Greece 2015, Part One

Home education is going well, though it's going to come to an end in early September. E has a place at an outstanding local school starting in September. We're hoping C will get a place there as well. In the meantime, she'll attend the school around the corner (on the way to E's school). She's finishing up her year of part time Nursery. We were offered full time but I did not accept. They're only young once.

Because we're home educating, travel during term time is possible. (If you try to take a holiday during term time if your child is enrolled in school, the government can, and often does, fine you. Which is ridiculous, but is not the topic of this particular blog post.) So, a few weeks ago, we traveled to Greece.

First stop was Athens. We got there late, went to the hotel across the street from the airport, and spent a few hours there in bed. Flight delays didn't help! Early early, around 5:45am, we got into a cab and headed for Athens. Saw the sunrise from the cab. Our destination was Piraeus, where many ferries call. We were able to board almost immediately, and set up camp in a comfortable area near the front of the boat. Keep in mind we were all running on about 3, maybe 4 hours of sleep, so finding a good area was vital.

The kids were initially Too Excited to snuggle up/chill out, so we went onto deck and watched Athens slip by...

Then, as we drew further into the Aegean, we withdrew indoors for a different perspective:

The ferry ride lasted for a little over six hours, during which E was able to take a short nap. Although it sounds a long time, it was thoroughly pleasant, with good toilets nearby, and several cafes to choose from. Also, one could go out on deck and enjoy the breeze and warm weather. I chatted to a passenger who was on her honeymoon, heading to Santorini. I took her photo, with the Aegean as a backdrop.

The ferry called at Paros, and then there was the excitement of pulling into the port of Naxos. Our first view of the island:

We traversed the gangplank and found a cab. "Welcome on the island!" said the cabbie, who was very surprised to discover that B had been there thirty years ago. He told us the island had been very different then, with his father having been called out to help people push vehicles that had gotten stuck on the dirt tracks that had once passed as "roads" back then. Now, many roads are paved and vehicular access is pretty widespread.

We stayed at a lovely little apartment off the beaten track (almost literally, since the roads nearby were not paved!). It had a small play area that we could see from our patio, and a nice swimming pool. It was also about a 45 second walk to the beach.

Above, E and I test out the pool. It was a nice surprise to see that E is swimming, properly, with absolutely no floaties or assistance. Just a doggy-paddle, but a fairly strong one, and certainly it grew stronger as the holiday progressed.

The beach. Well, what can I say...

...that pictures don't say better? Sandy, warm, light waves, cool ocean, warm sun, mitigating breeze. Happy children in the sunset.

There were many local tavernas to choose from, plus the option of a local market where we could buy light food items and eat in our own apartment. I lost track of how many times I ordered moussaka. Great stuff.

One day, we headed into Naxos Town (Chora) to do a bit of sightseeing. We waited for the bus...

...enjoyed lunch in town...

..and headed off sightseeing around the backstreets of the Old Town.

Along the way, we found some spigots that dispensed cool water, which the children enjoyed splashing over their hot little faces. By popular request, we stopped for ice cream before walking out to the islet that hosts the two thousand year old Portara.

The waves were wilder out here! E points a particularly large one out...about ten seconds before it delightfully soaked all three of them! (Aftermath not pictured. Photographer may have been laughing too hard.)

This post is getting quite long, so I will stop for now. Next time, I will post about our adventures in the interior of the island.

Wales

We went to Wales last week with some friends. Going to slap up a few pics and a quick write-up while I have a small window of time.

Our first stop was Weston-super-mare, a little town on England's east coast. We stayed the night and had a quick visit to the beach. Our hotel had a pool and a sauna. Honestly, we could probably have skipped this step (and saved money) but it was fun to do.

It wouldn't be England without gray skies!

The kids enjoyed a short donkey ride, a trip on the Ferris Wheel, and a jaunt down the pier. You had to pay a quid to get into the pier, which I found off-putting. Especially since, when I put the pound into the automated machine, it didn't work. I climbed over the barrier only to have a man run over and shout at me. So why have automated machines in the first place? Inside, most things cost an arm and a leg, so we didn't stay. Outside, there was a sand sculpture area, but you had to pay to get in, so we skipped that as well. Weston-super-mare: "Traditional" seaside, but expensive. Done it once, will skip in the future.

In the morning, we had breakfast, checked out, and drove to Pembroke Castle. This place was well worth a visit!

Outside the castle, in commemorative wooden seats that celebrated the birth of the latest Prince Henry. (Henry Tudor was born at Pembroke Castle.)

Exploring and surveying.

Lots of places to climb/explore here!

We climbed to the very top of the tallest tower...

