Eugene O'Neil National Historic Site

When our sweet Brendan asked to go to a National Park for his birthday, it was hard for us to resist making this happen.  However, we had already gone to most of the parks in the area.  I suppose we could have gone to a site we had already visited but we did have this one elusive park on our list that we had missed.

The Eugene O'Neil site is just a small park surrounded by mountains to the east of San Francisco.  Visitors cannot even drive into the park in their own vehicles, taking a NP tour bus that must be arranged ahead of time.

When we tried to research the site at their website, it just mentioned that it was once the his residence.  Eugene O'Neil was the only American playwright to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

I used to love to read plays when I was in high school and recalled his name, but I did not recall any of the content.  I guess we kind of went into this park blind and open to its possibilities.  After all, it was obviously important or it would not be a national park...right?  Well, it was not the best plan but we were going to make it work.

We arrived in the afternoon just at the right time and the bus was waiting for us.  The park ranger was a young woman (She told us she was 25 yo when Brendan announced hid birthday.)  We also found that she was here in California just for the winter months and would return to her park in Alaska in April.  She was quiet but kind and patient.  Since we were the only one on the bus, we entertained her as much as she us.

The bus wound around the back roads of the small town.  Then we had to enter several gated areas to finally make our way into the inner property closest to the house.  I must say even on the ride to the house, little information was given to us about the site.

We stood at the waist high wall that surrounded the house, and the ranger told us that we should first notice the writing on the gate.  There were Chinese characters (in the wrong order) that were interpreted for us:  Tao House.

O’Neill and his wife Carlotta built Tao House and lived there from 1937 to 1944. It was there that he wrote his last six plays, including “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”  Along with the house and surrounding property, the O'Neils owned over 150 acres.  This property is now cared for by the California State Park system.

Then the gate was opened to a path that zigzagged through the yard and to the front door.  O'Neil believed that this strange path would ward away evil spirits.  It seems that he was deeply influenced by Asian culture.  This was evident throughout the house and the property.  This has was built to his specifications.  I quickly noticed that there were recesses in the walls that normally would have had windows.  Instead there were shelves.  When we asked about these, we were told that the O'Neils were avid book collectors with over 8000 books.  It sounded much like our home!  I had often wondered if we could cut out places in the walls to make shelves!

One of the other favorite collections for O'Neil was masks from around the world.  Zaira did not like these masks.  Some of them were kind of scary, but the boys loved them.  They were also fascinated by the electric player piano (O'Neil called it Rosie) that supposedly still worked.  They begged me to give them a nickel to put in the slot but I had left my purse in the van.

The park ranger did not tell us a lot about the plays O'Neil wrote.  I guess they were probably not the best material for children.  She basically told us that most of his plays were dark and told a story of life's tragedies.  He had a hard childhood and he often told about his life through his places.  However, he tried to remain positive in his own life, and considered himself a "tragic optimist."  As a reporter stated, "Life is a tragedy. Hoorah!"

We were then taken through the house to see the various rooms.  The furniture that was collected was very authentic to the pictures we were shown, although none of the pieces were the originals.  We learned that the O'Neils had hoped to make this their final home and chose this location to move away from society.  However, neither Eugene or his wife were able to drive, so when their driver joined the Army during World War II they were left stranded in their place of retreat.  They were forced to move back into the city and eventually to Boston.  Their furniture was sold back to the company where it was purchased (a common procedure of that time period).  The owners of the home after the O'Neils made several changes, but when the property reverted to the National Park system tried to recreate the original designs.  Although they did not live here long (seven years), this is the longest O'Neil ever lived in one place (again we can relate with this).

One room we were able to visit upstairs was his office.  We were able to see some of his original scripts in his own hand.  We learned that he was very ill in his last few years.  He had tremors in his hands and he wrote in tiny print in order to control the effect of these tremors.  He would also destroy any papers, including full scripts, that showed these effects.  He wrote so small that it took a magnifying glass to read!

It also appears that he loved his dog, a Dalmatian that was called Blemie.  He loved his dog so much that it was given its own area in the house.  He also wrote a last will and testament for Blemie...known as The Last Will and Testament of a Very Distinguished Dog.  A very interesting (and short) read that any dog lover would enjoy reading.

