Busy Bees

There is a reason for the saying “busy as a bee”.  Did you know that bees have to visit millions of blossoms just to make a very small amount of honey?  They fly 15 mph and queen bees can lay as many as 2000 eggs everyday!  In one hive there can be 20,000-60,000 bees.  These bees literally work themselves to death.   The worker bees life in total is only a couple of weeks.  Last Friday we went to the Drakes home.  Their youngest child, Brighten, is a beekeeper.  She told us all about the the life cycle of bees.  She showed us her bee suit.  She explained that most bee suits as well as the bee boxes are white because bees hate dark colors, it makes them mad.  She also showed us one of her empty hives.  Each box holds 8-10 trays for honey collection.  Every hive has only one queen bee and 300-3,000 male drone bees for mating in addition to all the worker bees.  She explained to us how she got the honey from the trays.  First she scraps the wax from the top.  Then, she puts the tray in an extractor and it spins around and the honey flings to the slide.  She puts it in a bucket with a spout at the bottom and then fills jars.  She sells her pint size jars for $7 each and always sells out quickly.  She calls her honey blackberry honey because the bees in her area mostly get pollen from blackberry bushes.  Lastly, she uses the bees wax by heating and straining several times and pours it into molds to cool.  She can use the bees wax to make candles, lip balm or lotions.  Her presentation made me want to raise bees because I could earn good money.  I was surprised that such a young girl could do it and by how much she knew.  – Maddy

Astronomy Tuesday

On Tuesday night my family and some friends went to a star party in Colfax.  A man named Don Machholz, also called the Comet Hunter, let us come to his home where he has an outdoor observatory.  He has two very large telescopes and giant blue binoculars.  He also had invited his friend from Auburn to come with his telescope.  The five main things we saw were Venus, Mars, Saturn, US Space Station and the moon.  We also saw a couple stars including a double star.  It was better than I thought it would be because the telescopes were much larger than I imagined.  I could see better than I thought I would.  My favorite thing we looked at that night was the moon because you could actually see the craters and the dark-side of the moon.  Another one of my favorite things was seeing Saturn because you could see the rings.  It was amazing!  I learned where some of the planets are in the sky but that they are always moving and so are we. -Brayden

Foraging

Today we went a a nature hike in Folsom with a man named Stephen Nix.  This man is an expert in foraging.  Foraging is when you pick or collect food from nature.  As we walked along the trail he told us and showed us about the plants around us and if they were edible.  I personally enjoy the Lemon Balm because I loved the smell.  I collect some to bring home and dry for making tea.  I also collected some mustard seeds that I am going to plant as well as some pineapple weed.  I am going to try to make some tea from this as well.  He says it is like chamomile.  I learned that a special butterfly only lays eggs on one certain kind of plant that we saw.  I tasted a flower that tasted like broccoli and I tasted a mint leaf.  He pointed out that most of the plants live near the water and are bigger and more lush there.  Many plants also can help with medical problem.  Mushrooms can be deadly if you each wrong ones like the Destroying Angel and Death Cap.   After the hike we went to a nearby park and ate lunch.  Overall, the hike was very interesting.  -Maddy

Journey to the Moon

Last Friday we went to the Challenger simulator at the Sacramento Discovery Museum.  When we arrived we had to choose what teams we would be on.  My mom was by herself on the Isolation team.  Me and my dad were on the Navigation team and Maddy and Brayden were on the Probe team.  After we got our team assignments we went in a large room and they explained to us what we would be doing.  Next, we prepared to board the “space craft”.  We put on vests and Maddy and Brayden got white lab coats.  Once “on board” we went to our stations.  We had to follow a book of instructions to see what to do next.  Maddy and Brayden were assigned to a private room.  They had to fix a probe and get the information from it.  It looked very cool.  Dad and I had to find a spot on the moon to land by looking at a map and using coordinates to decide on a flat spot.  We put a sticker next to the spot that we thought would be good to land on.  My mom had to control a robot arm to measure the weight of bottles of chemicals.  About half way through the evening we switched rooms to be in the “Mission Control” room.  In that room my mom worked on a computer to collect information or data about the size of meteoroids.  My dad and I had to change the direction of the space craft while in orbit.  We had to test everything and check the temperature of the moon.  Everyone clapped for the navigation team because we had chosen a good spot in the flat lands to land.  Maddy and Brayden were telling the other team how to connect the wires.  Everyone cheered because we landed safely on the moon.  I learned that 7 astronauts had died in a space craft because it blew up on take off.  Now there are 48  Challenger similators in memory of the 7 people.  This trip was really fun and educational and I would like to do it again.  – Gracie

