Wednesday, May 17, 2006

"Mama's Taking us to the Zoo..."

So, we had to drive to Orange County to complete selling the car today, and I didn't want to waste the opportunity to do something out that way if we were spending the gas anyway. We didn't have a lot of time however, as Papa needed to get back to work after the appointment to sell the car.

I decided to take the boys to the Santa Ana Zoo. It's the kind of zoo that you can easily do in an hour (especially since we have been before), and with our reciprocal benefits from The Living Desert it was only $6 total for us to get in. Even on a day when we didn't have time for traditional schooling we did something educational (and fun!). This zoo is a lot different from The Living Desert in that they have lots of monkeys and apes, as well as a wallaby! The boys were sad that the bald eagle wasn't on display; they have one that suffered a gunshot wound to one wing and is unreleasable. We did see a hawk and a couple of owls.

Afterwards we went to the Native Foods Cafe in Costa Mesa. We have now visited 3 of their 4 locations. I think this was my favorite so far, with its yurt-inspired architecture. I tried a French dip, which is funny as I have never had a beef one, so I couldn't really tell you how a vegan one compares. It was okay, not as yummy as a Hollywood bowl, but since I am making those from the cookbook this Saturday I decided to try something new.

It was a really nice day; when we got home it was 94 degrees. If Papa hadn't needed to go back to work I would have packed a cooler and our beach gear.

The boys insisted on quiet time even though we got home later than usual, and they want to play with their tangram cards that arrived Monday. We got some great books from Amazon too, but no Enki.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like you guys had a terrific day! Are you guys Vegan or do you just like the food there? It's nice to read about how things are going out in CA, we will be in La Jolla for a bit this summer, we love it there!!!

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  2. We're oddly mostly vegan. My youngest is gluten-free and after a tough few months of gluten-free and vegan we decided to bring in organic free-range eggs from a local farmer (and the egg production is a side thing, so they don't have thousands of chickens, and they truly free range in a huge area). DS needed the protein to help heal his gut, and it makes baking so much easier. I've recently discovered that I also react to gluten.

    But most days I am vegan, along with DH and my oldest. When we are out DH and DS#1 will occasionally eat fish (maybe once a month).

    As for the lifestye parts of being vegan, we have lots of wool to use up, and I'm not completely happy with synthetics as they come from non-renewable resources. So I guess eventually I will have to find wool from very happy sheep.

    I do love the food there, and love knowing that I don't have to worry about hidden dairy (DS#1 and I are both allergic) or factory-farmed eggs. They also use organic produce whenever they can.

    Maybe we can meet you somewhere when you go to La Jolla!

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  3. We arent vegan but do have gluten issues we are trying to address. We are fully organic now which is great, of course that doesnt count when we go to other people's homes or out to dinner (pizza on birethdays etc). We decided to raise our own chickens for the eggs, and the third grade experience for Greyson. It is great and they are fully organic and free ranged based on their yard size and the small number of them. We also have a large organic garden we are working on this year. I was able to get a large amoun (10 cubic yards) of organic soil to start us off and our seeds are all certified too, so hopefully we will get our own produce soon enough. I love it and I love how much my kids are into it. They ask, "is this organic" and such! LOL Diet is becoming more and more a focus in our home, meaning nutrition not losing weight :-) although.....
    I will let you know when our trip is scheduled, we visit my Mom out there so its up to her schedule, she gets pretty jammed with summer guests. :-)

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  4. Gas is always an issue, but I think there is at least one other Enki user in the San Diego area, so it could be an Enki meetup. There were two families using Enki in that area, but I think one moved.

    Are you on the Anchor Community email list? That's where many of the Enki users went when the old discussion list was shut down. It's mostly dead now, but some people will answer questions and there are a few months of archives.

    There are a few Enki users on the Waldorf at Home email list, and one or two at www.amitymama.com

    In a perfect world there would be a way for us to be 100% vegan and still not use synthetics, eggs, etc., but this isn't a perfect world. Nothing is bloodless - even the harvest of fields kills small animals.

    Your garden sounds cool! We were going to put one in this year, but we put it on hold. If I wait long enough I guess it would be part of the 3rd grade farming block.

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  5. How do I get on the Anchor site? Or can I? I was thinking about asking Beth if we could start a yahoo group for those who use Enki but have kids beyond the age range of her available materials, just so we arent all out here in the dark, earching for ways to build a curriculum on our own. I know people have great ideas, I just want to know them. :-)

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