December 16, 2013

December Nights

Now it seems a bit cruel to tell ya'll about an event that's already passed, but it was so Christmasy and grand how could I resist? I promise to pop up some other holiday suggestions at the end, just to ensure no one is deprived of any Christmas cheer. 

The first weekend of December, every year, Balboa Park (one of my favorite spots), hosts December Nights. It is the largest community event in San Diego and host around 350,000 people over two nights. Crazy, I know. You might think that with this extreme amount of people the event might feel overwhelming, but it really doesn't. There's a good dose of Christmas cheer in the air, and everyone is generally pretty happy to be there. I went with a whole gaggle of people, and we trekked our way to the park to join in the festivities. 




December 14, 2013

How (Not) to Build a Gingerbread Bus: A Guide to Failure

It's Christmas time, you're feeling festive, and you stop and think, *gasps* "I should build a gingerbread house!" What says Christmas better than a Gingerbread house? Nothing really. 

Step one, find a building partner. I chose the lovely Miss Jewel; she has the face of one serious Gingerbread-er. 



Step two, come up with a really elaborate design for said house, that really is no longer even going to be a house, but rather a double decker London bus. Because that sounds like a logical plan and not too hard at all. Feel free to draw out an excellent sketch of your dream creation.  


December 9, 2013

A day on Apple Hill

As much as I adore the nearly ever present sunshine and warmth in San Diego, it tends to really just put a dapper on the whole atmosphere of the holiday season. Is it really fall, nearly winter, if I can still wear sandals? Not really. With this ever present "#socalproblem", I really appreciate going home to enjoy some actual seasons.

After a properly crisp Thanksgiving, I rounded out the end of fall with a trip with the fam-bam to Apple Hill. Located in Northern California, near Placerville, Apple Hill attracts a wide variety of hungry guests looking for some wholesome fun. Being honest, we all know I was basically just in it for the food. However, I also got a pretty good kick of stomping on some crunchy leaves and enjoying the cool crisp air of fall. 

The whole Apple Hill "process" essentially consists of driving from farm to farm and eating various products, mostly apple flavored (they were really clever with the title). There are various farms (some small some large) each offering there own specialty. 

We started with one of the largest, known as Boa Vista Orchards, which, though they have a whole smorgasbord of items, is not my favorite. It tends to be a little over crowded (I really hate queuing) and more commercial then I enjoy. Nevertheless, here's a little peek at the marketplace. 


December 3, 2013

Giving Thanks

Well Halloween has come and gone, One Direction Day (let's just pretend it's an official holiday) was celebrated properly, and to round out the pre-Christmas holiday season a jolly-good Turkey Day was had by all! 

Now, as I do with all holidays, I take Thanksgiving pretty seriously. I mean what's not too love? You get to see the ol' fam-bam, miss school, and best of all, eat all day! And I did plenty of eating. However, in an attempt to burn calories and support a good cause, Thanksgiving was started with a brisk Turkey Trot 5k run walk. 

The Michael Bratton II Turkey Trot is is a charity run for depression and suicide awareness began by the Bratton family after the loss of their 25 year old son in 2006. This year was the 8th annual run and the cause has steadily grown each year, rounding out at around 2,000 participants this year. It's both a great cause and a good start to a day of being thankful for what you have, especially those people in our lives we love. 

The kids and I were up bright and early for the event. We ran a brief leg of the track and then proceeded to laugh/walk our way through the rest of the event. 




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