Slumber Party!

Jill's Journal: The girls were blessed with their very first slumber party last night. Oh, the excitement of it all! They camped out with Kristi and Adam on their living room floor after looking forward to the sleepover for days. They went to a park, got their fingernails painted, watched movies, and got to “cuddle” with Meisje. And that’s about all I know, because three very sleep-deprived little girls were a wee bit crabby today and in no mood to share.

Apparently what happens at a slumber party stays at a slumber party. And that’s okay, because I’m just so glad they had fun.

Grapevine/Winery Tour

Jill's Journal: Erika looks awfully petite next to 1200-gallon barrels of fermenting wine.

After they learned in school recently that ancient Egyptians made wine by stomping the grapes, we thought it would be fun for the girls to see a behind-the-scenes tour of a modern-day winery. Tablas Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles has tours and does not discourage children, so we set off with high hopes.

Unfortunately, the very long tour was more about grape varieties than winemaking and held very little interest for the girls. Oh well; you win some and you lose some! We did get to see a demonstration of how one vine is grafted onto another and that held everyone’s interest. Soon we’ll be leaving this area and I think we’ll miss the sublime sight of thousands of acres of vineyards covering the countryside.

Rios-Caledonia Adobe

Jill's Journal: Growing up in California, I never thought it had much history – compared, that is, to Europe or the ancient civilizations or even the East Coast – so it’s fun to discover a little on this journey. Today, the girls and I made the little trip to San Miguel, where “The Adobe” was built in 1835 using Indian labor. A two-story hacienda was pretty impressive for those days.

The Rios-Caledonia Adobe was originally part of the San Miguel Mission. In 1868, it was converted into a stagecoach stop, inn, and saloon. The Dalton Brothers and Frank and Jesse James were said to have stayed here (we’ve visited so many places who claim to have housed these outlaws -- boy, they sure got around!). That road barely visible in the left of the photo was the original dirt stagecoach road. When cars arrived, it was paved (in 1915) and became the original Highway 101 until the freeway was rerouted to the other side of the structure in 1931.

When the railroad and automobiles officially signaled an end to the days of the stagecoach, the Adobe was used as an upholstery shop, post office, and elementary school. Finally it became a private residence for a ranch and later a dairy farm. Today, the rooms in this grand old structure are filled with furnishings to recreate life in the home, plus its tavern and Wells Fargo banking days.

The girls especially loved the cacti garden. Here they are fascinated by one that has yet to grow its prickles!

Happy Birthday, Beppy!

Jill's Journal: It has really struck us lately how important family is and how fleeting time can be, so we felt strongly that it would be silly to miss visiting with Beppy on her birthday when we’re just a few hours drive away. Beppy is always incredibly considerate and hated the thought of us driving so much, so we ended up splitting the driving difference and found a park to meet in that was as close to the middle of both of our drives as possible. The girls, Kristi, Meisje, and I met Beppy and Grandpa there for an all-afternoon picnic.

And what a wonderful time it was – we had the absolute best day. The kids played until they were sick of playing, the adults drank wine and talked to our hearts’ content, and we all filled up on picnic food and birthday cake. And we got sunburns! There’s not too many places in the U.S. you can get a sunburn in February. It was a fantastic time together and I’m so glad we all did it.

Happy Birthday, Beppy! You’re the best. The absolute best. I hope we get to celebrate many, many more birthdays just like that – together. And I’m so glad my darling Dad made it too. You never know what the future holds, but there’s a pretty good chance we won’t be in the area anymore when his birthday rolls around in the summer. So, yes, this was a really special day!

Madonna Mountain Death March

Jill's Journal: Somehow I must have forgotten what a hard-core hiker Kristi is…and, more importantly, I forgot that former hiking companions have labeled her the “hiking Nazi.” (That alone should have tipped me off to something. How conveniently we forget.) So, when Kristi told me Madonna Mountain made a nice hike and that her quickest time for this particular hike was around 45 minutes to go up and back, I naively thought it would be a good outing for the girls. Even more naively, I thought it would be gentle terrain since she used to run it.

