Casa Romantica

Sitting on a hill overlooking San Clemente’s pier is the 1920’s home of the city’s founder, Ole Hanson.  He built the home for his family of ten children but lost it only a few years later with the stock market crash.  Eventually the historical society got hold of it and now it’s used for weddings and cultural events, besides being open for tours.  The fact that it was so close to us and was still sitting around on our to-do list was really starting to grate at me, so it became a priority for the long President’s Day weekend.

Not too shabby!
  We flirted with, but ultimately avoided, a repeat of San Juan Capistrano’s desecration.
   The kids appear to be listening so nicely to the friendly volunteer.

Ooh, outdoor living area! 

Looking down the central courtyard toward the front door.  There are six bedrooms that all open onto this courtyard; four for the ten kids and separate his-and-hers master suites. I guess they’d decided that ten was enough.

 
The grand salon (at the far end of the courtyard) was really stunning.  The center of the room, where the fountain is, is two-stories and as lit by an immense chandelier, while the perimeter has that beautiful wood ceiling and the combined effect of the two hits just the right notes of light/dark, open/cozy.  The arched pocket doors both lead out to the garden and provide the room with a spectacular view.

                            
                            
On one side of the salon is the dining room, on the other was Mr. Hanson’s completely drool-worthy office and library.  Both also taking advantage of the exquisite view.


Yes, this view.

  
But just in case that wasn’t enough all-natural eye candy for you, there’s an impressive garden as well.

Our self-portrait was backlit by the sun.  Oops!

                          
Gotta give the guy credit, it’s a nice piece of property.

  
It was such a pretty morning at such a pretty place.

Naomi made herself right at home and was not inclined to leave!

The Other Side

The other side of Legoland, that is.  When we enter, we habitually go to the left and so there are certain things that we’ve always skipped over as we near the end of the park and naptime.  Throwing convention to the wind, this time the kids and I headed RIGHT!  That’s big, I know.
 The boat tour, our first new ride, isn’t exactly a thrill-a-minute but it is scenic.


Let me know if there’s anything here that you don’t recognize.

Wow!  What else have we been missing?

                          
This airplane ride is definitely the fastest of all the ones that Naomi is eligible to ride.  Best thing about going in the morning on a weekday?  Getting to ride two or three times in a row because there’s no one else waiting in line!

        
Look at that teamwork!  “It’s time to reload.”  “Can we help you with your donkey, sir?  All together now, PUSH!”

    
Moving on, we enter the castle/fort for knight training.

Jake introduced the kids to Star Wars.  That’s right; the only princess that my daughter can identify at this point is Princess Leia.  Not sure how I feel about that really . . .

            
Heading back around, we catch a couple more new sights.

                              And take a short detour through D.C.

Gah!  Run, run for your lives!  Gigantic monster ducks; they’re as big as the boat!

Now if we turned RIGHT when we came in, what way do we have to go to get back to the entrance gate?  I’m so confused!

Saturday Stroll

We had other plans for the weekend, but those didn’t pan out.  Instead, we kept things low-key, plopped the kids in the stroller, headed down to the pier, grabbed some lunch and walked home again.  Simple, sweet and fun!

I should have put a pedometer on this thing when I bought it.  According to my very rough estimate, it should be somewhere around 2,000 miles by now.




Just some wildflowers along the beach trail.  It’s not uncommon for us to head down this way, but it is unusual for me to have my camera with me when we do. 

Scoping out the waves near the pier.

                                       
Necessary activities include: swinging in the swings, digging in the sand, and watching the trains go by.

























           

A cute little cafe just off the beach served up some delicious crepes and comforting drinks.         

The ride home is brought to you from the kid’s perspective.       
 






Portrait of my Sister, by Logan








State Park Entrance, unknown.

                                                         My View, by Naomi.