SLO Children's Museum

On November 30, 2013, two days after Thanksgiving, we visited the Children's Museum in San Luis Obispo with Uncle Jotham, Aunt Dana, cousins Cassie, Braden, and Kara, and Grandma and Grandpa. We were quite a crew, and gratefully the small museum wasn't too crowded. We had great fun exploring the many hands-on exhibits.

We tried to build earthquake-proof structures . . .

and played with magnets . . .

and "spinny discs."

Grandpa was served lunch at the Cosmic Cafe by chefs Gunnar and Holly.

There were firefighters...

Cassie, Gunnar, Braden, and Holly

...and crime fighters.

In all, it was lots of fun for all the kids--big and small.

Time at the Beach

Have I mentioned that Damon's parents built a house by the beach? It's a pretty great spot, and after eating our Thanksgiving dinner, most of us took a walk down the street to see the sunset over (or into?) the ocean.

This photo gives a good representation of how far down the street you have to go to get to the beach--not far. When I took it I was probably just one house past Craig's and Joanna's. There's the ocean. That's a cliff there, so you have to go down one of a couple sets of stairs to actually get to the beach, which at high tide is completely covered.

Cousins at sunset:

Turn around! You're missing it! (They didn't miss it.)

On Sunday afternoon we all wandered down to the beach again. Joanna was a few minutes behind us and I caught her looking out to sea on the cliff before she joined us down at the tide pools.

It was such a gorgeous day. It was actually December 1st! Can you believe it? It was nearly 80 degrees. I regretted only packing jeans because I was hot just strolling to and from the ocean. We loved the chance to soak up some sun and seek out anemones, hermit crabs, sea urchins, and the occasional starfish.

Wherein We Give Thanks

Thanksgiving weekend at Grandma's and Grandpa's house was lots of fun. This year we were joined by Damon's brother Jotham and his family.  After the Turkey Trot it was time to join Joanna in the kitchen to get our feast ready. Thankfully, she's got an enormous kitchen with plenty of room for lots of food and lots of cooks.

Aunt Dana worked with Maggie and Cassie to help build a veggie turkey tray that Grandma spotted in a magazine.

Voila! Isn't it cute?  And it was tasty way to munch while we waited for the rest of dinner.

Here's Joanna posing with the beautiful feast before we started to dig in. I made the stuffing and green Jell-o (a.k.a. Pond Scum). Damon made the rolls. They were so buttery and yummy. The turkey was great. Joanna also made a new sweet potato recipe that had cooked pears in it. It might sound strange, but it was SO GOOD. Everything was delicious, of course.

The kiddie table. (It's pretty hard to get a serious picture out of Cassie. It makes us all laugh.)

Gunnar had a drumstick! As I recall, he made a pretty decent dent in it. (The photo makes it look as long as his arm, but it wasn't quite that big.)

And, here's baby Kara, joining the grown-ups at their table. Last year Jotham and Dana didn't come for Thanksgiving because this little one was just a week old. Now she's eating dinner with us!

We are so thankful to be living closer to family now. It has been one of the true highlights of our time in California thus far. Holiday time, especially, has been that much more special because we get to share it with family now.

Pismo Beach Turkey Trot

We went to Damon's parents' in Shell Beach for Thanksgiving. On Thursday morning we rallied the kids, including our niece Cassie, to run on the beach in the second annual Turkey Trot on Pismo Beach.

The information on the website was not totally clear and we showed up way too early. After waiting around for 15-30 minutes, we finally heard an announcement that said the start of the run was still a good 30 minutes away!

We weren't the only ones who were expecting an earlier start, and so a good many families (i.e. people with children who were losing patience) just decided to go for it anyway. All of the distance markers were already in place, so we took off.  That's me below, on the right. Gunnar (in green) and Holly (in yellow) are to my left. This was after the half-mile turnaround point, so we were already heading back to the pier.

Since I'd just been getting into running over the previous year or so, I was keen to actually run the whole mile without stopping--and to encourage my kids to do the same. Cassie, however, was not so keen. Damon stayed back with her (and the camera).

She got going...eventually...and in spurts. Here's a shot where she raced ahead of Uncle Damon:

Holly, Gunnar, and I clocked in at a respectable 14 minutes. I think that's a pretty good mile time for a 3-year-old! Holly ran almost the whole way. Maggie and Adah finished a few minutes ahead of us. Maggie ran barefoot. I was proud of all the kids for giving it a shot.

Here's the kid crew at the finish line. 

Damon decided to stay on and do the 10k course with the crowd and then strolled back to the house. I took the kiddos home for de-sanding and getting ready for the feast. This was a fun way to start our Thanksgiving morning and to focus on physical activity and being healthy---before chowing down.

Muir Woods & Point Bonita Lighthouse with the Folks

After my parents returned from their mission to Canada (see Dad's shirt?) and before relocating to Massachusetts to live near my younger brother, they came to California to see their 2 kids and 7 grandkids that live here. They split their time between our two houses, but we ALL got together one Sunday for a BBQ at our house and one Saturday for some sight-seeing.

We met up in Muir Woods for a stroll through the Redwoods. My brother Jed and his family had been there several times, but it was our first visit. My parents were there thirty-something years ago on a cool, uncrowded fall day. While there were lots of cars and lots of people near the entrance, we found a quieter trail and enjoyed our walk and the beautiful tall trees.

 

 

Cousin Kiera, Gunnar, and Maggie growling from their tree cave:

Adah, Maggie, Gunnar, Holly, and Kiera and some growling and some smiling:

Because of the lack of parking at Muir Woods, there's a shuttle from a park-n-ride in Marin. We took that option while my parents and brother parked a mile away. Their situation was actually a bit simpler and quicker. Who knew? On the return trip Damon read the ranger guide to Gunnar. I love how interested Gunnar is in animals and the natural world.

Our next stop was Point Bonita Lighthouse,

which was accessed by a path down a hillside, through a rock tunnel,

and over this bridge. There go Kiera and Joette:

And here come my dad, Damon, and Holly:

Isn't it amazing that they managed to build a lighthouse out there? Construction began in 1855, making it the third lighthouse built in California. It was also the last manned lighthouse on the California coast.*

Mom & Dad had their late picnic lunch after viewing the lighthouse.

The kids, particularly Gunnar, enjoyed some climbing and goofing around before we went back up the trail to the cars.  Good trick, eh?

This one actually looked a lot funnier on the camera's screen since you couldn't see his chin at all. He just looked headless.

Just relaxin':

And here Christian and Kiera get a bit of height:

We sure had a fun day. We're so glad Nana & Gumpin came for a visit, and glad we live near Jed & Joette so they could be there, too.

*This information was not able to be completely verified by reliable sources because nps.gov and other related sites were not available during this post's composition due to the government shutdown of October 2013.