Linking up with Rosie at A Blog for My Mom for My Sunday Best.

Yesterday our young adult group had an outing to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. We went last year, and it was quite the experience. 

You gotta love the chance to get your Victorian on.

First, My Sunday Best that I actually wore to church.

Dress: Kohls

, Coat: Macy's, 

Necklace, shoes, tights: Target

And here's this year's Dickens Fair costume creation!

Petticoat from my wedding dress under a full skirt gingham dress. Red cardigan with faux-pin made out of a jewel detail I snipped off my prom dress. Same shoes and tights as my mass outfit, you just can't see them. Small pearl earrings were a Christmas gift from my husband.

I try my best to create a Victorian silhouette out of clothing I already have in my closet. 

This year I even tried to do a fun hairstyle!

Mass Hair on the left with Lila Rose Celtic Knot snappi, and Dickens hair on the right.

For the Dicken's hair: I split the front part of my hair and made two braids on each side. I gathered the rest of my hair into a high ponytail and made a ballet bun. The lower of each side braid I wrapped under the bun and secured with bobby pins, The higher wrapped above and over. 

I actually missed a good amount of hair in the back that I had to pin into a pin curl, but I got it all in the end! Spray all over with a strong hold hairspray.

Here's photos from the fair!

Waltzes with a live band.

We got a theatrical scene in between waltzes. This is the Ghost of Christmas Past with Fezziwig (Ebenezer).

A little bit of Queen Victoria's procession. Aren't dressed up little kids just darling?! 

The stage in the less nice side of town...

I found the Queen! Singing carols! Like you do. 

The main concourse. Window shopping delight.

Favorite discoveries this year: finally seeing a good amount of Queen Victoria, an antique chatelaine that was so Catholic it had a pict and reliquary instead of the usual sewing supplies, and an Absinthe Sazerac. 

Good times!

Hoes Down Festival!

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes!

Tomorrow is the Hoes Down Harvest Festival! It's our CSA harvest festival and held at the farm where all our box goodies are grown.

This is Therese's first year attending and probably the first year John will remember. It's our homeschool field trip for October so I hope everyone is prepared for me to be in "fun fact mode". :) Here's what we're looking forward to most!

1

Tipi activities

These are storytimes, puppet shows, and other fun kid things in tipis set up in one of the fields. The kids love lounging on all the soft quilts and animal (probably fake though) skins. It's a nice break from the hustle and bustle on the rest of the farm.

2

Music and Dancing

Because hustle and bustle there is! There are three different music stages and a called Contra Dance in the evening. 

I have never done, or even seen, Contra dance before so that might be a fun adventure!

3

Children's Area Crafts

One of the best parts of Hoes Down is all of the fun crafts and activities in the children's area. Petting zoo of farm animals, ice cream churning, corn husk doll making, and Sheep to Shawl (where the kids get to help shear the sheet, card the wool, spin the wool, dye it, and weave or knit it. It's awesome!).

4

Hay Fort and Obstacle Course

Even as a toddler, John loved the hay fort. There is also an obstacle course of farm equipment.

My little wannabe marines are going to love it!

5

Creek Playground

There is a slow moving, wide creek that runs through the farm, and it's open for wading and frolicking during the festival. 

Once it gets dark, it gets lined with lanterns for the nighttime story walk.

Along the banks is a nice, shady lawn for playing sports or napping under the trees.

6

Food!

So much yummy! It's like an all day farmer's market.

7

Wellness Tent

All day massages and free acupuncture - yes please! 

I'm not sure I believe the acupuncture really does anything for me, but I know it secures people letting me rest and be still for 20 minutes.

California Academy of Sciences - with Kids!

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes!

Yesterday I took the kids on a solo expedition to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. (Much thanks to the Discover and Go program for getting us in for free! Y'all are probably my favorite library program ever.)

It was the first of our planned monthly field trips for homeschool this year. I wasn't thinking about it as exploring our backyard until the ticket people kept commenting on how we were the first local people to visit the museum that day. So now I'm including this as tourists in our own backyard!

1

Going into Cal Academy is a little overwhelming as a small person since the first thing to greet you is a (mid-size) T-Rex. My kids were somehow more fascinated in the butterfly video playing over the member services desk. Perhaps visiting the T-Rex on the UC Berkeley campus so often has taken some of the awe out of dinosaurs? 

2

Perhaps Therese's favorite exhibit was the first one we came to: Philippine Coral Reef lagoon. Getting to see rays, large fish, and a shark swimming so close blew her newly 2-year old mind.

One of the walkways has windows in the floor so you can see the fish swimming right under your feet. 

Therese would have been perfectly happy if this was the whole museum.

3

But it wasn't!

Something I really like about the Cal Academy is their exhibits are shown at different levels. You get to see them from above and below. There is something magical about seeing cool things from the top of the water and then seeing all of the things you could not discern from above.

Lots of exhibits on jellyfish and bioluminesce. 

The more I tried to explain what a jellyfish was, the more like an alien this creature seemed to be. That is one WEIRD animal, y'all.

4

Other exhibit favorite was the Swamp. Those were some huge snapping turtles, and I think John finally grasps what an Alligator Gar looks like (we have them in Lake Whitney were my family reunion is held.)

The biggests hit of that exhibit was the Albino Alligator. It makes it very easy for the little ones to see, and led to a cool talk about albinism with John.

He made this face the whole time. I could just see the wheels turning.

The rainforest was fun but HOT. There were so many butterflies, but I was terrible at getting a picture of them.

