Ethan and AJ visit Santa Claus

Earlier in November I took the kids to the mall to browse the Christmas items and Santa was there. I took them for a visit and their reactions were ones that I anticipated...anxiety, fear, tears...the works. I took a picture anyway so I could have at least one photo in case we didn't run into Santa again this year.
But what do you know...all of the talk I've been giving Ethan, with help from some movies and songs such as, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" when we found Santa at the mall again this past Saturday...we took another turn at it. This time Ethan needed to tell Santa what he wanted...A New Lightening McQueen and tools. AJ still didn't appreciate this warm, fuzzy, fellow. However, I was very pleased that Ethan (though not making eye contact, and looking away each time he finishes talking to Santa) has made some fabulous progress warming up to a man who will shower him with gifts, even if he wouldn't smile for the camera or act overly excited.

Thanksgiving weekend in Monterey, CA

Gramma Earl with 9 of her grandkids

Hooray! Thanksgiving in Monterey, CA with cousins we haven't seen for 2 years..and meeting new ones (Joshua & Annie Jane). Brian and I opted to drive the coast up north rather than freeway so we started our journey at 6:18AM. It's funny we fooled ourselves into thinking the kids would fall asleep quickly after getting into the car. But one thing I won't be reporting is how terrible the drive was. THE KIDS WERE WONDERFUL! We could not have been happier because of that. Especially since we were on the road for a little over 11 hours, stops included.
2 hours of that was the gorgeous drive through Downtown LA...we saw the top four sites in LA: The back of the car in front of us, the hood of the car in back of us, and the cars on either side of us. Brian didn't realize his 'customized google map' took us through the heart of LA, at rush hour time. Ah well...we went slow enough that we could identify Space Mountain at Disneyland, the Hollywood sign on the mountain, and exit signs for our future 'official tourist trip to LA'. (I actually got excited to walk the famous LA streets one day)
Getting north of LA was a chore, but the rest of the drive was pretty smooth, with winding roads following the ocean shore. We stopped in Pismo Beach for lunch. Cute little resort town, would be a fun vacation spot for beach lovers. I thought it was great there was a swing set in the sand.

Our next big stop was the William Randolph Hearst Castle. According to my 'perfect' plan, we'd tour the grounds for 2 hours giving our kids a good break, and a chance to see an estate that might be equivalent in size to the castles and palaces in Europe/Russia. Alas, we didn't make 'reservations' in advance and therefore we were denied entrance because the entire day was sold out. Poor ladies at the counter, I tried not to show my disgust too much. I was seriously bummed and MAD (WHO can know for sure what time you'll arrive somewhere traveling with 2 kidlets, with LA traffic?...dumb NON-REFUNDABLE reservations!) Got an outside glimpse of it, though. No worries...we'll drive the coast again...just for fun...next time we want to see what's 6 hours north of home.

William Randolph Hearst castle, top of hill. It sports 165 bedrooms, and 127 acres of gardens

On a MUCH happier note, we did arrive at Sam & Jen's house at 5:ooPM. The other cousins were just coming home from the Monterey Aquarium. Annie Jane was outnumbered 8-1.
Here are some fun pictures from our trip. Thanks to Sam & Jen for fitting 4 extra families in their house that weekend!

Breakfast time at the Shearer's . . .powdered sugar French toast.

Uncle Will 'casting' his kelp line.

Old Fisherman's Warf

Old Fisherman's Warf

We are truly thankful to be apart of such a wonderful family, who shower one another with kind words, good food, and always...love. We sure missed having Greg & Julie and their wonderful kids with us!

Sneaking a treat and tearing paper

Tonight Ethan was DYING for a treat. He didn't get much of a lunch, so he was starving...but dinner was only 1/2 hour away, so I said "NO!" every time he begged for one. Well, he rummaged at something on the counter and said, "Mmm..Ethan got a treat!" I turned around and said, "Oh yeah? What did you find?" Knowing full well what options were on the counter..an onion, red potato or scallions. He pointed to the onion....he had 'snuck' some of the skin, and mmmmm...that had satisfied the 'treat' craving. I wonder if he'll ever do that again.


The other thing I wonder is if I just leave a pile of 'recycle' papers on the floor if AJ will stop going for the books on the bookshelf. Tear away girl! Tear away!

From the makers of Johnny Jumpers

Johnny jumpers are the most amazing thing on the planet. Especially when the kids learn how to REALLY swing ;) Here's just a small example of how Annie Jane loves this contraption. I will be sad when I have to put it away....hopefully not too soon

Pak-rat

In spite of my acknowledgment that I KNOW I'm a pak-rat...I have to say that I'm terribly pleased that my parents support this habit of mine. We ventured out to Bates Nut Farm and Mission San Luis Rey when they came for a visit, and not only did I find MY pamphlets of those places...buried under a week's worth of junk mail, I found theirs as well. Yes, I have 3 copies of the same information from both places. Maybe I'll mail it to them and say..."thanks! but my husband is making me give them back!"

Oceanside Pier

After visiting the Mission, we cruised a little into Oceanside to run a couple of errands while waiting for Brian to sneak away from work. We picked him up and drove to the coast (the coast is like a magnet with an ever increasing force when visitors come) and walked the Oceanside Pier to watch the sunset. About halfway across we met up with a pelican. I got a little too close and he nearly nipped my nose off. But I still managed to get a good picture of him before he sought safety on the roof of a kiosk. Check out his 'fingernail-looking' beak.

Dad caught this picture, with the sunset in the background.

Mom and Dad & Kids at the beginning of the pier.

Looking back to the Oceanside/Carlsbad coastline

Mission San Luis Rey

I hope that Catholics venture out to the Mormon temples just like my little family of Mormons ventured out to view an incredibly old historical Catholic Mission. You can learn a lot about how Christian we all can be!
Brushing up on my 'summarizing skills' here's a brief history of the mission.
Founded in 1798 the mission was named after St. Louis IX, King of France, who lived during the 13th Century. Between the years 1798-1832 when Father Antonio Peyri was put in charge of the mission the mission became home to approx 3000 Indians. The mission was self-sustaining, in that it cared for over 50,000 head of livestock, cultivated grapes, oranges, olives, wheat and corn (just to name a few of the crops). By 1830 the mission was the largest building in California. It was the largest of the 21 missions built and became know as "The King of the Missions."
When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, the law of secularization was passed. Each mission was given 10 years to complete their religious instructions to the Indians. By 1833 'sticky secular hands' gained control and the mission was not given to the Indians as the law required.
From 1847-1857 the mission was used as an operational base by US soliders. "Notable figures that served at the mission include General Stephen W. Kearny, Kit Carson and the Battalion of Mormon volunteers, who served at the mission for 6 weeks." In 1850 California became a state of the union and the Catholic church petitioned the US Government for the return of the missions. Abraham Lincoln complied this petition in 1865. Unfortunately, it lay abandoned after the military left it until 1892.

Restoration begun in 1892 under the direction of Fr. Joseph Jeremias O'Keefe. Repairs to the church, rebuilding the permanent living quarters, rebuilding the quandrangle, uncovering the soldiers barracks, and conserving the paintings and sculptures in the museum is a continual process.

Mission Cemetery

Courtyard: Largest Yucca plant we've ever seen

I'm so glad we went to see it. There was also a Pepper-Tree brought from Peru. The history of the self-sustaining attributes I just envisioned it was it's very own city. Absolutely incredible...and I admit it piqued my interest when they mentioned that the Mormon Battalion had been placed here after they arrived to San Diego.