Category: Uncategorized Page 1 of 11

What an amazing trip! It was definitely an action packed, family adventure with Du, Breana, Cato, Grandma & Grandpa Dixon, and Uncle Colby. If nothing else, just the air travel between SLO and Fort Lauderdale (both directions) was an epic marathon (we ran into everything from thunder storm ground stops, missing crew, mechanical, missed connections, changed airports, and tarmac under construction…we seriously weren’t sure that we’d make it to the boat in time or what day we’d even get home).

Once we got on the boat, however, everything smoothed out pretty nicely. This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean (Oasis of the Seas) and it was an interesting change from Princess…if nothing else, it was really fun being on a family-focused boat. Soooo many different fun activities: carousel rides, pirate parades, water & ice skating shows, watching a production of CATS, FlowRider boarding, rock climbing, hunting for ducks, sliding down The Abyss, and many, many iterations of water slides and mini-golf.

Ports of call included Aruba, Curacao, and CocoCay in The Bahamas. On Aruba, Dave & Barb did a bus tour in the morning while Colby & Du did a UTV tour (Cato & Breana relaxed on the boat for the morning). Then in the afternoon, Breana & Cato joined Du & Colby at the beach for some fun in the sun and sand followed by an amazing dinner on the jetty over the water. On Curacao, Colby & Breana did a lovely 2 tank shore dive at Tug Boat Beach (Du was supposed to join, but ended up quarantined for 24hrs due to an upset stomach). At the final stop on CocoCay, everyone got to hang out on the island for one final day in the sun and sand: Cato did laps on the water slides until he crashed hard and needed to go back to the boat with Mom for nap, Du & Colby did a 1 tank shore dive, and Dave & Barbara explored and snorkeled.

Wonderful outing for our first real family bike ride with Cato on his own pedal bike! As a group, we cruised out the 2.5 miles to Avila, and then Cato got to have fun at the playground with Dad while Mom biked back to pick up the car. Cato is really cruising now on his bike, but we do still need to learn how the breaks work (the was a bit of a flying superman incident when he got going too fast downhill and then launched off his bike, thankfully into relatively soft grass).

Fun outing up to Paso to check out a new section of riverbed and playground. Cato is cruising really well on the bike now, so I’m getting to run! The riverbed is flowing strong after last week’s storms, so we had a mandatory rock throwing stop. Jasper also enjoyed the morning outing.

For Breana’s birthday, Du and Cato stayed home while Breana and Colby set out for an epic snow weekend in Mammoth! There was a serious storm that came through the week prior so snow levels were high, fresh, and oh-so-fluffy. Saturday morning started off with an amazing sunrise view of Mt. Whittney! The weather was beautiful and sunny, however that did lead to some icing up on the skis (need more/better wax for on trail application). It was pretty fun being back on cross country skis after a couple decades on downhill/backcountry skis and staying at Tamerack Lodge by Twin Lakes was very cool (lodge was built in 1920’s and comes complete with uneven floors and tight stairwells). Colby even got in a little time up on the mountain while Breana took an afternoon nap. Dinner on Saturday was a fun experience at the tiki bar in The Village listening to live music and drinking fruity rum drinks…we’re getting ready for the next adventure! (a Caribbean cruise in 2 wks 😉

We’ve been having lots of fun with Ms. Savanah’s class through the Atown Rec Center on Wednesday mornings. The focus is on building things and using construction tools so “Civil Engineering at work!” Xavier is also in class with us.

Fun overnight visit with Yung, Meaghan, and Nora. Cato was VERY excited for a playmate, but Nora wasn’t so sure about 3-year-old boy energy (she’s almost 6 years).  They both had fun working together to help make breakfast, though, and Nora was excited to learn how to make a horse slurpy to feed Dunny.

Overnight jaunt up to the Bay Area with Barbara, David, Colby, Breana, and Cato to catch up with the Dixon family! Big, beautiful event at Lorraine’s sisters house. Cato especially appreciated the arcade room and carousel. On the way up, we took a long lunch at the mall in Salinas.

Lovely morning at El Chorro park hiking with Clay, Sierra, and Storm. It definitely felt more like springtime than winter! (Including copious amounts of poison oak and ticks) The only people we saw were conveniently at the top to take a group picture.

This was our maiden voyage in the new camper van! As with all such voyages, there were some bumps in the road (primarily a dead starter battery and multiple campsite “Plan B” options). Sawtooth Canyon campground at New Jack City climbing area was very cool, so we ended up there for 2 nights. We made a brief foray up to Big Bear looking for snow, but there was none to be found outside the man-made ski slopes. Camping outside Joshua Tree on a dry lake bed was a unique experience (confirming zero interest in ever attending Burning Man, lol). Joshua Tree National Park is very cool, but fighting the holiday weekend crowds was less than enjoyable so we didn’t do much other than have a nice picnic lunch.

Lovely winter morning in the riverbed riding Dunny with Clay, Serena, and Sierra. Everyone had fun playing in the river (especially Cato and Storm…Cato waded out up to his knees, shoes and all, while Storm held true to her Lab heritage chasing sticks in water). Dunny was a perfect gentleman except for a brief self led escapade chasing other horses down the trail (Breana and Jasper running after).