Last year I had some pretty specific requirements for the kids’ spring break: I did not want to fly, I did not want to spend money on boarding our dog, and I wanted to give the kids some sort of historical or cultural experience.

We live in Northern California and there is plenty to see and do within a 3-hour radius of the San Francisco Bay Area.  We are pretty spoiled. To the northeast are the beautiful Sierras and Lake Tahoe. To the south is Monterey, the amazing coastline and of course Southern CA and all that has to offer including Disneyland.  To the north is Napa, Sonoma and all that wine country has to offer. Then of course, there’s all the amazing sights and sounds in San Francisco itself.

I wanted to find something new and maybe go a little farther than we’d otherwise gone. So after much research, I informed the family that the five of us (yes we were going to bring along our Labradoodle Cooper, remember no boarding fees!) were going to explore the beautiful California Redwoods to the north.  This post is a summary of that trip and all the things we saw and did. I highly recommend this trip to everyone that wants to explore the majestic beauty of the California redwoods with kids or without.

Family spring break to the California Redwoods

 Our 5-day, 4-night trip to the California Redwoods

Our final destination was to be Elk Meadow Cabins in Orick, California.  These adorable cabins are about 5  1/2 hours north of San Francisco and 1 1/2 hours south of the Oregon border.  The reason you want to ge here? The cabins sit right in the middle of the natural path of a herd of Roosevelt Elk.

Some of  the cabins are pet-friendly but not all and because I could only get a reservation for 3-nights in one of the pet-friendly cabins, I had to find another spot to stay for 1-night.  This worked out well and broke up our trip a little bit so we took our time and stopped and slept on the Avenue of the Giants on the way up.

Tips before you go:

Food

Pack all your  food for meals before you leave because there’s really NOTHING up there in terms of grocery stores. I took a giant cooler with breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinners planned out and it was perfect. Once you get there you have full kitchen with a stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer/dryer etc., and oh yeah a coffee machine

Clothing

When we went it was Spring. And yeah even though this is California, this is still north and it can be chilly. There was rain in the forecast for the week we went and temperatures looked like they were going to hover around 50-55 F. Pack everybody up with warm layers and waterproof boots and jackets and you will be fine.  Summertime I hear is another story so call ahead and get the scoop for that time of year.

Books to read with your kids

I wanted the kids to be a little prepared for where we were going. Also, I didn’t really have a clue about this part of California so I was hoping to learn a little bit myself. In preparation for the trip, I bought a couple of books about the Redwoods.  My favorite was definitely Redwoods by Jason Chin.  The kids favorite was the Who Pooped in the Park? Shocking I know… Anything with poop in the title is sure to be a winner for kids.

Note on taking your dog:

While some of the Elk Meadow Cabins are pet-friendly, surprisingly not all the hiking trails and parks were. Some of the trails with some of the oldest and biggest redwoods did not allow dogs at all and when they did, it was always on leash. So while I was really glad we brought Cooper along for this family vacation, I was surprised that he had to stay in the car for some of the adventures.

OK so this was our itinerary… We took our time getting up to Orick and stopped along the way.

Day 1

We traveled north up Highway 101 to Willits and then cut across to the coast on 20. This road winds quite a bit so if your crew gets easily carsick – be warned!

When we reached the sea, we got out and stretched and had a mini adventure at the coast at Fort Bragg.  We watched the seals swim in and out of the kelp and a lone fisherman pull in some nets. The stop was absolutely beautiful even with grey skies.

Coastline leg-stretch stop

Next we drove Route 1 up to our first real sightseeing stop: the Drive-Thru Chandelier tree in Leggett. This was a serious highlight for us.  It was nerve-wracking to drive the mini-van through the tree but we made it and then had fun watching everyone else try to get through as well.

Drive-thru Chandelier Tree at Leggett in the California Redwoods.

After some browsing in the cute drive-thru tree gift shop, we got back on the road and make a stop in Garberville at Cecil’s New Orleans Bistro for dinner. I’d scoped out the place online and was totally skeptical of the raving reviews.  Pulling into the tired and sleepy town I really wasn’t sure what we were in for.  But the food was seriously tasty and the staff was incredibly friendly. It was a real surprise and treat on the road.

