San Diego Zoo and Halloween

There is a series of these pictures and I think Jilly and Ben were having a staring contest. They get pretty intense, and Jilly wins half the time. Evelyn can't keep a straight face for more than 10 seconds, and Gordon can't focus on anything for that long without moving. 

 Headed to the ward Trunk or Treat with their neighbor/sister. These four hang out all the time. 

 We bought pumpkins to carve, and you can guess which one is Jilly's (the smallest!). She wanted to make a pumpkin family. The fabric comes from my scrap stash. 

 There was a pumpkin carving party in our apartment complex, so we took our pumpkins down there. Evelyn got creative and actually rode on her pumpkin, all the way down the hill. Sort of like Cinderella. 

 Candy accounting time. I was on call in the apartment complex, so Ben was the one taking them around this year. 

Our good friends and next door neighbors, the Whites, have San Diego Zoo passes and invited us to go along on a school holiday in October. It was "bring a friend day" or something, and so we got in free. Friends are cool! 

 This was in the koala exhibit. There is a lot of stuff to climb on at the Zoo, so it's perfect for kids. That's also why it can take you two days to get through everything. 

 Notice Jill's grumpy face. She didn't get her picture first. 

 Pretending to be a member of the sea ice community. 

 Jilly found a baby!

 Gordon and his buddy talked repeatedly about seeing the crocodiles, and toward the end of the day, we did see them. Other notable exhibits were the pandas, koalas, and elephants. We saw the lions too (surprisingly stinky!) and they were just asleep, which made sense when I remembered they sleep during the heat of the day. The reptile house was fun for the little ones too. 

The best story from the trip came from the Orangutan/Chimpanzee exhibit. The orangutan was doing a funny dance on a rock with the gourd in his hand and keeping the people entertained. Then he started banging the gourd on the rock. There are high glass walls to separate the people from the chimps. Once he was done banging the gourd, he looked at it, and then lobbed the gourd over the wall into the crowd. It landed right behind the kids and didn't hit anyone, thankfully. A man threw it back over the wall. The kids started laughing, they thought it was great. 

Idyllwild Cabin Trip and other fun stuff

A friend of ours rented a cabin in Idyllwild for a weekend in October and we split the cost of the stay. It was a fun little mountain trip. And a nice respite from the heat. 

 Ben brought his bike along and rode some forest roads. He loved it. This is looking out towards the ocean. The mountains here rise rather suddenly out of the ground, so you get some spectacular views of the valleys. We were up around 5500 feet, as compared to sea level in Irvine. 

 We went on a hike with friends. And while Gordon and Evelyn were running all over the trail and climbing all available rocks, Jilly just hung out with the younger girls, content to be firmly planted on the ground. 

 Holding back a boulder with friends.

 Our friend had heard there was a UFO cabin in the area, so we drove around to find it and finally did. It was a bit of a hike in to see it. 

 The kids had fun making forts out of the leftover logs and firewood. They had to put it all back before we left. There was a tire swing as well. 

 We watched a sunset from the peak one night. After it was dark, we took a short walk to see what we could see of the night sky. It was more visible than in Orange County, but there was still quite a bit of light pollution which make seeing lots of stars difficult. 

 Ben photo-bombing the kid picture. 

 Watching TV while making breakfast. Evelyn make good friends with the toddler in this picture and he used her as his seat. We had lots of good food, company and conversation on this trip. 

We celebrated our 11th anniversary by going to the Red O in Newport Beach. Rick Bayless is our favorite Mexican food chef. We went to a session in the Newport Beach temple prior to this as well. We're working on some family names, which makes going to the temple a bit more fun. 

 The food did not disappoint, and neither did the service. It was a beautiful restaurant with great food. These were the beef sopes. We also had the chips with various salsas, tacos, tortialla soup, and some shrimp. We had a fancy churro with chocolate sauce for dessert. 

Here is my fine specimen in his native Southern California habitat drinking from a coconut. 

Happy Fall!

Fall is the beginning of all craziness that is school and the holiday season. We had lots of fun to extend our summer in this month too, though. 

First off, the annual Disney passes. Sniff, sniff. They were almost expired.

 Gordon riding Splash Mountain with us one more time, Jill and I scared of the drop as ever, and Gordon declared at the end of the ride that he still didn't like it. 

Riding the train to get out of the sun. The pirate Minnie ears were Ev's choice of souvenir. Jillian got a baby stuffed Winnie the Pooh, and Gordon opted for an Indiana Jones gun. They also picked up a couple Disney pins apiece. 

 While Gordon decided that Splash Mountain wasn't his thing, he got over his fear of Grizzly Bear Peak, Space Mountain, and California Screamin.' Here he is with Dad, all wet off of Grizzly Bear Peak. He just barely squeaked by on the height requirement for California Screamin', and I won't deny the fact that he had some help from some thick-soled tennis shoes and insoles. 

 And thus ended the year of Disneyland. And it was good unto us. 

 Boom. First day of school for all three kids. Evelyn in fourth grade, Jillian in second grade, and Gordon in kindergarten. Jilly started the year in a combined 2/3 class, but quickly became overwhelmed, so we put her in a regular 2nd grade class with her buddy Joseph, and all was well again. 

 In honor of the first day of school, Ben and I took a bike ride around the Back Bay. 

