Camping

For vacation this year Katie and I met up with my AmeriCorps team and went camping at Hendy Woods State Park. Our first night there we purchased fire wood, Katie got to help carry some back to our campsite.

Katie has been so excited to go camping that she could hardly wait. When we had out tent set up she couldn't wait to sleep in it and play in it.

We had a lot of trees around our campsite and Katie loved playing in them.

We took a hike in the woods and discovered there was tons of poison oak so Katie was instructed to not touch anything green so she would not get what she called "poison joke".

We also made a trip to a nearby stream. Katie and Cosmo had fun throwing rocks into the water.

We also spent a day in Mendocino and Ft Bragg where we ate some awesome ice cream.

Katie also fell...twice skinning the same spot. She is not one to often have skinned knees.

In Ft Bragg we visited the glass beach and found some lovely flowers on the path to the water.

Then we found the water.

Then we found the glass. I did not learn the history of the beach until we got home.

Back at the campsite we built daily fires which Katie loved.

If Katie could still be sleeping in her tent she probably would.

On our trip back we stopped for a night in Morro Bay, Katie really wanted to visit the beach. We found a lot of sand dollars and various other shells.

We also spent time in the hotel relaxing and enjoying our return to modern conveniences. 

It was a great trip and an excellent chance to unplug (no cell service while camping!). We are already planning our next camping trip!

Happy Birthday Katie! Part 1

My little girl turned three this week, hard to believe she is already three! To celebrate we went to Disneyland for three days, this was her first trip.

The first ride we went on was the carousel.

Of course we got a pink mickey hat with her name on the back.

We checked out the huge tree.

And of course the castle, this was what Katie was looking forward to the most.

Katie got two buttons, one for her birthday and on for her first visit.

On our second day we were finally able to get on Its A Small World which Katie really liked.

We visited Tinkerbell's Fairy Woods.

Katie stole my sunglasses.

We went to Minnie's Character breakfast, Chip and Dale, Eeyore and Rafiki all tried to talk to Katie but there was only one character she was excited to see...

Luckily Katie did not get swept up in the princess over load, she did get a pink princess pen but she also got a baby Minnie.

And the highlight of the trip was getting a balloon with a flashing led light inside.

On our last day Katie's cold was really wearing her down so we did not stay too long but we did ride Pirates (no fear from Katie) and the steam boat.

It was a great trip, I did not think about it being one of the busiest weeks of the year at Disneyland but we managed the crowds fairly well. 

Monterey

I recently went to a conference in Monterey. I went up a few days early and took Katie and my Mom with me. On the way up we stopped in San Simeon. First we ate lunch at Sebastian's, it was delicious.

Next, we went to Hearst Castle.

There were a lot of steps.

The buildings were beautiful and so were the gardens. 

The pool was also impressive, Katie wanted to get in but I convinced her we forgot her swimming suit.

The view of the ocean was great.

Afterwards we went to the beach, Katie kept busy with collecting shells and rocks.

The next day we stopped at a seal viewing area, there were a lot of them and Katie loved them.

We drove up Hwy 1 which was beautiful but took awhile, once in Monterey we went to the Aquarium. Katie liked the jelly fish and the shark.

The next day I went to an all day pre-conference and Katie and Grandma went to the beach.

Katie and Grandma went home the next day while I stayed for the conference. Everyone had a good time.

Universal Studios

Last week Mike and I finally went to Universal Studios (he got me tickets for Christmas), it was also his birthday, the big 3-0.


It was actually a very beautiful day, this is the view out toward Burbank, you can see all of the backlot area.


Look its the Bates Motel!


And the model ship from Peter Jacksons King Kong



Oh no, a flood...


Look at the lovely city streets...


A little effects show based on The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift


A vehicle from the movie Serenity, based on the awesome show Firefly


This was one of the most amazing sets, its from the movie War of the Worlds. They actually took a real plane and cut it up to make this set.


We saw all the live action shows including Waterworld which was one of the most impressive.



Unfortunately the Simpsons Ride was not open yet but we did get to go on all the other rides, some multiple times because there park was not crowded. I also took several videos, it was a fun day.