The Annual Family Photo With Santa

Every year we go to The Grove in LA to get our picture taken with Santa.

And yes, I do mean our picture because it is a family affair.

The whole thing is really a bit of a laugh.

For one thing, our kids have been told Santa isn't real.  (don't hate--read about it here)

Also, the boys have been terrified of Santa for years, but still want to see him every year, but won't sit with him unless we're with them.

Therefore, we now have a collection of family photos with Santa.

Because I love a good tradition, I decided to make the yearly photo with Santa something special.

I actually despise most malls.

Especially at Christmas.

They are full of frantic people, searching for stuff that no one needs, from stores that sell mostly junk, just so everyone can cross one more thing off their list.

I know.  Call me Scrooge.

But I don't mind The Grove.

It's outdoors.

There's a trolley.

It's kind of an LA spectacle.

There's tons of great people watching.

There are moms doing stroller workouts in the middle of the mall.

You have to laugh at a lot of it.

We don't even go in any of the stores. (although the siren call of Anthropologie is often too strong to resist)

But the kids love Santa and his reindeer flying through the air.

Santa's house is impressive and Santa is really nice.  They don't hustle you out after you've waited in line for an hour either.  
Even though they're scared, the kids really like to see him.
James was so worried we'd miss our turn, he couldn't even look at the camera.

But do you know the BEST part about going to The Grove to see Santa?
Well, The Grove is next to the Original Farmer's Market, one of my favorite places.
Part of the seeing Santa tradition is getting donuts.
Bob's Donuts.
They're the best.
And they give you your coffee in a ceramic cup. (you have to ask)
That's important.

They make giant, green dinosaur donuts that the boys get every year.
Lilly gets a pink kitty cat.
Heaven.

I like to eat at Loteria.
I contemplate a different place every time, and I can never do it.
I really like to eat at Loteria.

Then we go to the toy store.  The kids show us the toys they dream of.  

We ride the trolley.

We leave before it gets too crowded.

It is a pretty fun way to spend a Saturday morning in December.

I hope we're still doing it when they're teenagers.

I wonder who'll be sitting on Santa's lap then?

The Eskridge Photo With Santa 2010

Maybe next year I'll have my act together for a whole retrospective.  They're all pretty funny.

Merry Christmas!

Love from,

Greta

This Home Schooling Life: Field Trips, Train Rides and Olvera Street

I always tell my kids how lucky they are to be home schooled.

They get to go on a field trip every week.

At a time when school budgets are stretched beyond thin, there isn't much money left for such luxuries as field trips.  

Our budget is stretched thin too, but since I am only taking three kids on a field trip, and I don't have to arrange for buses or manage all the other details that entail taking a class of 30 on a field trip, it is a lot more doable.

Like I said, my kids are lucky.

Field trips are a really important part of our schooling.  

Experience is often called the best teacher, and I know that is true.

There is a distinct difference between reading about a sea urchin in a book and the thrill of discovering one under a rock and then holding it in your own hand.

When you are hiking amongst oak trees and searching for acorns, it matters to you that the acorns are different according to the variety of tree.  It matters because it is real.  It isn't just a page in a science book.

I like to think that the world is our classroom.

That is why we take field trips.

Most of our field trips are at nature centers, wilderness parks, tide pools and other outdoor environments where we can do our nature study and explore creation.

But about once a month, our group journeys to a cultural destination, a museum or something of that sort.

This week we visited one of the oldest streets in Los Angeles--Olvera Street. 

To add to the fun, we took the train and subway there.  It was cause for great excitement for our suburbafied kids.

I took a ton of pictures.

Enjoy.

At the train station, studying the map.

We sang carols on the train.  

Most people ignored us, some thought we were weird, and some sang along.

It was fun.

The big thrill came when the train traveled under ground.

My kids first time on the subway.

They were thrilled.

It made me long to take them on an adventure to Europe.

Maybe someday.

We switched subways to head to Union Station.
No mishaps even with our passel of kids.

It was my first time in Union Station,

The architecture was beautiful.

I was pretty strict about sticking together.

The kids were fabulous.

Olvera Street is right across from Union Station, making it a very easy walk.

We went to the square first and enjoyed the beautiful nativity they have up.

Yes, we're a young country and a young state, but there is a bit of history to be found.

I love these people.

We perused the stalls, enjoying the bright colors and strange sights.

We tried out accordions.

And cowgirl hats.

We ate lunch.

Mmmm.  Fresh tortillas.

Now we have to try making some ourselves.

After lunch, there was more wandering.

Mariachi music, churros, and sights.

And when the pregnant mamas where pretty tired out, and the kids were too, 

we headed back to the station.

And we came home.

I think my kids are not the only lucky ones to be home schooled.

I know I am so very lucky to be spending my days with them, adventuring, making memories and learning together.

It is a lot of work, this home schooling life.

But it is worth it.

Love from,

Greta

Life Right Now

I'm sure you've notice I haven't been around much.
It feels a bit like I have fallen off the edge of the blogging world.
I've hardly been reading other blogs, I missed my favorite craft fair last weekend, I have months worth of  stories to tell and pictures to go with them, my project list grows, but I don't get to any of it.


Today, for the first time in months, I spent a little time cruising blogs.
And you know what happened?
I got jealous.
I was jealous of people's crafts, their photos, the workshops they are attending, their Etsy stores, their trips to craft fairs, the homemade vanilla extract they are giving as gifts.
I was jealous of the time they had to pursue those things.


Because sometimes, especially lately, I want more time.
More time for me.
More time to do the things I want to do.


And time is one thing that is in very short supply these days.
As I mentioned here, the time I do have, I spend with my kiddos.
And so those other things, they have taken a back seat right now.
Sometimes that can really bum me out.


But then, this afternoon, we made biscuits.

And these little hands, these chubby fingers, these mess makers, reminded me that 
this is my life right now.
It isn't forever.
In fact, everyone tells me how quickly it will vanish and how much I will miss it.
This is the time of afternoons in the kitchen together.
Of being thrilled by squeezing orange juice from our own oranges and pushing out biscuits with a glass cup.
This is the time reading aloud, and learning to write and counting by 20s.
This is the time of them.

I wish I could find a way to balance it all.

There appear to be women who do it all and then some.

But I can't.

At least not right now.

I can choose to be frustrated by that.

Or I can choose to embrace it.

I can choose to be happy.

It seems to me that whatever I do in life I would be missing out on something.

If I were taking classes to become a better photographer, or spending countless hours developing my blog, finding good material and writing more, or crafting up a storm, I'd be missing out on them.

Each of us has our own calling.
And our lives have their own rhythm.
The thing that I forget sometimes is that those things change.
Right now my calling is to be a mommy and to raise my kids the best way I know how.
Right now the rhythm of my life is making biscuits and reading Peter Pan.
But it won't always be.


Sometimes I forget.
And I am thankful for little reminders.


Love from,
Greta


ps You can find out about the biscuit recipe here.