Mission Viejo Rodeo

This weekend was the rodeo at Mission Veijo Ranch in San Juan Capistrano.  It was a hot weekend, well into the 90s.  We had Steve and Jaime's engagement party on Saturday night, we had a great time with them and the family.  So we had  to go to the Rodeo on Sunday.

 Some of the bucking broncos with their calves that are in the bareback and bronco riding categories.

 Luckily we were in the shade, but hats and sunglasses were definitely needed.

 These guys are so tough and so much fun to watch!

We had pretty good seats and I got a few good pictures, but some of the events like calf roping and team roping were just too quick for me.  We didn't bring the nice camera, just our small point and shoot but the pics still came out pretty good.  We did regret not bringing the better camera.

This was the only picture I got for calf roping, just after he roped the calf and before he got off his horse to tie it up.

Again it was a great rodeo and we had a great time.  Hopefully next year we will be able to go on Saturday night.

Jamie's Birthday!

We went out on Saturday for dinner to celebrate Jamie's birthday with my parents.  Anthony and Laura were supposed to come as well but something came up and they couldn't make it.

After dinner we went back to the house for cake and ice cream...or rather ice cream cake.  I surprised Jamie with this totally awesome ice cream cake.  White cake with strawberry ice cream inside and topped with mini cones and actually ice cream on each cone. 

 He really liked it and we had a great evening celebrating.  He also got some pretty great gifts and some spending money :) 

Happy Birthday Mr. Griffin!



Anthony's Birthday

Anthony's Birthday was on July 24th but they celebrated a bit last this year. Sunday we all got together at their apartment complex in the clubhouse.

Of course we were early. 

We had a great time; carne asada potluck lunch, pool tables upstairs, and lots of conversations.  We were a little worried at first because it was raining when we got up that morning but it all burned off and it ended up being a beautiful day.



The newly engaged couple!  Getting married in January, now 1 of 4 weddings we have next year :)

My Aunt Nancy and Andy enjoying the sun.

Group picture, lol.  Jamie's Birthday is next weekend...pictures to come!

Wedding Anniversary

Celebrating Six Amazing Years of Marriage :-)

Central Coast - Morro Bay #2

Finally the last few pictures from our vacation in June, yes I realize it is now August and I haven't posted anything else. 

On the Friday, we spent the day is Paso Robles wine tasting.  It was beautiful and warm.  We tasted some amazing wines and brought home about 5 or 6 bottles between us all.  We wanted to the Firestone Brewery as well but they were remodeling their tasting room so we weren't able to do that.  I guess that will leave us something to do for next time.

We drove back to Morro Bay for dinner and sat right on the water at a little Italian restaurant. 

 

Of course after a day of drinking...we drank some more and had a great evening.

 

A few last minute pictures taken on our walk home after dinner.  A great vacation.  So where is our next adventure, Chicago in September :-)

Central Coast - Morro Bay

So now it is on to Morro Bay.  We were a few blocks away from the coast so it wasn't as close as the last place but definitely not that far.  Thursday morning we took a walk to Morro Rock.

One of our first views were these lovely little logs.  These otters were not far from the coast.  The one closest had a little baby on its belly and the one to the left is actually two playing around in the water.  It was so awesome to see these guys.  I had been hoping we would get to see some otters on our trip.

 

It the afternoon, Jamie and I did a hike near the estuary and my parents sat near this secluded cove and relaxed. 

Our hike took us near a rookery where we saw this guy on a log.

 

The sun finally decided to come out in the afternoon so Jamie and I rushed back to the house and changed so we could go kayaking near the estuary.  We had a great time on the water, it wasn't too windy and we got a great view of the coast.  It was a really nice afternoon and a pretty relaxing day :)

Central Coast - Hearst Castle

Wednesday was a transition day as we drove down south to Morro Bay.  We stopped along the way to see Hearst Castle which is nestled on a hill in San Simeon (almost right in between L.A. and San Francisco) overlooking the ocean.  In the mornings and evenings you can't see it because it is covered in fog and clouds.  William Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper magnate and leading newspaper publisher.  He was born into money and eventually entered the publishing business in 1887.  Basically, he made a lot of money and loved to collect.

He essentially built his "Castle" to house his art and antiquities collection.  So many of the rooms were built around the art rather than that art chosen for the room.  He always wanted this to be a museum and so built it that way.

It's a sprawling estate and you have to be bused to the top of the hill to begin the tour.  There are 4 different tours but we just did Tour #1.  Every detail was thought out.  Its amazing how they got everything up the hill back then and how great it still looks today.

It was a clear day and you could see the ocean just perfectly.

 

Here's a shot of the indoor pool where most of the staff were able to swim.  I'm so jealous!  Hearst donated the estate to the State of California in 1957 for everyone to enjoy.  He was one the visionary men of California, like Getty and Huntington, who looked into the future and wanted to share their love of art and collecting with the people and not have it stored away out of site or put to auction.  Thank you very much we are enjoying it.  After our detour it was off to our house in Morro.