El Capitan

 Every year growing up we went to El Capitan State beach the first week of June for our family camping vacation.  We LOVED it

I took the big girls there a couple of times when they were small and we LOVED it.

This year we went again and we mostly LOVED it.  Turns out the older you get the more the work side of camping manifests itself :), also the showers weren't working which was a huge (-).

Mostly it was awesome.  Like 85%.

All my kids and spouses and grands were there!! So that was way awesome.  Also 3 of my sisters and their families and mom and dad.

Marshall loved digging in the sand.  He could dig all day!

Penny thought it was cold and was happy go come home :)

Tatum is so grown up.  She played with Grace a lot.

Shitzu hair ;0

cute Kenz! I am so glad she and Hannah are going to be roommates this fall.

What we spent hours and hours doing each day!

Papa and Grams came down to the beach each day, they hotel hopped with Val and Ryan.  This was a challenge for everyone.  They had some very bad luck with their first two nights and their accommodations were subpar. The last two nights they stayed in Solvang at a hotel they thought was nice.  It was kind of a pain to have them far away, I was sad they missed out on stuff and we sometimes had trouble meeting up.

This little dino...what can I say?

The boys played a variety of games involving throwing things and riding waves and jumping as far as they could.

Jenna and Penny

Campfire conversations

3 little grandkids

reading and eating were favorite activities.

Several nights we went grunion hunting.  We never did see any but it was fun to explore the beach at night.  One night Clayton and Ethan went skinny dipping in the dark.  (We got to know each other much better this trip)

beach cave

Noah and Grace

"Jack and Jill" fetching a pail of water

quiet evenings around the camp fire are the best

There was lots of driftwood.

We saw lots of cool sea life.  Lots of star fish, dolphins, urchins, snails, pelicans, seagulls.  Also lots of land animals; skunks, raccoons, squirrels, birds, dogs, and a couple of cats that belonged to the loop host and had their own cat tent.

Tide pool exploration

We did some camp crafts and played games.  The kids enjoyed painting rocks.

The best parts:

family all together

beautiful ocean

awesome weather

lots of time

sunny skies

watching the stars at night

night hike

campfires

cousins playing

campfire donuts

dolphin spotting

game playing

chat chat chatting

Worst parts:

no showers

menu issues ( my fault)

a few disagreements and hurt feelings

damp mornings

Marshall and Noah

Sierra, Grace, Kenz, Hannah, Dani and Jordyn

 Spencer, Joneaux, Reggie, Noah and Marshall heads

 beach naps

Papa playing frisbee.

We also played butt charades and Quelf

lots of boogie boarding

 Love this girl!

The End

Swimming

 Family fun in the pool after sweaty soccer watching!

 Aunt Val reads the babies a bedtime story.  We have beds and blow ups in every room.

Tate's other grandma does grandma camp with all her granddaughters when they turn 8.  She'll be on her mission when Tatum has her birthday so she got to go last week and she made this beautiful blanket. 

Last soccer game

 It was a long, many hot hot days of soccer losses for our team.  Kind of a bummer but it's been a fun season.

 It was super fun to have everyone here to watch him play.  He had his own cheering section!

Soccer in the summer

 Soccer games in the summer are only a good idea if you live in Alaska, or Greenland.  Here it's too hot!

Ethan played yesterday, and today, and tomorrow...and Sunday is the end of the tournament but we won't be there.

Yesterday they won 3-0!!
Today they lost 5-1 :(
Tomorrow 3 games are scheduled and I just hope we survive.

Hannah and Ethan supplied us with donuts this morning.  Perks to having a teenage driver in the house.

Hot Hot Hot

Melisse

Before we moved away from our beloved MD to the desert we were trying to encourage the children that it would be awesome.  Normally it's quite exciting to move somewhere new and I eagerly look forward to our next move, which in not eminent. 

One thing we did was promise Disney season passes to them and that was really fun!  Hannah is a foodie, and was in the culinary program and was really sad about leaving that.  In our CA research she found the "French Laundry" was here (in CA) and asked if we could go. I said yes not knowing what it costs to go there.  When I found out I sadly had to go back on my word and tell her we couldn't go.  She took it well enough but was disappointed.  There are a lot of "fancy" restaurants around and she kept looking and then found Melisse.  It's close to home, not as $$$, although still insanely costly, and she wanted to go for her graduation present.  So it was set.  