Either the ranger was bored or she thought we were, but she tried to convince the children that we could end the tour and they could earn their Jr. Ranger badges.  Imagine her surprise when the children refused to leave until their activity books were complete.

She was also kind enough to take a family picture on the back porch of the residence with the beautiful view in the background.  And then allowed us five extra minutes to hunt down a geocache that was just on the other side of the gate.













For the most part, it was a beautiful park, but I would not list it as one of our favorites.  I am not sure if it was the best choice for a seven year-olds birthday gift but he was happy so I guess all is good.  It does pique my interest in his plays and I will probably read one in the near future.  I need to read a Steinbeck novel first (Did you know he lived in the Bay area also?  His history just continues to creep up on us!)

The best part about the day was the sun was shining and we were enjoying time together.

Our Walk for Life

PROLOGUE

I cannot tell the story about our Walk without telling about what happened before it all began.  I would like to think that our story begins almost 25 years ago.  Our Pro-life story is not news worthy to most but to us it was life changing.

Michael and I met and had a great time...we met during finals week in May 1992.  Then we went our separate ways for the summer, and corresponded by phone and a few letters.  The next fall we met up again and through bad choices conceived a beautiful little girl!  Not a story most want to hear about two practicing Catholics, but we have never felt the need to hide the truth.  For the most part, we had the support of family and friends and we promised to make our bad choices into a life together with God's graces.  It is hard to forget this fact, when we recall the words spoken by our priest that united us together as a family in July 1993.  In all of our years of married life--the good,the bad, and the ugly--we have always felt God in our lives.

It would not be until 2004 that we became fully involved in the active Pro-life community.  I had heard about a small group of Pro-lifers gathering to start a new organization and I felt called to attend the meeting.  I tried to assist with the little I knew but when I suggested our group join the national campaign for 40 Days for Life in 2007, things changed.  There was no interest from the leader of the group, so I took up the reins to organize the efforts.  The leader of that organization soon stepped down and dissolved the local group (for reasons not related to my efforts).  The only real organization for the community was then on me.  WHAT!?!  I just wanted to pray for the unborn and maybe help the women who came to the local clinic!  I was not a leader...give me the peon labor in the background.  I had one of those moments in my life when I could relate to Moses...not me Lord!

However, in God's graces, I was able to lead a successful local campaign that fall of 2007.  A lot of crazy things happened during that campaign and there was news coverage that I never expected but we made it through the 40 days and then began to think about the future of those who came out to pray.  We never had an organized group again but we did have those who faithfully gave of their time to stand and pray in front of our Planned Parenthood clinic.

One thing that came to the surface during this campaign was the new location would be opening soon and there was concern that abortions would be performed there (at this time the clinic only referred patients to their larger clinic 2 hours away).  We would continue to pray at this new location for the next six years and this would include an additional five 40 Days for Life campaigns.

Then in May 2013, Michael told me we would probably need to move again.  I was feeling very low at this point of our journey.  I did not want to move and felt that there was still work to be done on the Pro-life efforts in Lufkin.  In June, the Texas legislators began efforts to enhance the medical care for women.  Pro-lifers from all over the state were going to Austin to rally in support of these new laws.  I was so happy to be able to join others on July 1.  When I returned from that trip, Michael said that he had accepted a job in San Antonio and we needed to move as soon as possible.  I still had a burden to help the women of our community.  I was feeling so low, but God had a plan.  I needed to be patient.

Last time we prayed in front of the closed PP clinic in Lufkin

I will never forget that moment of joy!  Just a few days later, I answered the call from our dear friend, David Bereit.  I was happy to hear from him, but when he asked me if I heard the news, I was clueless.  Then he gave the news I had prayed to happen for almost nine years!  Our Lufkin clinic was closing!  I was so excited...whooping and hollering...dancing...and crying!  I know my children thought I was a crazy woman!  I told David what was happening in our lives.  We both agreed that God had an amazing way of closing one door to open another.

