As 2006 Draws to a Close

...we are unearthing ourselves from the barrage of Christmas paper and putting batteries in all the new gear that requires batteries. Placide (Melissa's mother) was visiting and we had a wonderful time.

A few days before (Winter Solstice), Marc and Nicolas graduated to belts of Solid Blue in Taijutsu and Melissa moved to Blue/White Stripe (one belt below Marc and Nicolas). Now we are on training vacation until after the New Year holiday.



The day after Christmas, we headed out to the Reagan Library with about 50,000 other people. The Christmas trees from around the world were a beautiful display and of course, Air Force One was a HUGE hit. Here we are on our way....



So Mom is on her way back to Florida and we are digging out from under the barrage of wonderful presents. Our household received an iRobot Roomba, so we are playing with it and training it to clean the rugs and floors. It's really not a time-saver at the moment; we spend so much time watching it and "tricking" it.



We are looking forward to the rest of the week being quiet and playing with all of our new toys (and making room for all the new stuff!).


We'll post again soon!

~~Melissa

Winter Holidays 2006

How did the Holidays sneak up on us again?!? It’s not like they should be a surprise or anything! “Oh, look, Martha…there’s a new holiday this year on the calendar!”

The kids are great! Shannon is about to enroll in a dance class. She LOVES to sing and dance and is so very expressive. She has *quite* a determination and focus.

Check out the photo below…what a ham! Marc nearly choked when he saw it. The blinding flash twelve years into the future was just too much to bear.

Nicolas officially began attending a very exclusive private school this year. He LOVES it and just ADORES his teachers. We are fairly certain that Shannon will have a similar experience. (We are our own private school = homeschool.) He had a great soccer season, a great coach, an awesome team and for his last game, he was full of team spirit.

He will be starting the New Year attending a Shakespeare class with kids of all ages. I have no idea what play they will do, but he CAN’T WAIT! (Especially if it involves any type of swordplay.) He also wanted to take chess and fencing classes, but there wasn’t enough time this time around.

Melissa rides a sweet paint mare named “Bella”, owned by friend Cathy. Cathy also has a thoroughbred gelding, ex-police mount named Toby. Bella and Toby arrived in California from Ohio in February with Cathy and her family. Bella was carrying a bit more weight than was necessary or healthy. She needs regular exercise to keep trim and conditioned. Cathy and Melissa try to ride as often as possible which is at least every Saturday. The local orchards and close national park space provide plenty of shade and miles of trails to explore.

Marc, Melissa and Nicolas have been working on a black belt program in Taijutsu. Shannon will join us when she turns four. Sensei Woodard (a real-life Ninja) has a fantastic Leadership Program that is in perfect alignment with our family’s goals for the immediate and long-term future.

We are feeling the miles between all of us particularly during this time of year. The time difference often prevents us from “reaching out and touching someone” (well....that, and the potential lawsuits!). But hopefully you all know that we think of you often and send virtual hugs.

We'll close with this latest photo. We send you all lots of love.

~*~ Happy Holidays ~*~

SuperStars 2006 - Final Score - Who Knows????

Soccer Season in Moorpark is over.

Shannon says: Good! I can finally take a nap!

The season was great. Nicolas had a blast and ended the season with a great show of team spirit. (Actually, Mom is finally happy to be rid of that weird can of spray hair color). The SuperStars, Brandon, Ryan K., Sean, Quinton, Ryan H., Nicolas, Anthony and Jake all did exceptionally well. They played some awesome games and some not so great games. But they all had fun and we are sad to see the season end (in some respects).

Now we are all going to have a nap--until such time as the shopping season begins.

Cheers! ~~Melissa

Mo ichido....onegai shimas

"One more time.....please assist me". Learning japanese is part of our ninjitsu training. Counting to ten is a daily part of the routine. When we haven't practiced enough, it's tough to remember what the word for "ten" is!!

Here is the Z family with Sensei Matthew Woodard (he's a real "ninja"!) at our most recent belt graduation. Nicolas and Marc went from Yellow/Black Stripe to Blue/White Stripe and Melissa went from Yellow to Yellow/Black Stripe. (Melissa has just been invited to "fast track" to catch up to Nicolas and Marc. It won't really be "fast", but it will take a good amount of sweat.)

