Fun Times in the City of Orange…

Sunday morning we started the day with a trip through Starbucks on our way to Old Towne Orange. We browsed through a couple antique malls and the Army-Navy Store. We later drove to my sisters in Whittier for a family meal with my parents, siblings, and nieces.

It’s always good to see my mom and pop. Mom is having lots of pain in her back and hips and walking is getting more and more difficult for her.

After lunch and lots of lively reminiscing Katie and I headed back to the city of Orange where we are staying. We decided to stop at Orange Hill Restaurant for some refreshment before we settled in for the night.

They take their name seriously here and the fact that they are in the city of Orange. Have you ever seen an orange baby grand piano?

We enjoyed ourselves so much in these orange surroundings we decided to go on Monday night with my nieces who also live in Orange.

It was sunny enough that we had to wear our shades inside for a while until the sun went down some.

Tomorrow our DIL Laura arrives and we are having a bridal shower for Katie. We are looking forward to Katie’s first shower and seeing dear friends and relatives we haven’t seen for a while.

I heard our summer decided to hide again for a few days in the Northwest. I hope it reappears soon…

Casa de la Playa

Katie and I are in Southern California enjoying family get-togethers. One of our favorite places to gather is at my sister Vera’s house in Huntington Beach. She and my BIL Nick are always willing and able to host and cook wonderful meals for our large family gatherings. We call their place “Casa de la Playa” because they live in Huntington Beach within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean.

We were there on Saturday for brunch, the beach, and then for dinner!

Besides Katie and I flying in, Miss Hope flew in with her parents from Texas. She loves Uncle Nick and she loves the beach! Vera made a delicious Chile Relleno casserole. Miss Hope was checking Katie and me out. After brunch and a nap we headed down the street to the beach.

Miss Hope loves the beach.

Hi Mommy! Look at me!

Daddy took the first shift with Hope in the water until her teeth started chattering and they came in to get warmed up.

Katie decided to brave the cold water.

Hope’s cousins took the next shift helping Miss Hope hop over the waves and avoid being toppled by them.

Time to pack everything up and head back to Casa de la Playa to shower before dinner.

Tim, Letty, Len and Kathy joined the rest of us for dinner. Nick barbecued ribs, tri-tip, chicken, mushrooms and zucchini and Vera made mashed potatoes, wild rice and salad. We were introduced to Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt for dessert. The salted caramel and the watermelon frozen yogurt was delicious! Thanks Nick and Vera for treating us so well and thank you Mandy for the frozen yogurt.

Thanks to my cousin Jim in Clovis we are calling our week of festivities the Bag-o-rama Jamboree! More fun to come.

I have not watched T.V. since we flew into L.A. but I’ve seen some stories on line about the horrible massacre in Norway. My heart and prayers go out to people of Norway and all the families there who have lost loved ones in such a senseless act of violence.

Fountains and Ford’s Theater

Jenny our faithful teacher is the hostess for Alpahbe-Thursday.

Here’s another A-Z stamp from the Postal Museum in Washington D.C. F is for Firsts!

Also from D.C. are my other choices for the letter F, fountains and the Ford Theater.

This is the fountain at Dupont Circle. In 1871 the Corps of Engineers began construction of Dupont Circle itself which at the time was called Pacific Circle. In 1882 Congress authorized a memorial statue of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis duPont in recognition of his Civil War service. The bronze statue was erected in 1884. In 1921 the statue of Dupont was replaced by a double-tiered white marble fountain. It was designed by sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon. Three classical figures, symbolizing the Sea, the Stars and the Wind are carved on the fountain’s central shaft.

Ford’s Theater where President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., where Abraham and Mary Todd were attending the play Our American Cousin. He died at 7:22 a.m. the following day, April 15th, at the Peterson Boarding House across the street from Ford’s Theatre.

FFF ~ D.C. and Home Again…

It’s time to reflect on our last week and pick out 5 favorites to share at Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Living to Tell the Story. Thanks Susanne for hosting this worthwhile event…

Dear and I just got back from 8 days in Washington D.C. Dear was one of the representatives of his company at the American Urological Association’s Annual Meeting. We left a couple days early so the two of us could do some sight seeing before his responsibilities began at the conference. So here are my favorites…

1. Being in our Nation’s capitol again after 40 years and having time to enjoy many of the major tourist spots.

2. Visiting Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. This is an out of the way gem in Washington D.C. I’ll be dividing up my day there in 2 or 3 posts soon. It’s the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post.

3. Having a visit from my brother Leonard while we were in Washington D.C. He happened to be in Baltimore for business so he drove south to see us in D.C. our last evening there. We sat around and talked for a couple hours before he had to head back. We live in Seattle and Leonard lives in Dallas. What a great surprise that our paths could cross.

Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz. I saw them at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

4. “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” “Oh, but anyway, Toto, we’re home. Home! And this is my room, and you’re all here. And I’m not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and – oh, Auntie Em – there’s no place like home”

We arrived back to Seattle with Sunshine and fresh blooms all over the yard. We are finally getting Spring here! I was so happy to fall into my own bed. It’s great to travel but it’s wonderful to come home again.

5. Katie just got back from spending time with Andrew before he leaves on deployment. On Thursday we had lunch together and then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond so she could register for the wedding in January. It was fun to click on all that fun stuff.

We have another day of sunshine here in the Seattle area. So lovely and so appreciated. We’re off today to finish up Katie and Andrew’s registry at Macy’s and Target. Later tonight we get to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. What’s on your agenda for the day?

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

E is for Old Ebbitt Grill & an Old Ecuadoran…

It’s that time of the week to join Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday. I’m just back from a trip to Washington D.C. with my Dear and have some fun E’s to share.

