Spring Vacation: Part 2

Our first day in Carmel, led us through 17 mile drive (so Jon could stop by Pebble Beach and dream of playing golf there) and into Monterey. It was a beautiful drive from Carmel to Monterey via 17 mile drive. It was slightly overcast, but so very beautiful. We stopped at a look out along the way that had a beach with wonderful, white sand. Ethan and I got out and did some playing. Unfortunately, the combination of way past nap time (for Ethan) and the tide coming in kind of freaked Ethan out, so we didn't spend a lot of time down there.

Once we got into Monterey, checked into our home for the next two nights, we headed down to dinner. One of our favorite places to go, is Bubba Gump's. It's a great place for kids, plus they have stroller parking! We went on a great night, too! Only a 15 minute wait. . . perfect for taking some pictures outside!

Spring Vacation: part 1

Last month (yeah, I've been a slacker when it comes to blogging lately), Jon, the kids, and I snuck away for several days of adventure and beach fun. It was so nice to get away as a family and do something together. . . just the 4 of us.

Our first stop was Casa de Fruta (who doesn't stop here?) so Weston could eat and Ethan could use the bathroom. While I sat in the car feeding Weston, Jon took Ethan for a walking adventure. Ethan is really into walking, and so any opportunity for him to walk around he thinks is great! Jon and Ethan walked around chasing peacocks and checking out the trains. Meanwhile, I was being surrounded by some beautiful peacocks. After Weston had a full tummy, Ethan showed me everything they saw, we bought ourselves a treat (they have the best chocolate covered cinnamon bears!), and headed on our way.

Our second stop was the beautiful town of Carmel. Jon and I hadn't been here since we were dating and were really looking forward to being there again. We started out by feeding Weston (he seems to eat a lot . . . ha ha ha), packing the stroller, and heading out. We walked all around downtown and even managed to do some geocaching.

This particular geocache was near a lovely bronze statue of an older couple sitting on a park bench. Jon read something about it being made in Loveland, Co (which is a neat town we stayed in on our Wyoming trip). Ethan decided that he needed to showcase his modeling skills and posed in several super cute pictures and a nice couple took a picture of us. Weston didn't make it in the picture because he was sound asleep in the stroller.

On the way back the the car, we made a stop into the local Anthropologie store, where Ethan fell in love with a chair. He even brought Jon over to it and showed him the price tag. . . unfortunately the chair was WAY out of our budget. . . and couldn't fit in the car (ha ha). In the middle of downtown, there is this cute little park, so we let Ethan run free for a few minutes and then headed back to the car for the next part of our little journey (which I will tell you about in the next post).

Sacramento Trip

We took a whirlwind trip to Sacramento last weekend with my parents. It was an overnight trip with stops at Apple Hill, IKEA, Old Town Sacramento, the train museum, and a train ride. We were hoping to get to the capital, but there just wasn't enough time (and it was incredibly wet!).

Our first stop was Apple Hill. Apple Hill is a series of apple farms just East of Placerville. Some of the farms are small and others are huge! One of the smaller farms we went to was filled with colorful flowers and each person was given a freshly cut and corkscrew sliced apple. They were so delicious! We even got to try a Liberty apple at one of the farms. . . they were delicious! Some of the larger farms had so many people, you could hardly drive down the road to get a parking spot. We were so glad we started early! By the time we left, it was pouring down rain. . . perfect time to go and check into our hotel - the Embassy Suites in Old Town - my favorite! We then headed to Fat City for a delicious dinner . . . it just took a quick walk in the rain. After that, we fit in IKEA. . . making it the quickest trip the large store. . . 30 minutes (we had no choice. . . they were closing). Then, off to bed. . . we were exhausted!

Sunday morning, we slept in - which was great, because Ethan let us. We started getting our breakfast at the Embassy Suites' amazing breakfast feast, when the fire alarm started going off, along with these incredibly powerful fans that sucked out any smoke. . . it was like a hurricane inside the building. . . even more funny when you were heading out into the winds and rain to wait for the firemen. Ethan enjoyed watching the firemen in action, but he still whimpers whenever he sees a firetruck. Once that fiasco/adventure was over, we went to try to save our food and finish our breakfast in peace.