We were quick to be involved in Pro-life efforts in San Antonio.  We began to pray at three different abortion clinics and I started volunteering at a pregnancy help center once a week.  I also had the joy of becoming a doula to assist women during the first months of postpartum care.  After moving to California, we have also prayed at an abortion clinic.

I knew as soon as we made the move to California that I wanted to attend the Walk for Life in San Francisco.  We made arrangements to stay at a convent near the rally.  All the plans were set and then...I got sick...so sick I was stuck in bed for several days and took a trip to the doctor on Wednesday (I almost never go to the doctor!).  I was so worried that I was not going to make to this event....but by Friday afternoon, I was well enough.  I am so thankful for my children who got everything ready for the trip!

WALK FOR LIFE SAN FRANCISCO

We arrived at the St. Anne's Home on Friday evening.  We met some other sojourners in our temporary quarters.  The youth were quick to be included in some games before lights out.

The next morning everyone was up early in hopes to find parking (or walk the three miles) close to the activities.  We parked at the halfway point of the walk...then made the trek back to St. Mary's Cathedral (2 miles).

The church filled quickly but we were fortunate to find seating and even had time to walk around to see the beautiful artwork.  We had the joy of our friends Paige and Jessica joining us for Mass.  It was so exciting to see the line of priests and bishops in the opening procession.  We counted 35 priests and six bishops!  There were MANY more priests in the pews and standing throughout the cathedral as well.


The Archbishop Cordileone reminded us that being Pro-life is about showing the dignity of life from conception until natural death.  We cannot forget the various aspects of showing this in our society.  He said,  “…there are those who would defend the practice [selling the body ports of aborted children] by deflecting the argument to questions of legal technicalities regarding what is and is not against the law, thus side-stepping the real question, the much bigger question. But the big question cannot be ignored, it has to be answered, there is no getting around it: What does this say about us as a society?”


We left the Mass ready to head to the rally (1 mile) but it had begun to rain.  Each time we would open our umbrellas, it would stop raining!  By the time we arrived at the rally, the speakers had begun.  We tried to listen from the back of the crowd but could not hear well.

So...we decided to keep the children busy before the actual walk, we would do a little geocaching in the area.  We also took this time to give out some of our homeless bags tucked away in our backpacks.  There were so many homeless people on these streets!  I wish we had been able to carry more to give out!  They were all so appreciative!

We made our way back to the rally point and the youth that were leading the walk were in place.  We moved to the side of the street to watch them pass and then joined in behind.  It was a wonderful feeling of camaraderie (estimates of 55,000 in attendance) to be there.  We walked and prayed or sang, especially when we encountered the few protesters that were along the street.  The police did a wonderful job of keeping them away from those walking in the street.

One of the favorite moments of the day was a surprise to everyone.  We were walking past an area that was an active construction site.  From what I understand, it was near the area of the Super Bowl 50.  The construction crew heard the first wave of walkers go past, so came to see what the commotion was about.  This happened right about the time we were passing the area.  They stopped work to cheer us and even asked to take a sign to put on the crane to take to the top of he building.  Unfortunately, the police would not allow this contact. But they continued to cheer the crowd of Pro-lifers as we passed by.

Just after this event, the children were struggling to keep up the pace.  Then they began their hacking coughs.  Michael and decided we should pull to the side.  We did not want them to have a relapse of whatever illness we had the last two weeks!  It just so happened to be right by our parking garage (1 mile)!

We arrived back at St. Anne's Home in time to change into church clothes and attend our second Mass of the day.  We would enjoy Mass at Star of the Sea (our favorite church in the bay area).  A student group from Phoenix was also there.

After Mass, we were all invited to attend a dinner offered by the parish.  When we entered the parish hall, there were only three women trying to serve everyone.  So, I stepped in to serve spaghetti (home-made and so good!).  This was so much fun as I was able to meet so many who were at the Walk.  There were the Arizona students but also others from all over California.  Then we had the opportunity to meet the Sisters of Life who had traveled from New York to be at the Walk.

I really thought nothing of my choosing to serve the meal.  However, Fr. Illo noticed and came to find out who I was...I told him that he had met us before and then he remembered that we were the family from Texas.  He then began to help me serve....I love it when a priest will roll up his sleeves and be a part of the parish activity.  He definitely is that kind of a priest.

