Author: amyewhitelivecom

Da Boys. 

Bixby Bridge. 

The water was an amazing color and really clear. 

Next stop was Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park.    Unfortunately alot of the hiking trails on the East side of Route 1 were closed so we were limited to the west side. 

Stunning!  A waterfall down to the beach.  Paradise found.  Unfortunately there was no way to get down to the beach. 

Since Quinn has become our little naturalist, we thought to bring along his Swiss Army knife and suggested the same for Hayden.  The boys really enjoyed the whittling and we had alot of fun making whittle, funny puns. 

Our next stop was Limekiln State Park.  It was just north of the landslide road closure.  However they decided to close the road above Limekiln just for the day so that they could do some additional clearing.    The road control guy suggested we take a drive up to a hermitage on top of the mountain instead.    The views were gorgeous. 

A whittle more knife work. 

Not a bad spot for a picnic lunch. 

Amy C is finally taller than all of us. 

Next stop is Pfeiffer Beach (not to be confused with Julia Pfeiffer Beach). 

A gorgeous beach but it was very windy and cold. 

I think I had some water or dirt on my lens but I love the sparkle above the key hole in the rock. 

There is a fresh water river that runs in to the ocean. 

Then it was on to Nepenthe restaurant which sits on the side of the mountain with a gorgeous view.  They had a nice outdoor area for the big kids. 

All across California every 4th grade class studies the missions of California.   Each student picks a mission and creates a project based on the mission.  Quinn picked La Purísima Concepción because it was the same one his teacher studied when she was in the 4th grade.  So on our way to Monterey we stopped at La Purisima so Quinn could see it in person. 

Then it was on to Monterey.  We arrived around 5 pm and met the Conrath\’s in Cannery Row for dinner.    The restaurant had an awesome chalk wall where Quinn left his signature. 

An amazing weekend for this great group of kids (although 2 are missing in this pic).  On Friday we left school at 11:30 am to drive to Riverside for the California State Odyssey Tournament. 

These kids had so much fun playing games and hanging out in each others rooms.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning for a 6 am departure.

Their Long Term Performance was at 8:10 am.  Here they are getting ready to go on.  The judges get the front row seats.

After the performance the judges take a closer look at all the stuff they made and also ask questions.  The judges want to make sure that all the ideas were the kids and that they made all the stuff.  Believe me, they did!

Coach Juli has a son on this team and a daughter on a 7th grade Odyssey team.  The coach of the 7th grade team, Kathryn, has a daughter on her team and her son is on this team.  Coach Juli and Coach Kathryn basically swap kids for Odyssey.

Here they are getting ready to see the 7th grade team perform.

Team Selfie!

The tournament was held at University of California Riverside.  Perfect picture spot.    There were about 100 teams competing so about 700 kids plus families.

We had to get some Odyssey of the Mind merchandise.

There was alot of down time between the long term performance and their sponts.  Glad we brought a book. 

One of the fun parts of the day was pin trading with other teams.  The kids got a lanyard and 10 pins for their region.  Then they had to trade with kids in other regions until they got all the pins that spelled California!

On their way to Sponts — which is a spontaneous problem that they have 3 minutes to solve as a team.   The Sponts make up 40% of their overall score.  Do you think they have a fun coach?  All the way there she played follow the leader to shake out all the nervous feelings.

When they get out of Sponts the parents and the 7th grade girls team make a cheering tunnel for them.

Odyssey Sponts from amy white on Vimeo.

Team hug!!

Coach Juli playing more games with the kids waiting for the awards ceremony.

The top 2 teams in each division go to the World Tournament and Quinn\’s team placed 3rd.  They missed 2nd place by less than 1 point!  They earned the best score for their Long Term performance but placed lower for Sponts.  SO SO PROUD of these kids for placing 3rd in the state.

Many months of hard work to get here and so well deserved.  This group is pretty amazing.