Next we drove to our motel/hotel on the Avenue of the Giants at Miranda Gardens Resort in Miranda. This was the place I found to break up our trip since the cabin at Elk Meadow wasn’t available for this first night. We piled into a cozy one-bedroom cottage with a pullout couch and fells asleep after a fun first day.

Day 2

First thing in the morning we all woke up to sound of the pouring rain. Luckily there was a great greasy spoon right across the street and bundled up and headed out.

L: Rustic stores and breakfast stop in Miranda on the Avenue of the Giants, R: What did you see in the Redwoods, animal sighting board at Ranger Station on the Avenue of the Americas

After full bellies of pancakes, huevos rancheros and enormous hot chocolates, we started the drive on the Avenue of the Giants. I stopped and bought a DVD about the Redwoods at one of the Ranger Stations.  I really wanted to find a podcast that we could listen to but I couldn’t find one that works.  The DVD worked really well – I just turned off the screen and we listened to the audio while we drove the awesome scenery.  There was great info about the history of the redwood logging and the floods that greatly affected the area and the state.

Because we had no real agenda except to get to Orick, when we saw a sign for the Loleta Cheese Factory, we pulled off.  They had a scavenger hunt for the kids in their garden in the back that the kids really enjoyed doing and we had fun watching them make the cheese and then tasting all the varieties.

Loleta Cheese Factory

We made another pit stop/detour for lunch at the Samoa Cookhouse because it’s a totally unique piece of history and I wanted to go there. Where else are there cookhouses still in effect?  There’s a neat museum off the side of the dining room too. That day they were serving roast beef and it was all you can eat (as it always is). I think I would do breakfast there if you can make it in time.

Samoa Cookhouse

Also, we pulled over a couple of times to just go exploring and see some turned over trees and their massive root systems. This was one of the best things we did!

Exploring the Redwoods on Spring Break

We got to Elk Meadows around 3pm which was perfect. We made dinner and  settled in after a few very competitive rounds of UNO.

Day 3

The next morning we woke up to a herd of Roosevelt Elk right in the BACKYARD!!! It was so cool. I don’t need to say too much about this. The photo kind of says it all. I mean the elk were right there! We gawked at them for a good while and then had breakfast.

Roosevelt Elk right in the backyard at Elk Meadow Cabins.

For the rest of the time we were there, the elk would go back and forth from one end of the meadow to the other. You never knew where they would be when you came back to the cabin but they were never too far away.

In the afternoon, I’d arranged for us to take a 1/2 day walking tour with Redwood Adventures which is conveniently based out of the main office at the Elk Meadow Cabins. Our guide Grant took the four of us on a fact-filled tree-touring adventure which was worth every penny. First we drove a bit north and started at the coast with a mini history lesson of the area and a earth science lesson in the ideal conditions for redwood growth.  He pointed out how the forest changes as you move inland and what redwood trees need to grow so big and tall. We got to ask tons of questions and saw some of the really big Giants. There’s no way we would have learned as much about the Redwoods or the history of logging in California without Grant’s tour.  There’s only so much I can personally absorb and repeat from a guidebook so I was really glad we opted for this tour. I highly recommend it.

Exploring the Redwoods

Day 4

The next day the weather was much better and we got dressed to go to Fern Canyon. YOU MUST GO HERE! Picture an amazing trail with prehistoric ferns lining the canyon walls.  It’s such a neat place that it was actually used in two famous movies: Jurassic Park 2 and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi were filmed! Remember the Endor scenes with the Ewoks? Yep, this is where those were filmed!  

Wear layers and shoes that are good for canyoning. No Uggs, etc. You will get muddy. Trust me. The goal is to basically try to get to the end of the canyon. When there’s water blocking your path you can usually find some wooden planks or logs that you can cross on.  We had a great time using teamwork trying to problem solve the best way to cross an area together so no one would get wet.  One of the lessons the kids learned was that sometimes you have to go backwards in order to go forwards. Again, this was a totally unexpected perk to just being on a hike and we had a blast doing this.

