We arrived home safe and sound last night. Since I am not a fan of flying I am always grateful for smooth flights which we had both ways this time. It was over 80° today, warmer than any of our days in California, but there is no green yet.

Sarah asked if she could have her birthday gift early this year. She and Adam rent a lovely little house in Livermore. They have a huge paved patio and a remodeled room in the garage, but very little actual yard. She really wanted her own garden. Since Tracy and Matt are both expert gardeners, it seemed like perfect timing. (I hope it’s all doing well in August on her real birthday!) She found a lovely nursery nearby and picked out a combination of vegetables and flowers for her containers. She also found a great book called Grow Great Grub which I have ordered from Amazon. We’re still waiting to hear, but are hoping to get a plot in our Community Garden this year.

 

The Alden Nursery. The people here were very knowledgeable and helpful.

Sadie was thrilled to be able to go on an outing!

 

Just behind Sarah’s house is a lovely path along a creek. Matt and I took Sadie for a walk one afternoon. The path is paved on one side of the creek, and appears to go for many miles.

 

Sadie was a very happy lady.

 

We spent a lot of time just hanging out, playing games, doing crosswords, and reading. It was so good to just be with family.

Adam had just gotten this new game, Corn Hole. The guys really enjoyed it.

 

We are all big fans of Sadie, but Matt is especially fond of her. She slept on the couch with him every night.

 BananaGrams:  lots of fun, but it could be pretty frustrating as well.

In addition to his job as pastor for youth and young adults at a Methodist church, Adam also works as a social media person for the Wente Vineyards in Livermore. He twitters for them and keeps them active on the social media sites. Tracy and Matt were the lucky recipients of a round of golf at the Wente golf course. They had a beautiful day for it.

 

We’ve only been to California in the summer before this trip. The hills are always golden by then. They are a beautiful green in the spring.

 

I still have photos to edit from the last few days of the trip. Today just flew by with unpacking, grocery shopping, organizing, and ironing. I really thought I’d get a chance to play with some new scrapbooking & stamping goodies I brought back with me. Maybe tomorrow.

It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in California for a week now. I’ve deliberately taken time off from browsing blogs and posting while we’ve been here. This is a recap of the first part of our trip (lots of photos). We left Rochester very early (a 6 am flight, meaning we were out of the house around 4:30). Luckily we had great flying weather. Our layover was at JFK and we had a great view of Manhattan as we left.

 

Our flight arrived in San Francisco an hour EARLY! Tracy and Matt kindly waited for me as I ran into the Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton to meet Howard and Laura of Scrap-Mart. They were just as wonderful in person as they are through the internet, and I got a short look at the fabulous booth they maintain at the scrapbook shows. I also got a demo of the new eclipse electric cutting machine from Sizzix that will soon be released. It’s quite impressive!

We arrived at Sarah and Adam’s around 3:00. Early the next morning we headed out for Disneyland, making a stop at the Getty Center on our way. The Getty Center is truly amazing, and we didn’t begin to see all of the art and exhibits. The architecture and gardens alone are worth the trip, but we also enjoyed the photography exhibits and the small, but lovely, collection of Impressionist art.

 

 

 

 

 

It was time for dinner by the time we finished at The Getty Center so we drove up to Malibu and found Dukes. We had an window table, a delightful waitress, and the food was great.

 

We spent the next two days at Disneyland and California Adventure. All five of us had a great time, proving that you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy Disney! I’m not a big fan of amusement-type rides, but the kids actually got me on Space Mountain which I have to say was my favorite ride of all. I did skip the big roller coasters, the very tall Ferris Wheel, and the Tower of Terror in California Adventure, though.

The entrance to Disneyland. Everything about Disney is clean and well-maintained. The flower gardens everywhere were beautiful.

 Believe it or not, this is NOT the Tower of Terror, but it sure would be for me! The rest of them thought it was just fine.

 

There were plenty of rides that were not at all scary, but delightful even for adults.

 

 

The family portrait in front of Cinderella’s castle.

The first day I was quite disappointed as we s
aw no Disney characters. When we were at Disney World many years ago, Mickey, Minnie, and friends were everywhere. Finally on Tuesday, we got to see quite a few of them, but only Adam (who had to leave early to get home for a meeting) got his photo taken with one.

Sarah, Tracy, Matt, and I stayed on in California Adventure until lunchtime. We had a lovely lunch in Disney Town, and then drove over to the coast. It probably wasn’t our best idea as it added several hours to the trip home. We did have a great dinner in Morro Bay and were there for the sunset.

And my two great kids. It’s been so nice to have everyone together. They are great travelers, make us laugh a lot, and are truly flexible and easy-going. It’s been a great trip so far. More to come . . .