Thanksgiving Trip--Days 8-10

Day 8--Napa Valley Wineries   

When we plan a trip, we plan the basics. The "where we're going". The "activities we'd like to do". Etc. As Chandra and I had drive time, we researched and then told the men where we were going to go. It worked out pretty well for this trip, if we say so ourselves!

I Googled "Kid Friendly Wineries in Napa", read reviews, and then Chandra and I chose which ones we thought our children could handle!  We hit two wineries in a more southern section of Napa than Jeff and I went to in 2006, so it was neat to see a different area. On our way there, we drove through Santa Rosa, CA, where the wildfires completely decimated that area a few months earlier. We hadn't previously realized we'd be driving through that area, so when we actually drove through it and saw the devastation, it was so sad. Of course Jeff has a lot of those pics on his phone, so I don't have them, but it was pretty much burned out areas, burned houses, cars, etc and the only parts left were chimneys. So sad.  Being from the hurricane area, we know devastation, but this was a different type to witness.

The first winery we visited was a Castello de Amorosa, complete with drawbridge!  It was a beautiful day and they had a great children's area where we did our tasting (a table with coloring pages, juice, and maybe a treat to eat).  The wines were delicious, so of course we bought a few!

Beautiful replica of an Italian castle!  We also got to visit their resident pigs and there were chickens that roamed the property!

Maybe a little overwhelmed at the castle?  Or was it the pigs??

Walking over the drawbridge into the castle!

The second winery we visited was Sterling Vineyards and it had a tram ride up to the actual winery. We did have to pay for the kids again, but this time they got an activity kit--snack and activity included, which was a hit as we chilled out a bit during our tastings. This winery had 5 different wines to taste--each at a different station. It was different than just sitting somewhere for all of the tastings, so it was a different experience for sure!

Waiting for our tram!

Cheese!

Everyone was entertained!

Cheese--different kid!

These wineries were actually near Calistoga, CA in case you're looking more carefully at location. However, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit and even had some decent BBQ at a tiny local place in town between the two stops--had to soak up some of the wine!


Day 9--Driving from Petaluma, CA to Seacliff State Beach, CA  
 Once again, the men and women folk divided up the children and headed down the road back towards SoCal. Jamey, Chandra, and Ezra were supposed to leave us on this day, but decided to do one more night with us (and we're so glad they did!!!). The men took the easier roads with the trailer, while Chandra, Ezra, Riley, and I got to sightsee a bit more. As we were driving south, we headed back over the Golden Gate Bridge, so we stopped and had plenty of parking. However, we also had PLENTY of freezing wind, so no one in our car really wanted to "do the Golden Gate Bridge" today. I still had to get some pics of this amazing bridge, and I let forced Riley to go with me for at least one picture. Poor kid was freezing, but we got a pic!

Shorts + Freezing Wind = Ry not looking at the camera!

One day I WILL walk across this bridge!!

I put Ry back into the car with Chandra and ran back to get a few more pics--I just couldn't stop!

We ended our day at the most amazing RV spot of this trip (at least according to my water-loving family)--Seacliff State Beach!  Our RV spot literally backed up to a sidewalk and fence that was directly above the entrance to the beach!  It was too chilly for getting into the water (which usually doesn't stop my kids!), but there were amazing driftwood pieces, forts, teepees that people had built, so it was fun to walk the beach and see everything.

This beach spot is definitely a place we'd love to return to one day!

Day 10--Seacliff State Beach, CA 
This was a day of relaxation before driving back to El Centro. We took it easy and just enjoyed the beach!  The beach is our happy place!

Thanksgiving Trip 2017--Day 6 and 7

Day 6 (Driving from Chowchilla, CA to Petaluma, CA) 
Not going to lie. Not much interesting--it was a driving day.

We did have fun stopping at the Black Bear Diner (somewhere along the way) since we'd eagerly been looking for them the day before at YNP. Turns out this diner is a chain. But it had good food and to me, that's worth blogging about!  Slow service...but that seems to be the case most places we go in CA.  Bennett rode with the big guys, so Chandra and I each had a kid--easy day for me with only 1 kid in tow!

The best part was getting to the KOA and seeing their Thanksgiving decorations, jumping pillow, playground, petting zoo, etc. That's what we LOVE about KOAs--family friendly all the way!  The more touristy of an area you're in, the more they'll have for kids, so we love finding openings at any KOA!

Our cute lunch dates

We love the KOA jumping pillow!!!

Ezra adored Bennett and Riley and I love this pic of him with B!

Day 7--San Francisco and Thanksgiving Day 
San Francisco was our main destination for this trip, so we were all excited to be there!  However.... it was also the destination for a a few million others so it was a shock to find places so crowded!  (I guess this is what I get for growing up in a family of Aggies and Longhorns and to us Thanksgiving day meant food, family, and football. Up until a few years ago when the game stopped being held on Thanksgiving Day I had no clue that families did anything else that day!  Yes, I like to stay in my naive little bubble!)

We didn't let this stop us though. We hit all that we could and swore we'd come back again to visit another day!

Lombard Street--as we are on it. Apparently the other pic is on Jeff's camera!