 Gordon's agility met gravity and resulted in some good bruises and scrapes. He climbed up a tree and upon climbing down, a branch broke underneath him and he fell a ways. His hip hurt for a week or so, but he mended pretty quickly as he always does. 

I can solemnly swear that this may have been the first time this happened, and it was also the last (without Ben or I being in the kitchen with them). 

 Lego-mania. Ben getting artsy with his Lego set he bought for his birthday. Upon further inspection, we realized the Lego people look much like my parents. 

 I don't know what this is. I found it and thought it was funny and should be widely available to posterity. He's in his graduate office. 

 Serious movie faces with friends. I can't remember what it was, but it was serious. 

 Evelyn opted to begin learning viola this year. While she also learns piano. I must say that piano is winning (it's less squeaky and always in tune). She's got a talent for music, and if she can do two instruments, more power to her!

Camping at Refugio St. Beach and a visit to Solvang

The last of our summer trips included a beach camping trip to Refugio State Beach. Ben remembered camping here as a kid, so I figured we'd go re-live a little bit of his childhood. 

 We are always looking for good, authentic taco shops, and a reliable friend had told us to visit one in Santa Barbara. There was a line out the door when we got there, so we knew it was good. It was very tasty. By the time we got to Refugio, it was already dark. The campsites were right next to each other, and the place was packed. The beach was pretty close, and as you can see, pretty rocky. We set up camp, ate dinner, and then read some Chronicles of Narnia to the kids. Everyone went to bed not long after. There were plenty of people being loud late into the night, and Ben eventually walked over to another camp and asked them to pipe down. 

 A pretty beach, but it holds a black secret.....

We left after breakfast and drove up to Solvang, a Danish town 30 minutes northeast of Refugio. Ben had visited this town when he was a kid as well. Solvang was definitely our favorite part of this trip.

  Second breakfasts at a bakery. 

 We visited the Mission Santa Inez, and were able to take a tour of the inside and the grounds. It still functions as a church today. Evelyn has spent fourth grade learning about the missions in California, so this trip was a good kick-off to what she would be learning about in history. This mission was one of the earliest industrial sites in California, founded in 1804. 

 It was neat to step inside the sacred structure of another faith and learn more about it. 

The mission functioned as a church, school, and fort. The Native Americans in this valley learned agriculture and were taught Catholicism by the priests who lived here. 

 Courtyard. To the left of here, there is a cemetery and it was interesting to see the different grave stones and old dates. There was a wide open field on one corner of the mission property, and Gordon quipped, "This must be the mission field! Where do the missionaries live?" We explained the difference to him, which I'm not sure he got, and all had a good laugh. 

Solvang didn't exist until a group of Danish immigrants came to the Santa Inez Valley in the late 1800's and decided it would be a good place to re-establish a town that mimicked the architecture and values of the towns they had grown up in Denmark. We both have Danish ancestors, so we told the kids this was a good lesson about where some of their ancestors had come from. 

 We learned quite a bit about Danish history and culture on our short visit. This fun timeline on the side of a shop illustrates the royal bloodline, beginning with "Gorm the Old." The current Queen Margrethe is a descendant of Gorm.

We visited the Elverhoj Museum, which originally was a home built and designed by a Danish couple. The kitchen was hand-painted by the wife, and the design was typical of Danish homes in its time. 

There were so many exhibits to look at, including exhibits on the Vikings (very early Danish history). There was a dollhouse built like a large Danish home the kids enjoyed looking at, along with several displays of traditional clothing and other items. 

We had heard about this place. Round, Danish pancakes are what aebleskivers are. They are topped with a yummy raspberry sauce. 

 Hans Christian Andersen, whose stories Disney has made millions from, was Danish. A small museum above an old, fun bookstore is dedicated to him and his stories.  

 We ate lunch at the Red Viking Restaurant, which had an official smorgasbord (buffet) full of traditional Danish fare. In the end, the kids really only liked the mashed potatoes and a bite of jello. The didn't even like the meatballs. We visited Ingeborg's chocolate shop and each of us got one specialty chocolate. 

We visited a cuckoo clock shop. It reminded me of every movie or show I've seen based in old Europe. 

In the afternoon we hit up this very cool playground in Solvang. It was all viking-themed, with castle turrets and the viking boat. The kids (and Ben) had a lot of fun being serious Vikings. Solvang was a great semi-educational experience. 

Back at Refugo in the late afternoon, we headed to the beach. Initially the kids were just throwing rocks, but then became a little more industrious and built this small rock enclosure. We were out here for an hour or so before we realized there was thick, black tar stuck to the bottoms of the kid's feet and the soles of everyone's shoes. Dish soap didn't even phase that stuff. Jilly was convinced her flip flops were ruined forever. A very nice mom next to us noticed our plight and offered us the use of mineral oil, which she had read was the only way to get the stuff off. It worked, and we did not have to sleep with our feet outside of the sleeping bags for the night. The shoes however, sat on the front porch for a month before I chipped the tar off so they could be worn again. It suffices to say that we will most likely not be staying at Refugio again. Too many people, too few bathrooms, and too much tar. 

On the way home. We stopped for a picture by the Pacific and drove through the UC-Santa Barbara campus, which is right on the ocean. All in all, it was a fun trip up the coast.