What a Trip!

Wow.....what a fun vacation! It's been several years since our entire family has been on vacation together and I have to say that it was time well spent. Not only did our children manage to get along, but they were pleasant almost the whole time. Can't ask for much more than that, can you?I was fortunate enough to fly to Southern Califorina on the same day that my family took off in the van so that I could spend a day visiting with my sister. Susan, is a non-quilter, but a very good sport and took me to a quilt shop called Cotton & Chocolate Quilt Company in Thousand Oaks on the Tuesday that I arrived. I had been there several years before when I went and stayed a few days with my sister's family and it was a real treat to go back. I performed my quilterly obligation and purchased a few items for my stash. I found some Jo Morton yardage for my Little Women's Club projects and a store mug, in which I'll store tools.
On Wednesday we made what we thought would be a quick dash up the coast to Carpinteria, but we somehow overshot our mark and ended up in Santa Barbara. It must have been all the gabbing and catching up that we were doing! The drive along the coast was beautiful, which made the trip even more enjoyable.
Once we got turned around we discovered that the exit we had been looking for could only be found while driving southbound. That explained our trip into Santa Barbara! We found The Treasure Hunt tucked down a small side street lined with beautiful older homes.

Somehow a bunch of bright juvenille prints ended up in my bag. Not typically "my colors", but they will make several great baby quilts! And who can resist fabric at 50% off?! I thought it was funny that these kid prints were bundled in a set of 20 fat quarters with a suggestion to use them to make a Turning Twenty quilt. Can you just imagine how HUGE that quilt would be for a baby or small child? I'm sure I'll break them up and make several baby quilts. I also got a piece of Moda fabric that you can see in the bottom of the picture.

After lunch at In-N-Out Burger, my husband and children arrived in Thousand Oaks on Wednesday afternoon. Of course, the kids had to take a quick dip in the hotel pool. I'm sure that the locals must have thought they were crazy, but surviving the cold Utah winters has made them thick skinned and a little bit of cold water wasn't going to stop them from swimming. I mean, for heaven's sake...it's warm in California. Right? (More of that in tomorrow's post.)

Wednesday night we had tickets to see Wicked at the beautiful Pantages Theatre in downtown Hollywood. This was the focal point of our whole trip. We have been so excited since we bought our tickets in February. For those who are unfamiliar with the musical, it is loosely based on a novel by Gregory Maguire about how the Wicked Witch of the West became so wicked. Although the book is quite "dark", the musical is very light hearted and entertaining. The message of true friendship touches your heart and changes you "for good".

Here are our amazing children: DD1, "M" (our friend), DD3 (in front), DD2 and DS. Can you tell from the picture that there was a strong breeze? LOL! It was actually a pretty chilly evening, even for us Utah folk, but we enjoyed the whole experience. Okay, maybe not the part where we waited outside after the performance so that the girls could get their playbills autographed. That was way too cold! But the kids had fun picking out the "stars" that they knew on the sidewalks in Hollywood before the performance.

Tomorrow I'll thrill you with details of our trip to Disneyland and California Adventure, along with tales of our beach trip! Stay tuned!