Day Trippin' Pacifica

For President's Day we hit the road,

this time heading to Pacifica.

It's a surfing town about 15 miles south of San Francisco and

just miles north of Half Moon Bay.

It has a stunning coastline (Are there really any bad coastlines?),

tidepools,

not to mention,

the only Taco Bell ON the beach!

Now you know why we had to visit!

We started our journey at Rockaway Beach and made our

way to Linda Mar Beach (otherwise known as Pacific State Beach) via a 15-minute trail.

We found the perfect spot for lunch...

Not to mention about fifty plus surfers bobbing happily in the water!

We watched them catch a few waves,

which gave Owen the idea to make some spray of his own...

Linda Mar's a pretty big beach,

so after lunch we headed south in seach of

-what else?-

T.B.!

Gabriel couldn't wait to check it out either.

See how cooperative he's being?

We found it!

Wait!

It's the bathroom?!?

You gotta keep on walkin!

Sure enough, there it was.

Complete with a walk-up ordering window

for when you're too wet and sandy

to place your order on the inside!

How very surfy...

What's up with these kids?

Ava started to pout!

Or is she?

That little rat!





The trail we took to Linda Mar from Rockaway followed the highway. 

On the way back, we opted to take the scenic route...

The best shot ever!

Samuel and I felt like we were on top of the world!

That is if the top of the world included five whiny kids

who could officially see the car and wanted to go, like now.

Too bad!

I'm taking my time enjoying this stunning view!

Making our way down,

you can see the way we originally came up. 

Off in the distance is the "Lombard Street"-like trail

that leads from the parking lot.

Ava and I raced up that zig-zag hill,

and she won me-

but I was carrying Owen!

Samuel's smiling,

but only seconds later we were both freaking out.

Ava,

who notoriously blazes the trail,

 ended up quite a ways ahead after crossing a portion of the path

that basically was ready to give way and fall a good hundred feet to

the beach below.

Isabella,

who followed after her,

realized a little too late that something was wrong,

and was stuck,

not able to move forward or backward

without potentially falling.

We coached her into launching herself into the safety of the bushes

and Samuel blazed a new trail for us to follow

while I started screaming for Ava to slow

down so I could yell at her.

{sigh}

All in a day's hike, right?

Gabriel:

Relieved that we were finally done.

Except...we weren't!

Next stop:

The tidepools at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve!

But first,

we stop by our future home as beach-bum retirees...

Which happens to be conveniently located next to an LDS meetinghouse!

After crossing a gushing stream,

we hit the pools!

Since the tide was coming in,

we had to pick our way carefully and watch for waves!

A blue sea anemone!

The girls and I scrabbled over the rocks...

Providing entertainment for the boys

who were munching on corn nuts!

Don't kisses bring a smile to everyone?

This is a tribute to the Green Beans.

We originally planned to join them on a hike further north on the Owl Trail.

Aptly named because of the potential to spot Great Horned Owls.

Due to better weather down south,

we opted to take a raincheck,

but we still kept our eyes peeled for owls,

and lo and behold,

we found one!

Our last stop:

The Pacifica Pier



I wasn't feeling particularly down,

but I opted to look up.

Interesting.

The Pier was packed with fisherman,

though most of them weren't reeling in fish,
they were going for the good stuff...

C R A B !

We couldn't leave Pacifica without one final stop at the beach.

Afterall,

we weren't wet yet!

Ava,

just beggin' for it!

She's actually taunting the ocean...

Gabriel finally caught on to Ava & Isabella's game and
became very interested in the ocean.

Unfortunately,
the boy is woefully slow!


Thank goodness for a quick daddy with long arms!

Iris,

safely inland and in her own creative world!

So we know you're wondering,

who won?

The ocean or Ava?

I think we all know the answer to that question!

And Ava doesn't mind one bit!

Unfortunately,

Owen does.

And that concludes the Elmer's Pacifica adventure!