Last of the Missions

The last part of our mission trip was on Saturday, April 7 2012. The first mission we went to that day was Mission San Francisco De Asis. When we arrived we went inside for the tour, this mission was not my favorite, but it still was really interesting. For a visitor tip I would tell you to not be confused which building is the mission, because right next door is a big old looking church that looks like a mission. So if you ever go to the San Francisco mission, the mission is the small building next to the large church. The next and last mission we went to is Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma. We ran in right when the last tour was over, but the nice tour guide gave us a quick overview of the mission and some visitor tips which are: Don’t forget to look at the soldier barracks next door and go watch the film of the mission in the theater, so we did. Finally, our mission trip came to an end. All of us were sad it was over,  but also exited to tell our friends about our adventure to the missions of California, and if you are looking for an adventure, the El Calmino Real is just the thing you are looking for.  – Brayden

Is It Carmel or Caramel? Carmel!

It is starting to get hard to remember which missions we visited each day.  Yesterday we visited San Miguel (drive by), San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo and mission San Juan Bautista.  When we first drove up to the mission in Carmel we noticed it was very crowded and we had to park down the road a bit.  We realized that it was Good Friday and they were having a mass which caused the museum and store to be closed.  We did get to explore the courtyard with its gardens and large fountain.  The wind was blowing the water from the fountain into our faces.  The sculptures and statues were very old and amazing.  We sat in the garden and listened to the music coming from the basilica and enjoyed the scenic view. Drove along a small road along the ocean and saw beautiful home that were very expensive.  Many were unique styles, story book like.  After stopping at a Costco for lunch we drove to San Juan Bautista.  Upon arriving at the mission everything looked very quite.  We found out that the mission was closed due to Good Friday.  We were only able to walk around the outside but it had a nice view.  We did learn that this mission has the largest church and was built on the San Andreas fault.  It was called the mission of music because the Indians were taught to play all sorts of instruments here.  We drove to San Francisco from there.  It was named after John the Baptist.  We parked down by the wharf and walked along to waterfront exploring the shops and enjoying the many interesting things to see from street artists to sea lions.  We ate dinner at the end of Pier 39 at Bubba Gumps.  We stayed the night at the Westin St. Francis at Union Square.  Headed home tomorrow.

Behind Bars at the La Purisima Mission

Yesterday we went to three missions: Santa Barbara (drive by only), La Purisima, and San Luis Obispo.  First we went by dad’ s old house in Santa Barbara  that he lived in until he 10.  He showed us his old school, church and where he used to play.  We drove up La Purisima mission in Lompoc.  At first we thought it would be boring because we only saw one small building but it turned about to be  quite an adventure.  The tour guide let us climb up and explore behind roped off areas and behind bars.  We even got to climb the steep stairs and ring the bell in the tower.  Interesting to note that the flooring in sacristy was the original flooring to 1820.  Our guide let Gracie and Brayden ring the bells on a wheel in the chapel used during Communion (sacrament).  We were even lucky enough to see three baby California Horned Owls in a window opening .  They were so cute!  This was the first mission we went that also had livestock: turkey,chicken, pig, goat, burro, goat, horse and a bull with big horns.  Travel tips :  wear good walking shoes that you don’t mind getting dusty while walking on the original El Camino Real road that go through the mission.  Also, make sure to ask for tour guide Jerry Hernandez, he will give you the tour of a lifetime!  In the late afternoon we finally arrive at the mission in San Luis Obispo.  There were many Indian artifacts to see and explore in the museum.  An interesting fact is that this was the first mission to use tile for roofing because the flaming arrows from the Indians kept burning the thatched roof used initially.  There wasn’t as much to see at the mission but it is still an active Catholic church. Travel tip: be sure to bring coins to throw in the wishing well and feed the parking meter.  We went to pizza for dinner and stayed there for two hours watching the Kings vs Clippers game.  After dinner we went swimming at our hotel.  When we first jumped in the water we thought we would only stay in the water for a few minutes because it so cold but ended up staying for an hour and a half because we got use to it and there was a hot tub.  Another fabulous day along the El Camino Real:)

