And It's That Time of Year Again...

Woohoo! It's raspberry picking time! The email finally came from the farm last week, so Daddy Dude graciously drove us up the mountain to pick some berries. I was grateful that everyone filled up their own basket (everyone has to buy one, to enter the raspberry area) - unlike last year!

Here's the obligatory family photo! You'll note the burned area to the left - one year ago, a good deal of Oak Glen burned to a crisp. The area seems to be slowly recovering.

And here's what happens to bad children... =P

It's also this time of year (it seems) that we find these morning visitors by our front door. Scrappers are very familiar with the term "Doodlebug" but did you ever know what they looked like? Doodlebugs are another name for larval antlions (their walking pathways leave trails that look like "doodling")... and this is the adult form here. For those of you looking for more info, you can check it out at Wikipedia. I have a particular fondness for this insect because it was one of the elusive species when I was collecting up in northern California - but they are rather plentiful in southern California.

The girls finally finished the reading program sponsored by the local library. It was a very intensive program, lasting 7 weeks, designed to encourage children to explore their library and get to know what sorts of resources are available. One of the most recent tasks was to find an origami book and make one item. The girls loved the book we got and spent much of the morning trying to make things. Origami instructions can be an interesting challenge, especially when you're a little kid and still getting used to spatial dynamics... I admired their perseverance!

Perhaps the best thing to come out of the reading program (besides the obvious free kid meal prizes - LOVE those, since it means I won't have to cook for another meal!) was learning that the library has a good supply of audio books. I was surprised at how attentive the girls were - although we HAD to listen to them in the car, since we don't have any working cassette players in the house. It must have been years since I used one - I had totally forgotten that each cassette had two sides and the girls started to panic when it took a good awhile for the second side to start playing! We also have to worry about the cassettes melting in the car...

So far they've listened to Ramona Quimby Age 8, Ramona and Her Father, Beezus and Ramona, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Next in line are a collection of stories by Roald Dahl, but they may be leary - they watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory yesterday (the Gene Wilder version, love that one!) and Marika did not like it. I think she was scared! Imagine if I'd shown her the newer version!

And speaking of books... I wanted to recommend a few that I've read over the summer. I really enjoyed The Mermaid Chair (by Susan Monk Kidd), The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder (Rebecca Wells), and Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt).

I decided to pick up Angela's Ashes after reading about the author's obituary last year - I'd heard of the movie, but never seen it. The book is a magnificent gem - he has an interesting writing style (which takes a little while to get used to), but then all you hear is his voice (with an Irish accent, of course), throughout the rest of the book. He had an amazing, colorful childhood and it makes you really appreciate all the things we have now. There are two other books following this one: 'Tis (which picks up immediately where Angela's Ashes leaves off) and Teacher Man, which is about his teaching career. I finished 'Tis yesterday and loved it. Really, the man was an extraordinary storyteller - especially since Angela's Ashes wasn't even published until 1996, when he was already in his 60's!

Next on my reading list: The Red Queen (Philippa Gregory) and Where Men Win Glory: the Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Jon Krakauer). Remember, I'm always looking for reading recommendations for please feel free to send them along! =)