Our Favorite Pastime: Being Outside

Those of you who know us well know that we spend a lot of time outside.  Our children will play outside as long as you will let them and if they don't have their conventional toys, they create their own games and fun.  We have gone through several stages here in CA.  While soccer and football get played everyday as well as brushing and playing with the horses, other games have come and gone in popularity.  First it was Bocci ball, then it was finding all of Doc's (the dog) toys and playing hide and seek with them, then fishing in the pond (pretend), then we migrated to playing hide and seek, with people this time, then the little boys pretended to be horses in the pasture and got the horses involved in chase; then they divided the gardens into sections.  Each section was named after a town or community in the Bay Area.  They even had paths that had street names.  Finally what has become most popular is following Tio and Christian around constantly and doing what they are doing.  I am amazed at their constant willingness to talk with, play with, and teach the children, from Spanish to gardening at such an easy pace.  We could do well to learn from this.  Instead of living like a tornado is all around us and rushing around constantly, I think about the simplicity of their lives here and long to incorporate more of that way of living in our lives.  These are the things I think about as I walk. 

It has been so fascinating to talk with Tio every day and learn from him.  He has had such an interesting and at times dangerous life.  Amazingly he has lived these past 18 years without his wife (he fled for his life from Gautemala) and 8 children.  Now of course, he has his son Christian here with him but until this time, he had last seen him at the age of 10.  His other son, Oscar, comes occasionally from Oakland to help around here; he would have been 8 years old when his dad left.  The youngest who is now 18 was 15 days old.  This is so hard for me to fathom.  

I have learned so much from Tio, the least of which is the Spanish and the gardening tips that I do hope I can use some day.  He is always available if I need anything and I will certainly miss all of our Spanish to English musings.  I'm convinced that if we were to be here 6 months, we would all (except for Jeff) be pretty fluent in Spanish.  In being in this environment, I have learned more about myself, how we live, how simple life can and should be, how important people really are and relationships, and mostly how important my children are to us.  As we sit on the porch in the evenings that do not darken until almost my bedtime, I relax and enjoy watching our children live in almost a bubble, sheltered from the culture, yet mingling with a different culture.  I see peace, true happiness and joy, and ease.

I'll never forget the morning I was going for my walk and was trying to round everyone up.  This is where I found them, out digging holes.  Scott said, "Go, on, Mom, we've got this!" (That's our favorite line from "Cheaper by the Dozen".)

Scavenger Hunt

After 2 weeeks of thinking about it and a week of working on it, I finally developed a scavenger hunt for this property. The children were very excited but it was a lot for the little ones; they only did one page. The older ones really enjoyed it. Of course by this point, a lot of the items on there they were very familiar with but some were still a challenge.

Off to start the hunt. I helped them with reading the list but mostly where to find it on the page to mark it off. Dragon sitting on a post: one of the items

I wasn't going to publish this whole list but the older ones asked me to please put it on the blog; I think they wanted you to see how much there is to find. Since it's so long, just scroll through and stop at a couple of items to give you some idea what this garden is like.

