I can't believe that my little Alyssa has turned five already! We celebrated her birthday last week. She wanted a ladybug party, so we invited some of her friends to join us. We decorated little bug boxes and learned about the life cycle of the ladybug. We had a cake decoraged with little m&m's I had painted with dark chocolate to look like ladybugs. Then at the end, all the kids got live ladybugs to take home in their decorated bug boxes. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, and several parents said how much they liked it, too.
This past weekend we went camping at El Capitan State Beach about 17 miles west of Santa Barbara. We had a lovely weekend with perfect weather to enjoy the beach and surrounding area. Alyssa's favorite activity was riding the tag-along bike behind her daddy on the numerous bike paths. Jonathan rode in a little bike trailer behind me. He really enjoyed riding, too. On Sunday we found a wonderful little trail that meandered through an old sycamore forest with HUGE old trees. The trees were so large that many big branches draped on or near the ground and spread out over 70 or more feet. Beneath the branches were periwinkles and nasturtium in profusion. It was like walking in a fairyland forest. The end of the trail came out in a grassy area right next to a rocky and sandy beach. The kids had fun playing on the shore for a while before heading home.