Then we headed out to buy our tickets for the train ride. That was so much fun. . . Ethan loved every minute of it. It was all decorated for halloween. We even had a visit with the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter - Ethan was a tad scared of them, but not scared of the strange man walking by with a "scary" hand. Ethan was willing to give that a high five!

Our next stop was the train museum. Ethan was so excited to see even more trains! He loved every minute of it, although I think his favorite part was when we got upstairs and they had a section of Thomas trains that kids could play with. He spent probably 30 minutes there, before we had to pry him away. He also enjoyed watching all the model trains go around their tracks.

By the time we left, it was well past lunch time, so we stocked up on salt water taffy, bought Ethan a milk, and headed to Elk Grove for lunch at Noodles and Co. I have been craving their whole grain Tuscan Pasta since our road trip last summer. (Side note. . . Fresno totally needs one of them. . . I think they would do exceptionally well!).

Our trip home was amazingly smooth, with the exception of lots of rain. We had wanted to fit in a quick trip to the capitol, but the weather was quite wet and windy, so we opted to head home.

It was a fun and exciting trip!

Yosemite

We recently went to Yosemite with Josh and Steph in celebration of Steph's birthday. This past year, we celebrated each other's birthdays by going on some sort of adventure (November-beach, March-snow, and June-Yosemite). We really enjoy having friends who like to go on adventures like us! We went last year at the beginning of June and had winter-like weather and rain (which was fun!) and this year, the weather was about as perfect as it could get - perfect for hiking! Steph wanted to hike up to Vernal Falls, which is an absolutely beautiful hike. However, with Jon carrying Ethan on his back, me a backpack full of food and water, and Josh and Steph taking turns carrying Abi on their back, we made it as far as Mist Bridge.

The change in altitude, weighed down, and walking up hill wore us all out, that Steph made the call to just walk to the bridge (which was unanimously agreed upon!). There were lots of people also hiking that day (first weekend of summer vacation for most people), but we managed to find a nice, shady spot to have a picnic and let the kids walk around for a bit. The kids even walked hand in hand for a little bit past the bridge. They loved it!
We had a lot of fun on our day trip! The kids were such troopers and incredibly well behaved (No whining here!). We did learn something about our kids, though. When we were getting out the car and unloading, Abi got very upset, resulting in her throwing up all over the place. Ethan did fine, until a few minutes after they left and we were trying to get him into the bath. He started screaming and running to the front door, trying to open it and peering out the window. We think he was calling for Abi. Our theory is that Abi and Ethan got so worked up that they didn't get to say goodbye to each other. We will now be making sure that happens.

Beach Trip

The highlight of the month of May, was our long awaited trip to the beach. Ethan and I, along with our friends Stephanie and Abi left a day early for some fun before our husband's could join us (Thanks Jon for working so we can go to the beach). Jon and Josh drove up Thursday night after work. The weekend was incredibly windy, which made for in incredibly relaxing weekend. . . which was much needed.

The first night (Wednesday), Steph and I packed up the kiddos and the sand toys and headed for the beach. We got as far as the sand and dried seaweed when the kids decided they wanted to play. They ran around squealing and laughing as they dug in the sand and played in the wind. I think we were the ONLY ones on the beach. . . it was great! After the wind became too much, we packed everything up (including the kids) and headed back to the beach house.

The rest of the weekend included some fun adventures diving the wind and hanging out around the house. Friday night, we BBQ'd some fine steaks and shrimp. We ate such deliciousness. I even got to bake up some yumminess since I had use of an oven! On Saturday evening, Jon, Ethan and I headed into Morro Bay for the Farmer's Market and ended up hiding between buildings to be safe from the wind. The restaurant we were planning on eating dinner at ended up being the place to be (some sort of jazz concert + surcharge), so we drove into San Luis, escaping the wind, and ate at Mo's. I've never eaten there before. . . but it is good (really good).

Sunday, we packed everything up and headed back to reality. It as a nice trip. . . I can't get enough of the ocean air!

Klassen Zoo Day

Jon's annual trek to the Chaffee Zoo has been made an annual tradition it seems. As this year, was possibly our the 5th year in a row. This year, was the year Jon has been dreaming of. . . feeding the giraffe with Ethan - which was so neat to see!

