Another Day Like That

Today was another one of those days. A day where we look at our surroundings, do something really great, and say to each other "I can't believe we get to live here!".

Today we headed out in search of a bike path we found on the Internet. It was rumored to be completely free of traffic so it would be very safe for the girls. Best of all, it paralleled the ocean for most of the path.

We found the path, and parking, easily and set out. We didn't have the stamina (at least some of us didn't-I'm looking at you Austyn :-) ha!) to do the whole thing but we ended up riding a respectable 7 miles with the ocean on one side of us and gorgeous mountains on the other side of us. It was such a great way to start 2013!

We even found some time to sit and take a break and play on some rocks.

We stopped at the pier when we were wrapping up the day and parked the bikes and took a walk out over the ocean. The girls were impressed by all the fisherpeople on the pier and they loved looking in the water for dorsal fins. (They didn't find any)

We finished with a quick stop at the playground for a 10 minute playtime and then headed home.

We will definitely be making this one of our regular family outings. Hopefully we will even manage to ride the whole length of the path someday in the not too distant future!

Festival of Lights Christmas Parade

Last weekend we headed down to the harbor to watch the Festival of Lights Christmas parade. This Christmas parade is on the Pacific Ocean and the floats are boats of all shapes and sizes (including kayaks) that are decked out with lights and decorations.

The parade kicks off when Santa does a flyover by helicopter and then the floats start coming by. Most of them are really bright and some of them included music which we had fun with, dancing and singing along. We had a couple of favorites, the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph:

And one that was really jamming, playing "Christmas in the Sand" by Colbie Callait, which just so happens to be the girls' and my favorite Christmas song this year:

It was hard to get good photos that do the floats justice but here are some more frivolous shots:

We had such a fun night and it was so great to go to a Christmas parade where we didn't freeze our tails off the entire time!

Back to School

The girls have been in their new school for 3 weeks now. The first day I (of course) made them pose for tons of pictures (below)!

Taylor seems to really like her new teacher and has made a lot of new friends. She came home from her first day bragging about what a wonderful day she had because everyone wanted to play with her. He has apparently made two new "best" friends and last week she even went on a play date with one who lives within walking distance of our house.

Austyn is doing well with kindergarten too!  She likes her teacher and likes school, and she has also made friends although she is a little more stingy with her affections. Austyn has to be won over first! She has been playing with several kids though and she is finally starting to remember their names when she comes home and tells us about her day.

We went last week to Family Fun Night at the school. They had Santa, crafts, games, and hot chocolate and snacks. The kids both found people they knew to play with and sit beside and it made me so happy to see them fitting in so quickly!!

A Quick House Update

There is a light at the end of the home buying tunnel! The Friday before Thanksgiving we met with a mobile notary at her "home office". This was actually her dirty, sticky kitchen table but minor detail... We signed an entire ream of paper which amounted to all the documentation you would sign at a closing table in Indiana.

The next day we Fed Ex'd our money for closing costs/down payment to the title company. On Wednesday the bank made a required repair for the loan conditions. They replaced a very (apparently) expensive garage door opener button in the garage. On Friday an appraiser came out to re-inspect and make sure the repair had really been made. We waited on pins and needles all weekend to get a closing date because our realtor said everything on our part was done. In fact, they don't have a formal "closing" in CA, instead the closing just means that the loan has funded, the purchase has been recorded, and we get to take possession.

Today we got the news that we will take possession of our new home TOMORROW!! Our furniture won't be delivered until Friday so we will be living it up at the hotel for a few more days but it is still very exciting that we will be homeowners again by tomorrow!!

Happy Thanksgiving From California!

Although we definitely missed our family on our first holiday away from Indiana, we made the most of our first Thanksgiving holiday in California.

 

We started out Thanksgiving Eve by going to see a movie (Wreck-It Ralph--so good!) and after the movie we found a cool fountain and giant Christmas tree that the girls wanted to check out.

 

 

 

This morning we slept in late, had a big breakfast and headed to the mountains for a Thanksgiving hike.  We hiked about a mile and a half, to what was supposed to be a waterfall but it was dry.  Even so, we still had some beautiful views.  When the kids got tired, and the mountain got steep, and Dave got extremely nervous, we turned around and headed back down the mountain.  We took our time and took advantage of some photo ops along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

After nearly 2 hours of hiking we headed back to town to eat a Thanksgiving buffet.  The food was just so-so but the dessert was pretty tasty and they had never-ending Icee's on tap.  We still managed to eat until we were stuffed, like all good Thanksgiving dinners should end.

 

 

We finished the day with a 2 hour swim and hot tub soak, where Austyn learned to swim without floaties!  After swimming, Austyn had to come in to watch "her" football game.  All in all, it was a great way to spend a Thanksgiving day!

The Girls' First Beach Day

Of course we couldn't be here too long without taking the girls on their first trip to the Pacific Ocean.  When we were househunting we had visited a beach path and taken a walk, and while on our walk we saw a playground and a cool zipline.  The kids have been asking to go to that beach ever since.  So on Sunday we loaded up and drove about 15 minutes to that beach.

The girls ripped off their shoes and hit the zipline right away.

 

 

 

After a few (dozen) turns on the zip line the girls were ready to head down to the water and play in the sand.  

 

 

The water is pretty chilly this time of year, but that didn't stop the kids at all, and in the end we all waded in up to our knees.  It wasn't too bad once you got used to it.

 

 

There were tons of people out surfing and we were all impressed by them.  It made us want to try surfing, even though it seems pretty intimidating.  Austyn got inspired by the surfer's "cool tricks" and took to the sand to do some cool tricks of her own.

 

 

After that we headed up to do the zip line a few last times.  Dave finally told the girls they could each go one more time, and on the very last zip line trip a seagull let Dave know he had overstayed his welcome by making a "special delivery" all over Dave's shirt, arm, and hand!  He ran to the water to wash it off before I even knew what had happened.  I couldn't believe he didn't wait and let me get a picture for the blog!!

Ice Skating Lesson

On our first Friday here I took our girls to an ice skating lesson, courtesy of our Realtor, Steve.  His wife is an ice skating instructor and she had graciously offered us a free lesson, free ice time, and free skate rental.  All we had to do was make the 30 minute drive and she would take care of the rest.  Taylor has been begging to ice skate forever so she was especially looking forward to the lesson. 

 

Sorry for the poor picture quality, the lighting wasn't that great inside the rink and I couldn't get on the ice with them to get closer pictures, but I think they give you an idea.  When the girls first put their skates on outside the rink they could barely even stand in them.  But after a few minutes they got a feel for how to walk around in them off the ice.

 

 

 

When they started they each used bars for support:

 

 

The bars went with them, everywhere they went and gave them support but somehow still helped them to get a feel for how to balance on the ice.  Cindy, their instructor, promised that by the end of the lesson they would be able to let go of their bars and skate on their own but I was really skeptical. She was so great with them though, and the kids were fearless on the ice, and soon enough they did go it alone: 

 

 

 

 

The kids loved Cindy so much, and they loved ice skating.  After the hour was up they didn't want to leave!  They begged to stay awhile but it was so COLD in there!  I let them make one more trip around the oval and then had to practically drag them out the door.  They're already asking when they can go again!