Bixby enjoying the water today

Another great Bixby day. First a video I hope will play for you.

The Fiscalini Ranch Picnic

Last weekend we attended the Fiscalini Ranch Volunteer picnic. Walking thru the woods to get to the picnic site reminded me of "The Teddy Bears Picnic" song I used to play for my class when we did our Teddy Bear Picnic. It was a magical event with a beautiful lunch set up for us in a meadow overlooking the ocean. The conversations were the best. We have truly found a special community here.

A visit from Natalie

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a visit from my old high school friend Natalie. (Well we don't look that old !!!!) She now lives in New Zealand. We enjoyed seeing her photos of new Zealand and enjoyed non-stop conversation, even as we walked on The Ranch looking at wild flowers, otters and even a garter snake.

Morro Bay kite festival

Last Saturday we met Kelly, Brian and Bixby on the beach in Morro  Bay for the annual kite festival. The precision and kite dancing teams were amazing.

Sad but interesting

Last week we went a few miles north to see a dead whale that had washed up on the beach. They don't know why it died but it was a young, 2 year old female. After relating with the gray whales in Baja we feel a special affinity for them. This was sad but also interesting.

A visit from Jo

Jo, my teaching partner from Van Nuys in the '80s and longtime friend came to visit for a few days. Of course we talked non stop and enjoyed our walks and conversations.





The wildlife was bountiful, including birds, sea otters, seals, squirrels, poppies, lupines and this native cobweb thistle.

Wonderful grandchildren

It has been "shorts" weather here in Cambria and that allowed for more paddling in the tidepools this week for Bixby.

 We fed our left over sandwich to the seagull then noticed a seal on a nearby rock. Bixby is a real observer and we enjoy some good conversations together.

 He is also developing a sense of humor. He had fun pretending the rocks were his ears and funny nose. He thought the nose was like the elephant seals nose.

 We lay on our backs and watched the pelicans fly over several times.These are such precious times.

We ended the day with "The Marvelous Toy" song from Grandad and a drum accompaniment.

We are excited that Arlo and Jack will come out this August. We always ask them what they would like to do when in California. Arlo said that he would like to drive over the Golden Gate bridge and see the Redwood trees and we will enjoy doing that. A few weeks later when we asked Jack about coming to California he said that he was excited to see "The yellow bridge and the red trees", a precious simplification. We think that he is the creative thinker.
Here is a picture from Emily of Jack when he had just woken up in church. Also a family picture from their recent trip to the Smokey Mountains. Arlo bought a hat like Grandads.