Mission Impossible

Disc golfing, driving, mission and movies!  We couldn’t leave San Diego without a little disc golf at Balboa Park.  Although we had to pay a fee for playing it was a good course and Carter and Brayden played well especially the last couple holes.  As is typical, unfortunately, there was a lot of smoking, foul talking, drinking, smelly guys:(. After disc golfing we drove a couple hours to our next destination.  We should not have trusted our gps because it took us the long way around a lake and over a curvy mountain road an extra hour.  Our destination was the mission San Juan Capistrano, the jewel of the missions.  The grounds were beautiful and the audio tour was extremely insightful.  We especially enjoyed the story about the bells and how they were used to signal many different things in the town.  After leaving the mission, we headed towards Ventura but were caught in traffic on the 405. We decided to stop and see a movie instead of contending with the traffic.  We saw “Mirror, Mirror”.  We really liked it but it was a little different than the Disney version.  Here is our favorite quote from the movie, “We all have magic within us but few discover it and use it wisely”.  We arrived late to our hotel to a disgusting smell.  When we asked at the desk about the smell they said it was the local agriculture.  We had a good nights sleep regardless. Despite the long curvy roads, traffic and smell we all had a good.

Conquering Fears and Fun!

We started fresh and rested but were exhausted by the end of the day.  The first thing we did was to go to the San Diego de Alcala mission.  My mom made us little booklets to write down things we saw and learned at the missions we would be visiting including counting bells, arches, crosses and fountains.  There were a lot to count.  My favorite part was the gardens because there were so many beautiful flowers.  I also liked the large fountain because you can make a wish and throw coins in.  After that we went to Balboa Park to visit the science center and natural history museums but it was so crowded that we didn’t stay long.  We did, however, get to watch a magic show outside.  Next, we drove out to Coronado Island and got lunch.  The beach was beautiful and the hotel lovely.  We got ice cream before leaving the island at Mootime Creamry.  After Coronado we went to Belmont Park.  My dad had bought a package on groupon to do laser tag, arcade, sky ropes and rock climbing. We all got wrist bands and went in the laser tag and laser maze.  I liked both these activities.  Then we played some arcade games, my favorite was Deal or No Deal.  Next we went to the sky ropes.  We were put into  harnesses and hooked to a rail above our heads.  We walked up stairs to a ropes courses about 20 feet in the air.  I was terrified at first but by the end I was pretty much pro!  Lastly, we went to the rock climbing.  I was tired and my arms were sore by the end.  What a great day!  -Gracie

Marching Through the Mormon Battalion

After a long boring car drive to San Diego from Salt Lake City, Utah we went to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in Old Town San Diego.  When we got there we started with the tour.  The first room had pictures of people from the Mormon Battalion on the wall.  The missionary leading the tour began talking about the people in the pictures then the people in the pictures started to talk and move around.  Some of us were startled!  They told us that they were going to tell us their story and then walked out of the pictures. We followed the missionary into another room where it seemed to be a campsite in Iowa.  They told the story of how they got called by the government to march to California to fight in the war with Mexico.  The soldiers came and asked for 500 men.  They didn’t want to but after their prophet, Brigham Young, told them it was an answer to prayer and the Lord would protect them and their families they agreed.  The money they would be paid was a lot and would help them and their families get across the plains.  Then we moved to another room decorated like a building in Fort Leavenworth.  They were promised if they were faithful they would never have fight in the war.  I got chosen to model a soldiers uniform.  Next we moved in a room that looked like a campsite along the trail.  At one point the lights went dark and it looked like a starry sky. Before we left that room a rumbling sound and vibration through the benches was heard and felt.  After we moved to the final room they told us that bulls had rushed on the camp.  The troops made it to the ocean and the promise was fulfilled that they didn’t have to fight, the war was over.  At the end we took a picture and panned for gold.  After this we walked to a restaurant and had a great Mexican dinner.  I learned that you can do anything with God ‘s help.