While I was serving, Michael was having an interesting conversation with some of the attendees.  I guess, the children became involved in discussion as well.  I think it had to do with choosing Pro-life candidates for political offices.  This so impressed them that they came to me later in the night to tell me that I had a good family.  A proud momma (and wife) moment!

One of the nuns came to me and asked if we planned to attend the Holy Hour after the dinner.  One of the nuns would be giving her vocation talk as well.  It was already after 7pm and we had been going non-stop for over 12 hours, but I knew we needed to be there.  I told the children that it was not right to enjoy a meal (they had eaten a lot of food!) and not go to Holy Hour for the real nourishment our bodies needed.  They went willingly and it was an amazing talk...so glad we were there to see the joy she felt serving God.

Sr. Faith started out asking us, "When was the first time that God broke into your life?"  When you stop to consider that moment, you are able to go back to that moment and focus on what God is calling you to do.  For her it was a day when she was jumping on her bed (4 years old).  Her father came in and found her and instead of being mad at her, he joined her and told her how much he loved her.  She stopped bouncing and went through a series of questions asking him who he loved.  Then she asked him if he loved her mother more than God.  She said he got very serious and explained that as much as he loved her mother, he loved God even more.  He also told her that it was because he loved God so much that he could love others in his life, like her and her mother.  Sr. Faith said that she always remembered that moment.

Then when she was older, she began to be a Christian on her terms.  She still wanted to be cool and not like those weird people who loved God that much.  She went on to college and then was about to enter graduate school.  She had everything she wanted and was going in the direction that she wanted.  However, she never felt like it was enough...her heart was restless for something more.  She was walking down the street one day and she heard God speak to her heart.  He told her that he had plans for her to become a nun.  Her response: "God, I don't know if you knew this, but people aren't doing that anymore!"  <GRIN>  But God would not give up on her and told her that he had bigger plans and he wanted to fulfill ALL her dreams.  As she put it, she got snarky with God and pointed out a restaurant across the street and said that she was really dreaming about a big milkshake!  Of course, God set her on the right path.  As soon as she fully allowed God to lead her, she was filled with an inner peace that she could not imagine.

She explained that just like any love story, we all have a path that leads us to one we love.  God was there for her and of all the amazing images in her head of beautiful scenery, nothing was like that beautiful image that God sees in us.  She told us that we reflect a unique image of God more glorious than anything we can imagine when we follow the path God wants for us...fulfilling all our dreams!

She reminded us that God loved the angels and man, but when the fallen angels left heaven God did not offer to redeem them.  Yet, he humbled himself obediently, even to death on a cross for man (Philippians 2:5-11).

She ended her talk by telling us that when we do follow our path, "nothing again will be casual or small."  We will be, in that moment, reflecting the image of God.

We then had adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.  What a powerful way to end our day!

We returned to a quiet convent and waited for the Sisters of Life to return.  We asked if they would be willing to take a picture with us.  They were excited to oblige.  Sr. Genoa told me that if we were ever in New York that they would love to have our family stay at their retreat center.  It is a tempting offer!

Then Mother Superior came to us and told us that we were welcome to return to the convent any time.  She offered the children coloring books about their foundress.  The children all gave her hugs and we had another picture taken with her.  Then we settled into our little spot of the room to go to sleep.  This was just as the other groups were making there way back from their various activities.  I thought it would bother the children, but they were so exhausted they slept through it!

That gave me a chance to meet some of the others.  We had groups (or individuals) from Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana and Los Angeles.  They were all wonderful people who were glad see a family participating.

We all left early the next day promising to pray for each other.  I wish that we could do this every year...so much fun and uplifting for the spirit!

AFTERTHOUGHTS

So much I could say now that I reflect back on the experience.  I think of all that I experienced, I know that the Pro-life community is strong.  We know that life is important and should not be taken for granted or wasted...in abortion or in the unintended end to life at any stage.  There are those who do not agree with us.  These people are not evil but there actions can be and the hate that comes with those who are radically against life is evident.

