Picnic

I hate good-byes.

A new chapter is about to begin for me and my family so it seems like a good time to have a fresh start with Picnic, my beloved little blog I have had for the past 5 years.  We are moving on to bigger and better times and Picnic is deserving of more too.  

The new site is www.picnicblog.org

Please come along with me on our journey abroad.  I will be sharing photos and videos of everyday life... food, style, travel and crafts and tips for how to move abroad.

At the moment, I am super excited, anxious, nervous and terrified.  I am also very thankful for that vision Doug and I shared on the fire escape of our apartment in Nob Hill late one night in the summer of 2001.  It took 12 years to build our family, build financial stability and begin to prepare our children for this trip but we are FINALLY ready. 

Here is a little video I put together as a final post here before I move to the new blog.

 

Music: Buildings and Mountains by The Republic Tigers

Day Trip: Pescadero

A few weeks ago, we headed south to Pescadero to share a Mother's Day lunch at Duarte's Tavern with my mom and sister.  We headed out early so we had time to stop at Lemos Farm off of Highway 92 in Half Moon Bay.  The boys braved their first pony ride, fed the goats and enjoyed snack time on the train.  Bijou found the outing a bit babyish but went along with it like most big sisters do.

We continued driving south another 30 minutes to enjoy lunch at the 100+-year-old restaurant, Duarte's Tavern.  I had the crab sandwich and their famous olallieberry pie, which was delicious.  The kids all behaved themselves, which was a nice surprise in the restaurant setting, and kept themselves entertained by sticking sugar packets into my hair and pouring the creamer into their orange juice.  Fun times!

After lunch we headed around the corner to Harley Farms to see their goats and visit the Farm Store.  Doug and my Mom tried to capture a Mother's Day photo of me and my kids and it went something like this...

Bijou striking a pose, of course.  Eero a bit clueless about what is going on.  Wilder trying to run out of there.  And me, tightly gripping Wilder's hand.

Then we had a little talk where I tried to convince him to take just one more photo.

Then he pouted some more...

Eero overheard the conversation and thought it would be hilarious if he followed suit and parked himself on a bench further away...

And this is the Mother's Day photo I ended up with...

Classic!

Day Trip: Japanese Tea Garden

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how this outing would go.  I knew Bijou would enjoy it just as much as she had when she was four.  However, I wasn't sure if the boys would obey the bamboo fencing around the ponds or God forbid, end up taking a dip in the koi pond.  Luckily, it was a success with minimal attempts by Eero (the rebel of the group) to duck under the fence and do exactly that, dip into the koi pond.

The biggest highlight was the tea party with REAL tea, almond cookies, Japanese cracker snack mix and chocolate-covered Pocky sticks.

On the walk from the car to the tea garden, Bijou and Stella stopped to collect some daisies to make a couple daisy chain necklaces, a childhood requisite.

Climbing the drum bridge was another highlight and was probably responsible for rewarding us with a car nap on the ride home ;)

Japanese Tea Garden

A Trip to Moss Landing

My parents live in a rural seaside community south of Santa Cruz nestled between an ocean bluff covered in heather plants (in the front) and begonia fields (in the back).  They have about an acre of land which makes a collection of old cars feasible.  The next door neighbors on the other hand, used their land to build a soccer field.  Their 4 kids loved soccer so they built them their own soccer field!  

The long country roads are perfect for lulling these two into their afternoon naps.  Crib naps are no longer existent on the weekends (they will nap at school), but despite their persistent attempts to get out of a nap altogether, I insist on "a little drive in the car."

A bit further down the road is my sister's house in Moss Landing.  Another beach community full of boats, ocean life, antique shops, and fresh fish restaurants.  Today, we had some visitors from our childhood.  Eero and Wilder are the two in hats.  The scenery in my sister's backyard is quite picturesque. 

Do: Elkhorn Slough safari, Moss Landing Marine Labortories, Moss Landing State Beach 

Eat: Phil's Fish Market  The cioppino is awesome!

Shop:  One afternoon, I did a little shopping during our car nap and found a little gem of a store called, Driftwood.  If you are ever in Moss Landing, you should try and stop in.

 

{Eero, Wilder, Rosie}

It's so fun to see these 2-year-old cousins all grow up together.

 

Twin antics.

 

Mimi introduced Eero and Wilder to Roy Rogers.  Turns out, Eero DOES like watching movies.  He likes B/W cowboy films, no modern day animation for him please.

She's 18!

Oh man, I feel old.  My step-daughter turned 18 yesterday.  I can't believe it!  She was just a little kindergartner when we first met.  We gave her a hotel room in SF for the night with a group of friends to celebrate and had a small party back at the house with her wee-siblings.

