The OLD Elf on the Shelf

Meet Brownie and Benny, trouble maker extraordinaires. I know the "Elf on the Shelf" is all the rage these days, and to be quite honest, I have never been one to get into something like this. HOWEVER, I have a few friends (you know who you are), who were talking it up and telling me how fun it was for the kids. 

So, a few weeks ago as I was perusing Target I saw the actual "Elf on the Shelf." I paused briefly to look at it, but was turned off by the $30 price tag. But then I had a lightbulb moment and remembered that somewhere in my boxes of Christmas were 2 elves that were mine when I was a kid (and they were my Uncle's prior to me getting them; these guys have some age on them!)

We might not have had "Elf on the Shelf," back then, but by golly, we had Brownies - that's what we called them, and my brother and I were absolutely convinced they ran around at Christmas time spying on us. It helped that our parents played into this by leaving little treats, even small gifts for us with notes from the Brownies. They even rang the door bell and ran away after ditching gifts on the front step. 

And yes, you are asking yourself the SAME question I did. Why didn't I market the "Elf on the Shelf" idea. Sheesh! 

We stage the elves differently every night, usually resulting in something mischievous or funny... And they cannot be touched. 

This was a pretty tough sell for Kaleb, and I know deep down he doesn't believe it, but Jaxon is pretty convinced. Kaleb also announced today that Santa isn't real and he knows we put the presents under the tree. Nonetheless, it's fun and festive and something for them to look forward to in the morning. 

Snow!

6" of snow fell in Nevada City on Saturday, December 7th. Down in the valley, we had NONE. We drove up the hill to N.C. (Approx. 15 minute drive) and found this:

A beautiful, white wonderland - temp 30 degrees ABOVE zero, while our poor family and friends endured subzero temps. 

The boys were DELIGHTED!

"SNOW!!!!!!!! IN CALIFORNIA?" They exclaimed

Playing with friends is even more fun.

And sledding, of course

Big boy sledding

Bit girl sledding :)

Little boy hitting a jump

Jaxon zooms down.

I must admit it was good to see the snow, play in the snow, but then go home and have no snow. Oh, and did I mention they closed the schools down for TWO days because of this "storm." Laughing out loud right now.

He did not want to take his goggles off. LOVE.him.

Final random thought: I bought this Tom and Jerry serving bowl and mugs at our local thrift store for $6. Isn't this wonderfully retro? I can't wait to serve up some hot toddies! 

November adventures in Fort Bragg

They weren't kidding when they said the area we live in is so centrally located. Under 2 hour drive to Lake Tahoe and the mountains and a 4 hour drive to the coast, and 2 hours to the big city and wine country. So many options, so little time!

My parents arrived in Penn Valley on Tuesday, the 19th to stay through Thanksgiving. Eric and I had decided beforehand that we should head west to Fort Bragg for another quick weekend ocean getaway. This Montnana girl is loving the coastal experiences and being able to offer adventures by the sea to my boys. I mean, honestly, I had no idea what a sea anemone was, or even how to pronounce it, but my kids certainly do! Jaxon calls them "enemies." 

At Jughandle beach

Papa and Jaxon

Glass beach. See all the pieces of tumbled glass?

Family photo

While hanging out at Glass Beach a diver emerged from the waters. He had caught a sea urchin. This was COOL!

The urchin moved around and the diver told us they are a delicatessen in Japan, very expensive to eat. 

The sun setting at Glass Beach

The next morning we headed to MacKerricher State Park. We didn't go here the first time we visited Fort Bragg. This place was amazing! The calm waters and low tides offered a plethora of sea life to see.

We saw sea anemone (above), starfish, crabs, tons of shells, abalone and fish. We also saw 3 seals playing around right off the shore.

Jaxon found a really cool shell and put it in his pocket to later learn it got broken. He was devastated!

But he found an equally cool bigger shell

Looking for treasures.

It was pretty chilly, but warmed up quickly!

While Jaxon liked finding treasures, Kaleb loved climbing all over the rocks.

And it was certainly fun to have Namo and Papa climb on them with him

Good view of the low tide.

And once again we got lucky when another diver emerged with some Abolone he caught. 

There are minimum size restrictions on the Abalone, as you can see this one is very big.

And slimy and muscle-like. Of course once you remove the muscle for eating, a beautiful pearlesque shell remains. 

Like this - (I had to go buy a small one at a gift shop, of course) :) 

No one wanted to leave this place, but we did manage to get a decent family photo!

One last stop before heading home - there was a whale skeleton at the visitor center. This was right up the boys' alley. They are so enfatuated with whales! 

In the belly

In his mouth :D

More great memories with our family, and it was so fun sharing it with my parents.

My Incredibles

Warmest Halloween on record for us :) 

I LOVE these little men

Getting ready to trick or treat with their friends. Aren't they all so precious. 

Mt. Whitney

Eric and his friend Blaine conquered Mt Whitney on November 2nd.

24 miles, 14.5 grueling hours. They did this why? They did this in celebration of their 45th birthdays, which just happen to be on the same day (Oct 6th)

Blaine flew in to Sacramento on November 1st and they drove 6 hrs. south to Lone Pine, arriving in time to pick up their permit. They slept for a few hours and then arrived at the portal at 4:30 to start the trek.

I probably would have thrown in the towel once I saw this :) ha!

The bad ass 45 year olds :) pretty sure Blaine's wife Karen would concur with me! 

They encountered a little snow

Approximately 11 miles in.

On top of the lower 48 states. Elevation 14,496 ft. 

This picture totally freaks me out! There is no way I would be able to stand on that rock.

The warming hut

After hike reward :)