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Ellie: picking out the perfect pumpkin!

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Ellie: You are playing soccer like a champ! Your first “sport” and you love it!

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Ellie: We took a walk up in the hills of Montecito. The trails were definitely different (from the fires and mudlslides last year) but there was still nature, alive and well. We spent quite some time exploring a creek and its inhabitants.

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Ellie: We visited the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum this week to catch the tail end of a lovely celebration of the Chumash Indians of California. You and I have been reading a lot about the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. and getting to learn more about the local Natives in our part of California was a treat.

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Ellie: It’s Autumn here and that means Santa Ana winds and fire season. Gramma and Grandpa had to evacuate their house for a couple days (but my childhood home is safe) and some of my friends from high school ended up losing their homes. It’s been a very solemn couple weeks. We joined some friends for a lantern walk in the park and it really was just what we needed.

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Ellie: I love watching you learn new things. You’ve been wanting to craft a lot more and so I’ve tried to find some fun things for you and I to both learn together. This is a basket you are making. Love seeing you so intently working on something new.