Around the World Link-Up

This summer we've been traveling the world, through books! Give Your Child the World by Jamie Martin has been such a gift to our family, with excellent recommendations for books from each continent. To participate in the global link-up and share a bit about our little corner of the world, we've answered the questions below and look forward to seeing the world through others eyes in their own corner!

– Tell us about your family.
Mommy, Daddy, and two daughters

– Tell us about where you live and how long you’ve lived there.
We've lived in the Central Valley of California for 5 years, where the sun shines everyday and summer temperatures are over 100! We have little rainfall in winter and spring, but our favorite season is autumn when it is mild and cool. In our city it can get very windy and dry. 

– What do you think is unique and special about living where you do?
We are 1 hour from the beach and 2 hours of the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas. Our state of California is VERY long - it would take about 13 hours to drive the length of our state.
There is lots of farmland and agriculture where we live and our city and surrounding cities are "bedroom communities" which means not many people work where they live. Most have to drive a long ways to work. 

– What languages are spoken there? If it’s different from English, can you help us learn a few common phrases?
English is the primary language in the area, but we have neighbors who speak Spanish, Farsi, Indian, and Chinese!
Some common phrases are "Hola!" (Hello!), "Gracias!" (Thank You!), "Adios!" (Goodbye), and mommy's favorite "Sientate por favor!" (Sit down please!)

– What are some traditional foods there?
American foods that we enjoy are seasonal.
Summer includes BBQ tri-tip or hot dogs with watermelon. In Autumn, we enjoy roasted root veggies, soups and stews, spiced apple cider and traveling to apple country for apple donuts.

In winter, it's all about hot chocolate, popcorn, soup and chili. In spring we enjoy plenty of fresh fruit from local orchards, ham and salads. 

– Tell us about the climate where you live.
The climate is very mild and dry most of the year.

– What does school look like for the majority of kids where you live?
Most attend public school from 8am until 3pm with class sizes averaging 30 students per teacher.

– What does school look like for your family?
Our family enjoys homeschooling. We spend lots of time reading together and playing outside. We join with other families one day each week for science experiments, art projects and memorization games. 

– Are there any special festivals or traditions you’d like to tell us about related to where you live?
We Americans enjoy our holidays and any reason to celebrate! Valentine's Day, St. Patricks Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
Around Mother's Day we usually go blueberry picking where we live and as soon as Autumn arrives we travel to Apple HIll for apple picking and all the apple treats.

 – If you ever had to move away from where you live, what do you think you’d miss most?
We would miss the local farmers market, which operates most of the year, growing gardens year round, the daily sunshine and magnificent sunsets over the delta.

– Do you have a favorite book that takes place in your region/country?
The Little House on the Prairie series is our favorite.