Shannon just goes for the cookies. She will start her training when she turns 4 years old. For now, she sits and watches during our training. She has practiced at home with us a bit and she has excellent form. It has been a tremendous boost for all of us in so many areas of our lives (all of the important ones!).

{{Special thanks to Jane Wolfe for this photo}}

Yep...Time for an update

Look at the lawn! We finally have success in having a nice yard (such as it is--we have a nice view.) Daddy worked so hard on it and I know all of our East Coast people who have not been out yet will choke on the size of it. Believe it or not, it's average around here and we are happy to have it.

Soccer ends in a few weeks and Taijutsu is in full swing. Daddy, Boy and Mama just received their newest belts at graduation on October 27. (When Auntie J sends us the photos, we'll post them!)

We joined a local homeschool group and discovered this fantastic family that lives a few houses down our street! We have a lot of similarities and look forward to spending lots of great days together. There is a LOT of Star Wars play and they have this really cool gopher snake!!!! Also, as part of the group, Boy will have a great opportunity to act in one of Shakespeare's plays (the mother of our neighbors coordinates it, so her kids will do it and then so will mine! This is fantastic peer pressure!)

We are busy, busy, busy playing with Legos and discussing Harry Potter, the planets (WHY did they demote Pluto???) and sharks and the Civil War (we can hear the cannon fire from the yearly re-enactment of key battles in the Civil War at a local farm just over the ridge) and listening to music such as Bach and Grieg ("Hall of the Mountain King" and "Air"--Thanks to Disney's "Little Einstein's" TV show).

Boy is READING!!! Everything and anything--The back of the snack truck, the countless numbers of catalog that are piling up in anticipation of Christmas shopping, all of the labels in the grocery store and even the weekly local newspaper! Mama is reading Call of the Wild and White Fang by Jack London and Daddy is reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Mama is also reading a book about Winston Churchill. We are reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling to Boy and occasionally, when she isn't tortuing Boy for some reason, Girl will sit and listen, too. She will also be training in taijutsu when she turns 4, she never sits so quietly during the hour long classes, two or three times a week. She loves to dance and we are going to find a town class or two for her to try out.

We have been missing our favorite babysitter who moved to SF a few months ago to start her college career. She was back to visit at the end of September, but we missed her as we were out of town. :( We know she checks the blog and hope she had a great visit. We can't wait to see her next time.

That's about it for now. We'll post more soon.

~Mama

A New Season.....

.....Fire. The smoke and ash drift down upon us covering the car with fine dust. We don't notice it to much on the ground, but we have been outside and it seems to be snowing ever so lightly. The "Day" fire in the Los Padres Forest about 30 miles from us has been burning for more than two weeks. The Santa Ana's were blowing over the weekend and our soccer game was called on account. Standing around (trying not to be blown around, actually) for the team photos was eerie with the view from the field virtually the same as the view to the left here. We have had cooler weather, but we still have the A/C running to clean out the air in the house. The kids are remembering vividly last year's fire and wondering if we will be in danger. I assured them that we are not.

There was a solar eclipse a few days ago, coincinding with the Autumn Equinox and though we weren't able to "view" it over here, the afternoons feel rather eclipse-like with the smoke and ash from the fire. And the sunsets, a lovely brilliant red, remind us that beauty can indeed be deceiving.

Our new homeschool park day seems to be lifting off the ground a bit. It's been rather lonely these past few weeks and I have been painfully reminded that who you associate with is as important as who you become as a person. The lesson of all of this going hand-in-hand and about trusting and boundaries have been front and center, too.

When I first moved out to California, I painted and glazed a ceramic napkin holder (that is still in use today) with the phrase "Keep company with those who make you better". Today, Nicolas read the whole thing with no help. Then he asked be about the phrase and we discussed why it's important to surround yourself with people of quality.

Why are people petty and manipulative? Is it the way of humanity to have to "one better" each other? There are no easy answers to these not-so easy questions.

Last evening, we had an excellent harvest feast with two other wonderful families. The turkey was excellent and the celebration grand. I made up a new green-bean recipe and it was a huge hit. None left (of course, the adults ate them all). And of course, great wine and homemade apple pie......

I spent some wonderful quality time with my sisters and ended the day in gratitude for the circle and cycles of life. Some joy, some pain and balance continuing to be fluid.

Here's a great photo of Girl hanging out at a friend's s soccer game. She had just done her new eye-crossing trick. She can make Boy choke at mealtime when she does it out of the "blue"...(eyes. She has blue eyes. Get it???) She's so sweet and cute, even with that feisty spirit.

