It's About Love...Again.: A very California Thanksgiving (part 3)

The day after Thanksgiving, my younger brother Bennett, his wife Jennifer and their 4 kids; Noah, Olivia, Luke & Juliet, caravan to "northern" California bright and early. We were going to see our younger brother Jesse, his wife Kelli and their now three kids; Adelle, Stewart and not yet met by me, baby Ethan. If you recall, Jesse's family is who we stayed with when Cora Grace was born because they are in the same town, 8 or so hours north of my parents. I was nervous about this long drive with the kids by myself so I had a good prayer. Thankfully the drive was rather uneventful. Poor Bennett and Jen, I was told, weren't so lucky in their car. With 4 kids, it would be a miracle for silence I'm sure. :) Anyway, we started out through a very very winding road in Fillmore, CA called Grimes Canyon Rd. Here is a map to give you a little idea (people drive VERY fast and their are cliffs on one side of you. SCARY!!! also side note, my oldest brother Carl taught me to drive a stick shift on this road. Double scary!!!):

As always, I had my trusty camera with me in the passenger seat and took pictures as I saw fit. This first one doesn't look special to anyone but me maybe but it is significant and important to note this is a lot of what I think of when I think of my upbringing in California. On the right is Eucalyptus Trees. The are everywhere near my parent home and for the purposes of this post, I learned they were introduced to California in the 1900's for various reason but one reason they were used was for windbreaks for orange groves. Which brings me to the left of the page. Groves of fruit trees. They look like citrus trees to me but have no fruit right now. Where my parent relocated to in Camarillo, there were, Orange and Avocado groves frequently in the area. Let me tell you, there is nothing like driving by an orange grove when it's 'blooming', just put your windows down and inhale. So yummy!!

Another common scene were these green houses and behind you will see row crops of who knows what. The crops in our area, in my memory, were; broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, corn, berries/grapes... It's a homey feel and ... smell (fertilizer, yuck). Probably why the landfill smell in our area doesn't usually bother me, cause I'm used to that scent! lol. sad.

We have beautiful mountains, hills and valleys. Since it is the desert, they aren't covered in trees and lush shrubs, rather it's tumble weeds, cactus and sage brush. Still, it definitely resembles "for purple mountains majesties" of our country's patriotic song.

When I was a kid, to possibly distract us from fighting or maybe just to engage our imaginations, I remember my mom asking us who was buried in these deep mounds of the mountains for surely that's the only way they are puckered up like that. We used to recite that it was Big Bird or Cookie Monster etc (although they are very much alive) under the mounds. :) Such a good memory of fun things to think about as you drove. Also this is a good representation of the windy road.

Then the crazy FOG rolled in!

Holy Poop! That's a lot of fog. I forgot about the thick morning fog that is frequent in California. It usually burns off by the sun by the afternoon. We never laid out in the sun for tanning til after 1p. In Tennessee, I can get a tan/sun BURN at 9-10am!! lol.

We got to Jesse and Kelli's in time for dinner (i think. my days are blurred together!). J & K arranged to have pizza and 2 babysitters for all 8 kids (took the baby with us) and we went to a yummy restaurant. Let me tell you, they are the HOSTS WITH THE MOST!! Kelli has a few month old baby and had just kicked out a family of 8 the morning of the evening we arrived yet was still entertaining and FEEDING us. Sheesh. If she had time, I'd appreciate some pointers. xo. On to the next morning and afternoon....

Krispy Kreme anyone? :)

My favorite thing about these pictures are their reflections in the glass as they drool over the doughnuts. :)

Cousin Stewart's hands in his pockets and Evan on his tip toes (as usual). :) Warms my heart.

Bennett and Jennifer's family

Sweet Adelle. Jesse and Kelli's oldest. I think she looks like my favorite childhood character: Holly Hobby! love love love.

J & K had AMAZING fall leaves!! These photos don't even do it justice. But this picture DOES do justice to cousin LUKE who is a month older than Evan. He's a cutie and a ham. :) Thanks to big brother Noah, we had a nice big pile to play in and photograph with (Mamarazzi: Jen and I).

Juliet, Jules and 3 or 4 other nicknames, is Cora Graces Birthday Twin and just adorable.

Stewart is 3 months older than Evan and can you tell, he loves baseball? :) Oh my gosh, is he the heart melting cutest?! Although he is temporarily confused by what team to be loyal to, (GO DODGERS!! he he he), we're hopeful he'll snap out of it soon. he he he.

A very girlie, cousin Olivia. Later she started putting the leaves in her hat, making kind of a leaf wig. Very imaginative, she probably gets that from me. ;)

And apparently, she's also an angel! :)

This is how Cora Grace felt for most of the trip. Her face says it all. Poor baby.

But this is really how she looked despite not feeling well, coughing so so much, runny nose etc.

Leaf bouquet. Brilliant Livvy!

For Mommy?! Thank you! :) xoxo

heart melting.

Modeling

After our photo shoot, Jesse took the kids in the cul de sac to ride bikes and scooters. Evan has NEVER ridden one and I just sent notice to Santa before we left for CA that I think he's ready for one so I'm so excited that he took to it! With a smile on his face to boot! I just love this little guy. He had so much fun with his cousins and uncles. They are the best for entertaining him so much with out complaint while I attended to CG.

Cora would just hack if she went outside so while my brothers and 5+ cousins played baseball outside, she was forced to watch from inside. She didn't complain and had her KK balloon tied to her wrist for companionship till Juliet joined her later. She looks so BIG! I don't have a baby anymore, she's a bonafied toddler. :(.