School Supplies for Schools in Need

Part of our mission while cruising is to get school supplies to the schools and students that need them. The school I currently teach at is pretty set when it comes to supplies. We have a generous PTA that helps teachers with classroom needs and our site has an awesome supply closet.

This is NOT the case at every school. I know this, because I have taught at a few schools throughout my career. There were years we didn't have any school-bought supplies, so everything came out of pocket. Hubby was not thrilled about that, but what's a teacher to do? I changed districts after a few years (we moved), and began learning that not all schools are created equal.

When Jared and I were discussing our goals while sailing, one priority is to give back where and when we are able to. Some locations happen to be high tourist traffic areas and get a lot of donations. Our goal will be to help out the less fortunate schools, perhaps those off the beaten path.

This weekend while running errands, I noticed a huge sale on school supplies. The teacher in me made a huge beeline over to that aisle and stocked up on some great stuff, all at 70% off! I may or may not have also cruised the summer clearance aisle and bought a wading pool for some S.T.E.M. activities...

The supplies I purchased today are going in my class store (and some in the boat pile), which I started back at a school that had a high homeless population. The class store is held monthly and allows students to buy school supplies with their class dollars (their income comes from class jobs, attendance, and their own class businesses). I use the classroom economy to teach my students how to keep a balanced checkbook, plan for expenditures, save up for items, and in general, be responsible with their money. They also learn how to be entrepreneurs. It's a lot of fun and the kids really get into it! Bake sales, thrift shops, duck-tape wallets, origami, crafts, auctions, desk cleaning services...the list goes on. Even the parents like to get involved. Having fun while learning--what I like to do best!

~Stef

Feast of Lanterns

At the end of summer, our town holds the Feast of Lanterns. It is an annual celebration, over 100 years old, of the legend of the Blue Willow, a fabricated "Chinese" story.
From the Feast of Lanterns site: 

"Long ago in far off Cathay, a land now called China, there lived during the reign of Emperors a wealthy Mandarin named T'so Ling. His land holdings were vast and fertile, and his treasures beyond counting. His palace was built of fine woods and rich lacquers with a roof of blue tile that gleamed in the sun, and a handmade fence that ran below the palace. Behind the palace grew an orange tree, and beside the palace ran a river with a graceful willow that gave shade in the heat of the day.

Of all T'so Ling's possessions, his beautiful Princess daughters with their jewel names were his greatest joy. The Mandarin delighted most in his eldest daughter, Koong-se, who he named Topaz, so named for the golden lights that twinkled from her eyes. Topaz passed her days in a summerhouse that leaned over the rippling water, where she did elegant embroidery on silk while listening to tales of old Cathay as told by her faithful nurse, Chun Soy.

T'so Ling thought Topaz so lovely that he wished to crown her as Queen. A coronation ceremony was planned, and all the princes, potentates, maharajahs and lords of the realm were invited to attend the coronation. One of the old Mandarins brought a chest of gold so impressive that T'so Ling thought this rich man would make a fine husband for his daughter Topaz. T'so Ling made plans to combine the coronation with a marriage feast.

Topaz heard this news and became quite despondent, for she had fallen in love with a poor, young scholar called Chang. Hearing of this, T'so Ling forbade his daughter to marry Chang. Topaz wandered off into the dark to drown herself. T'so Ling alerted the villagers to search for Topaz with lighted boats and lanterns. During the search Topaz and Chang reunited. In a final burst of lights, Topaz and Chang were illuminated as they changed into Monarch butterflies and escaped into the sky.

The pageant, which takes place on the last night of the Festival, tells the story in pantomime and ends with a burst of fireworks overhead as the lovers are seen for a brief moment departing in the guise of Monarch butterflies."

We love to anchor out in the bay to watch the show and lovely display of fireworks. Also, to avoid the huge crowds that cram themselves onto the beach. We often bring out friends, food, and have a lot of fun. This year, we truly had a boat load of people on board! =)

Fun times!

Glow sticks are lots of fun! Plus, a great safety hack for keeping track of the kiddos.

View of the shore.

Sleepy time. The kids were worn out after a fun evening out on the bay!
The wagon in this pic is AWESOME. We use it for just about everything (walks to the grocery store, hauling beach or boat gear, and even sleeping kiddos!)

Busy Times!

We are in the middle of construction! Working on the home addition, while working full time and maintaining our sailing preparation to-do list has kept us pretty busy. Hence, lack of posting on the block. Believe me, I have a few posts in the works, but have to find the time to get them all completed!

Yesterday, one of my students brought me a bouquet of pencils. In type on each pencil was a different saying. The one that I took out to use had this on it: "GET IT DONE". I took that as a sign, I had better start getting posts up on the blog! =)

Just some of the things we have been up to (beach time, horseback riding, school, etc):

Boat Shopping!

Passage Across the Monterey Bay!

Our passage from Monterey to Capitola! This happened back in July, however, with the start of school and family birthdays, needless to say we were a bit busy! =)

Jared and I had been talking about making the passage across the bay for awhile now. In addition to waiting for the right time to do it, and good weather conditions, summer  over on the CA coast, is sketchy. Fog is ever-present, so we decided to just go for it.

The passage over was foggy and cold. The kids mostly stayed below playing games with occasionally coming up top to look for wildlife. We monitored our progress using a navigational app on the ipad. When traversing the trench, we noticed the swell was much calmer. We sailed between close-hauled and a beam reach.

En route to Capitola (about a 3.5-4 hour sail due to lack of adequate wind):

Our solar charger worked well despite the foggy conditions!

Arrival to Capitola (mooring balls only, no anchoring or slips):

Once we were tied to the mooring ball, we hailed the water taxi (didn't have the dingy this trip) and went ashore to find some dinner. Imagine our surprise when the guy told us that he stops running the taxi at 6pm! It was 5:30pm when we arrived, so we had to get dinner to go.

The kids made friends right away! There was a group of kids fishing off the pier, so naturally ours had to join in the fun!

The rest of the evening was spent fishing, sipping hot cocoa, and enjoying the time on the boat. The next morning, we ventured to shore to find some breakfast.

We left Capitola around noon after fishing for a bit and made it back to Monterey by 4pm. We had a few patches of sun for our return passage, which was nice.

Arriving back to Monterey (in the fog):

This was a great experience for us, as it was another passage under our belts. The kids and the dog did very well. =)

~S