Andrew Molera Friday Hike

I had a great Friday Hike at Andrew Molera State Park today.  LOVED it!  7.5 mi hike, and it was so beautiful.  I only saw a handful of people, just the way I like it!  I love CALIFORNIA!

Napa Camping!

It's so hard to believe everything is just so darn beautiful around here...even from the road!

 Even the retaining wall for crying out loud!

 Quaint little towns...

 Beautiful driving through miles and miles of nothing but wineries!

 Fascinated by smoke...

 Why and easy dinner that people will eat, of course!

 Fire was definitely one of the more interesting things on the trip!

 "I NEED COFFEE."

 Hehe...

 Yup...he hiked 3-4 miles uphill, through a stream...in flip flops...when it was probably in the high 50s?

 I have no idea...and yes, her skirt did get plenty wet.

 He refused to let go of his coffee.

 We reached the top!  

 I made the yummiest potatoes...we hadn't had them in forever.  IT was a big hit, potatoes sauteed with that French's Onion packet.  OMG.  Or else we were just super hungry!

 We learned to whittle!

I thought the moss was pretty cool...they look like little trees!

Ok, ok, so it wasn't full camping so to speak.  There was running water about 15 feet away.  We had flush toilets available about 30 feet away and IF we wanted, there was a pay as you go shower...(but we didn't use it!)  It was a good experience, nice and empty..  The kids loved the fires, learning to whittle (Sam was the only one who got an injury...and a small one), we went on a hike....  Yes, a few fights about who got to sleep where in the tent..but hey.  A few more camping trips and we'll get it all figured out.

Christmas Day!

 First one up!

 It was modest this year...  we just had a bit of excitement...at 6am...

 She was soo excited!  She's learning to do the basics with this "juggler"

 Thank you Black Friday for ipad minis!  Some days I now wonder if I'm thankful for them, but man they were awesome for the trip to SC!

This girl so desperately wanted a "Wubble Bubble".  Thank you TV for making it so interesting...and no thank you for it popping within an hour...  

It was a good Christmas.  We woke up early, opened presents, skyped with Mom and Dad, and lazed around trying to recover from our crazy camping trip!  Luckily for me the kids didn't want a fancy Christmas meal, so we had fried chicken and mashed potatoes!  Pretty easy and good!