There were about 100 protesters along the path we walked on Saturday.  One woman (She made the national news as the lone protester at the start of the Walk.) stood with a coat hanger with the words "Never again." written in red lettering.  She would not even look at the people and her face was so hardened.  I have no idea what she was thinking as she stood there, but my only desire was to go up and give her a hug.  She just looked so angry!

Then there were those who held signs, "Abortion on demand with no apology"...What does that mean?  I felt like they were not even sure what this meant.

Then I later heard the following report from one of the Walk organizers:

As always, protesters tried to disrupt the Walk. Three young women managed to sneak around to the northern side of the speaker’s area and throw literature onto the stage while Daleiden was speaking. They then remove their tops and shouted obscenities. Although almost no one at the rally was aware of the attempted disruption, it did lead to one of the day’s most memorable and charming moments: the Sisters of Life giving their cloaks to the half-naked girls so they would not catch cold. The girls were arrested.

There were also between 100-150 protesters from Stop Patriarchy, a group affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party, waiting for the Walk at the corner of Powell and Market Street. But as always they were outnumbered by about 400 to one. (updated from Walk for Life website)

When we first arrived at the rally, we were given signs "I am the Pro-life Generation."  I had seen these signs before and always thought they were meant for the young Pro-lifers.  However, as I held my sign and walk along with the others, I looked around...we are all part of the 'Pro-life Generation' united in a call for truth.

Then it made me realize that FOUR living generations (five if you count my grandmother's generation of whom some are still living) has seen the effect of abortion on our society.  When will we see the painful truth and end this tragic death society that currently exists?  Where the selling of aborted babies is normal...where helping someone commit suicide is considered compassionate...where being old is a burden...where a president tells us that we should get used to terrorist attacks...the list could go on and on!

However, I have hope that we will see the end to this pain and suffering.  I believe that we will see the end to abortion...assisted suicide...death panels.  I know God has bigger plans, and as Sr. Faith said about the individual being a unique image of God, our society in God's reflection will be more glorious than anything we can imagine!

For instance, the image of the nuns covering the naked protesters is actually a beautiful image of what we mean by being Pro-life.  The hate that those women represented was covered in love by the nuns.  One of the nuns was asked if she was offended or upset by the experience, and her answer:  "We did not just come to the rally for the good."  Praise be to God...For He is ALL GOOD!  As for me and my house...we Walk with Him!

Other Stuff on the Mission Trail

Those of you who know me will not be surprised by this post about the other things we did along the mission trail.  I will try to keep this brief but there were so many other things we did that it will still be a long post.  For those of you who might think we did too much...well maybe so but we enjoyed ourselves and never really felt rushed or pressured.  There were some places that we would have enjoyed spending more time but we in general we felt like we saw enough to have a good memory of the various locations along the way.  We will likely not make it back to southern California before heading back to Texas so we knew it was now or never so we took the opportunity to see EVERYTHING we had time to see along the way...except the LARGEST LEMON in the WORLD...so disappointed!  LOL!

December 17

Our first night on the road we stayed in the Wigwam Motel.  When I began planning this trip, I thought we would be picking my mom up at the San Diego airport.  I thought this would be a fun hotel to stay in with the children (famed in their generation from the movie Cars) the night before her flight.  This arrangement turned out to be much more expensive so I worried that my mom would not enjoy this hotel choice.  I decided before we left that we would allow for an additional hotel room at another location if she disapproved (not that my mom is fussy but you never know).  Well, I sent the basic idea of our trip to my mom before she arrived and she did not say anything to me about the plans.  So, I was so surprised when we drew closer to our stopping point that first night and she became very excited.  It was a surprise to the children all the way up until we drove into the parking lot, so the van was filled with cheers when we arrived!   Once we were settled in our teepee room, my mom explained that she had always wanted to stay at this hotel as a child but her parents refused (likely because of the cost).  We had a great stay in the newly renovated iconic motel (originally built in 1947).  It was a nice bonus that I was able to give my mom a special dream gift from her childhood.

