Happy Thanksgiving

Marla and Dan hosted Thanksgiving (my absolute favorite holiday) again this year.  We were a small party but Marla and I agreed that it was the least stressful Thanksgiving dinner. 

Maybe we are just getting good with all our practice!

Decorating a ginger bread house.

The turkey chef and her designated carver.

Fred took his new role rather seriously. 

Elle wanted everyone around the table and say what they were thankful for.  Elle was thankful for her sister.  While Ruby was thankful for being quiet. 

 

The best two Thanksgiving desserts on the planet.

Pumpkin bars and chocolate pecan pie.

Ruby will second that.

Dan's parents came over after dinner for games, dessert and drinks.

We drove up the street to what is called Bainbridge Falls (a caul-de-sac of decorated houses that light up to a FM music channel).  Usually there is a mile of traffic to reach the street but we got lucky today.  Dan's brother narrates the introduction on the radio.

A little post celebration to wrap up our happy Thanksgiving!

 

Birthday breakfast in Rainbow

I met up with my family and Lisa (whose birthday was yesterday as well) for breakfast at Rainbow Oaks Restaurant.  (I got the pumpkin swirl french toast.)  If Marla would get the girls passports they could have come to Mexico with us!  I kind of want to get them secretly, but I think that would be considered kidnapping. 

Fast forward 10 hours to dessert:  Marla picked out two cheesecake cupcakes from Truly Madly Sweetly bake shop.  They were incredible. 

Cumpleaños en MEXICO

Birthday weekend day 2:

All I wanted to do was to go to Mexico.

This is the point of no return... (That sounds kind of scary.  Of course you will make it back home, you just have to wait in line.)

I LOVE Mexico. 

We chose Puerto Nuevo because it is famous for lobster.  In fact, the whole town is basically seafood restaurants. 

Una iglesia.  So simple, so beautiful.

Hmmmmm, which one to choose...

I love Mexico.

Happy birthday to me! 

What a spectacular day.

Birthday Bowling

Birthday weekend day 1:

We knew we were going to need lots of energy for bowling so we got a quick bite to eat at Tommy's Mexican food.  You cannot go wrong with homemade tortillas!

Yay!  I am so thankful that so many people could make it!

Bowling was way too much fun.  What a great way to start off my birthday weekend. 

I have great friends. I really couldn't ask for more.

San Onofre Annual Pass

Fred got a new Murphy 8' mini long board that he was dying to try out so we loaded the boards into (not on top of but into) the civic and headed to the beach.  Since we decided to go to San Onofre (we almost never have the day off together so there was plenty of time) we hit up Pedro's Tacos first.  Pedro's is a pricey, small taco stand in San Clemente that is worth every penny.

There is something about San Onofre that is magical. 

It is a bit surreal to surf right next to a large nuclear power plant, a strange combination of the power of nature and the power of man. 

By the end of the day it was decided that we would plunk down the 195$ for the annual pass.   It really doesn't get better than San O.  There is plenty of parking and waves, showers, bathrooms and surf racks.  It is a surfer's paradise. 

We had such a fantastic time surfing (Fred loves his new board) that as we were leaving I made a u-turn to Fred's surprise and asked the ranger if we could use our 15$ entry fee towards a year pass.  He said if it was from today we could so that is that.  We are more than happy about the purchase and look forward to this being our new surf spot. 

Living the American Dream

Walter and Malia invited me this morning to go to an Aztec game, this morning.  I am a planner so last minute events are out of my element, which is exactly why I decided to go.  That and the fact that Walter and Malia are super, and this would be the first college football game I have ever attended.  Walter set up the satellite so we could watch TV as we barbecued hot dogs, and drank beer.  Walter continuously told me that we were living the American dream. 

We didn't watch just anything on TV but the very game that was playing just a few hundred feet away.  This must be part of the American dream.

I could not help but notice how small college players are compared to professional athletes.  But the cheerleaders looked small too, so I am wondering if this is just what happens as you get older; people start looking younger. 

The Aztec game at Qualcomm was a great way to spend a brisk San Diego day.  Maybe the American dream is just doing what you want to do when you want to do it.  I was happy to be part of some non-planned fun. 

Botanical Trail at Elfin Forest

Yay! Another sleepover with my nieces. 

We made pizza from scratch (including the dough). 

Luckily it is has been a little chilly at night, a perfect excuse to have a fire (plus we had Baltimore Snowball shaved ice for dessert). 

We ate dinner late, had dessert late, stayed up late watching Madagascar 3.  Breaking all the rules...

Elle requested a nature walk on Saturday so we headed to Elfin Forest.

The information center was open so we checked it out.  What a great place for children.  There are animal prints to make tracks in sand, stamps, stickers, a nature movie playing, pictures, and a dissecting scope which projects onto a TV that kids get to use.  Awesome.

The Botanical Trail is ideal for kids.  There are almost 30 different markers along the .6 mile loop that points out various plants and other interests. 

We ended the day practicing tennis.  (I wish I knew how to teach kids tennis but I figure just practicing hitting the ball is a good start.)

It must have been fun because Ruby left in tears.  We are going to have to bump it up to entire weekend sleepovers!