Another Thanksgiving in the OC

We left bright and early, as in 4:50 a.m. bright and early, the day before Thanksgiving. It was our first road trip in the Pilot, and even minus Will, it was a little crammed. Mini vans are definitely better designed for family travel.

We stopped for gas in Fillmore, but there was nothing picture worthy there. It was just cold.

We stopped again in Vegas and Olivia spotted a unicorn statue, which was picture worthy for sure, even though the people at the casino looked at us like we were crazy.

Then we stopped in Barstow.

This was the sign on the way into the food court.  Any normal person would look at that sign and think, oh, it says ENTRANCE, but it's missing the N, right?

I looked at it and thought, "Entra Ce..... that must be Spanish for "enter here".

Audrey managed to write a novel on the way.  That is her lap top and she was writing as we moved along. Where does that girl come from anyway?

 We pulled into to Costa Mesa around 6, checked in at the hotel and spent some time hanging out at Alisa and Erwann/s and getting ready for the next day.

Thanksgiving Days we have found, are best spent at the beach.

And this is my kind of Thanksgiving turkey.

Corn dogs, frozen bananas and cotton candy for Thanksgiving. Yum.

Eventually though, we had to conform to tradition and head on in to cook. Fortunately, the November sun sets early in California. Otherwise, we may not have been able to tear ourselves away.

Audrey got some practice in the art of coffee bean grinding.

Duncan got in some practice taking over Alisa's bed.

And Dan was apparently not a happy turkey carver.

Birds of paradise blooming in November. I love Southern California.

These lovely ladies are some of Alisa's students that she invited over. Two from China and two from Japan. They were so nice and such good sports about sharing this weird American holiday with our weird American family.

After they left, we realized we didn't get a group shot, so  we hurried and took a picture of who was remaining and between the two, you get the full picture. It was also Alexis' first Thanksgiving.

Friday was another 80 degree day, so we spent time at the pool and the beach, this time Laguna. I fogot what a perfect beach Laguna is.  We stayed til after sunset and got some great shots of the sun slipping below the ocean.

Alisa' lemon tree has lemons on it!

We also stopped by this little Marine mammal rescue center. They rescue baby sea lions and seals and rehab them when they get sick. Then they return most of them to the ocean. The ones that they can't release back they find homes at zoos for.

That is the jaw bone of a whale. Crazy big.

Saturday it rained. We went to the mall, had lunch and got rained out. Went back to Alisa's for hot chcolate then decided to go see Fantastic Beasts. Just as we were stepping out of the covered parking to go into the theater, it started to POUR rain. It felt like we were standing under a water fall. By the time we got to the theater, we were completely soaked through. I spent the entire movie trying to dry my socks out. It was memorable to say the least. 

Then we all froze the rest of the night.

Before we knew it, we were back home in the cold and snow of Utah, and back to regular life.

Now I am freaking out about getting somethimg mailed off to Will for Christmas. I should have started weeks ago.

It's hard to believe he has been gone five weeks already. It is flying by and dragging at the same time.
Next Tuesday, he gets thrown out in the mission field and the real fun will start.