Thanksgiving Week

Thankful for family time, thankful for vacation from work, thankful for friends, thankful for perfect weather and gorgeous California beach camping…just to name a few.   We had a wonderful week, I was sad to see it end, but we are excited for the Christmas season that is already upon us!

We headed up to San Simeon on Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving.  Mimi and Papa had been there since Thursday and Hilary, Matt and Parker arrived Saturday so everyone was set up and camp was ready and waiting for us.

These two pirates were excited to see each other and didn't waste a second.  Instant pirate mode.

We set up our tent and headed straight for the beach.

The Campbells attempted a family picture.  Not bad, just wished Owen would have been smiling.

I was chilly but so clear and beautiful!

Papa told some pirate stories...

Then we headed out exploring...

And rock climbing...

And then we came upon a bottle that had "washed ashore".

We opened it and lo and behold: A PIRATE TREASURE MAP!

(No camping trip is complete without a pirate treasure hunt.)

Scott deciphering the map.

Owen dumping the sand out of the bottle.

The first bottle had a map that led us to the second bottle which led us to the first buried treasure.

That treasure chest was filled with goodies including pirate hats, spyglasses, gold dabloons (both edible and not edible) as well as another clue about where to find even more treasure.

We found a cave where 3 more small treasure chests were buried.  Can you believe it?  3 small treasure chests, one for each boy, those smart pirates!!!!

Oh and these two created a sea saw out of driftwood.  Of course!

After all that pirate excitement we were ready for dinner, a campfire and of course smores.  

The next day we headed into Cambria for breakfast and coffee.  Then the guys all went to the park so Mimi, Hilary and I could do a little antiquing!  #afewofmyfavoritethings

Hilary, Matt and Parker J. headed home from there when we headed back to camp.  We had a little lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach.  We walked, we collected shells and rocks (one of Owen's new favorite things is rock collecting!) and of course boogie boarded (despite the temperature…it did warm enough just enough mid day to made it bearable to watch Scott splash in the waves with just his board shorts on).

Back at camp having a drink and a snack in Mimi and Papa's van.

Playing trucks with his rock collection

Camping "toys" are the best.  Perfect rock quarry. 

Tuesday morning we drove a few miles north to see the elephant seals.  Scott was in a bit of mood so he probably doesn't remember this little excursion too fondly, but Owen LOVED it.   He kept signing more as we walked from group to group and listened to the rangers give us some elephant seal facts. 

The big black lump in the middle of this picture below is the biggest elephant seal we saw.  We actually watched him swim on shore and them lump his way half way up the beach.  The whole process took a while, he'd only move a couple of feet at a time before he'd stop to rest.  Pretty cool though.

After the elephant seals we picnicked at the beach and stayed down there until dinner.  We had dinner and of course wine and then went down to the beach after it got really dark.  Owen was asleep before we hit the sand (a 5 minute walk), but Scott thought it was pretty special!

Cheers Mimi and Papa to a great week of camping! Can't wait til our next trip!

Wednesday morning we drove back down the coast about an hour to Grandma and Gpa's house for Thanksgiving the next day.  We got all cleaned up and laundered.  Then settled in for a good movie.

Aunt Lynne and Uncle Taber were there for Thanksgiving as well which was such a fun bonus!!!

Thanksgiving day was spent mostly in the kitchen (although lots of prep had been done the day before, these two sisters can COOK!).  The boys rode the tractor, played with trains, went in the back yard, played cars and watched Christmas movies.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time.  And thanks for those lovely "smiles" boys!

Smirk.

Thanksgiving night we also celebrated Daddy's birthday (which wasn't actually until Saturday).  We sang and he blew out a candle on a pecan pie (one of his faves!).  Scott was thrown off by the whole thing because we hadn't told him it was daddy's birthday (because it wasn't) but he didn't like it being sprung on him like that.  Poor guy.  He came around when dessert was served.

After dinner the boys got into new jams courtesy of Grandma and Gpa (so naturally we had to have a photo shoot) and we headed home late that evening to avoid traffic and get back for a full 3 day weekend!

Scott did a great job smiling!  Owen did this:

He's saying "cheese" at the top of his lungs….which doesn't look a thing like a smile.  Every single time this is what I get.  HAHA!

We hope you all enjoyed your week and reflect on all that you are thankful for!