I'm behind so this post may be a bit long. I guess if you are keeping up with us and our happenings though you must be interested! So, yesterday we drove up to one of my favorite places, Jalama Beach in Lompoc, CA. Back in the day, before Mom-hood and such things, we used to come down to Jalama to go surfing. Usually it was part of a whole trek southward from San Francisco that involved a handful of stops, sleeping in the car (or tent) and a lot of In-N-Out burgers. Anyway, Jalama is amazing and you should go if you have the chance. It's far enough out that the beach can be pretty empty. The drive to it is great as well and it is an excellent campsite with great hamburgers (not as good as In-N-Out mind you), hot showers and wide sweeping vistas. When you drive in you come out over the hill to this-

The water is cold but the cliffs and the views make up for it tenfold. Sayer spent the first part of the day building his "Rock Land".

I collected my own sand and rocks to take home. I have a collection at home of sand or rocks from the various places that I travel to. Speaking of which, anyone in Cape Cod? I forgot my baggie of sand there. Steven hates this little habit of mine as he is usually the one lugging home the suitcases that hold my bags of rocks.

Other than photographing your kids and mine, my next favorite thing to shoot is random stuff that I find. I like to walk around and look for little vignettes, lost objects and still lifes that exist all on their own without my interference. Like this:

I love the colors in California. The blue and yellow combination especially.

To say Jalama is wide is really an understatement. When you're out there you get this feeling like you could walk for miles and never reach the end. Here is the view to my right:

and to my left:

Finn and Daddy played in the water. Finn won't let you put him down but he gets a big kick out of you holding him and running back and forth into the water. He stopped to give his Dad some sugar.

So, that catches us up to today! This evening we went out to the beach for a sunset picnic! I packed up some PB&J's for the kids and something better for us!

Sayer fed most of his sandwich to the birds who then followed him around for the rest of the evening. If you look above him in this picture you'll see part of the circle of birds that were around him waiting and watching.

This seems so S. California to me...

Some fun with Mommy-

We had fun playing with our shadows-

Sayer, taking it all in-

the sunset-

OH! and on the way out to the car, I saw another vehicle for next year's trip. This one comes complete with a serenade! Now you're excited right Danny? By the way, experts are everywhere as you may know, this guy told me that I probably needed a flash.

Finally we headed home, feet hanging out the window and all.

Finally, no really this time, this post is coming to an end. Goodnight from paradise!

As promised, the little movie of Sayer. It's 4 mb so it may take a second.

Enjoy! Sayer sure did.

So, if you've been reading this blog since I started, you may remember that our first trip to the zoo here in SB was a disaster. So, now that Finn seems to be back to his normal self (for the most part), we gave it another go. It was a much better day! We saw the whole zoo this time and rode the train too.

Here are the kids pretending to hatch out of eggs-

Finn showing his driving companion some love-

Sayer's family tree-

After the zoo and some napping, we spent the afternoon bicycling up and down the beach in this cool thing-

Sayer's favorite part was the bell. Let's just say the passers-by weren't the only people who could have done without it.

I think that I had the best seat. The ocean was at my right for most of the ride.

We found this cool beach side spot where the tables sit right on the sand.

The food was great, the sunset was perfect and the beer was well deserved. Sayer told me that he wanted to eat a swordfish. He had a great time eating his swordfish (fish and chips) and then afterwards we took a bunch of pictures of him jumping off of this rock. I'll post them later when I have time to work on them. They're hilarious and I plan to make a little movie out of them. I did manage to get a few snaps of me and the kids. Here's further evidence to my clients that it's even hard for a pro to get a good shot of a 2 year old and a 4 year old.

On a final note. We've decided to come back here next summer. I have asked some friends to join us. But, I'm thinking that maybe this might be the way to go next year. What do you think? Come on Danny and Denise, doesn't it look awesome? LOL

Yesterday we took Sayer and Finn out to the pier and they got to ride on a "real pirate boat". They thought it was so cool. As you can see, it was a bit of a far cry from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Sayer was so happy though. He would crack up every time the driver would say "Arrrr!"

Finn and Granny waved (pageant style) at the folks on the pier

Both kids got to steer the boat and wear a hat too. Finn was more concerned with how to get his "pirate's treasure" (a lollipop) open and in his mouth.

After the boat we went to dinner at a little cafe on State Street. Finn had a good time finishing off the chocolate gelato.

Today we went down to the beach for a quick walk before eating lunch at the most perfect kid friendly spot that I have ever found. The beach is near a street called Padaro Lane, which has some of the most amazing houses along it. It was foggy today so you can't see them but this is the stretch of coast where they are (down where you see trees and past the people). One house here is for sale for 22 million. Supposedly Kevin Costner has a place down this street.

Sayer watched the surfers. He told them that he was going to "take a surfing lesson when he was all growned up". The guy said that he'd probably be a pro someday and Sayer just nodded and said "yeah, probably". LOL!

So, the restaurant is called The Beach Grille at Padaro. If you are ever in the area you should stop and eat. Your kids will love it! They have great kid food and good adult food too. They have corn dogs, kid cups and lemonade. They also have iced herbal teas, gourmet pizzas and salads. It sits alongside the coast but has a fence all around it so your kids can run free but stay inside. They have the biggest sandbox I have ever seen!

and the tables are just set along the grass. The kids all run around without their shoes. Sayer met a little guy his age and they ran each other ragged all through the place. They have dogs everywhere and the weather is perfect. Today you could have used a light sweater. By the time we left is was packed with families.

Now the house is quiet and everyone but me is napping. I think this must be my cue to put down the laptop and go join them.

This morning was lazy for the most part (as lazy as it can be with 2 little kids). Sayer and Finn pretended to be boats out on the sea. Daddy was the shark!

Finn had a co-pilot in his basket

After the sea adventures, Finn and I had some one-on-one time at the Montecito farmer's market. This market is small but beautiful! They have orchids, all sorts of flowers just overflowing out of buckets, lavender, and tons of fruit and vegetables. The lavendar had bees all buzzing around it. The strawberries here are amazing- so sweet! After shopping, Finn and I sat on the sidewalk and ate a bunch of our strawberries.

After strawberries, we had gelato! This lady makes fresh gelato using the local farmer's market produce. It was terrific. Finn ate his and then most of mine.

We kind of did this whole thing out of order. Next we had lunch at a local sidewalk cafe. It was a perfect little place with gourmet pizzas. Finn decided to have some Sprite, which we call "tickle" because it tickles his mouth.

All in all it has been a great day so far. My Dad just got here (for the weekend) so I better scoot!