5

In honor of Therese's birthday this week, we finally got our sushi lunch! The Cal Academy has a pretty sweet cafeteria. The kids loved that an aquarium ran the length of the wall and we got to eat with the fish. 

I managed to not comment on the irony of eating sushi with the fish....

6

The kids got to get a little toy from the museum store. They had two versions of the albino alligator: one that squeaked, and one that did not but was $2 more. I got the more expensive, but silent, one. 

Best $2 I ever spent.

7

It takes about an hour, one way, on public transit to get between our house and the Cal Academy. Someone could not quite make it home for nap...

Oh how I've missed Ergo naps!

I highly recommend babywearing for most San Francisco adventures. The Cal Academy itself is extraordinarily stroller and kid friendly, but public transit is very not.

Special shout out for the Academy's baby changing stations in all bathrooms and built in toddler stool for washing hands. It is so very appreciated.

The docents were so helpful and gifted for guiding parents with young kids. Thanks for making a giant solo adventure with littles ones that much easier.

Tourists in Our Own Backyard: Angel Island + Civil War Days!

This past Saturday we took a trip to Angel Island with the kids!

We took every form of public transportation possible to get there (exception of biking): 

Walk --> Bus --> BART (train) ---> Muni (trolley) ---> Ferry.

It was an adventure!

Father/son bonding time waiting for the ferry.

It was the kid's first time on a ferry. I think they enjoyed it! Therese spent most of the ride in the Ergo (someone thought putting her hand in ALL THE PUDDLES on deck would be cool). John kept getting lulled into sleepy land by the rocking and white noise of the waves, wind, and ferry engines.

First glimpse of the harbor!

The ferry docks in Ayala Cove. It's where Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala anchored back in August 1775. The island was then christened Isla de Los Angeles due to the custom among Catholic explorers of naming sites for the religious feast days nearest to the time of discovery (I'm still unclear on exactly which feast that was.)

We had an early picnic on the many picnic tables in front of the visitor center.

The visitor center is part of the old Quarantine Station. Starting in 1891 this was where ships from foreign ports could be fumigated, and immigrants suspected of carrying diseases could be kept in isolation. (The cove was called Hospital Cove at the time.) All functions of the station were moved to San Francisco in 1946.

We took the pretty easy hike along the Parameter Road, heading towards Camp Reynolds (1.5 mile hike from the cove.) The kids are pretty good hikers. If we get to an area with lots of Poison Oak Therese goes into the carrier and John will either walk in front of an adult (to keep him in the middle of the path) or someone will lift him up too until we're past the danger area.

Our average day involves walking 2-3 miles, so this little hike was no problem for them.

Former hospital for the soldiers. Such a great porch! Such potential!
Yes, there used to be a lot of small pox and plague in there, but STILL!

By the time we reach Camp Reynolds, Therese was knocked out in the Ergo. We could see a number of reenactors readying cannons, tending cooking fires, and soldiers completing inspection.

Many had stayed overnight in Civil War era styled tents or inside one of the restored buildings.

Everyone was super friendly and more than happy to talk to us about everything we were seeing.

When we walked in the building, the first thing we heard was "want a cornbread fritter?" 

Fresh off the wood stove.

It was awesome.

There were both Union and Confederate reenactors. Union vastly outnumbered confederate fighters - which is pretty historically accurate anyway.

Before the battle started, everyone was instructed to head for the high roads.

We watched the Union soldiers drilling for a while.

There were a lot of new members who were still learning the marching formations.

The Civil War was the last American war to be fought in the Napoleonic style. As one man sitting near us put it, "it all looks very civilized."

In between drills, some of the reenactors would cover over and answer questions and give little history lessons.

This was an active camp during the Civil War. It was established in 1863 and was known as the West Garrison when the whole island was Fort McDowell. It became an infantry camp after the war and was used as a staging area for troops serving in campaigns against the Apache, Sioux, Modoc, and other Indian tribes.

The fighting began with the Rebels sneaking up on the Union soldiers, capturing their sentry, and charging onto the field.

The cannons were loud! John thought they were amazing. They woke Therese up from her nap so she had a bit of a lesser opinion of cannons.

Commentary was broadcast over speakers, with one of the reenactors keeping us informed about what was happening on the field.

Union won!

My favorite part is when all the "dead" have to come back to life after the battle. Even if it's always a little unnerving.

After the battle, we got to tour the old bakehouse.

Old flags are so cool!

It's currently their museum area for this part of the island, so lots of era artifacts on display/use.

They would be baking bread (as they had done the previous day) using the historic oven, but they were still heating the oven while we were there.

Old school pump meet modern day Dawn.

I really enjoyed trying out writing with a fountain pen! Pretty simple once you get the hang of it. I've written with feather quills before and this was much simpler and easier to use. 

They had sealing wax and a stamp if anyone wanted to sit and write out a real letter, but we had to start hiking back to the cove.

Tried to get John to do it, and he wasn't having it. He liked watching everyone else though.

We got back with a little time to spare, so the kids got to play on the little beach!

It was less winder and warmed in the sheltered cove than it had been over at Camp Reynolds. It felt good to just relax and watch the boats come in.

Live music at the island cafe/restaurant.

John fell asleep hard on the ferry home. Nap time is still something he needs I think.

Verdict: awesome adventure and super kid friendly. Would recommend a carrier of some sort for kiddos who might tire out.

We did not make it over to the immigration station, and I would like to go back and see it.