Yesterday morning we arrived at Madonna (named for the big ranching family from this area and not the pop icon) with the mountain looming boldly in front of us. I vaguely remember thinking it seemed awfully big for such a quick hike. Still, I blindly (and still naively) followed my sister and Meisje with three little girls in tow.

The Madonna’s official name is Cerro San Luis and it’s one of the “seven sisters,” seven peaks all in a row of extinct volcanoes that end with Morro Rock at the ocean. We had a ball going up …and up …and up some more. Somewhere along the line I learned, to my astonishment, the hike to the top and back down was 5.2 miles, more than two miles farther than the girls had ever done before, and we’re not talking a gentle, flat walk. But by that time we were committed and soldiered on. All three girls did utterly fantastic all the way to the top and I was so proud! We thought we were home free. If the kids did so great on the way up, the way down should be a piece of cake, right? Oh, how wrong we were. Somewhere on the way down, the girls decided we had them on a death march. We slipped and slid and all three girls (plus me!) fell at least once. That took all the fun away and they were D-O-N-E.

Erika was christened “Kid Hiker of the Day” because she kept going and going with no complaints. Yay, Erika! About halfway down the mountain, Madelyn decided she was furious with both me and Kristi for “picking this hike,” but thankfully kept going. It was all Kristi and I could do to stifle our laughter at her enraged little face and body language. And poor little Victoria’s legs just quit, causing me to surrender my usual policy of not carrying her on hikes.

Despite the two little girls fizzling out on the way back down, it was an awesome way to spend a morning, complete with beautiful views stretching all the way to the ocean. I believe it took us around three hours total, which actually, isn’t bad with little ones. How Kristi has managed to run up and down that mountain in less than 45 minutes boggles my mind. She is so hard core, clearly a fitness guru, and most definitely not someone to be trifled with! I want to be her when I grow up. :)

The Mission

Jill's Journal: By the 1700s, Spain had claimed a big part of California and established missions along the coast to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. The “mission trail” going up the coast had 21 missions, all about a hard day’s journey apart. The original trail, called El Camino Real, or The Royal Road, is now loosely Highway 101. El Camino Real was named to honor the Spanish monarchy, who were financiers of California expeditions in a quest to expand their empire. The historic trail is still marked by bells. Even better, several of the original missions still exist. One of them is Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, founded in 1772 and the fifth of the 21 missions to be built.

After Mexico revolted against Spain and won her independence in 1821, all the missions were taken away from the Franciscan friars and secularized by the Mexican government. The San Luis mission was then used as a school, jail, and county courthouse. After California became part of the United States in 1850, the government returned some of the lands back to the church. The town of San Luis Obispo eventually grew up around the mission, which is still recognized as the center of town.

Today the girls and I headed to downtown SLO and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful mission and accompanying museum. It’s sparse but large and still in service today as a church. It’s also unique as the only one of the California missions with an L-shaped nave.

The grounds are absolutely lovely as well.

Museum of Natural History at Morro Bay State Park

Jill's Journal: There continues to be no problem finding plenty to do here on the Central Coast, even with some of the things we most want to see (like an abalone farm and a lavender farm) closed for the winter. And we’ve been to the closest park so many times in this beautiful 60-70ish degree weather that we’re starting to get to know some of the regulars. I had to laugh when one Dad invited us back to the park on a certain day and Erika told him we live in a trailer so we might not be able to make it. That sounds so … well, low brow!


Today we headed to the Museum of Natural History at Morro Bay State Park. It’s not huge, but the girls absolutely loved all the interactive exhibits. Most of them were a little over Madelyn and Victoria’s heads, but Erika was completely enthralled. She’s turned into a fantastic traveler lately – so enthused and interested in absolutely everything. Most of these exhibits focused on how natural forces and humans affect Earth and the environment. It was a wonderful compliment to some of the sea life studies we’ve undertaken lately in 1st grade science.