Gods help us...........

To the Very Edge....

...Where the Summer Ends. I love Autumn. In New England it's the best. But even here, I've learned to read the sunlight and the wind change. Such a good little witch I am!

My mother recently sent me a CD with some photos of my family (Thanks, Mom!). She knows I have developed a certain passion for geneology (which blossomed when I heard that I am descended from one who was tried for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials) and just enjoy the history of our family.

I was particularly struck by the photo of my mother and her two sisters (the B&W). My daughter very much resembles my mother, the one that looks like the trouble-maker in the middle. Actually....they ALL look like trouble-makers (Love ya, Aunties!)

We are all entering a Leadership Program journey toward Black Belt at our local martial arts studio, Woodard's Todai Dojo. You can see some photos there.

Girl can enter when she is 4 years old, but she accompanies us to class and is the quietest of any while class is in session. (Mr. Woodard thinks she's the cutest thing--and she IS!!!!!) When I get more photos of us in class, I'll post them. In the meantime, did you see the photo of me and my new "do"?

Boy had his first "official" soccer game of the 2006 Season today. He spent some time in the goal and made a save! The SuperStars didn't win this game, but it's only a matter of TIME........

The NFL season has started! Daddy and Mama (and Brother J) are involved in a Fantasy Football League. With the Steelers opening night (even without Big Ben at the QB helm) the Steelers had a great game and with Heath Miller, Cedrick Wilson and Hines Ward on my FFL roster, I didn't do so bad, either!

I can't believe that Toodles will be THREE BIG years old on Monday! Like most mothers, I feel like her birth was "only yesterday!" Thank the Gods that nature makes women forget the pain the second you look in the baby's eyes! Her's are still the bluest BLUE!!! And Boys...his eyes are the EXACT color of his Daddy's.....

Kids are THE BOMB!!!!!!

(yeah, yeah, yeah.....I'm such a goofball). I'm gonna go back to my chic-flick now.

L8R!!! ~Mama

Time Flies like a Hummingbird....

...it's all beautiful when you have the chance to observe it and then....POOF!!..................only the dust is left.

Holy CowFlippers, Batman! I can't believe we haven't updated the blog since mid-June. Two months flew by like Jeff Gordon at Daytona!

We (all of us except Girl) have begun martial arts training. Boy has been wanting to do this for so long and we promised him that when he turned six, he could do it (provided he was still interested). So, we found a "dojo" just down the street where we live, called Todai (Japanese for "lighthouse") and we all really enjoy it. Daddy, Boy and Mama are testing for our next belt level this coming Thursday.

The photo above, incidentally, is not from our current class. Boy attended a birthday party for a friend last year at his studio and this picture was taken then.

The summer has been eventful and enjoyable now that it's cooled off some. As you can see from the photo of Girl, the breeze is blowing nicely on the day she decided to stay in PJ's all day. That same day, I got this great shot of Boy and D jumping off the tree stump together. Summer fun!

Soccer has started, too. Between that and martial arts, I'm glad for the days to rest between evening activities. I'm so glad we are homeschooling. I can't imagine trying to do homework in the middle of all of the rest of that, too!

Our favorite babysitter is off to college (she's the one with the snowflake on her head)! We are so happy for her but we will miss her very much. She is truly a part of the family. She's headed up to SFSU and we are planning a long weekend before the end of the year to head up and see her, take in Alcatraz and maybe pop over to the Wine Country. GOOD LUCK, K-drag!! She also works at one of the local bead stores. With her gone, I'll have less motivation to stop in and spend a gob on baubles to help me make more baubles (the Family Finance Dept. will be very relieved to hear this).

As school all over the country starts, our private school, ZEQ Leadership Academy, has been officially established this year and we'll continue to read, draw, play in the grass and on the less crowded beaches and explore our SoCal world. Museums, here we come! (They are the greatest places in the early afternoon after all the school groups head back out).

More later............

~Mama

The Princess is in court..

These kids are (for the most part) very loving to each other. The Princess Girl shown in the fashionable Cinderella dress was sitting on a "throne" that Brother Boy made with her rocking chair, blankets, a whole bunch of pillows and a giant imagination. They are very sweet... when they're not saying "He said...!" or "She's not...!" or "HE says I'm being BOSSY!" (Yes, Girl has lately taken to calling Boy by a nickname, a practice that is not thrilling to Mama. But he doesn't seem to mind....).

