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 :) 

Olive Harvest

We are fortunate to have friends that own this beautiful property, which just happens to have an olive grove on it. It isn't a huge grove, but it yielded 360 lbs of olives this harvest, which is being pressed into olive oil. I'm all about new experiences, and this one was so fun and educational for us.

The kids had their own little kid party, that did not include picking olives :) while the adults picked. Call it therapy, tranquility, being with nature...there was something about picking the fruit on these trees that just made every little problem not exist for a few hours. We also met some more amazing people and had great conversation. It truly felt great to UNPLUG. (Even though I did have my phone in my pocket for documentation) :) 

The view from atop of a ladder

I was convinced the olives would be green, but lo and behold, they were black. I have never picked an olive, let alone seen one growing on a tree. These new "California" experiences are so refreshing and fulfilling for me.

Just getting started

The olive bucket was very useful

Olives pick pretty easily. You can "strip" them from the branches. The branches are very flexible and strong. There are some olives that weep, I guess that means they are over-ripe. The added bonus in picking is that the weeping olives make hands very soft. 

It doesn't look full here, but....

Here's what I was looking at.

Eric and Phil sorting the bad olives. 

Another new and fun experience in our memory book. 

I am beginning to wonder if 2013 can be topped. ???

Thirty.Seven.

Rambling reflections on my 37th birthday.....

In all honesty, I never thought:

1. 37 would feel so good

2. I would be more fit at 37 than 27

3. I would be a Californian

4. I would love being a Californian

5. I would have 2 boys

6. I would love my husband more now than the day I married him

7. I would be playing volleyball again

8. I would be considering making brussel sprouts for Thanksgiving

9. I would buy a pair of skinny jeans

10. I would wear a pair of skinny jeans

11. I would be starting my own business (soon)

12. I would win the friend lottery

13. I would celebrate my 37th with new friends eating fondue

14. I would live 950 miles away from my family

15. I would have so much to be thankful for!

In my spare time...

I need 2 additional end chairs for my dining room table but didn't want to fork out $200 a chair. 

My friend had 2 ladder back chairs in her garage and was wonderful enough to let me have them. (Thanks Selene!) 

I have been wanting to experiment with chalk paint and thanks to my good friend Sarah Hartman with Dirt Road Decor, who passed along her chalk paint formula, I was able to turn these outdated chairs into bright, fun pieces.

My first project (completely experimental) was this:

$5 end table. Ugly, but has potential, right?

This was the perfect practice piece. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. 

Chalk paint is fun to work with and covers pretty much any surface. I have many more things I'm anxious to paint but just haven't found the time. 

But I did pick up some fun upholstery fabric for $10/yard, and this is my next inspiration.....

Stay tuned!