December 18

After our first day on the road (really meant to get us in a good location for he remainder of our trip), we made our way to Joshua Tree National Park.  This park is very big and there would be no way to see it all in a day...or even a week...but we had a great plan...go geocaching to lead us through the park!  National parks no longer allow physical caches so there are virtual caches that are just as much fun.  We were able to locate nine of these caches that took us around to fun sites and geological features.  The children especially enjoyed climbing the rocks...they really felt like rock climbers on these easy to climb forms.  We learned about tors, xenoliths, tafoni, conjugated joints, fault lines, and people who died in the park!  Not sure what those things are?   I encourage you to look up this information or take a trip to this amazing park!  It was a geological study unto itself.

I think we all got a kick out of climbing through a HUGE skull rock formation and looking at the funny trees that give this park its name.  We were also able to see the San Andres Fault Line and views of Mexico from the highest point in the park (Keys View).  The children would love to return to this park one day.  One never knows where our adventures will take us but it might need to be a trip on their own instead.

We were on some what of a time line because we were determined to take the boys to Cabazon Dinosaurs (built in 1964) before leaving this area.  We actually passed the dinosaurs going into the park and the boys were a little surprised when we did not stop.  What they did not know is that we already had it in the plans and it was easier to stop on the way out of the park.  They were so excited when we pulled under the largest of the dinosaurs to find parking.  We were probably one of the last visitors of the day just barely making it there in time to go inside these huge dinosaur creations!
The first dinosaur was the "brontosaurus" gift shop.  Then we walked through the path of  their enormous collection of dinosaurs ending with a walk inside the T-Rex.  While in the T-Rex we were able to sit in his mouth and look out at the parking lot.  Michael scared a young family roaring at the most opportune time.  I am not sure what they thought but they seemed relieved when the T-Rex then began giggling at them.   It was the perfect stop before making our way to our hotel in San Diego, and definitely worth the stop if you have children who like dinosaurs (or husbands!).  This was a long drive made longer by the traffic.  This is also why we missed seeing that large lemon...it was just too dark by the time we got there.

December 19

The next day we woke up early and made our way to Tuna Harbor.  We were there just as the sun was rising and I think it made a beautiful stop to start our day.  This is where the USS Midway is located but we were actually here for another interesting site...a memorial to Bob Hope.  Somehow my children did not know who he was so we gave them a brief explanation the night before and let them watch one of his old movies.  So, when we arrived at the memorial, they were so excited to have a life size statue of him laughing with the troops just like at one of his USO tours.

 Along with this memorial was a LARGE statue of an image you might remember from an iconic World War II photo (This was just in the news because it was 70 years ago.).

Although we came for the Bob Hope memorial, it turned out to be an entire plaza full of statues and memorials associated with the navy and World War II.  My mom and I even made it to Australia (our dream trip).  There were also some old ships in the harbor to view.  We enjoyed the morning seeing the area before moving on to other sites.

Our next stop was Cabrillo National Monument, which included Point Loma Lighthouse.  I had mentioned in an early post how nice it was to have this monument relate to our mission trip.  The children sure enjoyed learning about the Spanish explorers of this area, especially when they had the chance to dress up like the era Spanish soldiers.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo foraged the open seas and became the first European to land on the West Coast of California in 1542.  Upon the request of the governor of Guatemala, Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico and arrived in was is now known as San Diego Bay.  Cabrillo was also looking for the fabled cities of Cibola believed to contain great wealth., as well as a route connection from the North Pacific to the Atlantic (the Straits of Anian).  He led the expedition as far north as present day San Francisco but returned to winter on the Channel Islands.  Although Cabrillo would die on these islands after a terrible fall, his crew pushed on, possibly as far north as Oregon, before returning to Mexico.  His expedition would lead for future expansion of Spanish territory in California.  Of course, this would also lead to the mission trail of Fr. Serra.

We made the short climb to the lighthouse, while  my mom talked with the birds looking out on the ocean.  Point Loma was only in use for 36 years, lighting its first beam in 1855.  However, due to a poor location often covered in too much fog and low clouds that prevented assistance to the ships out at sea, the lighthouse was relocated to a higher elevation and closer to the point in 1891.

At this point, we learned this is now a great place to view whales passing along the coast.  We watched for a little while but it was very rough along the shore, so we left to try for a low tide at the tidal pools.  We were told the best time for viewing these pools was just as we were scheduled to leave the park.