Fern Canyon exploring

Photos from Fern Canyon

Afterwards, we drove to the town of Trinidad to check it out. There’s a nice black sand beach and restaurant on a pier there. 

Finally, because I’d read so much about it, in the late afternoon we walked the Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail.  This was a super easy and a good loop under the tree canopy.  Even though the kids were kind of tired, they loved doing this easy hike and recounted a lot of what they’d learned with our tour guide from the day before. 

Lady Bird Johnson Trail

After that full day, we headed home for another “home” cooked meal in our cozy Elk Meadow Cabin and watched the elk settle down for the night from the living room window.

Day 5

On the final day, we left Elk Meadow Cabins after breakfast around 9:30am and was home before 3:30pm.

That’s it! It was a great trip and I seriously think everyone should do it if they can. Let me know in the commons if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them.

Have a happy spring break everyone!

S.

The post Spring Break: Exploring the California Redwoods with Kids appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.

My blog is no longer my blog – it’s become a repository for random thoughts.  For this, I apologize.  But if you’re still reading this, well then maybe you want an explanation for where I’ve been… I will try to explain.  So what the heck have I been up to? Well, a whole lot of everything including learning how to write code.  Yup, Mommy wanted to learn a new language: computer programming. So I tried. And I did.

This blog has been totally neglected.  I used to post once and sometimes twice a day.  Lately, it’s maybe once a month. But I think I have a decent excuse or two.  Let me explain.  For the past year, I’ve been the PTA President at our elementary school and for as much as I would LOVE to write all about that, I won’t. Sorry.  That’s a blog for another day, maybe.

In addition, I’ve been working part-time as a Social Media Manager and exploring the brand management side of blogging. Fascinating stuff really, although not nearly as full of drama nor as entertaining as my regular blogroll.  I miss the regular writing prompts, the sense of community and the always stunning how-to posts. I haven’t quite figured out how to do both regularly, although I hear it’s possible…  I’m hoping I will find THAT how-to post soon.

On top of all that, I’m still my kids’ personal chauffer and chef, sports coach and tutor. I won’t pretend to be a housekeeper and interior decorator because those are not things that I do admittedly well. (I’ve been told it’s important to recognize one’s weaknesses.)

This. Is. Not. Me.

And most recently, I decided that it was important that I learn how to code.  You know, in my spare time.

My husband was thrilled!

Pause.  

Re-read that last sentence with heavy sarcasm and imagine staring at an enormous pile of unfolded laundry. Ok good. Let’s move on…

Any way… yes, I was bitten by the coding bug because I read about it all day long for my new gig and like blogging was to me two years ago – I thought it was a fabulous mystery.  So I took a class on SkillShare and basically I built Pinterest.

Yup, that’s right. I built friggin’ Pinterest or a version of it.  It’s not pretty but it works and…I MADE IT. FROM NOTHING. For me, that’s the most exciting thing about learning to code. You can build ANYTHING.

So now, I want to share it with you.  Check it out –> here’s a link to my completed class project:

http://limitless-dusk-6130.herokuapp.com/

It’s totally Pinterest right?!?!  You can upload and create your own pins and everything.

I coded it using the programming language Ruby on Rails and I might as well have been learning how to speak Chinese.  The tutorial was great and I understood why I was doing most of what I was doing.  Most of the time.

By the way, if you haven’t already guessed, right now I’m pretty much maxing out in my total geekiness.  This is it. Right here. I think I’ve reached the pinnacle of my geekdom. You all witnessed it.  You were there.

My next step is to try to create a new web application from scratch which will require remembering why I did certain things in a certain order which is not that easy.  I have a couple of ideas on what I’d like to build, I’m just a little short on time to play around with it. By a little short, I mean a lot.

So that’s it.  In a nutshell, that’s what I’ve been up to – at least the super fun bits that I can tell you about.

