we went to the beach


Technically, it was "the pier". I just love watching the waves from the pier, looking down on them gives you a rare view. This particular day the waves were huge, and every time they crashed under us, the pier felt like it just might fall apart.



It was a beautiful day. Like we often have here in the winter.



Although the waves were huge, they were not good for surfing. They were too closed out. (translation: breaking too fast to get a fun ride, like one solid wall breaking on top of you). Certainly not a good time for surf lessons for the girls.


In the end, finding treasures in the sand was enough for us.

the apple farm


Oh how we love the apple farm! And I've told you before, but there's just something so special about apple season.


Our apple farm has the cutest market, a small petting zoo, the best ice cream, and offers a genuine tractor ride out to the orchards.


Already, the trees are just loaded with fruit!
(this isn't our first trip of the season, and won't be our last.)

a day in the park

It is actually unusual for our family to go to the park together on the weekend.
Our normal weekend outings have something to do with/in/or of the coast.
This last weekend, however, we were all either getting over a cold, or just starting a cold, so heading to the sunny park was all we could muster for the day.





Funny, how we still ended up finding the water, and getting in.












I'm happy to say that we're all feeling much better!

a sunny day beach adventure

we had a fun adventure yesterday.
the kind of adventure that makes you feel like you've gone halfway across the world to some exotic paradise.
this particular exotic paradise is only ten minutes away from our house.
we have memory upon memory of this paradise.

in years past we've visited "the bluff trail" with a single stroller, then a double stroller,
then back to a single stroller,
and now we bring a bike!

every time we come is amazing.
the spring time boasts field upon field of mustard, poppy's, and who knows what the other wild flower names are.

when we reach our destination, we all find our happy place!


petting

we went petting the other day. first time ever! we went on an outing with a fun family friend who suggested visiting woods humane society.
the girls and i have definitely been going through some petting withdrawals, and until it's time to get one of our own, this is a perfect antidote.

oh! they were all so cute and lovable. i loved the rows of baskets, all occupied, some a better fit than others.
ruby went right to work combing, then decided she'd be better off spending her time organizing the cats. little ones in this room, bigger ones over there, sort of thing.

we even visited the doggies too. they all have a story. it was like reading a personals ad.

yes, we'll go petting again.

an outing

when i was a kid, my grandmother used to call a trip out and about "an outing".

these "outing's" were very special indeed.

they were a time for whoever participated to enjoy something together.

to make memories, something to talk about for years to come.

apples

this could very well be my favorite time of year here on the central coast!
apple season

we took a wagon ride out to the orchard
and picked ourselves the first batch of fresh, local, tasty apples.

then we went home and made apple oven cakes for dinner with sausage on the side.
the recipe is from sunset magazine.

apple season, i love you!

a family reunion


What a trip! We just came home from a super fun family get together straight out of the Cynthia Rylant picture book "The Relatives Came".

*We drove far, real far, with 4 kids under 10 years old in the back. (they all did great!)
*We all stayed at a beach house, hugging in all the hallways, then breaking off into two's and three's.

*We took a few walks on the beach, we even had good surfing waves.

*We took pictures of each other.

*We went to a wedding.
*We played games (the weekend favorites were scrabble and double solitaire).
*We even had a talent show. The talent in our family is incomparable.


***Due to the "key fiasco", I won't be showing any pictures of the wedding. But rest assured, they waited the ceremony until we got there, and the wedding was FANTASTIC. A mental picture to sum it all up is when the bride and groom were hoisted up in the air sitting on there chairs by 8 very muscular men, and paraded around the lush backyard orchard.***