BELL-EE-SEE-MA

1. Gopher update.
2. My "legal" status.
3. Our new acquisitions.
3. Update on Kids
4. WHO is Bella?????

The weather has been FAB-YOU-LUS! It's been just wonderful. 75 degrees and SUNNY! Perfect horse-back riding weather. So, that bringe me right to #4. Here's more details; Bella is a 10 year old Paint mare owned by my friend C. I met C a few months ago when she moved from Cinncinati, OH. C and her partner homeschool their daughter, S-M, who is about Boy's age.

Bella is companion to Toby, C's 19 year old Thoroughbred Gelding. They are boarded just down the street from our home. In fact, the avacado and lemon orchards that are across the street are adjacent to the facility where the horses are housed. It's a private residence with some of the most BEAUTIFUL property I have seen since I have been out here.

Bella was acquired a few days before C and her family moved. The horses have had the stress of the move from Ohio to California and have also had additional facility moves in the months since they arrived in California. C has generously shared Bella with me and I have been taking my time reacquainting myself with equine, English tack and some of my leg muscles that I haven't visited in some time (since BEFORE children!!!)

I am having an absolute blast with Bella. She is incredibly smart with a strong will. When a firm, but kind, hand is applied, she will try her best to do what is asked of her. When there are carrots, apples or oat cookies involved, she tries even harder. Okay, so that my new "thing". Daddy, in the meantime, is very supportive of my visits to tack shops and the smell of saddle cream and hay permeating the garage. Good preparation for the day we have our very own horses.

Next is Daddy's good news! Ding-dong the gopher is DEAD!! After his appearances in the afternoons when the kids were in the yard and the lack of attention to our methods of persuasion to move on to more accepting realms, I decided that enough was enough. One day when he was bold enough to stick his face out of his hole and pack his little cheeks with grass the kids were feeding him while they were trying to decide on what to name him. I quietly found the gopher "peanuts", sent the kids into the house and distributed my own contribution to his buffet. The kids realized that after my telling them NOT to feed him that what I was feeding him was probably poison and barraged me with petitions of manumission and stays of execution. Anyway, we haven't seen any sign since. So, we can only conclude he has moved on to the "summerland". Feeding special peanuts to the gopher is most definitely against my spiritual beliefs, but my dedication to keeping my kids safe and unbitten by vermin-ridden rodents won out over my worry of judgment from the gods. I mean, it's not like we didn't ask him NICELY to leave, many times.

So, there is some update on the kids. They still wish we could get a hamster or another gopher and this time keep it as a pet ("then it will like us and won't bite us"). Now I just have to figure out how to get them to stop bickering. I've considered things like duct tape (it comes in such pretty colors now) and sewing their mouths shut, but they will manage to figure out ways to torture each other, I'm sure. After all, they will still be able to kick and pinch each other..... can anyone give me a quick lesson on hogtieing??

I am on hiatus from working part time for the law firm. I'll revisit that in September. In the meantime my time has opened up for horses and the peace of trail riding.


What's left? Oh yeah, we bought new bedroom furniture. A "West Coast" King bed and nightstands that match! It will all be delivered tomorrow! I can't wait!

Okay, I have to go get the kids now, whom I finally sent to the rooms for a "Mommy Needs a Time-Out!!!"

~Mama

Licensed... to hunt gophers

Greetings all,
For those that are not aware, I have been involved in the grand project of "restoring the land". These are some pictures of what the yard was like when we moved in as compared to more recently. This process has gone from bramble - > dirt - > grass. Originally we just threw down whatever grass we had in an attempt to get green. Now that I have grass, I've become a grass snob and now dislike the quality of my grass.. go figure. So with the help of a borrowed rototiller (Special thanks to G'Pa and G'Ma Huf for the extra long loan), I've started to re-till the back, planting one consistent type of grass that I like.
So now to the title of this post, for it must have been the transformation of this dead world into the paradise it is becoming, that first attracted the gopher. Now I don't recall having to deal with these guys back east, and other than the movie "Caddyshack", I can't say that I'm familiar with the species at all.
After multiple attempts to, shall we say.. "relocate the gopher to the untouched green fields of the afterlife", I have come to the conclusion that I am in fact dealing with a cartoon gopher.

