No matter how many photos I take of these mountains, I never really seem to truly capture their beauty or the sheer size of them. The light at about 5.30 pm is amazing. It is soft and pink and you can picture it falling over the whole of California. Maybe it's the smog coming up from LA. It is a similar light that I remember in India. It really is breathtaking. I love to just pull up in the a chair at about this time of the evening and watch the light move across the mountains ( maybe with a little glass of wine).

This house certainly provides some alternatives to watching TV! 

Well Lee, Chris and Ava have headed off to Washington and suddenly it feels like we are no longer in holiday mode, although Tobie and Hazel are floating in the pool, Ailee, Lucinda and Phemie are playing in the tree house and Daryl has just walked through the back gate at 4.15. So I'm not complaining, it's just that we had such a great time with them. 

I spent another morning at the "nursery", Hazel's orientation is taking a little longer than anticipated although getting clobbered by a broom today didn't help. Tobie is having a great time with Miss Sally and the girls are always on a real high when I pick them up from school with plenty to report. Phemie is a little stressed about having to knit a pair of socks on four needles ( don't blame her), but apart from that the girls always get into the car with stories of funny kids that make them laugh, fun in the play ground and yes for all those skeptics, homework that they more than happy to do. Despite the ridiculous amount of driving that I have to do and believe me everyone hears about it, I think the experience of this wonderful little school is worth it. And to be honest, the scenery is pretty spectacular no matter where you are and I am rarely without my Starbucks "tall latte with an extra half shot please". 

Seeing as I had to make a donation to the cause just to get a photo, I thought I better pop in on my blog. Hope that's OK with you Dr Kush! Must say, Venice beach is quite unusual, nice to ride through on a sunny day but not sure I would want to live there.

Woops I seem to be following my own blog..how do I delete that?

Back in Santa Barbara. Returned home tonight after a school meeting, stepped out of the car, had to take a picture. This photo doesn't do the view justice. Always makes me think of the Hotel California album cover....or as Chris says, a Hang Ten t-shirt.

On Sunday we decided to hire bikes and ride from Santa Monica to Venice Beach. After the usual carry on about what bike would suit who, we headed off along the beach track  enjoying the sunshine and sites of this famous LA shoreline. 

I have to say I do love Disneyland and I refuse to believe that the next time I go back there might be with my grandchildren. I literally do walk around with a smile on my face ( for most of the time), just soaking up the atmosphere of the "happiest place on earth". You rarely hear parents screaming at their children despite the long queues, soaring temperatures and crowds. And when things do get a little hot and bothered well you just step into line for "It's a small World", and let yourself drift through the loveliest, most innocent ride of all as you hum along to that much loved tune ( get that Saddam doll outta there Jon Saffron, you should be ashamed of yourself!). 

I truly did feel sad as we wandered out of the park close to midnight on our last evening, wondering to myself, is that it? Was that the last time I would watch my daughters stare up Tinkerbell sailing over the turrets of that famous castle, mesmerized by the most beautiful display of fireworks I've seen since Jeff and Clayton's wedding. Luckily I think Daryl feels a little bit the same so until next time...dreams come true. Ohhh....

Yes it really is Disneyland even though I missed the sign by a few inches! The excitement was mounting, the head count was still ten, lets go!

Heading off to Disneyland this afternoon after school pick up. I can't believe how excited I am. Good news, Tobes seems to have stopped vomiting! Hopefully she hasn't passed something foul around. Meeting Lee, Chris and Ava in Anaheim tonight. 

September has come around again and we say goodbye to Spring in Australia and" hi there" to Fall in California. We are situated in the foothills of Santa Barbara, about and hour and a half north of Los Angeles, surrounded by mountains and ocean.

Our daughters have happily settled back into the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara, bringing home their "old" friends as though we had never left. It feels more familiar every time, the road up the mountain, the places I stop to get coffee, the organic market across from school where I grab a few things for dinner on my way home, the woman in the knitting shop ( should say "yarn shop"), who knows me as that woman with all the little girls. But this blog in a lot of ways is a letter home, home to where my friends are gathered in the mornings over coffee, and I miss that a lot. But it is three months in this beautiful place where deer literally walk through the garden, where the sunlight at about 5.30 across those mountains just stops you in your tracks, where the girls pack little baskets each morning with their lunch and napkins and their knitting, and where on Sundays we just lie around all day together and only get in the car once if we feel like ice cream or a sunset drink on the beach. 

Mind you, the kids still drive us crazy, we still have to deal with nits and tantrums and "what's this" when I serve dinner, and husband stressed at work and me just wanting "five bloody minutes to finish this row", and tummy aches and spills in the rental car, and "who broke this? or "who did that? But for the next three months we will do it all from here.