If I do build my next web app, I’ll be sure to share it with you.  In the meantime, if you are interested in learning to code check out online resources like codecademy.com, codeschool.com or treehouse.  There are so many online resources out there, if you find something that you like, please share it!

Later geeks,

Sara aka Mommy

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Summer time equals big box office releases and I’m already excited for two films to come out.  This is going to reveal a lot about me so please be kind and don’t judge too harshly.  I thought about searching for a third less geeky film, something a little more artsy or cinematically beautiful but then thought, nah – you guys already know I’m a total geek.

So here they are, my two must-see films of the summer – so far…

Elysium

Elysium opens August 9th and is directed by Neill Blomkamp who made District 9, another GREAT movie. The movie stars Matt Damon of the Jason Bourne legacy (among other awesome films), Sharlto Copley from District 9, and Jodie Foster from well, just about every great movie ever made.

This is an apocalyptic sci-fi set in the year 2154 where the ‘privileged’ live on Elysium, a utopian society anchored in space and ‘the rest of us’ live on devastated Earth. The premise seems to be that Matt Damon needs to get to Elysium and shake things up – I can’t tell why from the trailer but basically he turns into a total badass cyborg to do it.  I really loved District 9 and hope this film lives up to that one if not takes things to the next level.  That film had a powerful social commentary built in and I suspect this one will too.

Here’s a peak at the trailer:

The Internship

In a totally different direction, I’m also curious to see The Internship starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson who’ve teamed up again from their Wedding Crasher days.  Now this movie looks like it will poke fun at some pretty typical Silicon Valley geek stereotypes and could be a recipe for some hilarity. It also has the potential to go horribly wrong. The premise? Owen and Vince find themselves out of work and worm their way into a coveted internship at Google as a last ditch effort to reinvigorate their careers. Not being programmers or under the age of 20, the jokes start flying.

From the preview, it looks like most of the jokes are on them and not the programmers.  This is where I hope they strike a good balance between poking fun at stereotypes and then just making fun of.  I hope there’s not too many “oh poor helpless geeks” being saved by the burly athletic beer drinkers bits. Because that’s annoying and stale.  From the looks of things and according to AllThingsD, this movie was totally sanctioned and had the full cooperation from Google. Free marketing anyone?  Anyway, I hope it’s good because those two really cracked me up in Wedding Crashers. Opens June 7th.

Click HERE to see a preview. (By the way movie companies, make your previews embeddable! That’s super annoying!)

What else looks good out there? What previews am I missing? Tell me in the comments… Better yet, suggest something artsy and beautiful to balance out all this nonsense I’m going to be watching apparently in the next few months.

Sara

The post Summer Movies Can’t Come Soon Enough appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.

Our Christmas tree is STILL lying in my front yard awaiting a recycling truck to come and chip it up.  Every day it gets a little crispier and a little more flammable. I keep asking myself on a daily basis, ‘where is this gosh darn recycling truck?!’ It’s such a depressing site.

So THESE trees totally made me smirk today.

via D*Face via Vandalog

via D*Face via Vandalog

Cleverly done by London street artist D*Face, he gave discarded Christmas trees a second life while spreading his message of “A Tree is For Life”. I love how the artist signed his work in the first photo. Do you see it?

Click the HERE to see more pics.

If they don’t come with the woodchipper on Tuesday I am totally buying some giant googly eyes for my dead Christmas Tree.

The post Discarded Christmas Trees Make Sad, Except These Ones appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.

This will be a VERY random post but it’s a post so I’m going with it.

Here’s a quick list of the top 3 things I’m obsessed with RIGHT now and I think you should be too. In advance I will tell you that none of these brands are paying me to say this but if they want to I’m totally open to it. HA!

1. Spotify. 

It’s an app, it’s music, it’s live streaming music. I’ve done iTunes then I graduated to Pandora, but now I’m totally into Spotify. Well I have been for the past 48 hours at least.

