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A Weekend in Carlsbad

Published on February 18, 2015 by amyewhitelivecomLeave a comment

We enjoyed a three day Valentine\’s weekend in Carlsbad. We were originally planning on going to a beach north of us for the weekend but I couldn\’t find any available rooms. That same day the Beach Terrace Inn in Carlsbad sent an promotional email about Family Valentine\’s Weekend in Carlsbad. Decision made!

Saturday the temp was in the 80\’s so we planned a beach day and it was pretty glorious. The view from our room.

Obligatory sunset shots.

Family selfie on our way to dinner.

We knew we wanted to spend Valentine\’s at the Pizza Port which has picnic tables and is loud and fun.

Sunday we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and made a stop in La Jolla to see the seals.

It\’s pretty amazing that people are swimming and snorkeling around the coves with the seals and sea lions.

As we headed south all the little beach towns were extremely crowded. We ended up finding a deli on Harbor Island which is across from the San Diego airport. We enjoyed our quiet respite.

We had planned to go in to San Diego but at this point we were done and ready to head back to quiet Carlsbad. A view of San Diego from Harbor Island.

When we got back to our hotel the fog was rolling in.

It looked like it may burn off.

A view down the beach towards the Carlsbad power plant. The smoke stack is part of the Carlsbad skyline but is soon going to be torn down and the power plant is moving.

The fog keeps rolling in.

One last look before we head home on Monday.

Our Weekly WrapUp

Published on February 6, 2015 by amyewhitelivecomLeave a comment

Quinn was feeling better after being sick last week but coughed most of the night on Sunday so we decided to keep him home one more day on Monday.

A sunset view looking east from our backyard.

He finally got back to school on Tuesday. On Tuesday the previous week he had taken his beloved Pokemon book to school and it disappeared right after lunch. He was pretty upset when he couldn\’t find it. Well today we checked in the office and VOILA!! One happy boy. The school has since made a new policy of no Pokemon cards at school. Lots of issues with Pokemon cards disappearing.

Quinn\’s class is studying all of the continents and currently learning about Africa. All the kids were so excited to learn some Swahili words. Quinn was talking about making our own version of a game Africans play called Mancala. I remembered Don owns that game so we\’ve been playing it alot.

Quinn\’s 4 am cough alarm was early enough for me to catch a sunrise looking down our street.

Sometimes Quinn asks me to drop him off down the street so he can walk home.

But not too far down the street. \”Mom you can go\” he says.

After another night of coughing and no relief in sight I decided to take Quinn to the doctor today. Good thing because he has bronchitis. I\’m happy to get him on some meds so he can kick this thing. Oh, and this boy loves a good hoodie.

Monarchs

Published on February 1, 2015 by amyewhitelivecomLeave a comment

On Saturday we visited a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Goleta which is just a little bit north of Santa Barbara.

A beautiful day to be out and about.

Walking through the Eucalyptus grove.

Always time for some geocaching.

He\’s so funny. He asks if he can do a little exploring because he had no interest in geocaching.

In the 1800\’s a guy named Ellwood planted all the Eucalyptus trees in hopes of making some money on the lumber. Unfortunately eucalyptus trees are not very strong and timber easily….as demonstrated in the picture above. However they make for an excellent sanctuary for the Monarchs.

Here they are. Right now there are about 5,500 butterflies here. Can you see the huge pods of Monarchs?

Here\’s a closer view.

And an even closer view.

There was a docent there who was passionate about the Monarchs and was full of really interesting information.

We were there around 2:30 pm and it was starting to cool down. The Monarch\’s don\’t fly when the temp is below 60 degrees but you could still see some flying around. The docent said the homeowners in the area are really good about planting milkweed so in the mornings when it warms up all the butterflies fly off to find some milkweed to lay their eggs.

A little more fun and geocaching before we head home.

All our hikes seem to end this way.