The tidal pools are also world famous at this location.  We were able to view several interesting creatures before leaving to go to our second mission of the trip.  It was very rocky and slippery so we were reminded that we have a very nice tidal pool not far from our house that has easy access.  I am sure another trip to those tidal pools (at Half Moon Bay) will come in the spring before heading home to Texas.  Yes, I guess we have been around the West Coast enough to be a little selective of our future trips!

owl limpets

chiton

As we were leaving the park, we had to stop to remember the fallen soldiers buried in the National Cemetery here.  It is very moving to see the wreaths placed at the individual grave sites.

December 20

We had to make a stop at this time to make the rest of our trip work.  Can you believe we actually had to figure out a way to waste time along the way?  So...what better way to "waste" a day...spend it at LEGOland (We had a second free day after our trip back in October.)!  It was fun to see the park again but I was a little disappointed that there was not a lot of decoration for the holidays.  There was more emphasis on the "winter" theme with fake snow to play in and a sled area.  However, the same displays in the mini city area that were fully decorated for Halloween on our first trip, had little to show a Christmas theme.  I guess I should not expect a Christian expression of the holiday but at least they could have tried to give the same effort that we saw in the fall.  

We still love the park and enjoyed a fun game of putt-putt golf LEGO-style and then a few rides before leaving the park.  Zaira had her own way of playing golf, and we could not help but laugh...every watch out because she was on the course!  Let's just say she gave herself an awesome handicap!  You just have to love a princess trying to win a game!  She also LOVES her roller coaster rides!  I could hear her giggles of happiness from the ground as I took pictures.

December 21

Since it was the first day of winter and the hotel did not have breakfast in time for our early departure, I made a special (yet simple) breakfast to start out our day!  Then we were off to see three of the missions and the cathedral in Los Angeles.  We were surprised to find that the drive was easy and even had time left over at the end of the day.

 We had really hoped to make it to the SeaBees museum but had only had it as a maybe on our list of things to do.  I knew Michael would enjoy the military history aspect of the museum and I had read there was an extensive hands on exhibit for the children.  Let me tell you...I did not think we were going to get the children to leave this museum!  It was so much fun...it made me wish we lived closer so we could come more often.  There are even monthly family days with science activities related to the engineers that this museum is meant to honor.  I am so glad we were able to make this stop.

December 22

The night before we began to worry about the weather.  Then we got the phone call that our surprise cruise around the Channel Islands was cancelled.  We were very disappointed but with waves crashing over 8 feet and winds that were knocking our Little Miss over the next morning, we were glad the company that planned the trip knew to cancel.  We promised the children that we would try again in the spring.

We decided to take a look at the visitor center related to the islands before moving further north.  The visitor center is small but the energy of the rangers and volunteer staff was HUGE!  We can not thank them enough for making our time at the visitor fun.  They knew that we had missed our chance to see the islands and they tried to make up for it by sharing information from the exhibits.  One of the rangers even wrote up a plan for our future trip to Yellowstone.  So sweet!

December 28

We spent the next few days focusing on Christmas and going to the remaining missions.  On the last day we did have a fun surprise stop just before the last mission.  We just could not resist the LARGE chairs that were sitting at the Sonoma Winery.  It turned out to be a fun maze to get to the chairs also. 

After making the trip and talking with so many people along the way, I can tell you that it is hard to believe it all went so smoothly.  Regardless of any mishaps along the way, we were able to take three adults and five children on a 550+ mile trip from San Diego to Sonoma (This was the mileage from south to north but we were actually in the van for 1300+ miles).  This does not even include all of our side trips and the holidays included.  I think we did a great job.

I am proud of my children for their interest in the history and spiritual aspects of the trip.  I am proud of my mom for putting up with our shenanigans.  I am proud of my husband for successfully navigating us to all the places.  And...well...I am proud of myself for taking the effort to plan the trip that would be fun for everyone.  Most of all I am thankful that we were able to do this ... God has blessed us and I am glad that this our Christmas gift was a family trip that brought us closer to appreciating God in our lives.