And what a spectacular view of Morro Bay! It was a very, very nice outing. We came home in time for a dinner and play time with Adam and Kristi’s delightful friend Rob and his sweet four-year-old daughter Mackenzie. It’s hard to tell who had more fun: the kids or the adults?

Avila Beach

Jill's Journal: We just may have found our favorite Central Coast Californian beach town! Avila Beach is charming and small and beautiful and well-kept and not anywhere near as crowded as Pismo Beach or some of the other extra popular spots. Of course, it didn’t hurt that today’s weather was so spectacular, especially for February, that it should almost be criminal.

The girls made themselves at home on a darling little beachfront playground. We took the 30-minute free trolley around all the hot spots. We explored downtown. And best of all, we visited the Sea Life Center which is staffed by marine biology students from nearby Cal Poly. Among the creatures we saw were sharks, rays, jelly fish, and an octopus. The girls got to touch and even hold a nice variety of sea life.

We ended our Avila Beach day with a lovely country drive through the hills overlooking the ocean (can you spot Morro Rock in the distance?). It sure wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to get used to coastal life…!

Madelyn’s 1st Lost Tooth!

Jill's Journal: The drama around these parts the last few days centered on when Madelyn would lose her first tooth. It grew progressively looser and looser as the days went by, but Madelyn was determined to let it come out by itself. She barely wiggled it and certainly wasn’t about to give it a tug. And finally, today, the tooth gave up the ghost and let go. Oh, the joy and excitement was contagious – what a thrilled little girl!

Elfin Forest at Baywood Park

Jill's Journal: We had such an enjoyable afternoon today strolling through the Elfin Forest at Baywood Park, just below Morro Bay on the coast. It’s a nice little habitat for Pygmy Oak trees, which only grow from seven to 12 feet tall at their maturity. The entire wilderness park has a boardwalk meandering throughout, which the girls loved running and skipping over. There’s a number of other protected plant life in the park as well, but my thumb is anything but green and they all look alike to me. Still, there aren’t too many nicer ways to spend an afternoon than breathing in some fantastic, fresh ocean air.

San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market

Jill's Journal: It’s not often the girls get to go somewhere in the early evening hours, so they really soak it up when they do get the chance. Tonight Adam brought us all to the San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market, which is really a little bit of Farmer’s Market and a whole lot of Street Fair. What a fun community event, held every Thursday night year-round in the fabulous town recently christened as America’s happiest by Oprah.

All three girls thought the show by juggling, unicycle-riding street performers was about the coolest thing they’d ever seen. Ever.

They were mesmerized by the quick-sketch artists and this man was sweet enough to tell them that they too could do it with just a little practice.

We stopped by Bubble Gum Alley, the notorious little SLO alley with thousands upon thousands of wads of bubble gum stuck upon the walls. They thought it was pretty cool and I just made sure they didn’t touch it!

We ended the evening with balloon animals. It doesn’t get much better than that when you’re 7, 5, and 3.

Elephant Seals

Jill's Journal: Not far from Hearst Castle, only a hop, skip, and jump up the rugged California coast, is the Piedras Blancas Rookery. Nature’s largest and most unattractive seals, the elephant seals, return year after year from Alaska and use this section of the shoreline to give birth and mate. A boardwalk on the bluff protects visitors from the massive creatures while giving a birdseye view of the dramatic proceedings. It’s fascinating stuff and well worth the trip.

The elephant seals get their name not only from their size (the males average about 5,000 pounds!), but also from the long, dangling, trunk-like nose the males sport. Even though the picture makes it look like these seals simply sun themselves on the beach, these are not peaceful animals to watch. They are constantly fighting for position and arguing over what appears to be just about everything. The noise is surprisingly deafening, but not so surprising when it’s estimated 15,000 of these animals use this particular shoreline. Amazing stuff.

This picture clearly shows a pup, a female, and a male. And one very cool note: a day or two after seeing the elephant seals in person, they just randomly happened to be our science class topic in 1st Grade! I’m really, really starting to enjoy homeschooling.