February Christmas

Highly contagious sickness (thankfully, not from our little family) thwarted our traditional December Christmas plans with the Pedersen Family in Fresno - but that didn't stop us from making up for it in February on the Central Coast! It was lots of fun!  Instead of having one nice long dinner and evening together, we got to have 2 days of fun!

 Friday night we all went out to dinner in the Village.  18 of us!

 Saturday morning we met for breakfast at                      The Butterflies Blues Band.
Woodstone's and then strolled the Bob Jones Trail.

   Aryn and Finn.

 Avi playing in the sand.

Avi sneaking a kiss on baby Finn!

 Kendall, Alana, Aveah & Finn on the Avila Beach.

 Breakfast on our patio: Breakfast tacos with cilantro and chorizo.  Yummy!

 My Pedersen Family!

 My family!

 The second-cousins: Alana, Finn, Aveah, Kendall & Katelyn.  

 Happy Baby Finn - age 8 months.

 My brother and his family!

Cousin get-away: kayaking and paddle-boarding Avila Bay.  Here we are on a beach break near Diablo Canyon.

Winter Wonders

                         Avi enjoying a cup of chamomile tea.                                                                  

 Avi teaches Millie how to pick sour grass to eat.            Avi spoons Millie in her crib.

                                                                                                     Avi's proud portrait of a dog.

Butterflies and Beauties

For fun, we met with some friends at the Pismo Butterfly Grove.  I took Millie, while Pacha worked, and told her to dress up Millie in a cute outfit since I was inspired by Avi's cute outfit that day to take pictures.  

 

Millie and Avi - best buds.

 

 Tessa, Millie, Macy & Avi.

 Millie, Avi, Macy and Tessa looking at two butterflies on the ground "doing nice things" to each other.

After the butterflies bored the kids, we walked to the beach nearby for a midday toddler beach party!  Kendall joined us there!

Gigi (Ggggreat-Ggggrandma!)

Avi loves to go visit Gigi!  In fact, one time she wanted to stay with Gigi!  Even though Gigi is 91 years-young, she still can keep up with Avi!

 At Sweet Springs just across the street from Gigi's house.

Avi fed the ducks.

We go to visit Keeta sometimes who lives only about a 2-minute walk from Gigi's.

Gigi feeding Baby Jake so that Avi can finish her breakfast at a local restaurant.  Thanks, Gigi!

Windmill Farms

Ever had those experiences where you've driven by something hundreds of times, but never stopped?  Well, that was Windmill Farms for me.  It's right off the freeway to the South entrance to our home, but we never once stopped (until we had a 2-year-old's curiosity to lead us there).  Well, now that we've stopped it's one of our favorite places!  Local caught fish, many local organic fruits and veggies, and all kinds of animals to see: donkeys, rams, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys...

One of my favorite pictures of 2012 so far!

Water and Fire

Two more traditions we do with friends and fellow Tierra Nuevans: the January 1st Polar Dip and the annual Christmas Tree BonFire on the Beach!

 Before we got in.  This year we were lucky - it was SO warm outside!

Running to the water!

It looked so funny having a group of people walking on the beach with a few Christmas trees following.

Michael lighting the three trees with a wreath on top.

The crowd watching (upwind, of course) the flames grow.

During the bonfire a trick plane was doing stunts above our head - it was pretty cool!

The last to leave: Jaime, Steve, Avi (screaming foie gras), Michael, Maren, Lois, Millie, Pacha, Fred.