California

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

First stop in California was our hotel to check in, and then we were off to find food and the beach. In that order. After being in the car all morning long (and all afternoon the day before), the kids needed a place to run wild. Huntington Beach was one of the closest beaches to the Disneyland resort area where we were staying, so that's where we headed.

The sand was awesome and the waves big.

Our youngest was a sand magnet. It stuck to her face, her hands, everywhere.

Wait a second, what's that over her shoulder in the distance?

Seriously!?! Right off the beach? Should I be worried about my children sprouting extra limbs or third eyeballs from swimming in contaminated water?

Obviously we didn't we worry about it too much, because we stayed until the sun set. Which, come to think of it, wasn't late at all. I would say this picture was taken about 4:45.

Next up...2 days, non stop, Disneyland action. When our 4 year old saw the Mickey Mouse flower bed just past the entry, he said "This is where the fun-ness begins!"

I'll be honest, this is the part I was nervous about. 2 days at an amusement park with 4 kids didn't sound like fun to me - it sounded like work. But it actually wasn't too bad. We were fortunate to have our good (Disney die-hard) friends there to help us get up and running in the right direction. We all had a great time, and the kids LOVED it.

On the 2nd day our little guy (4 year old again) had his picture taken with Lightning McQueen and my hubby said to him, "Can you believe you saw Lightning?" And he replied, "Yes, because this is the place where dreams come true." Cute.

Definitely something to do again - just not until we've all outgrown the afternoon nap!

On a side note: My dad was telling me of how, when he was a boy and went to Disneyland, it was out in the boonies, surrounded by orange tree orchards, and he could smell the scent of orange blossoms while he was at the park. How cool would that be? Sadly, the orange trees are long gone. Anaheim is nothing but So. Cal. sprawl, but there are still palm trees. Rows of huge specimens on the streets surrounding the park, and this tree loving mama thought they were pretty cool. (here's an out the car window shot)

Next up was La Jolla (San Diego area). We spent the day driving down the coast and exploring the local beaches. First we went to the La Jolla Shores Beach. The kids didn't want to waste any time putting on swim suits - they jumped in fully clothed.



Then we went south around the bend to the La Jolla Cove Beach, which was beautiful!

The kids could have spent hours exploring the tide pools and looking at the crabs, anemones, and other marine life.



The views were lovely every which way we looked.



We kept on walking south until we reached what was once known as the Children's Beach, but has since been overtaken by the local seal population.

They were fun to watch, especially the little ones.


Then we walked back and waited for the sun to set.

So pretty. Loved the La Jolla Cove area.

The next day we hit Sea World. It was such a wonderful experience for our animal loving kids. Everything was very interactive. They were in heaven picking up the starfish (you had to keep them underwater).

Petting the dolphins.

And the bat rays. Our 7 year old daughter loved these!

And of course seeing the whales was such a thrill.

Funny story: When we were at the Arctic Encounter, there was a large Beluga whale pressed up against the glass and all of the sudden, our 4 year old, shouts, "Look mom, I see its "gina" (as in va-____)." Talk about making mom blush! He kept on pointing and saying it, rather loudly. People were laughing and he wouldn't stop talking about it so we hurried up and moved on. So no pictures of the Beluga whale...we were just trying to "Get Out of Dodge". Seems as if this kid had all the memorable quotes on this trip.

Next day we hunkered down for the big drive home - all 11 hours of it. For a while there, I wasn't sure if we'd survive the Mojave Desert, but WE DID IT! Barely.

We came home to snow and an indoor temp. of less than 50 F. Outside was freezing! BRRRR. This is what our valley looked like when we were driving to Sunday dinner at my in-laws the next day.

Brutal. Missing that legendary San Diego climate already.

All the stuff I would've posted about...

... if there were 3o hours in a day. But since I do require some sleep at night, I'm just going to do a condensed, busy mom, blog about it all at once, Cliff Notes version, post.

So, in a nutshell, here's what I(we)'ve been up to:
Wrapped up soccer season.


