CA take 2

The following morning, we woke up and went to the Trees of Mystery. Having gone to the Avenue of the giants a few years back, these trees were not nearly so impressive. Still, there is something other worldly about trees that big. We went for a long hike and then to the grocery store and fish market to buy food that we grilled by the river. It was a fabulous and inexpensive dinner that was enjoyed by all. On the hike, we found so many banana slugs, that it began a competition who could spot the most. We also saw snails, mushrooms and frogs.  After eating dinner, the boys skipped rocks for about an hour.  The little kids were mesmerized catching hundreds of tadpoles. It was relaxing and beautiful to sit in lawn chairs enjoying crab and clams and oysters.

CA take one

Our trip will be spread over several trips... not so much because I have a lot to say, more because I have a million pictures to post.  We went on our family trip with Mark and Tosh this year. We've been talking about doing this for years, but this is the first time we managed to make it happen.  We had a fabulous time! We started in Crescent City, CA.  Our vacations tend to resemble one another a great deal, but it's hard to resist these coastal towns because they're close, affordable, and not so heavily populated as elsewhere. After arriving at our hotel, we walked over to big five and looked around. Then we decided we would walk to dinner which was (supposedly) only a mile away. It took us a LONG time to get our crew there, and by the time we arrived, there was an hour long wait.  No worries though, because it was vacation! We played on the beach while waiting for dinner and got to see tons of seal lions and jelly fish.  While waiting, Argenta sat next to an older man on the bench outside the restaurant and very smoothly rubbed his arm saying, "hi honey!" The man was delighted. Then, an elderly woman was walking out of the restaurant and Argenta exclaimed, "hi grandma!" She, also, was delighted.  By the time we finished our delicious dinner, where Argenta grubbed Mark's clams, it was too late to walk back so Brian, Mark and Tosh walked back, and I stayed at the beach with the kids. It was beautiful, although a tired Kolton kept disobeying and tried hard to ruin it... he didn't succeed and I was able to take some stunning sunset pictures. Exhausted from travel, we slept soundly that night.