California Trip - Beach Day 2

So, after a long evening of fun at the beach, the sun setting, we headed for the Motel.

(Lifeguard stand at the beach... at sunset... so classic.)

 Next morning, we set out for Pismo Beach!

I LOVED THE SAND HERE!

 Debany was in her clothes at the beach today because she didn't like her dry swimsuit having sand in it, so she tried to wash it out... then 'tried' to put it on... 

And still didn't like how it felt.

 Pismo is a good swimming beach...

Debany kept coaching Myanna into the deeper water

pretending to water-bend like in 'The Last Airbender' TV show.

Porter was getting braver watching Myanna and went out into the water...

not expecting the force of the waves and they over-powered him.

He shook it off, but played it much safer afterwards.  

 Gma Debi's classic sand castles and sculptures...

 (Another chaco moment...)  

 Debany kept thinking that going into the ocean would get the sand off of her...

She finally gave up and decided to just dry off.

(She really started to chafe.)

 And we couldn't leave Pismo without DRIVING on the beach!

Yes, .... DRIVE ON the BEACH.

And so we did.

 Gma Debi was enjoying sharing the beach so much -

reminiscing on when she was a little girl when Gma and Gpa Wessel would bring her and her siblings to the beach.

 Once we left the beach, we went to the Pier in Pismo.

It was a little unnerving walking on the Pier because there was just enough space between the boards that you could see the beach/ocean way down below.  

And stepping on wiggly boards just about made me crazy!

You could see the fear in my eyes!  (I do NOT like heights... no I don't.)

 While on the pier, we saw a sea otter playing in the waves! 

And it went under the waves and brought up lunch from down below!

Yes, a zippered lunch sack complete with a chicken/avocado sandwich, cheesesticks, and a pudding cup!  And...

Okay, it wasn't MY kind of lunch, 

but it was so neat to watch it EATING a CRAB!

It was surreal to know I wasn't watching it on TV!  

It was LIVE... From Pismo Pier!

 Also on the pier we saw PELICANS!  

They are HUGE!

I think Myanna would've walked up and petted it if we'd let her!
We watched the pelicans scout out the fisherman and watch for ANYTHING they caught.
What a PEST they are!  A BIG pest!
(The big moochers.)

While watching off the end of the pier, we saw pelicans far off in the distance diving into the water to catch fish!  And while we were watching them do their little splashes into the ocean...
I noticed some bigger splashes.

"Those splashes are bigger than the pelicans nose-dives..." I said to my Mom.
And then a whale breached it's head above water!!!
(It was the whale blowing out through its blowhole!)

We stopped in Morro Bay again on our way out from the Coast and stopped at the famous Shell Shop!
Picked a few of our favorites to take home.

 And got some Salt Water Taffy and the candy store!

(A must for Gma Debi - but LICORICE?!  Yuck.)

 We stopped at the fishing docks...

 And got to actually DRIVE to that big rock!  Morro Rock.  

(Cool.  Just stinkin' cool.)

 We walked out to the 'jetty' (thanks to Dane's overflowing brain of random knowledge),

where mom said that she used to come there when she was in high school with a bunch of her friends and watch the waves crash against the rocks.

(You should feel privileged... a picture of me I'll allow on my blog.  

And YES, I was actually on this trip/vacation... SEE?!)

 Checking off our fun-stuff-to-do-at-the-beach/coast list,

not stressed at all, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves... (seriously)...

we finally headed off for home in the Valley.

California Trip - Beach Day 1

Monday brought another drive... 

to the BEACH!!!

After driving another 4 hours, we finally made it!

Yeah, for Morro Bay Rock!!!

Gma Debi was so excited to share the beach with her grandkids!

I think this is the first time they've been able to experience the beach...

Morro Rock

Where you can chase the waves...

and the birds.

Look for seashells...

and funky seaweed!

Be careful if you feed the birds...

they get brave real fast.

And what's the beach if you don't get buried in the sand?!

"Hey, wait!  How do I get out???"

(Chaco moment)

And I tried to get some fun photo opps in...

So inviting...

Don't you just wanna come to the beach?!

Trip to Cali -- On the Road

So, we headed out to California for 

Great-Grandma Wessel's 80th Birthday!!

On the way, we saw a lot of fires like the one we had in Saratoga Springs...

Only there were many houses that weren't as lucky.

(This one was counting its lucky stars.)

In this area, the fire was controlled, but you could see where the fire jumped across the whole freeway.  

Blackened grass on both sides of the road.

Then we arrived in ARIZONA!!!

which is having its Centennial this year...

1912-2012

The kids had fun with the new treats/activities along the way...

Through Nevada, and Then FINALLY to CALIFORNIA!

Then through Tehachapi (happy to get past Mojave Desert) where it's famous for the windmills.

We stopped to fill up with gas here, and I couldn't help myself...

I had to get a bag of fresh picked cherries!!!

(That's a big reason I miss California!)

When we finally made it to GGpa and GGma Wessel's house, they were sure surprised!

(We didn't tell them we were coming...)  

They were so excited that we had been able to make it!

(Looking back, I'm thinking, ya know, we are so lucky she didn't keel over from a heart attack.

Note to self:  GGma and GGpa should probably not be surprised anymore.)

The next day, we decided to let our pet/friend lizard out so it can be back with its family and friends.

Good bye lizard... Welcome home!

We'll miss you!

Then we headed up to Fresno where we spent an AWESOME time with Auntie Virgie and Roberto at the Storyland and Playland!

We rode the mini train...

And got WET at the splash park!

Not to mention getting to ride a bunch of carnival rides there!

We headed back home that night after a long, long, but fun, fun day...

And on Sunday, we got a visit from Uncle Chris/Aunt Leesa and Uncle Mike/Aunt Pamela!

Chris and Mike went out to help the kids find some lizards.  And they actually caught one!

Way to go!

Fence Neighbor Buddies

So, now that some neighbors have some fences up...

 Ava doesn't understand why it's harder to play with her puppy friend.

 But that doesn't stop her from running over and seeing if there's a nose under the gate...

Or wait for her to come visit her fence neighbor buddy.  

Last Minute Cali Trip

At last minute, we decided to travel for California this summer!  

So, we needed to find our car...

So we started wiping the white dust-covered thing in our driveway...

And windows were found!

And also the floor!

Look!  It's a van!

(Who knew?!)

So, now that we have a van to ride in, we filled it with necessities and goodies for our trip.

(You didn't think it would last, did you?)

(Above) We had activities for certain cities that we passed through...

(Below)  We had cities marked in a timeline that we kept track of with a Lightning McQueen car...

And the kids had books, workbooks, finger puppets, snacks, and a trip binder (filled with games like license plate search, ABC search, travel bingo, and a blown up map of our trip with the cities circled to follow along).