San Juan Capistrano Mission

We hadn't visited the San Juan Capistrano Mission in many years, and I was interested in having another look. It's a great day out - history, museum, gardens, shop.

The mission was founded in 1776, the seventh of 21 missions in the state. This large church collapsed in a big earthquake in 1812.

So many beautiful vantage points.

The mission is famous for the swallows that returned each spring for many years, though they now nest in other places in the same town.

The museum told of the history of the mission and its inhabitants, including the Spanish missionaries and the native Californians.

This chapel is the last one still standing where Father Junipero Serra, now sainted, celebrated Mass.

Stace and I enjoyed our afternoon at the mission.

20th Anniversary Getaway

 Stace took Thursday (our actual anniversary) and Friday off so we could get away for a couple of days and a night. We woke up to this lovely message from Gregorny!

We headed south to Long Beach, and once near the ocean, took the coast road further, into Orange County. We stopped in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach before reaching our destination, Dana Point. 

We stayed at a sweet Best Western, seen behind us with the blue trim, behind the lifeguard tower. Yes, we were right across from the beach!

Our lovely room - because it was a slower Thursday in September, we got upgraded to a third-floor ocean view room.

View from our room! 

We went to Salt Creek Grille for dinner, where we used a gift card we'd "won" in a charity auction a few months ago.

Fancy dinner and drinks - but we also caught Happy Hour! It was a very enjoyable night.

We walked back to the beach after dinner and watched the sun set.

The next day, we walked down to the Dana Point Wharf, where we looked around the shops and had a bit of lunch.

Near the beach, this old bit of wall from the 1920s was interesting.

Later, we went a few miles inland to San Juan Capistrano to the tour the mission. (See next post.)

After, we were ready for coffee and a snack, so we treated ourselves to gelato.

Then, we went back to the coast - Laguna, to be specific - to soak up a little more beach time.

Another gorgeous OC beach sunset.

We waited until after dark to drive home, so we didn't face crazy traffic. 

It was a perfect full, two-day trip away, so great to celebrate our blessed life together.

20th Anniversary!

 TWENTY years! So happy to celebrate with the perfect man for me. 

Old school post - gotta take photos of our wedding album!

Pretty picturesque Placerita

Violet has a new DSLR Canon (because a certain mother of hers was borrowing her camera and allowed it to fall with the lens open.) We went to Placerita Canyon and she enjoyed using the special settings.

 

Tidbits

 We enjoyed a three-day weekend, and on one of the days we went to see a funny musical set during WWII featuring songs by the Andrews Sisters. Colleen and Rigo went with us, and we later went to their place for dinner. Liana was sick (and stayed in her room), so the girls didn't go with us, but the adults had a great time.

We also recently enjoyed Arsenic and Old Lace at the Canyon Theater Guild, with our long time friend Coach Greg, who was the girls' teacher in Pioneer Club and is a big supporter of Cora's theater pursuits.

Switching gears, the monarch caterpillars on our back yard milkweed are spreading far and wide to undergo their transformations. 

This guy really did go a long way from his home plant!

And i was standing in the yard when a little Skipper butterfly landed on my knee. That's got to be good luck!

Also over the long weekend, Violet, Stace and I went to Placerita Canyon Nature Center to take photos right after a rainstorm. I'll make a separate post about it... but here was our yummy dinner on the way home, from a fried chicken restaurant we'd heard about from foodies on Facebook.

Nature Time

Violet has had a sluggish start to her 8th grade year, missing a couple of days a week with illness and upset tummies. She just doesn't like school, sadly.

But she does like going to Quigley Canyon, and when weather allows, we're going frequently. She loves being in nature, looking for interesting flora, fauna and geology.

She found this lovely big bit of quartz.

 

It is a peaceful place, unlike junior high school.

Can't make them out, but this hollow in the oak tree was full of bees.

On one of the days she was home early from school, we met up with Stace and had coffee and lunch at Havana Savannah, one of my local favorites near his work.