Fall River Mills Pioneer Days

We were fortunate enough to be able to join our friends, The Sapers at their cottage in Fall River Mills for a fun and relaxing weekend. While we were there the small town (located about 70 miles east of Redding) was holding their annual Pioneer Days. They were raising money to finish roofing their round wood barn.

This was a very neat area of the town as over the years they have collected and relocated many historical buildings from nearby Ft. Clark and even held some re-enactments of when the Fort was occupied which was during the Civil War era.

The kids though it was very cool how they could “lock” each other up in the jail.

However, Jordana was the only one interested in attending the school.

It was a really fun time.

Daisy Garden Party

The final Daisy Girl Scout Meeting of the year was their Garden Party where the girls got the first year completion certificates.

But first they had to burn off some steam and play some fun games.

Thanks so much to Miss Valerie and Miss Bambi for getting the girls off to such a great scouting start.

Strawberry Open House

We attended our first Strawberry Open House this year. Ricky got to take us on the 4th Grade tour. We started off the tour by enjoying all of the displays of art and science projects while listening to the band in the Multi Purpose Room.

Then we were off to Mrs. Paschke’s and Mrs. Padgett’s 4th Grade class.

Ricky pictured with his Bale Grist Mill 3D model (see previous post for details).

Baskin Robbins Field Trip

The final field trip of the year for Mrs. Basche’s Kindergarten class was a walking trip to Baskin Robbins.

The class had just finished their unit on money so each student got to order and pay for his or her own ice cream cone.

Afterwards there was time to burn off all of that sugar by some well earned playground time.

Posted by Jena

May 2009

Cub Scout Family Camp

We decided that since this was the last summer that Ricky would be a Cub Scout that we better attend Family Camp since we’ve had such a great time in the past. Again we brought our good friends, the McKay’s to join along in the fun.

The camp was over Memorial Day weekend and it started off a bit rocky as Ricky came down with a stomach virus. So Rick, Jordana and The McKay’s headed off to Cub Scout camp without a Cub Scout. Rick said that they received some funny looks at check in when they stated that there was no Cub Scout with them. But Ricky prevailed and he and I headed up to the camp early Sunday morning so we did not miss the major events of the weekend.

One of the cool things about this year’s camp was that there were a number of new and fun things to do. The kids got to make plaster casts of animal prints at the “prints and scat” station. We also got to make our own hats, moroccos, and rope.

There were also our favorite stations to visit including fire building, archery and the BB Gun range.

Again one of the highlights was the swimming hole. I just couldn’t believe that the kids insisted on swimming as it was very cold – high was only 68 with a cool breeze off of the ocean. So they came out to warm up in the sun and went back in again. I guess that there were too many cool bugs and creatures to examine and that took their minds off of being cold.

Ricky got to participate in one of the flag closing ceremonies as he is a Weblo. (His entire back is to us and is in the middle in the picture).

The new and funny camp songs and the campfires did not disappoint. All in all it was a great last visit to Cub Scout Family camp.

Yulupa Open House

Last May we attended another great Open House a Yulupa. However, this year we were back in Kindergarten and it was Jordana’s turn to take us on the tour. After enjoying another great hot dog dinner and ice cream social put on by the Student Council, it was off to Mrs. Bashe’s K3 class. We started off sitting at Jordana’s table while she took us through the scrapbook she made highlighting her Kindergarten year (Yes that was my favorite part J).

She then took us on a tour of the classroom. We got to see lots of neat things including great art work on the walls.

The highlight of the tour was getting to meet the newly hatched chicks. They were so cuddly and cute.

Weblos I Bridging

In the beginning of May, Ricky and the rest of Den 6 (aka: The Flaming Marshmellows) of Pack 55 completed their final Cub Scout bridging ceremony when they bridged from Weblos I to Weblos II. It was bittersweet as Ricky and two of the other boys (Ben Sapers and Michael Lahaderne) have been together since they were first Tiger Cubs in 1st Grade. They all have grown up so much.

Ricky earned a number of awards and is now working with the rest of the Den to earn the right to bridge to Boy Scouts in February. Where has the time gone??

Posted by Jena

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother’s Day this year. The family really pulled through on giving me what I wanted, and that was to do “absolutely nothing”!

I was even more surprised to receive several heartfelt gifts. Ricky made me a pair of ear rings in school. His teacher brought in the supplies and Ricky did the rest. For those of you who know Ricky; crafting is NOT something he enjoys so I was very touched that he did this. Not to mention that the ear rings are gorgeous.

Jordana also made me some really neat things in school too. I received a paper mache vase with a sunflower growing in it and a picture frame with nice picture of Jordana in it. All presented in a handmade bag

Rick and the kids also picked me some great bouquets from the rose garden and bought me a purple calla lily flower – may favorite!

I was also blessed with many other great cards and gifts. Thank you all!

Posted by Jena

Strawberry Beginning Band

The Strawberry Band Spring Concert was held on May 6th and the Beginning Band was the first up to play.

Ricky was up front playing the flute with all of the others.

We all were very impressed as how good the band sounded considering they had only been playing for around 8 months. Here’s an excerpt from the concert of the Beginning Band playing the Strawberry Eagles fight song.

Bale Grist Mill

Ricky chose the Bale Grist Mill in Napa County for his 4th grade California Landmarks project. Since he chose a nearby location, we were able to take a field trip and gather information for his project.



There is a Miller who tend to the mill and still mills flour to this day. He gives great demonstrations and was really helpful to Ricky as the Miller knew all of the history of the mill. We also provided a donation and took home a couple small bags of flour which we’ve been enjoying really yummy pancakes from. Ricky also used it for his oral report.

Ricky was able to write an excellent report, made a really cool model of the mill (It helps to have an Architect for a Dad), and gave a great oral report. He earned himself an A+ for the entire project. We are so proud of him!!