Classics

  We were out and about when we saw this long line of classic cars sitting at the bottom of the ramp coming off the 5.  We couldn’t get to the camera quite fast enough but, luckily, we had to make a stop at the dry cleaners just down the road.  I ran back out to the street just in time to catch a few of them as they passed.

Then we went here.  If only this playground had a roller slide, it would be perfect!  Large parts of it are even handicap accessible and there are some pretty fun music and sensory elements on it.


There’s a good-size sand pit with cool digger-things.  Behind that, in both pictures, you can see a spectacular ship-themed playground geared for the younger (2-5) crowd.  My kids, of course, spent approximately no time on that one.

Obviously my little daredevils prefer stuff like this.

 
Stepping back for a minute, here are some of those fun details and musical elements I was telling you about.

Oops, gotta go catch the munchkin again!
 Eh, he’s good.  He’s old enough to know his limits; Naomi’s still young enough to get in over her head sometimes.

            

For example, Naomi chose to tackle this climbing wall (with Jake spotting her but not assisting).  She actually made it to the top—she really is a little daredevil!
 I love this picture because this is such an Uncle Jonathan expression.
  One more slide before we leave the playground for today.

                    

Bye guys!  Back at home, Logan shows off his latest Sunday School craft.

And that’s all I have for you today.  Thanks for reading!

Lil’ Punkins

These little moments bring me so much joy, I can’t help sharing them with you and hoping they bring you some measure of happiness as well.Naomi was “reading” to Logan and actually getting all the words right.  Of course, there are only three words to the entire story (and yet it manages to be a really good one).


This was one of those moments that left me thinking, “This is a very, very good life”.

And . . . we’re off on another adventure!
  We are joined by dear friends Melissa (Miss ‘Lissa), Izzy-bella and Max, who know the area far better than we do and were able to suggest this fall-themed outing to us.  Thanks!

                                  
Animal-feeding.

Hay bale maze with scarepuss-in-boots.

                
Generally running around.

And then recovering with a quick treat.
 Buddies.


Another round of horse rides!

 
Love their dirty little smiles!

Look what I found in the pumpkin patch.

Tee-hee :)

Local Terrain

Because we are all about having a variety of experiences, we left the theme parks and aquariums behind and headed out into the hills.  There are some nice hikes in and around San Clemente and, of course, the weather is always perfect.

I considered the flowers to be a good sign as we started out our hike.  That actual sign there, though?  Not such a good “sign”; it contains the warning that “many wild animals including mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and rattlesnakes live in the natural landscape that abut this trail”.


The views were spectacular.  That’s looking up the coast toward Dana Point, then over the hills toward Saddleback.

    
Getting some of the Wild West feeling.

                      
The kids did great on this hike.  Obviously we had the stroller, but they both walked quite a bit, taking turns in the stroller when they were hot or tired.  They also collected rocks, jumped from dirt piles, ran, picked flowers and generally explored thoroughly.

 
We’re definitely not in Oki anymore . . .





but this place certainly has its own beauty.




                    
                     







Can’t get enough of those views (the second picture is actually looking towards Jake’s office).

                   
Can’t get enough of those kids (or that man of mine) either!

One last look around before we head home.

Definitely NOT our house—the entrance to the trail was in a VERY nice neighborhood.

Just a Jog

Decided to change up my run route the other morning, so we tossed the stroller in the car and headed down to the pier.

 

I’d been told that the view was nice and the path was decent (read: stroller-friendly)—both quite true.  Also exciting was the proximity of the path to the train tracks; if you look in the first picture you can see the tracks there along the beach, then look in the second picture, from right to left you have bushes, path and, yep, those are the tracks right there.  THREE trains passed by us while I was running—the kids were ecstatic!

As I was nearing the end of my run, I couldn’t resist stopping to snap a few pictures to share with you.

        
Then the kids found a swingset so, of course, we had to stop for that too.

We had some time before we needed to be anywhere that day, so we left the beach and trekked uphill a little ways.

         
Semper Fi park and a Marine monument sit at the top of the hill and overlook the pier and beach area.  It made a very nice place to sit and eat the snacks that we’d brought.