I started this post a week ago and hopefully will post this tonight! It has been so busy at school and at home. Why you ask? Well, I guess you will just have to wait and find out on my future postings! :-)
So... One of the dads at the boys' school went to University of California Santa Barbara and was always saying how nice it was there. So we decided to head out to Santa Barbara for the day to see for ourselves. Maybe if it was nice and pretty, we could convince Graham and Charlie to go to college there. We even mapped out a golf course nearby!
And we're off! It doesn't matter if it's a 9 hour drive or 2 hours, we are always packed up with snacks and DVDs:
Another peninsula just like ours by Palos Verdes???! Hmm....
Oh, the boys gave me a new necklace for Christmas - a key within a key. Sorry for the blurry photo! But I swear, if you look hard enough, there is another key in there. The key represents my happiness - the key to the boys' heart. Or vice versa... the boys are all confused now. Bobby says it will work either way. Ha!
After a few attempts around the block (street parking is terrible here!), we finally parked at a parking lot at the end of the city block. No chances of getting towed here, hopefully not at least. Graham picked up a city map for us from the Visitor Center and we're off!
So many palm trees! There are lots of art vendors out along this street every Sunday. For once we actually passed up the chance on looking around the jewelries and paintings :-P
We stop by one of the nearer restaurants from the parking lot. Check out the "Pancake Breakfast Shot" - it was on the very top of their menu. So I'm guessing it's a brunch favorite in the form of a drink??? Here goes... Crown Royal Maple Whisky, orange juice chaser (what does "chaser" even mean???), and a slice of bacon. Are you kidding me??! YIKES!!!
Well, we passed on that drink too. Graham had yummy french toast. How cute is that fish plate! We have one almost like that :-)
Charlie had some yogurt with granola - yummy but he didn't like the seeds in the granola all too much:
I don't remember what I had - just some regular poached eggs and hash browns while Bobby - being good about staying on his new Vegan ways, paid $18 for his meal. What is wrong with this world???
We decided to walk into the city to find some old buildings. We walk by this new museum called MOXI: The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation. Will have to come back earlier for this one next time!
So we kept walking, past the railway tracks, and through the underpass right next to the freeway. This is the first for me... felt really weird walking next to a freeway but how cool is this architecture. Very European somehow:
Some more fancy architecture and stained glass along the way:
First old building! Hmm... unfortunately, I don't remember the name of this one now. Where is our city map??!
I believe this one was built in the early 1900 by the Spaniards:
And this one... as seen on the map... is now a parking lot. Oops!
Well, thankfully this other part is still standing:
This is the El Presidio of Santa Barbara State Historic Park. It is the site of the last 4 military outposts built by the Spanish in 1782!
Graham and Charlie are trying to open up every door with an old replica key that they bought from the gift shop:
No wonder theirs didn't work. These are some SERIOUS keys!
And Bobby is trying to show everyone how tall he really is. No, not really. The doors are really short! Oh wait... I didn't call you short, honey :-P
We continue walking back towards the beach to find some ice-cream. We find a nice Post Office where I decided to buy some Christmas stamps. No line since it's not open! Ha ha! Had to use one of those automated machines but at least the inside of the buliding had that "old post office" smell. Do you know what I'm talking about??? Ok, maybe like an "old building" smell at least? :-)
There was an antique store called "Almost Fine Art" on the way as well. Bummer it was closed!
Some cool art along the way:
No... the waves weren't really going to get Graham and Charlie! But they try to run away from it anyway too. My silly boys!
We finally make it back to the car, put some more money into the meter, and grab the new metal detector and shovel. Maybe our luck will change in Santa Barbara instead?
No, not really. Graham found a gum wrapper (thankfully just the wrapper without the gum).
So we pile back into the car and drive to the Santa Barbara Mission. Graham is learning about missions right now in school (4th Grade) and I was so glad he got to actually see one!
This one is really pretty! And look at this huge ... what looks like a drain but really a trough for washing clothes!
Failed family we-fie. Where is Mommy??!
We spot a hawk at the very top of the roof:
How awesome is this!
There's Mommy! And there's Charlie with his crazy face! Thankfully Graham is just "chill" with his bunny-ear fingers behind Charlie's head:
Founded in December 1786! Glad it was restored not once but twice after an earthquake:
Here is the super long hallway along the side of the Mission:
Love the almost teal color of the window frames. There were some other old windows like that too in the city:
I've seen some of these bells along the California freeways:
This place is so peaceful:
Still trying to figure out what animal this is at the end of the trough:
We arrived at the Mission just as the last tour was starting. So will make a mental note to arrive earlier next time. So we just hang out around the grounds and admire some of the homes around the area.
Charlie wanted to climb up to this cross and I said no. Not 2 minutes after saying that, there were 2 girls that were right on top of those rocks hugging the cross and posing to take photos. Hmm...
Anyway... who wants ice-cream??! We were meant to get some ice-cream/gelato elsewhere but the line was too long in this one particular store! So we drive somewhere else and find this place called the Creamistry. Look at all that effects of liquid Nitrogen!
Graham and Charlie are having too much fun! And we haven't even had the ice-cream yet:
Someday, this kid will learn to put EVERYTHING into his mouth:
After ice-cream, it is finally time to go home. While in the car not too far from the ice-cream shop, I tried to take a photo of a decorated real Christmas tree. As in stuck-in-the-ground real. This is how it should be!
So I think the verdict is YES - both Graham and Charlie are allowed to go to UC Santa Barbara, if they choose to :-)
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