I often am offered sympathy when people find out we have a teenager, a 7-year-old and twin boys all under the same roof.  I always make sure to point out that we have really lucked out with our teen.  Aside from the mayhem in her bedroom, she does well in school, has an internship, spends most afternoons practicing with her crew team, respects her parents/friends/teachers and follows the rules.

She also has a bright future ahead.  She has currently received letters of acceptance from two of the four colleges she applied (still waiting to hear back from the other two).  One even offered her an academic scholorship making us very proud.  She is most excited about a possible move to Austin, TX so I decided a desert-themed cake would be appropriate this year.

I decided on a chocolate cake recipe from this book.

Picked up some chocolate rocks, gold flecks, and gold candles here.

 

I added butterflies instead of snakes and scorpions to keep it feminine.

It was delish.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVE!

The Rebel

In true rooster fashion (Bijou's Chinese Zodiac sign), my eldest is turning out to be quite the brave little child.  She's usually game to try anything new which I hope will remain a strong quality of hers for life.  I too like to try new things but feel much more comfortable with someone there by my side, even if my comrade is only 7.

So with a week off of school, we planned out our Bay Area adventures...

Top on our list... iFly in Union City.  As a mother of three, I could never sign the release forms to jump out a real plane (something I wish I had tried before having so many dependants) so this indoor skydiving facility, open to all ages over three, seemed like a perfect alternative.  (After having tried this, I would NOT recommend it for a 3 year old.)

First you watch a short instructional video and suit up.

Next you enter the wind chamber and take a seat on the bench and wait your turn to be pulled in.  The experience was intense and extremely realistic and had our adrenalin pumping in a good way.

We had a blast!

Next on the list... The Rebel wanted to get her ears pierced.  

Our last adventure for her winter break was a trip to San Francisco to watch the Chinese New Year's parade with her cousins.  As always, the parade was colorful and lively and a nice reminder of all the wonderful multicultural events the Bay Area continues to offer.

 

I have fun hanging out with this kid :)

Photo Highlights from our Holidays

We had a wonderful Christmas at our cabin in Lake Tahoe which included snow, snow and more snow.  I think it snowed over three feet in the 5 days we were there.  Lot's of snow meant great sledding, beautiful snow angels, snowflakes on our tongue, and many opportunities to get all cozy inside with 500-piece puzzles, hot cocoa and gingerbread houses.  With three young children in tow, it also meant whiny toddlers who refused to wear gloves but hated the sting of the cold on their hands, snotty noses, cabin fever and way too many opportunities to get addicted to our various Apple products.  Wilder suffered from electronic puzzle withdrawal for a good 24 hours after we got home.  Ooh, and since we are being honest here, I should also mention that I got our vehicle in a bit of a pickle in our steep driveway piled high with the aforementioned snow on my return from the market with Bijou and gingerbread house building supplies in tow.  No big deal, the front tires were teetering off a small cliff and the back of the car had high tailed around and was about a 1/2" from our cement retaining wall.  Needless to say, wine time was needed after that ordeal had been resolved.

 

Lake Tahoe Themed Felt Board

Traveling with the kids over Christmas complicates things a bit.  This year the kids had a few large sized items on their wish list and I had also made them a few things that were too big to pack into the car for Tahoe.  So my scam plan is unfolding as seen above.

My homemade felt board has been liked and used a few times this week but still took a back seat to the new red barn and farm animals Wilder got from Santa, and the new drum set for Eero.  Oh well, at least I like the felt board so even if it lays around for a while it isn't a total eye sore like most of the primary-colored riff-raff cluttering my living room.

Merry Christmas!  I hope Santa brings everyone what they want tomorrow morning.

Farm-To-Table zucchini bread

A new neighbor moved in next door so I thought it would be nice to welcome them to the neighborhood with some baked goods.  Earlier in the day, I discovered the most gigantic zucchini growing in the garden.  It may not have tasted so great sauteed with olive oil and salt but was perfect for shredding for muffins and bread.  I know that so much work has gone into building and maintaining our community garden that I couldn't stand to have the large squash be tossed into the compost pile.

The bread was a hit with the new neighbor and with the kids whom each ate about 3 muffins for dinner that night.  Not particularly healthy, but why not?

Zucchini bread recipe via Smitten Kitchen

Embracing Fall

Fall is my favorite season and not just because the kids are back in school ;) I love all the cozy soup recipes, morning dips in our hot tub, s'more roasting on our fire pit and decorating the house for the upcoming holidays.  

To continue with our tradition, the kids and I visited Crystal Bay Farm in La Selva Beach to pick up our heirloom pumpkins, visit with the horse and pick a few organic apples.

Apple Chips

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Slice apples into 1/8" slices and remove seeds.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Bake for 1-1/2 hours.  Flip the apples and bake on the other side for 1 hour more.

This year, we bought white pumpkins and took a Pinterest-inspired approach and spray-painted them gold/black and gold/silver.  They've made a nice addition to our living room decor.