This year, we got up and headed to the zoo. We were a bit tired, having gone to San Francisco the day before, but we endured and conquered. The day was perfect - sunny and shorts - my kind of spring! We spent the morning watching Ethan chase around squirrels and look at all the animals with amazed looks (Ethan has been to the zoo a number of times, but each time it is all new to him - which is great!). Jon took Ethan to pet the animals at the Small Wonders petting zoo, and fed the giraffes at the 11am feeding! Ethan did so good. Jon and I were both concerned about the outcome - we both confessed we were expecting a very afraid (and possibly screaming) toddler by the end. He had so much fun. . . he was all smiles (sigh of relief for Jon and I!).

We ended our day around lunchtime and headed home. We were all in need of some grub and a nap!

San Francisco - spring 2010 edition

This year, the thing Jon wanted to do the most was go to the newly redone California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. It has a really neat rain forest inside and an amazing roof with grass and rolling hills on it (very go-green, if you ask me), an aquarium and some penguins. So, VERY early St. Patrick's day morning, we got up and headed into the city, found a great parking spot, and went to stand in line with the hundreds of other people waiting to go in. Now, I don't think EVERY day is like this, in fact, I highly doubt it. You see, once a month, thanks to some incredibly generous benefactors, you can get in for free (a savings of 50 bucks for our little family!). It was a great day to go. We had absolutely beautiful weather and we got in! We stood in line for 15 minutes, but we got in. . . that's the important part. Many, many, many people were turned away from the free day . . . it was that full!

Once we got in, we started exploring. We went downstairs the aquarium and looked at the coral reefs. Ethan enjoyed seeing all the fish swimming around. He especially enjoyed getting up close to them. We saw the penguins being fed, and lots of "stuffed" animals. There were so many people, we didn't want to wait in line to see the rain forest, but we did make it to the roof. It was so amazing. I kind of thought I might see some telletubbies (which really annoy me) jump out from behind the little hills. But, there was a great view from up top and so refreshing to be outside in the fresh air.

After the museum, we went and got our picnic lunch and found a nice quiet spot in the botanical gardens to sit and eat. It was so peaceful! Then, we continued our trek to find a geocache and Pea Pod Fabrics. It was such a nice walk and so beautiful to see all the pretty flowers. The Pea Pod fabrics is this amazingly tiny fabric store just 2 blocks from Golden Gate Park. It was so small, that Jon had to stay outside with the Ethan and the stroller because they wouldn't fit! But, it was the NEATEST fabric store. . . and Jon let me buy some new fabrics! On the way back, we found a park to let Ethan run around for awhile.
These are some flowers that we found as we walked through the Botanical Gardens. The Calla Lilllies were taller that me (which isn't saying much. . . lol). But they were beautiful!

Weekend escape, part 2

We felt we had amply walked Monterey, so we drove up the coast to Santa Cruz and again were amazed at the weather. . . and lack of crowds (not going during the heat of summer, makes a HUGE difference!). We met up with Jon's cousin Brandon and his wife Sarah for lunch at Pizza My Heart. Jon had never been there, and needed to be introduced. It was so yummy! We enjoyed walking around and spending some time in a greatly stocked kitchen store, Chefworks. After awhile, it was time to part ways and head home. We stopped in Gilroy to do some shopping and then, head back to the valley, we like to call home.

Fall Escape

Last week, we had the awesome opportunity to run away. . . really! It was so very nice to get away and do absolutely nothing (except watch the entire season of Man vs. Food) before things get crazy with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and moving. We even got to go with our friends, Josh and Steph.
Jon, Ethan, and I took off Friday morning (Jon had the day off. . . Yeah for saving the air!) and we headed up early to spend a couple of days just the three of us before Josh and Steph joined us. It was so nice just to have some uninterrupted, quality family time. We took that opportunity to walk around and do some geo-caching. Our geo-sense is improving because we found some Awesome caches (hence. . . me holding a screw . . . it really serves no purpose!). We walked around Morro Bay, Cambria, and the neighborhood around Morro Strand. We even took a night walk out to the beach. The stars were so bright! Unfortunately, after searching for a lost flip flop (Ethan's), our flashlight almost going dead, and an unexpected mouse, we headed back home for bed. Josh and Stephanie joined us on Sunday. Monday morning we all woke up, packed a picnic and headed our for our BIG adventure of the week (this is literally the most any of us did the whole time. . so nice!). We headed out to Pismo to see the beginnings of the Monarch Grove season. There were so many there in November. . . but even more later on. It really is amazing to see all these monarch butterflies in one spot. Rumor has it that it's the largest grove of monarchs in the country.

