California Here I Come …

The Top Ten Things I Did in California:

1. Going to Lake Pillsbury.

2. Playing mini-golf, riding on go-karts and bumper boats, and hitting balls in the batting cages at Scandia.

3. The Boardwalk at Santa Cruz.

4. Playing volleyball on the beach in Santa Cruz.

5. Watching our street fireworks display on the 4th of July.

6. Riding bikes at the skate park.

7. Eating Noah’s Bagels.

8. Watching baseball at my grandmother’s house.

9. Going to The Mystery Spot.

10. Ice skating at Snoopy’s Home Ice.

Doug’s “Top Ten Things I Did in California” (as told to Charlie):

1. Wakeboarding at Lake Pillsbury.

2. Innertubing at Lake Pillsbury.

3. Riding bikes at the skate park.

4. Kneeboarding at Lake Pillsbury.

5. Going to Scandia.

6. Going to Cousin Mickey’s house.

7. Going to The Mystery Spot.

8. The Boardwalk at Santa Cruz.9. Walking the logs at Lake Pillsbury.

10. Ice skating at Snoopy’s Home Ice.

Dad’s “Top Ten Things I Did in California” (as told to Charlie):

1. Seeing family and friends.

2. Fishing.

3. Fishing with Charlie and Doug.

4. Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.

5. Playing golf with Todd, Mary, and Lynn.

6. Sitting around the campfire.

7. Beach activities in Santa Cruz.

8. The July 4 Penngrove Parade.

9. Soaking Mom in the bumper boats.

10. Visiting my old house and my grandpa’s farm.

Mom’s “Top Ten Things I Did in California” (as written by Mom):

1. Seeing the July 4 parade on the town square in Sonoma. (Can’t forget the cold, crisp, perfect apples that the folks from Sonoma Market and Glen Ellen Market handed out.)

2. Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge with the boys. (Love that Tim walked us 1/3 of the way across the bridge, ran back to the parked car before the meter expired, drove across the bridge, parked on the other side, and ran back to meet us 2/3 of the way across the bridge. That’s what I call a good dad.)

3. Learning that the kids had won the first-place trophy in the July 4 Penngrove Parade. (It’s really Dad’s prize, of course, as he did all the work decorating that wagon.)

4. Ice skating with the boys at Snoopy’s Home Ice. (An important annual tradition.)

5. Dinner with friends in Santa Rosa. (An equally important annual tradition.)

6. Riding in a 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane over Sonoma Valley (Dad’s birthday present to Mom).

7. Strolling along Santa Cruz’s eclectic main drag on an early Friday evening. (So interesting to see how the town has transformed itself.)

8. Showing the boys my favorite California mission–the one in Carmel–and 17 Mile Drive. (Includes our stop to check out the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the 18th hole.)

9. Seeing the Ocean Sunfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

10. The 57th annual Teriyaki Chicken BBQ and Bazaar at the Enmanji Buddhist Temple in Sebastopool. (Because I’d never been to one before and Tim got to show the boys the house where he always celebrated Christmas as a child.)

11. Skipping Lake Pillsbury so I did not have to witness stunts like this: