in the sand for Samantha. It reads "S I A" which she said stands for Sam Is Awesome

I love this pic of the girls

A nice way to end our day

In the land of the Giants - Day 1: July 13

On July 13th we headed out for our family vacation to the California Redwoods. When Ethan's primary teacher asked him where he was going he told her... "To go look at some trees" and just shrugged his shoulders. I think by the end of our trip though he had been impressed.
On our drive we pulled over at the Rogue River Gorge. It was a great stop we had no idea was there, but was definitely worth the stop and the short walk along the gorge.

We decided to stop for some lunch in Shady Cove @ Phil's Frosty.

We've decided we want to try and eat local wherever we go and stay away from big chains when we can... just for fun, plus it gives you a better flavor for the town and helps the local economy.

We stopped at the Prairie Creek visitors centre and they sent us to this nice drive and a hike through an "old growth" redwood forest.

The sheer size of these trees has to be experienced. It can not be captured in a picture.

When I look at this picture I can't believe how huge these trees are compared to Ethan. While you are in the grove they are all so big you kind of lose perspective because it takes a REALLY huge one to look big next to the other huge trees.
The base of this tree is massive!!
A little further down the road as we approached Elk Meadow we came across these

These were actually in the meadow

About 8 hours after our departure we arrived here
our home away from home in Trinidad for the next 4 nights.

Upon arriving Ethan quickly discovered something in the wood pile

and on the plants outside were a bunch of these

Who could ask for anything more?