Thanksgiving Recap

We were very thankful this year to get to spend Thanksgiving weekend with GG and Aunt Vanessa. Those two are always up for an adventure so we decided to meet somewhere in the middle of where we all live. We drove about 300 miles south and they drove about 300 miles north and we met in San Luis Obipso, an awesome coastal college town.

Norah is great in the car as long as she has snacks and the portable DVD player.

We stayed at the historic Madonna Inn. I don't think my description could ever do it justice-it is truly a sight to behold. It is a monument to all things kitsch and every one of the 200+ rooms is completely different and unique.

We drove up Thursday morning to avoid the holiday traffic and we sailed in with no issues and beautiful weather.

Norah checked out the book of rooms while we checked in.

We stretched out and Norah took a picture of me. She looked at it and said, "mom, you are so pretty. And you have a funny face."

We stayed in the "Starlight Room". We were at the top of a tower and the walls were a pretty metallic blue. There was a giant chandelier over the bed that gave me a minor panic attack.



We hooked up with GG and Auntie Vanessa and wandered around the resort. After a quick power nap (for both GG and Norah), we headed over to the main restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. It was all decked out in Christmas/winter holiday decorations, which was really fun. Now, this is the first time I forgot my camera. I stupidly took it out of my bag and never managed to put it back in, so for the rest of our weekend all I had was my phone.

Norah was really into this "fairy" swinging from the ceiling and was pissed that she couldn't touch it. Now, the benefit to having an extremely tall dad is that you usually get to touch what you want, but even BVZ couldn't reach her.

We had a reservation for 6:00, but the place was packed. We didn't get seated until 6:45 and I had to break out my "lawyer" voice to get things moving. Aunt Vanessa was happy to entertain Norah while we waited.

The VZ's.

This was the giant train table in front of the hostess station that had a big sign that said, "don't touch the train." After waiting for over 30 minutes I let Norah touch the train. A lot.

Dinner was great and a ton of fun. I didn't take a single picture because I let Norah watch 101 Dalmations on my phone. She totally deserved it. We stuffed ourselves and the non-pregnant adults drank a lot of wine. When the dessert tray came around everyone was pretty full but Norah announced "I love pumpkin pie" so she and I shared a piece. It was delicious.

On Friday, we followed the recommendation of the L-J family and headed out to Avila Valley Barn, about 10 minutes away. Depending on the season, it is one of those U-Pick places. Unfortunately we missed pumpkins and apples by just a few weeks and the pick de jour was Christmas trees. Fortunately, there were also a ton of animals, so Norah was more than happy.








GG discovered the squash bounty and managed to fill a giant grocery bag with a variety of squash to take home (the Barn is also an organic produce market, toy store, gift shop, and bakery). Norah was happy to walk around with her and help pick things out. This included picking up random fruits and vegetables and taking bites out of them. GG was a good sport and purchased a handful of Norah-licked food.


After the Barn we drove a few more minutes down to Avila Beach, which was an awesome little harbor town with a great playground, beach, and boardwalk area. There was a boat at the playground that immediately became Norah's favorite thing of all times.



She of course demanded to swing.

And checked out the dolphins.

And took a walk on the beach.



The boardwalk area was adorable and full of cute shops and restaurants.


We ate lunch at a fun place called the Custom House and walked around enjoying the sunshine.

Sadly, here's where my pictures end. I hope Aunt Vanessa and GG will send me theirs because there was a lot more fun to be had. After everyone took a nap we had our Christmas gift exchange and then headed out to downtown San Luis Obispo. We ate at a fabulous place called Big Sky Cafe and Norah enjoyed the pet supply store.

On Saturday, GG made all my dreams come true and treated us all to massages at the hotel spa. My back has been killing me lately and it was exactly what I needed. We packed up and went back downtown where we found a fun and tasty lunch stop at The Natural Cafe. Sadly, we then had to say goodbye to GG and Vanessa and headed back home.

It was a fabulous and relaxing weekend and we were so thankful to share it with 2 of our favorite people.