Anna and Amadeo love to fine dine and they agreed to meet us.  Hannah and I were both glad, they are good dinner company and it was fun to get their perspective and expertise on the food. Rob graciously stayed home (because we were too cheap to take 3 of us)

I didn't take any pictures.  Anna did but she hasn't posted yet.  Hannah did with her not very good cell camera...so that's what we have :)  

It's a whole experience.  We were there about 3 1/2 hours as each course was brought out and explained to us.

First we had:

 a fancy shot of soda (not it's official name) it was a cleanser and palate awakener.  

served with a collection of seasonal stone fruits in plum and rhubarb water with purslane and minetuna salad on top and drizzled with walnut oil.  It was delicious and delicate.

Next was a lovely tomato soup, made with green and yellow zuchhini and a viva patricia strawberry sorbet. It was a delightful swirl of cold and hot dancing on your tongue.  It was really good and I don't even like tomato soup.

Hannah's favorite was the next course which was egg caviar.  It was a soft poached egg with lemon creme fraiche and sturgeon caviar.  It was pretty and delicious.

My least fav was next (I liked it, just not loved it, like the rest of the wow dinner):

Foie Gras and Rabbit Torchon

Devil's gulch rabbit, patterson apricot, pole beans, petitie mustard and bacon vinaigrette

That was followed by a lobster pasta dish that I don't know the description of.  It was tasty but not very lobstery.

Next was the fish course:

Wild King Salmon

summer truffles, green chickpeas, chanterelle mushrooms, spanish eggplant veloute.

Amazing!

Marcho Farms Veal Loin

Braised veal cheek, courgettes, oreon porcini, spring onion and nastrutium sauce.

It melted in your mouth! This was my favorite!

Last was the dessert:

We started with a dark chocolate dessert that looked like a little ball with gold painted on top.  You broke it and inside was a swirl of deliciousness.  Several flavors blended together in a symphony of chocolately goodness in your mouth.

and then my fav dessert:

Gaviota Strawberries

ricotta cremeux, elderflower sorbet and aerated yogurt.  The lid was a sugar wafer that you broke thru and it made a crumble on top.  It was delicious.

Lastly there was a petite four dessert taste.

I didn't get a picture of Hannah (dumb) but here I am.  We didn't know what to wear but this ended up fine.  It was dressy but also LA, beach casual dressy. (I wore shoes :))

Anyway, Hannah had a great night.  She said it was her best meal ever and she hopes to fine dine again some day.  I had a fun night.  It was awesome to do something with Han that she really loved and it's always fun to be with A2. I don't feel anxious or motivated to seek out other Michelin restaurants.  While it was very fun and very yummy and lots of surprising, unique, flavors it was too $ for me.  I'd rather spend that on Disneyland day, or a little weekend vacation or something else.

*edited to add some of Anna's photos.  

pool party

 Tonight the youth had a swim party at our house.  We had a good turn out and the kids had fun.  I thought the water was too cold, but they never seem to care.

Today was a busy errand day but first everyone had to get in their Steven snuggles.  He's a lover...if not a pee-er where he belongs-er.

So first a ticket.  Hannah got a ticket months ago for having her tag on the wrong plate of the car.  Dumb.  It took many tries and hours at the DMV to get that sorted out.  Then we weren't sure how to pay it or get it verified.  Several tries later, and after filing one extension, we decided to do it today no matter what.  So we went to the courthouse and told them we didn't know what to do.  The lady we talked to was super helpful and gave us step by step instructions.  First we had to go to the CHP office (where Jon Youchim was working so that was a fun surprise). He helped us out.  Then we went back to the courthouse and paid the ticket.  What a load off.

Next was a meningitis shot.  Again much more complicated than it needed to be.  The doctor couldn't get her in in time.  The clinic didn't have it (strange), 3 pharmacies later we found one.  She was not very excited but I am glad we got it done. 

After that we had a couple things to get at the store and she wanted tacos for being so brave for her shot.  We went to Rubios and I had a yummy mango/avocado/quinoa salad.  

So it was a pretty good day.  Ethan has a hurt foot, which isn't good because he has a 4 day soccer tournament starting tomorrow and then soccer camp in 2 weeks.