Pier 39 decorated for Christmas already

Pier 39

Oh. My. Goodness. We adored these guys!  LOVE their personalities!!!

Checking out their souvenirs!

Concrete slide--Koret Children's Quarter Playground

Cardboard boxes = tons 'o fun!

Yummy fish 'n chips (cheeseburgers for the boys) near the Golden Gate Bridge.

No parking on our side of the bridge, so this was our only view on Thanksgiving Day. :(

Next Stop....Muir Woods. To say the parking lot that hold 20 cars was packed was an understatement. We somehow got lucky with a spot and enjoyed a beautiful hike minus a napping Ezra and Chandra who stayed with him.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed out day exploring San Francisco. We got back to our KOA and had a great Thanksgiving meal there with other campers. The park provided the meat, rolls, and mashed potatoes and guests brought sides and desserts. I made yummy sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar, pecans, and marshmallows and made sure that was the first thing I put on our plates when we got in line! (I knew my boys would eat it...that was honestly the main reason I ran for it!).

Thanksgiving Trip 2017 (Days 1-4)

If you know the Dickens family, you know that nothing is ever normal with us!  It's just the way we work. Drives my mother nuts, but it works for us!

The boys had the entire week of Thanksgiving off and Jeff's time off started Thanksgiving Day, so he took some time off and we met up with our old neighbors to create a wonderful Thanksgiving trip!  All 7 of us (4 adults, 3 kiddos) fit into our home (AKA trailer) and headed off to make some memories!

Days 1-2 
These were probably the most interesting due to our struggle fitting into/getting to a site at the first 2 state parks I reviewed in this blog . However, we woke up to a beautiful day in our parking lot spot at the state park, so we took it as a great way to begin our trip!  We took a trip down to the beach where the boys played for a bit before we got on our way to the next spot where we were going to meet up with our neighbors.

Never still for a moment!

This was pretty much our morning view!  Beach, hiking, sun, sand!

Days 2-4 (Malibu) 
The blog mentioned above also reviews the RV park, so I'm leaving those details there.

Pics here are just of the beach. Our family loves to camp by the beach. They boys will play all day in the water, dig in the sand, play with their toys in the sand, etc. Jeff loves the relaxation of the beach. I love it all!  We're a water family!

Scenic spot on our drive to Thousand Oaks from Malibu.

Sadly this was a very important picture---GREAT Mexican food in CA!!!

2 of my faves on the Malibu beach!

Our neighbors from our Conroe home joined us and we began the adventure!

The thing we've learned about CA waves is that there's a deep spot where they break!  This location had some great waves for the boys to run from!  

Just a normal beach day!

Sweet Ezra loved the beach just as much as Bennett and Riley!

It Feels Like Fall (When you travel outside the valley....)

We had an amazingly fun, full, and exhausting weekend in San Diego this past weekend!  We hit Legoland (again)--but with friends this time!  Then we added in a pumpkin patch and corn maze--got most of our fall done in 2 days!  :)

Legoland 
Sept 30 was the last day of "friends get in free if you have a membership" and we had wonderful friends take us up on our offer, so off we went!  It also happened to be the first weekend of Legoland's "Brick-or-Treat" festivities so this was the most crowded we'd ever seen it!  Busy day of waiting in lines, but with friends to play with it was so much more bearable and the Halloween decorations were so cute!

Our family ended up staying later for the trick-or-treating events (which made for an 11 hour day), but it was so much fun!  These annual passes have definitely paid for themselves!  After our friends left we took a break to eat at the Legoland Hotel restaurant and change into costumes.  It was good to have a fresh start to our evening!

Best $17 spent that day--helped us get through the night-time festivities so much easier!

Our RV park was literally 5 minutes away. They didn't make it out of the parking lot!

And so begins the "Legoland Hangover"!

The "Legoland Hangover" as my friend called it, lasted officially until Monday night, so it's safe to say that the boys had a blast and so did we!  We love our home away from home in San Diego too!

Oceanside, CA and Buccaneer Beach 
Oceanside is where we stayed over Labor Day weekend but this time we chose another RV park and were SO much happier!  No ants, more room, etc!  We got to eat at the cafe near the beach and were not disappointed! The breakfast burritos were so large that Jeff and I split one and one left over!

Thank goodness for Legos to pass the time while waiting for food!

Our 2 burritos took over this tiny paper bag!

Of course we had to visit the beach. What started as a walk turned into full time wave-jumping for Bennett and freezing feet for the rest of us!  We love the water and are glad to have found this little spot!

Carlsbad Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze 
We saw these ginormous pumpkins growing during our trip to SD Labor Day weekend, so we knew we'd visit this time around.  These were the largest pumpkins I'd ever seen and it was so fun to take a look!  We picked out a few pumpkins for ourselves, took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin field, ate from some food trucks, and mastered the corn maze in about 15-20 minutes!  Success after an exhausting day the day before!

Not a great pic, but look at the size of those pumpkins!!!

Large and in charge!

Can we say uniformity??

The perfect round pumpkin!

Such a fun weekend!  Almost a little too busy, but we made it! We love having SD 2 hours away--it makes living in the desert definitely more bearable!