...then to the very bottom, where there was a cavern once lived in by Stone Age people. Stereotypical bat squeaks, drips from the ceiling, birds roosting... this place was very cool.

Our next stop was Bluestone in Wales, where we let the kids roam around with our friends' kids of similar ages. There was a great indoor play area with mini golf, plus an indoor swimming complex and a nice "town center" with a playground. Here, E is golfing a bit, with swimming trunks on under his clothes in preparation for a midmorning swim after hole 9 or so.

E drove his sister around a 4x4 "safari track" and is pictured here with the remnants of face paint from their morning's "buccaneer party" which gave the adults two hours of free time.

We also hiked, of course. There was a great Iron Age Fort site nearby.

C did "messy play" with her friend H while the three older kids, including E, did "the Big Four" which included "The Drop," "The Swing" (pictured), high-wires with zipline (below), and climbing.

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation! The kids had a lot of free range fun, made even better by friends being there, too.

We're off to Greece in a few weeks. Home education continues to go well. Everything is just very busy.

Ketchup

It's April already! I'm behind on photos. Here's some backlog.

Lovely afternoon tea at the Landmark to celebrate my birthday.

February snow!

After a history lesson one morning, E and I started putting together a Meccano airplane. 'Scuse the laundry in the background. I was sorting; he was building.

Holding a cacao plant at a Home Ed chocolate-making workshop in Covent Garden.

Making truffles.

Rainy day homemade slide fun.

Winding up his Spitfire plane for a test flight at Kenwood.

C taking a little break from rolling down the hill. E in the background still rolling.

E's second pony ride ever, at a nearby city farm.

C's very first pony ride.

Peck, peck. Who's there? A photobombing goose.

Petting the big horse.

Funfair today on Hampstead Heath. E did an even larger slide twelve times in a row.

Trampoline funhouse.

Bungee trampolining.

Don't mess with this biker girl.

If you squint, you can just about see the kids and me on the roller coaster here.

And that's all for now! It's been busy here.

CA, Part Two

Uncle Howard, his wife Nii, and son Jack (7) arrived late at night on July 4. Dad and I waited up for a phone call, but the phone booth was broken at Manzanita, so they walked! Tell you what, in this day and age where seemingly everybody is tracked, and informs you of their littlest movement, it's almost surreal to have people... just show up! Very refreshing, too.

So, we coped with our respective jet lag. Our first foray out was an early morning walk to the local playground. We started heading to Safeway afterward, and Howard points into the distance: "That looks a lot like Derek's recumbent bike."

"That's because it is his bike," I said. Which was great, because the kids were starting to flag, and small rides on the bike really pepped them up.

Anyhoodle... pictures. We went to the Marin Headlands in two different cars, aiming for a Pt. Bonita lighthouse visit. Unfortunately, we got the timing wrong, but we did get a great little explore out of the trip, even if it was foggy.

Dad and C hanging out on a foggy Hawk Hill.

Visiting a foggy Rodeo Beach after our hike. This cooler weather arrived just in time for Uncle Howard's family to feel extra cold after flying from summertime in Thailand.

The next trip out was into San Francisco, via the ferry.

We did some walking around, some shopping... and it was so windy coming back that the kids giggled and danced for ten minutes straight. They were having so much fun. (Also, I love that E and J have the same missing-top-teeth smiles!)

Next time: B arrives! More adventures.

Home education is going well. We did two museum visits: the British Museum, and on Friday E and I went to the Science Museum, where I was pleasantly surprised to find that even on term-time weekdays, they run shows! So we went to "Flash, Bang, Wallop!" where he got to see some explosions/flames and learn that fire needs three things: oxygen, fuel, and heat. He also learned that dry ice can "sublime" from a solid straight into a gas, bypassing the liquid phase. We've hit a few workbooks this week, couple pages out of each one: Math, Spelling, Handwriting, and Science. We finished "Danny, Champion of the World" and are now halfway through a nonfiction moon landing book.

C and I are doing "Teach Your Monster to Read" which is a free, interactive online game that is a) fun and b) teaches your CHILD to read. We've been reading a book a night, lately - "Each Peach Pear Plum," and other short books she chooses daily from Nursery. During my last library visit I got her a short chapter book and read it to her in a cafe while E did some workbook pages and we all drank nice, hot drinks. It's a fun way to do things.

I have 67,000 words on the novel. Plan to put in some more time in the evenings since my time during the day is a bit eaten up by home edding.

Tomorrow we all go to S's (cousin's) 5th birthday party, which will be science-themed. We are in a cold snap but two years ago I remember at this very time (when S turned 3) everything was covered in at least a foot of snow and we went to his party with heavy snowflakes falling outside!