I’m not sure what took me so long, I’d heard about it but I guess I didn’t want to deal with yet another app. Then over this past weekend at our friends’ house they were streaming music and controlling it with their iPad. I was like… umm… WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? Can I play DJ??? And then I wouldn’t stop. I was convinced I’d totally missed my calling as Spinderella’s backup playing tune after tune. I thought I was killing it until my obscure ’90s dance hit selection fell totally flat. (100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters anyone? Anyone?).

So here’s why it’s awesome: you can still have ‘stations’ like Pandora but if there’s a song you want to hear, you can search for it and you can play it right then and there. You can add it to a queue for later, add it to a playlist, and also you can listen to it offline if you want.  I’m so hooked. Downside: it is a subscription based service, it’s $9.99/month or $4.99/month with less bells and whistles but I think that’s totally worth it for finding new music and listening ad free.

2. Christmas Lights

I wrote a post last year about how much I appreciate other peoples’ Christmas light installations and what they represent for me. I just reread it and realized it’s a little sombre (sorry) but truth is, it still rings totally true. I’m still totally obsessed with Christmas lights and décor and they make me so totally happy. I am therefore including Christmas Lights as my #2 true current obsession.

The bigger and brighter the better.

We’ve already done a few laps around the hood and were delighted to see some new additions to the neighborhood light festivities.  So once again dear neighbors… I salute your efforts and say THANK YOU for bringing me and my kids that holiday joy via LEDs and flashing bulbs.

And then there’s this one (via reddit) that just made me giggle and I had to share:

via reddit

3. The Tudors

Showtime series The Tudors

Told ya this list was pretty random. So yeah, I’m totally into watching the Tudors on Amazon Prime instant video.  I have no idea how historically accurate the show is about Henry VIII and am often pausing and looking stuff up on wikipedia (which again is totally accurate right?). It seems like every other episode I’m asking “Did she really get her head chopped off too?!” “What exactly is GOUT?” It’s crazy what went on back then as ‘normal’ and I’m totally aware that this is really just a glamorized soap opera set in a historical content rich setting but I’m completely entranced by the costumes and the absurdity of this monarch’s rule and can’t. stop. watching.  If you haven’t seen it you probably should, especially if you have Amazon Prime because well then, it’s free and free is good.

Ok that’s the top 3 three things I’m currently obsessed with. What about you? What are some things you find yourself watching, doing, playing these days? Tell me!

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Sorry. No really, I’m sorry but I have to do this. Again, I’m sorry.

(If you are Canadian you just laughed there).

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving and I wandered over onto reddit to try to find some pics to send to my brother. Well, 3 emails later I decided this needed a post. So here I am.

These made me giggle. And if you aren’t Canadian you might not  get it.

Don’t worry aboot it.

Here’s a nice one:

via reddit 

via reddit

 and then this… which is really too much.

via reddit

Finally, I saw this picture.

via MTV

Truthfully? I have NO idea who those people are sitting next to Ellen Page. And Kim Cattral? Really? I had no idea (in a bad way.) But we’ll take the Ryans, they can duke it out over who gets to carve the bird.

Which made me want to ask: Who’s your favorite Canadian?

Who would you invite to sit at your Canadian Thanksgiving dinner table? 

Happy Turkey Day Bro

xo

S.

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This morning Alex sadly announced  that the kids might be too old for cartoons. From my lazy perch on the couch, my heart sank deep into the cushions.

We’ve been so lucky and sheltered them for as long as possible. But today it was made official.

“No Daddy, THAT show is for babies!”

Ugh.

I knew this day would come but I guess, I was hoping we could maintain the charade for a little bit longer. They’ve watched the sterile Disney Junior shows for years and had little to no idea of the other realm of cable tv programming. But sure enough, they heard about other channels and shows and characters like Power Rangers, Pokemon and Jessie have crept into our lives.

I’m not irrational and don’t expect them to live sheltered TV lives. Heck, I LOOOVE TV. Even really bad TV (RHONY anyone – don’t judge). But I guess, for my kids, I wanted them to preserve some innocence and not be exposed to bratty, sassy, talk back tweens.  Now my job to is to watch and monitor for rude language and behavior instead of hoping that they will gain some educational nugget from a cartoon character.

