Old Town, San Diego

We got to spend two evenings in Old Town which is often referred to as the birthplace of California. This Mexican village seemed like a popular spot to visit that was full of markets...
Old shops like this Tinsmith's... And this old General Store...

And spanish steps...

And the city hall & courthouse beside Wells Fargo...

Which was just up the street from the Boot & Shoe...

Which was located next to the Pottery Shop.

Along the edge of the park/common area were numerous wonderful smelling restaurants...

And more shops and stairs with lot of colourful tiles.

We spent some time before and after supper browsing these stores & markets like these...

And stopping to admire the flowers particularily the Birds of Paradise...

And window boxes that reminded me of Europe (possibly because I'm getting impatient for a trip across the ocean)...

I was quite enjoying these shops when our buzzer went for our table at the restaurant next door...

So we headed back out of the shops under more boxes & banners.

The mexican food was sooooo good and this taco salad was no exception.

After supper, we browsed some more as you can see...

But a few things made us pause, like the blossoms on this tree...

And more flowers, neat looking restaurants, et all...

As well as this old hotel...

That had these shuttered windows...

Numerous old, well furnished rooms...

And a restaurant in the back courtyard.

We passed back thru some of the open markets, while we headed back to see if we could hail a cab...

Which was a slow walk since we kept noticing things like these ladies @ one restaurant we passed...(they seemed so delighted that we were all staring & watching them work) ;) ...

I loved this store & name...

But I did not enjoy the fog rolling off this patio area & store...it was a cigar shop and it was literally a blue fog that you couldn't see thru...

So I kept my distance & still got a headache just walking by...but right at the next street, we spotted a cab & called it a day.

Day 1

Big Brothers' 2...

While Little Miss A was being carefully cared for @ the hospital, and big brother Daniel was napping, biggest brother Jonathan & I made a "Get Well" rice krispie cake for Miss Annalies...

Here's the biggest brother J, hard at work...
And a few of the little Cutie's cards...
Baker J all finished with his masterpiece complete with chocolate chip faces...

Big brother Daniel up from his nap & playing in the castle...

Showing us his best, dimpled "I just woke up" smile...

And more of Annalies' cards...such a cute way to display them!

Best news of all - Miss A is back home, more adorable than ever and doing well...guess our cake worked!

;)

Out with a BANG...

And yes...I sent 2010 out with a *B*a*N*g* @ 11:45pm, December 31...
So I have some missing metal on my passenger doors, only one currently works...one has been "re-aligned" as shown...and there are some scrapes, scratches & dents...

So, off to the autobody shop we go with my wheels at the young age of 13 months...poor baby!

But I did get this most stunning artpiece from some part of the door for a new table centerpiece - bonus!

16 days into 2011...

Well, what can I say...it's been a month since my last post...and 16 days have past already in 2011...but...

Happy New Year!

Hoarfrost = Happiness

I was overjoyed to arrive at the lake for the Holidays...with more HOARFROST!! Good thing it lasted for 3 days as it was so cloudy that I almost dispaired of getting any blue sky & hoarfrost pics...but I lucked out! The best present...
This was the first evening I got there and was almost too dark for good pics, but I loved how you could see individual snowflakes on the blue clothesline...

And then the next morning...ah, blue skies...

...which made everything look beautiful...even this dead spruce tree in the yard...

It all looked gorgeous outside...winter wonderland-like...

And somehow this branch reminded me of a hand, making a peace sign...

And this was the view up the street towards the highway when Levi & I went for a walk (ie: I pulled him on the GT)...

Then Lyssa joined us and we did some more exploring around town until I got stopped by this fence...it was just covered!...

And when I looked out from under the trees where I was crouching taking the fence pics, I saw this cute view of Miss Lys getting GT rides from Levi nearby...while they impatiently waited for me...

And just liked I'd hoped...the blue skies + hoarfrost was perfect!

Soooooo blue!

And more of the winter wonderland!

And a frosty-tipped red pine bough....

And by day 3...if you stood quietly outside, you could hear the hoarfrost falling off the trees. One of the VERY FEW things I actually think are neat about winter...the list is SHORT!

Skating @ Eagle River...

Lace up your skates...it's hockey time!
Dad is "wearing" his skates already & helpfully cleared the ice...(I was wearing the same skates as Dad)...

And here's Levi on "real" skates for the 1st time...he did awesome...especially since we all forgot the pusher for him...and he was quite delighted to have a stick & a puck!

Miss Alyssa is going great too...she seemed to be seeking speed on her blades...racing here & there...

Aj got into ice clearing & hockey...and one skater train...

Mr Hockey...if you can't see his smile thru the helmut face guard...click on the pic to enlarge it...cuz the smile is there!

Trista zipped around with the kiddos like the tall graceful swan that she is!

And then our calm was interrupted when this large dog came to visit...if you look closely at the dog, you'll see the water bottle that Lys is throwing at it...

Turns out this giant pooch was a big, friendly dog-kid...just wanting some attention!

G'ma J's old place...

So many great memories here in G'ma's old barnyard, barn, sheds, grainery, etc...

It's cute that Larry & his family have saved the end of G'ma's old garage, just to save her art and have now attached it to the east end of the big ol barn...
This door was the cabin door for my G'ma & G'pa J for 1 year when they first lived here...this home was their two room, two window cabin...but wasn't originally in this spot in their yard...

Here's a side view of their cabin (with another cabin/shed) beside it...such a simple existance...

Icicles on the corner of the cabin...

Looking at G'ma's yard from the east hill...

I love this place!
So glad that Larry lets us still use the hill, etc in the winter!