In Celebration of May Flowers: Book Recommendations By Michelle Spence The old English proverb “April showers bring may flowers” provides an anchor for this month’s book recommendations and an excuse to peruse seed catalogs, regardless of whether or not you will be planting a garden this spring. Here is a smattering of old and new gardening stories to share and inspire your gardening dreams or realities. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert Bulb planting in the fall and seed sowing in the spring set the stage for a colorful flower garden all summer long. in the deceptively simple board book Planting a Rainbow, we discover the pace of a garden,…
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Hands On Cork Boats
Hands On Cork Boats By Jennifer K. Mahal What You Need -3 corks–same size -2 rubber bands -Toothpick -Construction paper or cardstock -Scissors -Optional: crayons, markers, or paint Look out upon Monterey Bay on any given day and you are likely to see a boat floating in the water. sail boats, row boats, fishing boats, even large Coast Guard cutters all float. But if you throw a rock in the water, it will sink! So how does a large boat made of heavy steel stay afloat while a small pebble ends up in Davy Jones’ locker? In ancient Greece, a scientist and mathematician named Archimedes discovered why things float. He…
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One Step at a Time Summer Camp Can Lead to a Lifelong Path
One Step at a Time Summer Camp Can Lead to a Lifelong Path By Bryan Miller The stairs at Pepperdine University were too big for me. They twisted themselves against the large hills of the college, climbing across the terrain for what felt like miles. Back then, scaling the stairs felt unwieldy and improbable, a feat meant for older, more experienced people. A feat for college students. I was not a college student. I was 12 years old. I was there playing tennis for five days as part of a summer camp. It was the first time I remember being exposed to a college campus, and I found it overwhelming.…
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E-Bikes: Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em They’re Here to Stay
E-Bikes: Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em They’re Here to Stay The Newest Cycle Tech Levels the Playing Field for All Ages By Karen Kefauver Photo Credit: Ivo Obregon. Crystal Obregon pedals her two kids, Carolina, 4, and Sean, 1, in Santa Cruz, on her Xtra- cycle brand electric bike in Santa Cruz in 2007, on the way up to ride trails in UC Santa Cruz. I admit I was a snob when it came to electric bikes. for years, I thought people who rode e-bikes were generally lazy, out of shape and worst of all, a potential danger to those of us who knew how to ride “real” bikes. As…
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Ask Nicole: Preventing Parental Burnout
Ask Nicole: Preventing Parental Burnout By Nicole M. Young, MSW Being a parent is hard work, even when you love your kids deeply. In some ways, parenting has gotten easier as my kids have grown older. The days and sleepless nights filled with dirty diapers, tantrums, and shopping trips gone wild are long gone. I have more energy to enjoy being their mom. in other ways, parenting has gotten harder as they’ve grown older. the exhaustion from constantly being “on” when they were little has been replaced by exhaustion from constantly negotiating family rules and trying to figure out when it’s time to be involved in their business and when…
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Coping with First-Time Camp Experiences
Coping with First-Time Camp Experiences by Peg Smith For thousands, the camp experience has been a long-standing family tradition. For others, the camp experience seems almost counterintuitive. Send your child off to camp for maybe weeks at a time? “As parents, recognizing that you and your child are growing and learning on a journey together is key to adequately preparing yourself and your child for any type of separation, including going to camp for the first time,” states Peg Smith, former chief executive officer of the American Camp Association (ACA)*. Following are helpful tips to consider as you ask yourself, “Who’s going through separation anxiety, me or my child?” Separation…
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Birth Happens: Reading Can Help
Birth Happens: Reading Can Help By Laura Maxson, LM Birth Happens-Reading Can Help is one of a series of ongoing, collaborative projects from Birth Happens Santa Cruz. Posters of recommended books for expectant parents will be featured on a monthly basis, with the first poster featuring recommendations by Birth Network of Santa Cruz County. Their poster of five recommended books can be seen during the month of May at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Birth Happens is a series of ongoing projects organized by three local midwives, Elizabeth Yznaga, Linda Walsh and Kate Bowland. The three, with the help of other volunteers, have brought us Midwives at the MAH, an interactive exhibit…
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A Park by any Other Name: The Secrets of Anna Jean Cummings Park
A Park by any Other Name The Secrets of Anna Jean Cummings Park By Ann Carin Niland The Anna Jean Cummings Park is one of the most recognizable in Santa Cruz County, but some don’t even know its real name, still more people don’t know about everything the park has to offer, and almost no one knows about some of the interesting things that have happened at the park known locally as Blue Ball Park. If you only drive by, you would never now that the park is 96.7 acres divided into three uses. The Park’s Name Anna Jean Cummings was the Founder and Executive Director of the Land Trust…
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New Boys & Girls Clubhouse Opens
New Boys & Girls Clubhouse Opens The large Joe and Linda Aliberti Clubhouse will Serve Kids and Teens in Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley By Bob Langseth Starting in April 2018, families in Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley now have a new after-school and summer option for their kids. Ideal for children of working parents, and open to all children, the new Joe & Linda Aliberti Clubhouse in Scotts Valley offers a broad range of educational, enrichment and recreation activities to provide quality programming for a child’s “out-of-school” time. Memberships are $75 per year. Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County (BGCSCC), the largest year-round youth development…
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May 2018 Editor’s Note
May 2018 Editors Note Kim Allen has been a largely unheralded Santa Cruz hero. Two decades ago she started Growing Up in Santa Cruz, providing countless resources to parents and their kids who are growing up in the most wonderful county on Earth. She was one of only a few women at the top of the publishing industry and put together a successful monthly free newspaper overcoming great odds and challenges. She’s helped two generations of kids, some of them grown up and now working for her paper. She donated to area nonprofits, letting people know about their work. She sponsored local events, including the Cabrillo Music Festival and Kid’s…