Scavenger Hunt for a Garden Estate
895 Mitchell Canyon Road
Clayton, California

o A Bear Family
o A little black bear
o A raccoon on its back
o Grapevines
o An Orange Lightbulb
o A Snail in a bird bath
o Oyster shells with pearls inside
o A real outhouse
o Cross necklaces hanging from a tree
o 2 orange chairs
o A meyer’s lemon tree
o A spotted cheetah
o 5 roosters
o A large turtle with green moss on its back
o The Old North Wind
o A Dragon on an arch
o A wild man with green marble eyes
o A Christmas wreath light fixture
o Koi Fish – how many do you see?
o A tortoise with blue vases on its back
o A dog swimming pool
o 2 miniature horses
o 7 ceramic rabbits
o A goat feeder filled with plants
o A water pump
o A sandy beach
o A place to cook
o A baby bed filled with cacti
o A dog with a duck in its mouth
o A red and yellow polka-dotted mushroom
o A blue morning glory flower
o A green outdoor bathroom
o A small brass moon
o 3 windchimes
o A “welcome home” sign
o 2 old white doors
o A white gate
o A green gate
o A blue trashcan
o A ball in a barn
o A trough
o A fountain with a man’s face on all 4 sides
o A hall tree with a mirror
o Remains of an old wagon
o A lion fountain
o A white mail box
o An alligator bench
o A duck family
o A frog playing a violin
o A lion bench
o A large frog king (hint: look for the crown)
o 4 - St. Francis of Assisi statues holding birds (1 large statue and 2 small ones)
o A bamboo fountain
o A bird cage with a crescent moon inside
o A deer weathervane
o 3 painted tiles with fruit on them
o A cross
o An old plow
o A swan bench
o A small owl
o 7 bronze elephants and their 1 white cousin
o Statue of a child playing a violin
o A botchelli bather
o A red flowered birdbath
o 4 gourds
o 1 brown gourd in a tree with a cactus growing out of it
o 2 lions with raised paws
o 2 sheep
o A woman resting
o A white bird cage
o 4 dwarfs riding a turtle, a frog, a rabbit, and a snail
o 2 miniature frog kings (hint: crowns)
o 2 moose
o 3 Christmas trees with lights
o A little black budda
o Twin boys huddled together
o A church
o Another church
o A basket of wood
o Another basket of wood
o A fireplace (hint: old stove)
o A boardwalk
o A child’s wicker chair set
o A sea shell hanging from a tree
o 3 woodpiles
o A large brown owl
o An old wagon
o 2 white horse’s face
o 2 frog fountains
o A rabbit gate
o A dragon sitting on a post
o Painted iguana coming down a tree
o A painted gourd (or 2 chili peppers) with 2 birds on top
o A lion gate
o 2 large winged angels
o A large dead tree
o Statue of a man wearing a hat
o A fig tree (hint: remember the necklaces?)
o Blackberry vines
o An angel with a personalized shield hanging on a tree
o A broken down rusted caterpillar (bulldozer)
o A duck wearing sunglasses
o “Beware of Dog” sign
o A Gazebo
o A broken swing
o A real snail
o A Window box
o A hot tub
o A greenhouse
o 3 large ornaments (balls) with lights hanging from the dead tree
o A picnic table
o 2 angels holding candlesticks
o 2 deer with antlers (hint: hanging on the house)
o A pink chair
o The largest tree in the garden
o 2 bear benches
o A bear holding a honey pot
o A rusted sunflower
o A flower made out of stepping stones
o Old horse harnesses
o One of the 7 dwarfs
o 2 blue gems
o 3 frogs carrying pots on their heads
o A bird windchime (hint: cardinal)
o A hummingbird windchime
o An old scarecrow with a scary face
o “Sweetie” (hint: Jackson calls all baby deer this)
o A Gardenia Bush (hint: there is only one)
o Confederate Jasmine
o A dog named “Doc”

Extra Credit:
o How many hose pipes?
o How many sprinklers?
o How many rose bushes?
o How many angels?
o How many chairs?
o How many benches?
o How many fountains?
o How many birdbaths?
o How many arches?
o How many birdhouses?
o How many wooden plant barrels?
o How many wagon wheels?
o How many frogs?
o How many geraniums?

Behind the Gate Hunt:
o A duck in a cage in a tree
o A loft bed
o A cow family
o A chicken coop
o Little red Adirondack chair
o 2 blue chairs
o 2 green frogs
o A dwarf in a swing
o A large mushroom
o Owl in a tree
o A light green and blue polka-dotted mushroom
o 2 bear benches
o A child’s stove
o An old real stove
o 4 angels praying

Little black bear is found. This spot marks where a dog died and is buried.

Jackson finds the wild man with the marble green eyes. Can't you see the resemblence between them? :)

Off to look for more.