Let's examine the evidence:

1. I've gassed this guy 4 times and he has survived. Only a cartoon gopher is either smart enough to snuff the wick after I've plugged the hole, or wear his gasmask which he procured from his endless supply of ACME brand products.
   
2. Water. I've sent rivers of water at this guy and yet, he still is around. No doubt he is now the cleanest gopher having dutifully shampooed and washed with every flooding and is the envy of friends and family alike.
3. Non-lethal methods only seem to please him. I got this anti-gopher powder stuff that is made up of dried blood, bone, and chili pepper. I am sure that being a southern California gopher, he likes it spicy, and has been bottling what I've spread around and in his holes.
   
4. He mocks all creatures bigger than him. He pops in and out of his holes, just enough to tease the neighborhood cat or get the kids worked up. This gopher has NEVER shown himself live and in person to me, thereby demonstrating a higher intelligence than a real one since he knows that I'd likely take the rototiller to the spot.
   

So there you go. Conclusive evidence that I am dealing with a cartoon gopher.

The latest attempt to dislodge him from my lands comes in the form of a couple devices that send soundwaves every 28 seconds that gophers find highly irritating. Now this of course will result in two options..

1. The gopher will leave, unable to stand the annoying sound and go on to greener pastures

OR

2. He will undoubtably don his pair of ACME earmuffs and mock me yet again...

Daddy

Boy Bowls into his Sixth Year

Boy's sixth birthday was a bowling bash at his request. A fun time was had by all of the little people and some of the big people too. Even Dad decided to fling a rock down the lane.
Mom actually bowled pretty well for not having done it in such a long time. The big guy had some trouble since as you know if you are a bowler... it just isn't quite right if you can't grip the ball well.
The party was a resounding success and we were bombarded with Legos.
Girl is now planning her party..........

Interim correspondent
Daddy

The Sweetest!

Though it is not an "official" Valentine's Day photo, is this NOT the cutest pair you have ever seen? Okay, okay.... I'm a bit biased, but still??????????

It's been a euphoric few weeks, coming off the Super Bowl win of the "house" team and with the news that my "sister" will be returning stateside very soon.

I've been frantically busy with CHN Legal matters. Will someone give me a good reason why public school districts think they OWN our kids? Okay, don't give me the argument "because they DO", because I will shout a resounding BS! on that play. The issues with the public school districts have been that somehow, once the children are turned over to the public institutions, the only rights the parents have is the right to be pulled into school like their children when the PARENTS aren't behaving as the SCHOOLS think they should. This way of thinking is totally amazing to me. Today's kids are spoiled, bratty, snotty, undisciplined, whiny, unmotivated, watch too much television, don't get enough exercise, go to bed when they "feel like it" and have never felt the sting of discipline on the seat of their "Versace Young" jeans. Holy Guacamole! I've never paid $300 for an outfit (except my wedding dress) and I saw a "dance" outfit on a website somewhere for this amount. I saw three kids at the mall the other day wearing the exact same outfit. They weren't knock-offs.

We live in an affluent, Hollywood bedroom community. One of the local High Schools has so many students, many of them park on the street. Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Escalade, Hummer--I even saw a Maserati in the upper parking lot one day! (I wanted to know what the parking lot contained if the STREET contained so much "cheap" chop-shop bait). There is so much PC jostling that we have lost sight of the goal. My husband and I are raising children who are responsible leaders who can think for themselves. And yes, it sucks when they assert their little wills at 2-1/2 years old and refuse to go to their rooms when they have thrown something across the room in frustration. I pick my daughter up and place her in her room if her feet won't move her there. As a result, my son is outgoing, articulate, talkative and wise. My daughter is following in his footsteps. Why, because we spend TIME with our children rather. We teach them how to go out in the world and find a way to EARN what they want. We don't give them the world.

Most of the children I encounter will claim that they are "entitled" to have the GameBoys, in-car DVD players (on on across town trips), computers and telephones in their room and many of today's parents will give in. That, my friends, feeds the monster.When will it stop?

Thank you to those who are reading this and know who you are, for the feedback you give us, even though you lives thousand of miles away. We love you and are proud to be raising the next generation of your family.

By the way, if you are reading this blog and you don't KNOW me, keep your opposing opinions to yourself. I don't care if you were a straight A student. You'll wind up working for the Bill Gates of the world. And you will probably think you have "earned" the right to his lifestyle.