With incredible hiking trails, an amazing orchid garden,
and a fantasy land children's park,
there's still so much left to explore!

We'll definitely have to come back,
and next time we'll bring extra pants, socks, and shoes!

Rolling Stone's Cover Contender: The Steelwheels

The Steelwells frontman, Joey Winter,

was Samuel's missionary companion

many moons ago in the Philippines!

Now our boy is all grown up and is

playing against 16 un-signed bands

vying for the cover of

Rolling Stone's magazine

and a recording contract from Atlanta Records!

Granted, we're not fans of R.S.,

but we do love Joey and support him 100%!

The mag describes their music as,

"Big, Dreamy Pop From SoCal Guitar Romantics",

and we couldn't agree more.

If you like their mellow tunes too,

stop by and rate them now!

Thanks!

Sick? Call Iris

She frets,

fusses,

fluffs pillows,

and puts everything you'd ever need

easily within reach!

...

Thank you, Iris.

You take such good care of me!

Love,

Mom

Why Go To College? The Pizza, of course!

Samuel needed to take care of some business at school,

and being Family Home Evening,

it was the perfect opportunity for the kids

to check out Dad's school.

After we walked the campus,

we took to the trail and meandered
along some paths along the river.

What impressed them most?

All the on-campus fast-food restaurants!

Go figure.

But now they all really want to go to college!

Father-Daughter & Mother-Son Dates: Spaghetti vs. Thai

Our elementary school hosts an

Annual Father & Daughter Dance,

and this year was the first year that all our daughters could attend!

Unfortunately,

we couldn't make it.

{sad}

So to make up for missing out,

we created special invites for both the girls AND boys

inviting them to spend an evening with mom & dad.

The girls were delighted to receive THIS invitation

which instructed them to dress in semi-formal attire for this

"grand occasion"

which included dinner & the theater.

Look at all my pretty faces! 

That's more like it!

Owen was convinced his invite would be better,

and of course,

when we opened the front door,

there it was waiting for him!

{truth be told}

With all the excitement of getting the girls ready for their date.

I had forgotten to create the boys invite!

When Owen started peeking out the window,

I quickly realized he was waiting for his "special delivery".

Luckily,

he's easily distracted,

giving me a few minutes to steal some time

on the computer to print one out!

Whew!

Gabriel,

definitely less inclined to be impressed

with something as non-edible as a formal invite.

 

Popcorn!

Now I'm speaking his language!

My sweet, sweet boy.

Just like on real dates,

things can start out so well...



...and then take a nose dive!

Bummer!

My date landed himself on time-out!

If I didn't already know him,

this would have made a horrible first impression!

Lucky for me,

he straightened up,

and a good thing too!

It's time to eat!

While Samuel opted for the menu-friendly Spaghetti Factory,

we went for a noodle of a different sort:

Pad Thai!

Noodles.

An absolute favorite with these two.

Granted,

we need to work on our date-worthy dining skills...



Thank goodness we've got time to practice.

The question is:

How did Samuel fare with his noodles?

{smile}

The Ballfield

Taking advantage of the sunny weather,

Samuel's day off,

and having legs,

we hit the bikes hard

and pedaled like mad to the library.

My favorite part of the afternoon,

aside from watching Iris moping in the outfield,

and Owen pitching the ball,

was seeing the boys clamber around the bleachers.

They're both growing so fast,

and it's amazing to see their friendship and

brotherhood strengthen,

even now,

as just kids.

I'm grateful they have each other,

just as I'm grateful my daughters have one another too.

This family thing...

it's pretty amazing.

Goal: One Post Per Day

I am daunted by the fact that we're in a new year and

I have gobs and gobs of blog posts to catch up on! 

I really do enjoy chronicling our adventures,

but it just reached a point where the living

outpaced the documenting and,

well,  

here we are...

months and months later!

The goal then...baby steps.

One post per day. 

I think I can manage that,

so we'll see what happens!