Family time in Malibu

We spent 17 days camping in beautiful sunny Malibu campground.  The first four days Cia, Derian, Riley, Sadie and of course Sophie their French Bulldog camped along side us.  It was a great surprise when we checked in to discover that they were also booked to camp right beside us.  Over the last couple of weeks we spent lots of time with Riley and Sadie getting to know them better.  Riley is in Kindergarten and I got to replace Cia on her parent help morning and was able to help out in Riley's class.  It was fun, but also a bit stressful.  There were a couple of little boys in the class who were just beastly!!  They would not take direction whatsoever from me.  All the other kids were great!  One little boy told me that I did not look like his Nana, as she was old and fat!  I took that as a compliment!

One evening we took Riley out for dinner and to the movies one night.  We saw "Frankinweiner", which I thought was a bit scary!  Riley liked it though and said that it did not scare him and he thought that it was funny that Nana would be scared!!!  We also took both kids to the pumpkin patch.  My idea of a pumpkin patch is going out to a farm and walking through the "patch" and picking out a pumpkin.  The pumpkin patch we went to had rides, and things for the kids to jump around in and also a very small petting zoo.  The petting zoo had about 6 chickens, a couple of ducks, one sheep and about four goats.  As Sadie was too small for the rides and she did not want to go down the slide I thought that she might be interested in going in and feeding the animals.  She was afraid to go in, so we sat outside of the fence and talked to the animals.  Riley went through the corn maze all on his own, without getting lost. The kids picked out two pumpkins each and with Gramps' help, got them loaded into a wheelbarrow and took them back to the truck.  It was so unbelievably hot that day, but we all had a great time!

And here of course is Gramps giving the kids a ride to deliver the wheelbarrow back to the pumpkin patch.  He was having as much fun as the kids!

When in Malibu, you must go to the beach and play in the water.  We spent an afternoon at the ocean which is directly across the street from our campground.  Derian and Ray attempted to take Riley out into the waves in a little rubber raft.  Riley was very nervous and did not want them to take him out to far.  The waves rolling in were a pretty good size, so I really did not blame Riley for being a bit nervous!

While the guys played in the water, the girls lounged in the sand.  When we got the blankets and chairs set up, Sadie immediately lay down on her back in the middle of the blanket and shut her eyes to the sun.  She was trying to get a tan!!!  She is a true Californian girl loving that sun!  She did not last very long in that position and proceeded to play in the sand with her "baby" who she takes everywhere.

We had an amazing time in southern California and stayed camped in the Malibu RV Campground for the whole time we were in California.  We more or less "slept" there as each day we would either go through the canyon to Cia and Derian's or we would hang out down in the outdoor mall in Malibu where people in our retirement bracket cannot possibly afford to shop!  We would hang out at the Starbucks there in hopes of "spotting" anyone famous.  But after feeling like "stalkers" and not really seeing anyone, we quit that hobby!

Malibu RV Park has had some important people camp out over the years.  Last year it was Matthew McConahuy (spelling?) who stayed there while his house was being built. for most of the time we were camped out this year a very recognizable motorhome was camped out.  It would leave every morning and then come back in the evening (sort of like the two Riggins').

Much speculation as to who was staying in the motorhome.  Was Gene Simmons and his family staying there?  We later found out that it was their manager who was staying there!

We met some amazing people while camping in Malibu.  Jana and Larry, who both work at the site and live there as well.  We really got to know them on our final night while partying at Cia and Derian's site. They arrived carrying two bottle of champagne!  How could you not love these people!  It turns out that Jana is a Yoga instructor, so Cia and I were giving her suggestions about starting a early morning Yoga class in the campground as there was a perfect spot to practice overlooking the ocean!  Jana also makes beautiful earrings!  Cia bought each of us a pair.

Another side trip we took while in California was a day trip up to Santa Barbara.  It is a beautiful town (and no we did not see Oprah!).  There are beautiful old buildings there and interesting side streets that had restaurants, bistros and numerous shops.  But alas, I got a migraine and totally ruined our day there as we had to head back to the campground.  I got another migraine 3 days later.

It is hard to leave southern California as the weather is so beautiful.  We had one day of rain while we were there, but as the weather forecast was changing to more rain it is time to head north.

Until next time......