I will miss you Disney TV.

So any recommendations out there? What shows do your 6 to 8 year olds watch that you approve of? 

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Today, my littlest turns 5. I can’t believe where the time has gone…

I still carry her around like I did the first day I unpacked her from the beautiful box she came in and keep her close to me at ALL times. In fact, this is the longest attachment parenting I have ever done.  Some say you relax a bit as  each new child enters your family, but this couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to my little iPhone. She still goes EVERYWHERE with me and I’m terrified I will leave her behind somewhere. You know, mommybrain and all… The nice thing is she does come with a locator feature so I can find her if I ever do (*gasp*).

Also? She’s quite the little prodigy.  My iPhone has contributed $150BN in new revenue to her mothership and created over 20,000 new jobs since she landed. Ok, I’m boasting now. But you know, I’m a little proud.

Most recently she surprised us all when she added a new developmental milestone and started to talk back! This  was exciting to everyone but most especially me.*  I hear she might soon take on some household chores to help her Momma out like folding laundry and doing dishes. Hopefully that day is right around the corner.

No big plans for her party though… we might download an app or two and just for kicks check in on Facebook. You know, something new and different.

Please feel free to leave her some birthday wishes in the comments below and OH! Check out this page from her scrapbook:

Image source: vouchercodes.co.uk via Apple Insider

Disclaimer: I still have the iPhone 4, but one can only hope. hint, hint, hint..

The post Happy 5th Birthday to My 3rd Child: My iPhone [Infographic] appeared first on Periwinkle Papillon.

via American Girl on Facebook

American Girl announced today a new doll: a doll without hair  “for girls affected by cancer, alopecia, or any medical condition causing hair loss.”

The doll is beautiful (as are all their dolls), I’m just sad that we need a doll like this to begin with.

Thank you American Girl – this new doll will surely bring comfort to many little girls.

From Facebook:

For more than a year, American Girl has been hard at work developing a doll without hair option for girls affected by cancer, alopecia, or any medical condition causing hair loss. Debuting today as part of the My American Girl® line, the new dolls provide even more possibilities for a girl to create a friend that’s as unique as she is. Due to special handling, orders for the new dolls will be taken exclusively through our contact center by calling 1-800-628-5145. These special dolls also will be included in our $100,000+ annual doll donation to the Children’s Hospital Association.

We recognize the passion and interest expressed for this product over the years and are excited to introduce this new option for girls! Learn more: http://bit.ly/bampbG

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My brother is for sale.

Seriously, you can buy him. I don’t know if he’s a good date but I do know he’s good guy, a great brother and an AWESOME uncle.

So buy him will ya?!?

If you do, you’ll be supporting a great cause, the Alzheimer’s Association.

Both of our grandfathers were afflicted with Alzheimer’s in their final years and I’m so glad my brother agreed to auction himself off for this cause. I’m only sad that I can’t be there to watch the bidding unfold as I know it’s going to be a blast and he’s going to be super wiggly up there on stage. Heh heh heh…

But alas, here I am in California… and the event is in New York… So.. if you live even remotely near the Tri-State area, please go to this super fun event on April 26th and win a date with my bro. Who knows? Maybe we could end up being sisters one day?

This is Geoff, apparently he comes with a “fun and unique date package” – whatever that means… I don’t think I want to know.

Uncle Geoff and Anna - Manhattan Beach, CA

Here’s how you can bid on him:  Buy tickets to this event and bid, bid, bid on the handsome, smart 6’4″ blonde, Geoff!

DETAILS: The event begins at 8pm on Thursday, April 26th at The Caulfield on 27th Street between Park and Lex.

Click here to take a peak at the other bachelors and bachelorettes up for auction. I’m not sure this is legal – but whatever it’s for a great cause!

If you can’t go but would still like to help the organizers reach their goal of raising $10,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association, please click here and make a donation.

You guys rock!

Love you bro.

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