From there, we headed up a steep hill (driving, of course!) for a picnic lunch overlooking the town of Pismo. It was a beautiful view along with a great park. Jon attempted to do some caching, but due to safety issues, decided not to dig through trash to find it. The kids had some time to roll down the hill, swing, and play. We spent the rest of the day at Avila Valley Farm and San Luis, before heading home to continue vegging out.

Tuesday, we did absolutely nothing for most of the day. It was so wonderful! We took naps and rested up before heading for a walk to a nearby neighborhood park at the Cloisters (a Morro Bay beach community). We all had fun playing and geocaching before we split up. Steph and I took the kids for a walk into town to the quilt shop, while Josh and Jon headed back home to get the cars to pick us up. It ended up being a LONG walk, including a rather steep hill. We had a blast, especially since the guys beat us to the Cotton Ball.

Wednesday came far too soon (Sniff sniff) and although I was ready to sleep in my own bed and sew up my new fabric, I was sad to leave the peacefulness of the beach behind. Before leaving, we went to the beach for some fun play time and an attempt to get our Christmas picture taken. Ethan was very hard to contain in his nice clothes that it wasn't long before we stripped him down and he darted for the water. He didn't have the patience to wait for his swim shorts . . . he wanted to play! He had so much fun frolicking in the sand and water! He loved feeling the sand between his fingers, throwing it, and in fact, tasting it.

The week was great! I can't wait til' our next adventure (which. . . just may be moving! We'll keep you posted!)

Cayucus 2009

I can't believe that Cayucus has come and gone. Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about how we couldn't believe how quickly it was coming. . . and now. . . we are recovering from this annual retreat. Each year, Jon's family gathers at a beach house in Cayucus (this has been going on for a LONG time), and spends Labor Day weekend as a family.

Jon's grandparents give each of us 10 dollars to go to the Peddler's Faire and find some sort of fantastic deal. It is incredibly hard for me because I just can't stand buying trinkets and junk! But, it is fun. Usually, I come back with some children's books, marbles, or something. This year, I settled on some cinnamon coated almonds and pecans (they are awesome!) and Jon got a model sail boat to go with our nautical stuff. Ethan was able to get a sand castle building kit and bubble wand kit that came together in one package. Then we treated ourselves to a scrumptious peanut butter cookie from the Brown Butter Cookie Company (Delicious!).
Jon and some of the men went to Los Osos on Saturday afternoon to play some golf - John Dooley won and Jon's grandpa recieved the pink tee award (had something to do with him hitting a really bad shot into a street that bounced into a neighborhood and endangered the lives of many - or so goes the story!)

Saturday night was a night of Rock and Roll. . . literally. We experienced a 4.0 earthquake and then played some American Idol Kareoki on the PS2. It was a blast watching everyone sing their duets together. . . even Cooper and Logan got into it! It was great - and incredibly hillarious!

Sunday marked Ethan's very first birthday! We decided that it was the perfect time to take our little water boy to the beach. It was the perfect day for it, too! The sun was warm and the breeze was nice and cool - so cool that Ethan even shivered for a bit (that didn't stop him, though). He even got to play with his cousins. Cooper got burried and then he went exploring for crabs. He did a great job finding some live sand crabs and then set them free with his Uncle Jon.

Sunday marked Ethan's birthday, as well as Wanda's (Ethan's great grandma), so we celebrated with some presents, cake, and ice cream. We also let go of some balloons in memory of Jon's cousin Mike, who died several years ago. It was so much fun!

Monday, we packed up - ready to leave, yet sad to go. It is always a fantastic weekend, but like most vacations, it is always nice to go home and get back into routine. Before we left, Jon went and did some last minute geocaching, while I took Ethan down to the pier and treated myself to a tea. Ethan had a blast on the swings! We are are very thankful to Jon's grandparents who put together these fun family weekends!

Cayucus

Labor Day Weekend 2007! We once again went to Cayucus over Labor Day and had a blast hanging out with Jon's family. The weather was absolutely perfect! It was so much fun, we didn't want to leave.

We played at the beach, had a tennis tournament (Jon got tired of beating everyone at badmitton), played Kareoki Revolution. Jon also once again played in the Raineri cup golf tournament.