SUMMER 2013- JUNE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2013

Hey friends,

I hope you've enjoyed your summer.

We've done lots, which I'll get to part of that today.

I definitely don't want it to be like last year's very delayed summer posts, :/

which FYI are all up.

We've got a few more days until school starts,

boo,

but I should be getting to the rest of the summer posts,
 including most of the "racing room" redo's, for my son soon.

Here's part 1 of 3 condensed summer posts!

ps. I'm sick of traveling.
I'm going to need a good break from it,
fly next time,
or stay longer....
the last 2 are not likely lol.

JUNE 5-9

L.A. for nephew's graduation

6.6.13

Our nephew's graduation was at Hollywood High.

It was pretty cool being at a school where different well know people had attended.

We parked in the parking lot right next to the Jimmy Kimmel Live stage

and the El Capitan Theater .

We didn't get to visit either of them or walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame,

but someday I'd like to.

6.7.13

 We walked through the Olvera street market and finally got to revisit the Avila Adobe

Across the way was this beautiful new garden area where the old church cemetery  (c.1800's) was.

La Plaza is where Mexican-American culture and arts can be found.

I LOVED the succulents wall!

It literally looked like a bunch of large milk/soda crates where stacked,

lined, filled with dirt and plants.

We did a lot of walking this day :)

It included a trip back to the Downtown Grand Park, kids loved it!

6.8.13

 This was our first visit to this beautiful property and museum.

It's where the private Graduation party for our nephew was hosted and totally enjoyed!

This was once the home/ranch of Pio Pico.

It's now a museum with beautifully kept grounds.

My kiddo's with their uncle S. who works at this park.

His John Deere truck which was very similar to my son's mini one at home :)

And the hammock my bro-n-law set up for the kids and grampa F. "rocking them to sleep" hahaha

They're spoiled all right.

Beautiful pergola!

Turns out the grounds are a common location for weddings 

and special occasion photography.

We had a blast with family,

enjoyed each others company, ate some fantastic food,

 watched the kids run around with all their cousins and the boys/men play some football.

It was a great time!

This was our last night there.

We headed home in the morning.

____________

June 18-20

Eureka, ca - hubby's work

1st trip this summer

6.18.13

Leggett,  Ca

My sis had never been to Eureka before so we stopped at most of the little attractions along the way.

 Family pic!

Before we got into town, we stopped at Ferndale, Ca to show her the sights

and take her to the local pizza place, yum.

After stuffing ourselves, "agreed" to walk through the beautiful cemetery for some excersize

but she lucked out because it was closed (she didn't really want to walk it lol).

6.19.13

While hubby worked, the kids and I took my sis to all the places we'd visited before.

Our first stop was Fort Humboldt.

Aside from military history it also has some old trains, tracks and history on lumbering.

(oops, a Trinidad beach photo made it here by accident)

We then took her to the large flower garden next to the Sequoia Zoo (not pictured) 
for some viewing and picture taking.

Which then led to the zoo. It was half price day!

The zoo includes admission to their barn with different animals and the goat petting area.

Once hubby was done with work, we grabbed some lunch and hit the beach!

Our first stop was Trinidad.

FYI my sis was sort of pooped by now,

when she saw the "millions" of stairs down she just about gave up hahaha

 Then we headed to a new spot at Patrick's Point State Beach,
our first visit ever.
We love to explore something new every time we go up.
Agate beach was a beautiful, LOOOOONG,
"stroll" down more windy paths/steps.

LOTS of driftwood!

We love this stuff.

We brought back the piece on the right.

I can safely say we just about "killed" my sis with all the walking and
all the up and down traveling heehee
Nothing we didn't warn her about.

It'll teach her to ever vacation with us again, hahaha jk

____________

June 23-26

Legoland
Surprise trip for my son's 10th birthday!

6.23.13

We got a good deal through AAA.
Purchase 1 day get a 2nd free, which also included one other attraction-we chose Sea Life Aquarium

10 is huge,
huge like 1, 5, 15, 20, etc.

You know, those ages you just have to do big?
(This trip/gift replaced the usually party)
Well this was big for us.
We'd never been to any amusement park together before.
When my son was a toddler we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, ca
but he was too young to remember.
Since then both the kids have gone back with my sis and to Disneyland as well,
but without us :(
So it was high time we did something WITH the kids
 and in honor of my big boy's birthday.

It was a complete surprise. 
After church we packed and they kept asking,
'why are we packing, where are we going?'

We finally told them and they jumped with joy, literally.

6.24.13

It was a beautiful day, weather was great unlike our home town where it was HOT!

All kinds of really cool displays, rides and activities.

FERNDALE!
It's the little town we visit regularly when we go up to Eureka.
It was awesome to see it in Lego's.

We loved how some rides had a kids play area in the center ,while parents waited in line and could easily keep an eye on them.
Totally smart Legoland!

We got there at opening 10am
and stayed till closing 8pm.

FYI, they advertise NO outside food/drink
but we saw lots of people who brought it in.
So we did as well, of course discreetly in our walking stroller.
Waters, fruit, snacks, the like,
then enjoyed our lunches & dinners there.
PACK swimsuits & towels for the water rides inside LEGOLAND AND sunscreen!
$12 a bottle if you don't.
We ran out just in time but for the heck of it I checked their prices.
YIKES!

6.25.13

We started day 2 at the Aquarium and loved it!

They had a really nice, short-lined cafe in the aquarium, with much healthier food than we'd seen at some of the other cafe's
We enjoyed our lunch there away from all the crowds.

This was one of the best vacations we've ever had!
God blessed us greatly. We were able to use money we'd saved from our taxes for this.
Best time ever.

Oh and the kids got $40 each from family to spend at the gift shops,
another blessing!


6.26.13

Before we drove the LONG drive home, we stopped by one of the beaches to relax
and enjoy part of the morning.
We'd soon be stuck in the car for MANY hours.
____________

JUNE 27
My son's 10th birthday!!!!

How do you like our TEN? I tried my best with his disassembled Sponge Bob Lego's,
his other Lego's were "occupied".

 LEGO 10!

Did you notice his Lego Spiderman? He takes his Lego men almost everywhere.

We started his day with breakfast at our fave diner with grama (my mom), sis and us.
She gave him spending $.

After breakfast we all went to see Monsters University!

Great movie.

 We then took him to Walmart so he could spend his money on some more Lego's hahaha.

We came home, the kids jumped into the pool and splashed around for a good while.

Our little buddies that we "co-parent" because they're here daily and we feed them- 
the dog was Matilda's bff and love that he still comes over :)
and the cat that literally adopted us even though she lives 2 houses down...
They decided to come over to hang out.
Of course at separate times because they can't stand each other hahaha

After the pool, grama went home and the kids went in to play with the new Lego's

We eventually went to dinner and my son actually chose a restaurant other than a pizza parlor.

 I was totally surprised.....

then guess what he ended up getting? lol

Really son?!

We "walked" off our dinner because we were hitting the ice cream shop before heading home. :)

Everything was laid back and lots of fun.
____________

I repeat, I'm sick of traveling.
First down South, then North, then South again!

Washing clothes, packing, unpacking, washing clothes,
ugh,
repeat,
repeat,
I'm DONE!!!!

Well...at least until July
where we do it again,
2 times,
up North.