The Postal Museum had an great A to Z exhibit and this is the display for the letter E. E is for EFOs ~ “Errors, freaks and oddities”

I’ll be sharing a new stamp display for each letter of the alphabet.

Ellen b. was ecstatic to find this great eatery in D.C. The Old Ebbitt Grill is Washington’s oldest, most historic saloon. It was founded in 1856. It has evolved over the years from a boarding house to a saloon and now to a restaurant. It also had several moves over the years and has been at this location at 675 15th St. N.W. since 1983. The brochure calls it a virtual saloon Smithsonian.

It is just a couple blocks from the White House. We were happy to be dropped off close to the front door of Ebbitt’s on our Trolley Tour. Washington D.C. is amazing to visit but your eyes and feet get tired from all the seeing and walking. You also get quite thirsty on a hot humid day.

After our crab cake sandwich we decided to share this dessert…

Ellen B. was happy to be off her feet in front of food and a drink.

On our last day in D.C. while Dear was busy at his conference I went back to Old Ebbitt for breakfast. I had strawberry french toast with ham and it was the best ham I’ve ever tasted. My breakfast was just over $10.00 with coffee included. That’s a deal in D.C.! From Ebbitt Grill I decided it was time to go get a closer view of the White House. One of my favorite experiences in D.C. happened there.

I saw an Ecuadoran family and the son asked me to take a photo of the family here with the White House in the background. After I took the photo of the family I asked the young Ecuadoran to please take my photo, too. I stepped over to the fence and the little old Ecuadoran mother wouldn’t budge from her spot. She wanted a photo with me. The son tried to convince his mother to get out of the photo but she said NO! I love this photo and I was happy to have it with her. After the son took it he finally convinced her to move out and took another photo of just me and the White House. Fun times in D.C. with my new Ecuadoran friend! Ecuadoran or Ecuadorian are both correct in referring to someone from Ecuador.

That’s a wrap for the letter E. We just got home yesterday and I’m still adjusting to the time change. Spring has finally arrived here and I’ll have to get out and mow the lawn. Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

Postal Museum

Love the great architecture in Washington D.C. The Postal Museum was a nice small museum to take in.

Once I get back to Washington State I have so much to share.

Between B.C. and D.C.

We celebrated Mother’s Day with a brunch prepared for us by our Daughter In Love.

The roses are from Josh and Laura and they also gave me a book by an author I haven’t read before. The fruit bouquet is from our daughter Katie. The past 5 days have been packed full with a trip to B.C. (British Columbia), Mother’s Day, and now we are in D.C. (Washington D.C.).

On the way we saw this and now we’ll be seeing more things like this…

Tonight we are just settling in. We walked to dinner and on our way back we saw this pretty sight…

Tomorrow we’ll jump start our Historic site watch by visiting the Washington National Cathedral.

Hope all is well where you are…

FFF ~ Blossoming…

It’s time to find blessings to share from this past week and then join in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five!

This week is a sort of calm before the storm week for me. I’m getting random things done in anticipation of our B.C. ~ D.C. days coming up. Here are my favorites…

1. While sitting at my computer making my lists and getting things taken care of that need taking care of I see this bright spot in the distance in one of my neighbor’s yards.

2. Walking from the house to the garage to get last minute things for our daughters trip to Florida so she can spend a week with her husband before he leaves on his deployment we stop and enjoy the apple blossoms that are finally coming out in all their glory.

3. While trying to kill off the several hundred dandelions that are appearing with a vengeance in our yard I notice the hope of these blossoms on my azalea bush. Spring really is here…kind of.

4. While mowing the lawn and having to duck when I mow under the pear tree I thank God for these beautiful pear blossoms and the promise we have of pears appearing in the future.

5. While leaving my house in my car that is paid for with gas in the tank I thank God and then smile at my neighbor’s pansies. Pansies always make me smile and I’ve enjoyed them ever since I was little growing up in a low income area of Los Angeles.

Tomorrow Dear and I are headed to Canada to get together with all the Mennonite Girls Can Cook for a cookbook celebration party at Lovella’s. It will be fun to be together again and for our husbands to be there, too. I’ll be sharing more next week…

After Friday morning I don’t know when I’ll be on the computer again so have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!

Tuckered Out…

I’ll share all about our time at Lepp Farms next week. Right now after my 290 mile roundtrip to Canada and back I’m too tuckered to think straight. Had a wonderful time. Stayed up way past my usual bedtime. Made good memories. On the way to Canada I stopped in Lynden, Washington for lunch before I crossed the line. I’m really glad Debora from Whatsoever Things Are Lovely gave me the heads up on places to eat and to make sure if I ate here…

…to only order a half sandwich. Good thing I got that tip because this my friends is a half sandwich! Now tell me the truth does that look like half a sandwich to you? And yes Lynden is heavy with Dutch influence and population.

Hope you are doing well and the start of your weekend is good. I’m hoping to spend all day Saturday just vegging about with my feet up…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with these blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Heading North Across the Line…

I’m taking my sweet cheese spread in it’s mold wrapped in cheesecloth to Lepp Farm Market for a cooking demonstration tonight. I will take it out and present it ready to serve with Lovella’s Paska. I have my cross, X & B to press onto the cheese. This is a traditional Russian Easter Treat so it has the Cross to symbolize Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday and the X and B are the first letters in Christ Arose or Christ is Risen in Russian, Христос Воскрес! We love to celebrate the Resurrection! The Mennonite Girls Can Cook are putting on the cooking demo tonight. It will be my first experience doing this. I hope I don’t drop anything…

I’ll be gone all day Thursday and into Friday. See you on the weekend!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Travel