San Onofre Beach

This last weekend my Aunt had the best idea, she suggested we rent the private cottages on San Onofre Beach. So we went with them and my Grandparents for a weekend on the beach. It was so nice to be on the beach and enjoy the sounds and beauty all day and night. We enjoyed bonfires on the beach, reading, and even playing with our nephews who came up on Saturday for a little bit. We're so lucky to be here in San Diego and I'm so glad we took advantage of this opportunity. I think we may have to make San Onofre a family tradition.

Thanksgiving Festivities

The Thanksgiving fun started the day before Thanksgiving when my mom, brother, and sister in law arrived for the weekend. That evening we celebrated G'pa Hutchins birthday. It was fun to all be there with him, he really gets so much joy out of hearing what's going on with everyone. We're lucky to have him in our lives. We also gave him and G'ma their Christmas present early (from all the kids and grandkids), a Bose Stereo. The picture of my G'ma below is her crying the second she saw "Bose". Amidst her tears she said, "I've wanted one of these my whole life." She's way too cute and so deserving.

Thanksgiving was fun. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent sometime at the beach and getting some boogie boarding and surfing in during the weekend.

I'm so thankful for the wonderful family that I have and for the time I'm able to spend with them.

Trip up the Coast

The Monday before Thanksgiving I went with my G'ma, Aunt Melanie, and Cousins Rachel and Ty on a trip up the coast. It was kind of a spur of the moment trip and it was so fun. We started off taking the coast highway north from San Diego. We stopped at Laguna Beach for some shopping and Newport's Crab Cooker for lunch (childhood favorite). We even stopped at the Santa Monica Pier to check out the popular site and Pepperdine University for the view. Everything was so beautiful. It was fun to see some of the sites that you see on TV and the movies.

We spent the night in Santa Barbara and then explored the town a little bit the next morning. I love that town, seriously, I think it might be my favorite city in the US, next to Boston. We then drove up to Solvang (a danish town) and got ourselves some Ebelskivers (danish pancakes). Then off to Hearst Castle. It was a beautiful drive up the coast and I saw beach towns along the way I'd never seen before.

Hearst castle was unreal. It was the home of the newspaper mogul years ago and it's pretty insane.

It was a really fun trip. It was a great week actually, because the day after we got home the family Thanksgiving festivities began.