Pacific Coast Highway

We left Carpinteria on Thursday and took a leisurely drive up Highway 1 along the California coast.


We stopped at Morro Bay State Beach for a picnic lunch.


We stopped at Vista Points.


And more Vista Points. (See my photographer kid.)


And more Vista Points. (See the highway heading up the hill across the water.)


One Vista Point was even a place to watch Elephant Seals in their mating, beaching area. (See all the lumps on the beach. All seals.)


We stayed the night at a motel in Pacific Grove. (This is my 7th photo with the kids for my 52 week project.)

Friday morning after checking out of the motel, we drove a couple blocks down to a light house and the gorgeous coast. We couldn't get enough beaches on this trip. And each beach was so different.







We toured the Carmel Mission.


It was dedicated in 1797. It was old and beautiful.


We looked for the bluff in Carmel where Walt and I got married almost 10 years ago. Instead we found Carmel Beach. The kids burned off some energy by jumping. Walt started it.


We had lunch at The Tuck Box. It's an English Tearoom in a Storybook Cottage of Carmel. There are over a dozen of these that were built by a family in the 1920s. It was very quaint.


We drove North to Santa Cruz where we visited The Seymour Center Aquarium. They have a 87 foot long Blue Whale skeleton.


Carley borrowed my camera to take pictures too. (See her in the window.)


The kids enjoyed touching and learning.


We went to Natural Bridges State Beach. As recently as the 1950s, there were three "bridges" there but now there is only one. I learned that at The Seymour Center Aquarium.


We stayed for sunset.


I took a lot of pictures.

Enjoying Carpinteria

We've been having an enjoyable visit in Carpinteria. On Sunday we visited the Santa Barbara Mission (Walt's never even been inside before) and have made several trips to the beach. We also took a walk through the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. It's been a great trip with lots of new experiences.


The mission was established in 1786.


We took a tour of the inside and grounds. Very cool.


Stairs to nowhere.


Sunset at Rincon Point.



Low tide at the Salt Marsh. This is 4 or 5 shots put together but a bit small to see. Click here to see it slightly bigger.


Carley wasn't cooperative.

A Bit of Beauty

We drove down to Southern California Friday night to spend some time with Walt's mom and sister. The kids are out of school for the whole President's Day week and Walt was able to take some vacation time from work.


I absolutely love that my in-laws live in such a beautiful place. It's a great treat for us to come visit.


The beach is walking distance (adult legs, not little Carley legs) from their condo.


Even during the Winter the weather is beautiful.


The kids love to spend time at the beach.


And get filthy dirty or completely wet even if it's a chilly Winter day.


We never tire of it.

Our Loss

My Grandma Tandy passed away today and I'm going to miss her terribly. She was much more than just a grandma to me. She helped raise me, I stayed with her almost every summer of my childhood and lived with her my Senior year of high school.

I am so grateful that she was a part of my life and helped mold me into the person I am today. I am so grateful that my mom flew her up to Washington for my sister's wedding in October because I was able to get a bunch of last hugs from her.



Here are a few things I remember about my grandma:

She was a Registered Nurse and looked great in her white uniform with the white nurses cap that they used to wear.

She used to read me as many books as I wanted at bedtime when I was little.

She would always have favorite cereals, no matter how sugary, for her grandchildren.

She would tell me that big rigs with light-lined trailers had forgotten to take off their Christmas lights.

She loved Mexican food as much as I do.

She would have rapid secession of loud farts when sitting on the toilet in the morning.

She would almost always send birthday cards late.

She would usually place several stickers, like hearts that said "you are loved", on those birthday card envelopes.

She taught me how to drive a stick shift.

She always said "Hi, Niki!" in a happy grandma voice whenever I would call her.

She introduced me to my husband.

She truly loved her grandchildren unconditionally.

A couple more added by Ashley are:

She was a crazy driver. She accelerated fast and slammed on the breaks.

She loved her Mountain Dew.

A couple more added by Heidi are:

She always said "I love you more than tongues can tell!" Which reminds me, she also said things like "I love you taller than the tallest mountain." That would then become a challenge where we'd say things bigger and bigger until there was nothing bigger. "I love you to the farthest galaxy and back."

She would always mix up names, especially Heidi's and mine.


I'll miss you, Grandma. Thank you for everything.

Band Concert

Back in October when Josh started playing the trumpet in his school's Beginning Band, he was nervous that some day he would have to play in front of an audience. Josh doesn't like to be the center of attention in front of a bunch of people he doesn't know.

Last night was the test. We attended his first band concert. I was giddy to go and watch him play. He was a little nervous.


There are 13 members of Beginning Band. Only three are 3rd graders, the rest are 4th or 5th graders. Half the band are clarinet players.


Only two play trumpet.


Josh and a 3rd grade buddy, who plays clarinet, volunteered for a duet. So much for not being the center of attention.


Here they are standing at the end of the duet. Don't miss Greg. He's the one in the blue shirt. Nope, not the tall one in the back, he's a drummer.


Josh was nonchalant after the concert. I guess he found playing in front of an audience to be not so bad after all.

We are so proud of him.

The Duet. Country Walk.

Carley and Clouds

This week we've had some gorgeous clouds rolling though. I never tire of seeing the big, cumulus clouds against a beautiful, blue sky. I would have to say it's my favorite type of weather.

Monday when I picked Carley up from school, I bribed her with a Starbucks cocoa and took her to a field in Ancil Hoffman park. She's not much for getting her picture taken but she was preoccupied with collecting brown, dried leaves while I tried to get a few snaps of her.

Those of you that know me well know that I'm quite a perfectionist. Not that I ever expect to get anything perfect but I'll work and work and work at something until I'm completely frustrated with it and I think everything looks awful. Or I'll nip pick whether a light pink circle should sit next to a rose colored circle. Or I'll edit a picture and be happy with it until I look at it again and realize it was overdone or completely blah.

Needless to say, here are a few of my favorite shots, flaws and all. I'll spare you the details I dislike about them.










This one was taken into the sun and I didn't use a fill flash so her face was fairly dark. I love her stance and expression so I tried to salvage it a few different ways hoping not to cause to much "noise" in her face.


This one, with the Soft & Faded action from Pioneer Woman, is my favorite.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

We've been getting some rain on and off since Thursday. At one point on Friday it was pouring and I mean cats and dogs. The kids decided it was a good time to go out and play. I decided it was a good time for snapshots.


He's such a California boy and thinks shirtless is fine in rain showers.


This works better?


She has to be just like her brother.


What a cutie.

I got tired of the rain and ugly background pretty quickly so headed inside and watched from the window.


And then I saw this! No one has fessed up yet.

Yesterday the rain left us for a while. The afternoon was gorgeous and sunny again. I went for a run around 4:30 and the sky was beautiful. The sun was heading toward the horizon, the puffy clouds were perfect in the blue sky and the nearly-full moon was up. I came home, grabbed the family and camera and headed for the river.


We got there too late to see the sunset.


But we caught a little of the grand finale.