soledad canyon happenings.

after our two weeks at california state beaches with no hookups, we headed inland for a break at soldedad canyon thousand trails rv park, to clean, do laundry, recover, do some rv upgrades, and so on.

as always, when we find ourselves in less exciting places, we try to have a bit of routine with school.

i’m not sure this kid would make it in a classroom. part one.

99% of the time, they are at each others throats, but every now and then, we have these unicorn moments and it helps me to get through the other 99 moments.

as mentioned in the last post, i did a bit of sewing while we were at this park. unfortunately, the rec lodge didn’t have wifi (well, you had to get a code for each hour), so we busted out the trains, which are always better on a flat surface.

i did all my cutting at the lodge, after i miscut my very first slice on the lumpy picnic table in the wind.

it was also easter time while we were at soledad canyon, so we obviously had a to dye a bunch of eggs that only 2-3 of us will actually eat.

i had tasked derek with getting egg dyeing kits on a grocery trip, and as per his usual, he went over the top, and we literally had more colors than eggs.

while the kiddos concentrated and got to work, i busted out the portrait mode on my phone for some “pretend i’m a professional photographer” photos. so, here’s some action shots of the dyeing festivities.

and. the final masterpieces… hazel insisted on making a brown egg, after a play doh lesson in how to make brown. isaac had a cracked egg in his bunch, which inspired him to crack several more, for artistic purposes. i made one lone rainbow-ish egg. and anna worked on full and total saturation.

anna left several eggs to soak for a few hours, and when we retrieved them, they did not disappoint.

back at the lodge, i sewed quilt squares into rows. (it was too windy to attempt this at the campground, after carefully laying out the squares in a perfectly distributed faux-random layout). anna looked on, asking me one million questions.

the next day, once the squares were in rows, i was able to move the operation back to the campsite, where the wind wouldn’t be as devastating. the view was much better.

well. unless you count this view. this is standard life with hazel.

derek had the rest of the supplies for our solar power upgrade shipped to this park and he spent a lot of time (when he wasn’t working or we weren’t driving off into LA) finishing up this project. the kids LOVED getting up on the top of the camper with him.

just a random pic of my laundry associate.

this kid is starting to do a bit of “school” in her own way. some flash cards here and there. some worksheets made by anna. and her favorite. ipad educational apps. derek just got her a coding game that she LOVES.

in an effort to give derek some quality time working on the solar panels, i took this kids out for dinner. it’s a hard life. here’s their best attempts at a group shot.

two unicorn moments in one campground! busted these two snuggling together, reading an encyclopedia. nerds.

derek finished up the solar and i made sure to get an action shot for him and because the panels look cool. (and i’m currently taking advantage of it while writing this blog post).

and i attempted to get myself back on the stupid keto diet that i hate because i love carbohydrates. it’s much easier when derek makes me these delicious meals.

also. bacon.

part two. this kids would never make it in a sit in a desk all day school environment.

art class. we love to use youtube tutorials to find fun things to draw. this day it was “art for kids hub” and miguel from the movie coco.

i don’t know why anna has judgy eyes. maybe because hazel’s miguel is so awesome.

hazel’s finished artwork.

anna’s unfinished artwork. she refused to color it.

we also made hector (also from coco). here’s mine. 🙂

and hazel’s.

and anna’s. again, uncolored.

on our last night, we hit up walmart to stock up on groceries and necessities for our next three weeks of hookup-less beach life. always so fun with three kids in tow.

and thus concludes my tales of our time at soledad canyon rv park. (it was a terrible park and we will avoid it at all costs in the future).