Happy Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our wonderful Duckling! 

The Quest for the Mermaid Gem

This was a crazy summer and fall. So I'm doing a massive post, lots of photos and video.

We got annual passes for both Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (hhpz.org) and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Her two favorite places in the world.

So nearly every weekend, we have done one or both. Exhausted mommy and mama. Meanwhile, she's grown from just barely big enough for the little rides, to tall and fearless enough for the roller coaster at Happy Hollow.

























About a month ago, we went to Sacramento to say our farewells and share memories of my much beloved grandma Flossie. Aurora summed up the emotions of the weekend well.

We stayed in a hotel with a pool, so Mommy and her Duckling practiced swimming.At first she was quite reluctant. But by the end of the lessons, had paddled back and forth (with assistance from her floats and I.)

As we headed upstairs to change, she started talking about "needing to find my Mermaid Gem."

When we asked what that was, she looked at us somewhat exasperatedly and said "Its a magic gem to make me splash like a mermaid so I can swim better."

The story kept growing. Eventually we realized this was fast becoming a quest.

So I bought a few things. A green faceted round crystal ball, some purple ribbon, some "mermaid tears" beads, a small pirate treasure chest with a tiny lock, a 6" brass/leather spyglass, and some plastic gold coins. (Thanks Amazon Prime!)

Our friends helped play along. Our dear friends the Y-Js from Seattle "found" the map I made during their drive down.

I was repeatedly told to warn them to watch out for sneaky Swiper the Fox. Our old neighbor "found" the key.

So we read The Map. It was made Dora the Explorer-style, with three places that had to be found/crossed/explored before you could move to the next.

So Sunday found us first driving OVER the Tallest Mountains. (Santa Cruz Mountains

Then we went to the Boardwalk and for the first time, the 3 of us rode above everyone in the Sky Glider. While we were up there, I "saw where the Pink Pirate House is!"

So then we drove to the Pink Pirate House. Which is actually our friends' house in Santa Cruz. Hillary and her dad (who was visiting his new grandkids) dressed up as pirates for when we arrived.

Once she had established that the pirate in front of her was one of her favorite people in the world, I thought she was going to keel over from the excitement.




So then into the backyard, where she hunted about until she found where X marked the buried treasure.

Then a bit of learning to sword fight after being given a hat and sword. She's a natural.


She loves her Mermaid Gem. And we are all looking forward to lots more adventures!