Made the trophies for the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Wood, thrifted cars (lucky find), gold spray paint, vinyl and liquid nails.

Carved pumpkins with cousins.

Roasted the seeds. Yum. (recipe found here)

Said farewell to fall color.

Survived the first snow storm (few days before Halloween).

Managed to get the kids costumed up.

Our oldest embraced his inner nerd (this is the same blonde, soccer playing, kid pictured up above).

Youngest as Tinker Bell, and oldest daughter as a vampire in a Scarlett O' Hara dress (we compromised).

And lastly, our 4 year old as Scooby. The boy is more than just a little obsessed with this character as of late.

Painted.
So cool, I bought myself a set. Pretty too.

Spent some time at the sewing table.

Played with the vintage sheets again.


Used up some scraps from the wedding quilt I made last year. (idea for the appliqued tree found here)

Made 4, back of the seat, car organizers to help the kids keep their goods organized on road trips. (pattern found here)

Splurged on an early Christmas present - Nikon D3000. Love it. Seriously.


Vacated.

More to come on this last item - just as soon as I sort through the 600 + pictures we took. Obviously a little excited about the new toy. Whoa Nellie!

Call of the Wild

This past weekend, my sister in law called to see if we wanted to go on a pretty, little hike up to some geothermal pools. The weather was unseasonably warm, and I immediately had visions of fall leaves dancing in my head, so we were IN.

The scenery was beautiful, although I think we missed the best color. There were tons of leaves already on the ground. Two weeks ago the maples were probably gorgeous (note for next year).

We crossed a bridge over this scenic little river. Here is the view looking west.

And the view to the east.


We followed a smaller river up the mountain. At first, the water was clear.

But the higher up we went, the cloudier it was, and there was a definite sulfurous odor in the air.

Finally (it was a bit longer of a hike than we were expecting, especially when hauling a toddler) we reached the pools. The kids weren't afraid of smelly H2O - they wasted no time getting in.

The water was warm like a hot tub, and they had a blast sliding down the rocks and playing with cousins.

My brother in law hiked up a little bit further to scout out the other pools and came back with interesting news. Evidently bathing suits were optional up yonder. These two overheard and snuck off to check it out.

I am kidding of course - not about the nudity (that was real) but about the checking it out. This is a photo of my 4 year old and his cousin hiding behind a rock on the way back down the mountain. They thought they were being so sneaky.

Thankfully the trek back down was a little easier than the one up.

There was one UGLY glitch to this picturesque excursion. My brother in law found a harmless garden snake, so of course my eldest claimed it as his new "pet" and carried it down the mountain in his back pack. I kind of forgot about the creature until we were driving home, and all of the sudden there was screaming from the back of our minivan. The snake was out of the back pack (guess some genius thought it would be more comfortable in the back cubby box) and was not feeling too pleased about being the new family pet. I made my husband pull over and I crawled back to see what all the commotion was about. The snake was coiled up and snapping at our two eldest, and then at me. YIKES. I reached for a towel to grab it with so we could let it go, but somehow knocked the thing into the crevice on the side of the seat, and it was too dark (even with the overhead lights on) to see where it had gone. Crapola. For the next 45 minutes we all rode with our feet on our chairs - an angry vermin was slithering around somewhere down below, and it was more than a little disturbing. When we got home we went on the hunt with flash lights and couldn't find the slippery serpent anywhere. WHERE WAS IT?

That night my dreams were haunted by rabid reptilia. Every time I had to take the kids anywhere the next day, we would search before we hesitantly crawled in - but still no sign. I was beginning to think the snake had crawled into some minuscule hole and died and pretty soon we would be smelling ''it". Nasty. However, on the following morning, I saw it curled up in the corner of our garage after taking the kids to school. I fetched some tongs and removed it to the side yard. Whew! Now we no longer have to fear our vehicle and what is living in it.

There's a new rule at our house. No wild animals. Ever. Ever. Again. No snakes. No lizards or toads. No mutant insects. NOTHING. This mom is done.