Think again.

~~Mama

CHAMPIONS!

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Super Bowl XL - Now the Steelers are Livin' Large in Detroit and moving the party back to Pittsburgh.

Wow. Excellent game played by BOTH teams. Of course, our house is very HAPPY with the results. We had a great Super Bowl party with our closest friends (residing in the states).
I received some good news today, a friend who decided to live abroad for a year is returning early. I'm glad. I've missed her very much.

Daddy took a Super Bowl Holiday off from work tomorrow. Yay! I'm off to bed. It's been a long day.

Congratulations, Bill Cowher, the Rooney Family and most importantly the players of the Pittsburgh Steeler team. You guys are AWESOME!!!!!

~~Mama

~~Melissa

1. Take Two Kids and Two Ballooons and you have an afternoon of fun and frolicking.
2. Take a friend I haven't seen in awhile (even though she lives down the street) and add my two adorable kids and we have a KandKid photo op.
3. The two kids having a good moment of love and non-bickering.

We played with the video camera today and got some great shots of "homeschooling" in action.

~~Mama

AF Champs on to SuperBowl XL

CONGRATULATIONS PITTSBURGH STEELERS!

Extra Large? That's how I felt when the Steelers won the AFC Championship. I can only imagine how the TEAM feels.

Second year QB, Ben Rothelisberger (photo top right) took them this far (with a broken thumb, no less) and looks to be able to take them ALL. THE. WAY. It was be a great achievement as long as I've been a fan. They went to the SB in 1996, but didn't win. Coach Cowher deserves a ring. I believe he is a phenomenal leader and mentor. The team is a TEAM. Not collection of Marquee players or smack-talking-nothing-to-back-it-up boneheads.

My favorite player is Hines Ward #86. (Photo top left) The man NEVER stops smiling! He enjoys the game so much and I enjoy watching him enjoy the game. See him up there! I have looked at TONS of online images of Ward. He SMILES in every single shot. He's PLAYING the game!

Good Luck, Bill Cowher and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I hope they retain their offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt after the Bowl. It would be horrible if he went to the Oakland Raiders as is rumored.

Hey, Oakland! Nothing is going to save you!

~~Mama

New Kidlet Photos

I really don't have much to tell about them that wouldn't bore you to tears or make you gag from the sweetness. So, I'll just post a bunch of photos. The last one is just another shot of the Orcas, but I love the color of the ocean in this one.

~~Mama

Thar She Blows!!!!

Boy and I went on a whale watching expedition on Monday, January 16. Our homeschool group got together for this very fun trip. We left out of Ventura Harbor toward Anacapa (photo here) and Santa Cruz, two of the Channel Islands. (Anyone remember the book "Island of the Blue Dolphins"?) It was quite choppy at first and it took a few minutes for Boy and I to get our sea-legs. Boy looked pretty terrified, hanging onto the rail toward the stern (rear) of the boat. I kept asking him if he was okay, (he said that he was!) and the little trooper rode it out until he stopped being dizzy and was able to enjoy the ride. Here he is with his friend, L.


The first creatures we encountered were a pod of Orcas (Killer Whales). These beautiful creatures are so playful and amazing. One was right next to the boat, turned belly up and swam under the boat. Peotry in motion! As we moved off to find other creatures, we realized that several seals were following the pod of Orcas. Now, Orcas like to eat seals, so either they had a death wish or realized that the Orcas were not hungry and better to keep an eye on the enemy than become lunch before one's time!

We were treated to the rare and wonderful sight of a female Pacific Gray whale with a newborn calf! Rare, because these whales are migrating to the warm waters off of Baja California from Alaska to give birth in the saline lagoons and feed. It takes them several months to undertake the journey. Our Captain told us that the mother was very nervous as she was alone and with her baby. Plus, the Orcas were relatively close by and they are a natural predator of juvenile whales. I could not get a good picture because the Grays were so elusive, but it was absolutely breathtaking. We followed them for a bit and then moved off to return to shore.

As we were returning with the sun low in the sky and the b.r.e.e.z.e. (okay, it felt much colder to me than it probably was) blowing in our hair, we encountered a HUGE school of common dolphin. They were playing around the boat and there was a TON of them! They were clicking and calling, surfing our wake and it was magical. This is the only photo I was able to get--The End.

~~Mama