Thursday, January 16, 2014

16 January: A Day at the Beach

The girls and I took an "on a whim" trip to the beach today after school, because, well, we can. It was 81* here today, and absolutely lovely. We left the house at 3:29, and arrived at the beach at 3:41. TWELVE minutes from door to sand! And we parked here (That's sand-side parking, and it's free. Free stuff is my favorite stuff.):


We love living here, and I mean it. These girls and I love every ounce out of it! And we love, love, love Erik. (Hi Erik!) Thank you for providing us with amazing opportunities like mid-week beach days with such generosity and love. I appreciate you so very much more than I can say in a blog post. 

Totally warm enough to splash around (and totally fall in, Daphne) a bit:

What are these "snow angels" of which you speak? Violet had a great idea:


Daphne needed a little help coordinating her wings, Violet to the rescue...






Mud pies.

So many mud pies.

Loooooooong shadows mean it's time to head home.

We came home sandy and wet, but warm, and Violet had somehow amassed a pocket full of shells and sand. "My very first shell collection!" she exclaimed. This is exactly what I want for our life. A trip on a whim with my two lovely daughters to a "secret" beach. Lots of mess and mud and imagination and fun, and I don't care that there's sand in my car or that Daphne rode home in nothing but sand and her underwear. This is just SO the time to appreciate what we have here! And LOVE every minute of living 12 minutes from a beach that is 80* in January. I don't think I'm going to need to complain about anything... for the rest of the month at least :) Or until we get another "cold snap," when I'll be tempted to complain about housing costs again. But for now? Totally worth it. 

Monday, December 16, 2013

Knotts Merry Farm


Merry Christmas! I just love Knott's Berry Farm at Christmas. They re-did their Santa experience this year, and it was amazing! Thank goodness it was finally a warm day, too :) Here are our adventures for the day; I didn't get a photo of the ice skating show, but it was spectacular!

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Disney on Ice, 12/13

Violet and I went on a date with the Girl Scouts to see Disney on Ice. The best part was sharing the experience with ny big girl!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

We Cut Down a Tree!

Today we went to cut down our Christmas tree, and it was a beautiful day for it! This was our second annual tree chopping outing, so we repeated last year's lunch at a great independent burger joint near the farm to get our hiking energy up. I didn't get a good picture of the crazy jeep that took us up and over the mountain to the tree farm, but that ride was certainly a hilight of the day. This year we went a week later than last year, so the lot (and jeep ride!) was more crowded. It was fun sharing the experience with other families. The girls loved picking the tree, and they really loved the hot chocolate and candy canes that came with the experience! Now to decorate it...