After Thanksgiving

I find it hard to keep up with my blog when it seems to me that nothing very interesting is going on.  Friday after Thanksgiving we stayed home to avoid all the shopping madness.  Late in the day we drove downtown to meet Bill and Susie at Catch 35.  Hadn't been there is a while and hadn't seen them for a while so it was a good evening.  Their house is Florida is still not finished - now the builder says March instead of January - whew.

Saturday we did get out to do a little shopping at Oak Brook and Kohl's. Bought a new fancy vacuum cleaner and a cordless vac at Sears.  Didn't seem like the crowds were too bad.  Saturday night we went to Donna and Tony's house in Western Springs to celebrate Tony's and Jill's birthdays.

Sunday we got the outdoor wreath up and put up the reindeer.  The grazing one had so many lights out that we just put it out by the curb.  It was gone within 30 minutes.

Watched an amazing Bears' game.  They were behind 14 points with less than 5 minutes to go.  They had only picked up 8 yards in the the third quarter or something like that. They scored two touchdowns - the last with 30 seconds on the clock on 4th down and goal to go.  Then they kicked a field goal in overtime to win it.  Amazing finish.  My brother Ron was at the game.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving

It was just a marvelous day. We all arrived at Lori's before noon and began with lots of nice hors d'oeuvres.  We had football on but nobody was very interested and the games were al one-sided. I think this is the first Thanksgiving ever that I didn't watch any football - none.  And that's a good thing :-)

We did watch Jill's birthday video and a video of Grandma Wilson.

Soon enough the bird was ready and Keir's Dad supervised Keir as he carved his first turkey.

 

 

Lori had set a beautiful table

  so we soon sat down to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

Just a great day with family.  Lots to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving

Haven't had anything to say since we got back from California or at least haven't taken the time. We're back to the cold miserable weather - even got a little bit of snow last night. First of all I'm thankful for a three day work week.

Today Lori is having her first Thanksgiving in her new house. Keir's parents, brother and grandmother will be there along with Dan, Amy, Kyle and Braden. I'm really looking forward to it.

We have so much to be thankful for. Good health and family top the list for sure.

I am truly blessed.

Last day of vacation

We decided to drive back down to our old haunts around La Jolla and Encinitas.  Stopped for coffee at the Pannikin.

Braden was napping so we decided to head on down to La Jolla. The day was a little overcast but we kept promising Kyle that it would be sunny later. Before long the sun came out and it was just a beautiful day.

  We walked around La Jolla and went in a few stores.  Then we headed down to the Cove.  Had a nice lunch at the Brockton Villa.

 

We walked around the Cove a bit.

Dan and Amy decided to let the boys get their feet wet.

 

 

 

After that we headed down a few blocks to the seal beach.

It was time to head back up to Encinitas where we stopped in a surfing store and went across the street to the Java Hut for some smoothies.  After a mandatory stop at Moonlight Beach we headed back to the villas.  It was just a delightful day and a perfect way to end a great vacation.

Back to the Coastal Villas

Darrell and Pam and Jill and I walked across the street this morning to the Cottage to meet Dan and Amy and the boys for breakfast.  We checked out of the hotel but left our stuff in the car and walked around Laguna Beach.

After we pretty well covered the main shopping street we headed back to the villa.  Jill and Pam opened their birthday presents.  Went down to the pool and sat around while Amy and Dan took Kyle and Braden into the pool.  It was another gorgeous day. 

Later on we went to Tommy Bahama's for dinner and celebrated Jill's and Pam's birthdays, again.

 

Another gorgeous day in Southern California

Yesterday we  had breakfast on our balcony at the Inn at Laguna

The kids stopped by for a minute on their way to Sea World.  After breakfast we walked around Laguna for a while and then went to Dana Point.  Had a great lunch there right by all the boats.  I had calamari steak and it was very good.

We hit some of the shops before heading  back to Laguna.  Pam and Darrell arrived from Arizona just in time to see the sun set behind Catalina.  We had wine up on the roof of the inn.  After that we went to Las Brisas for dinner

In a little while we will walk across the street to the Cottage to meet Dan and Amy and the boys for breakfast

Off to Inn at Laguna Beach

Tuesday morning we had breakfast with Dan, Amy and the boys and then packed our stuff for a couple of days in Laguna Beach.  We drove down to La Jolla but of course took the coast route from Carslbad on down.  Stopped at the Pannikin in Encinitas for coffee.

and then spent a little while at Moonlight Beach.

We had a nice crab cake sandwich lunch overlooking La Jolla cove at Brockton Villa.

Drove back up to Laguna Beach and checked in around 4:15

Magic lives on

In 1955 Disneyland opened and I went there to be caught up in the magic.  The Jungle Cruise was my favorite ride. In the 70's and 80's I took my kids and they fell in love with Disneyland.  Yesterday we took my grandsons, continuing this grand tradition.  Although the park has changed a lot in 52 years the magic lives on. Kyle announced that his favorite ride was the Jungle Cruise.  He had an absolutely fantastic time.

  It seemed like Braden's favorite ride was Small, Small World. He hung in there amazingly for a 17 month old.

It was a wonderful day in every way.  The weather was perfect, the park was not too crowded and the boys lasted a lot longer than we would have ever expected.  They lasted from a little after 9 until 4:00 o'clock.  Days don't get much better than yesterday.

California Vacation

Day 2.  Yesterday we spend most of the day getting here.  Kyle and Braden were both great on the plane.  Braden napped for a long time and Kyle played games with us.  We got separated at the car rental place so arrived separately here at Newport Coast Villas.

We have a two bedroom villa with a large living room/dining room and well equipped kitchen.  We're near Crystal Cove State Park between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. 

The boys woke up at 4:30 and 5:00.  So we got a pretty early start.  Went to breakfast at the Greeter's Restaurant which is right at the light in downtown Laguna Beach.

Then we walked around Laguna Beach. After that we drove to Balboa Island, walked through some stores and came back to the villa for lunch.  We all crashed for naps until about 4:00.  Took the boys to an Italian restaurant for dinner while Dan and Amy went to a place in Laguna Beach.  It was cool today and we actually got light rain as we headed out for dinner.

Happy Birthday Lori

Yesterday was Lori's birthday.

Keir and Lori

Jill watched the kids in the afternoon while Lori went downtown. I went over there at 5:00 to help with the kids. Lori and Keir went to Roy's and then to a benefit wine tasting downtown.

After I dropped Jill off in the afternoon I came back home and spotted these guys.