And a Happy New Year...

Thanks for the great post on the New York Christmas! I almost feel like I was there! We had a  magical Christmas full of fairies, princesses and Lego- it's a pretty great time of time of year to be 8 or almost 4!

Right after the big day, we jetted off to another magical place- Hollister Ranch. Just north of Santa Barbara,  it's a working cattle ranch with a tightly controlled homeowners' association geared towards preservation and limiting development. 

Sue and Christopher's house in the middle

Pacific Sunset

Sue and Christopher's house is a mile up from the beach and it's in a wooded glen that looks like Hobbits might be their neighbors. It's a really comfortable and low-key place that was sold to them by a carpenter/ surfer who lived there for 40 years and just retired to Kauai.

Lots of beach play was the order of the week

Stand-up-paddle-boarding was a big activity

The Channel Islands

We also took a day for a whale- watching cruise around the Channel Islands and saw some magnificent displays of migrating Gray Whales, Dolphins and Sea Lions.

Beach Love

A wall of glass

 I didn't know until I got there and I emailed Spike, but another of the primary motivations of the people running the ranch is to preserve an exceptionally private and high-quality surfing experience. As he put it, it was truly "pearls before swine" in our case. While I lament being such a spaz on a surfboard, I did manage to get up and ride by myself and the whole family got a lot of time appreciating the waves and the beach life.  We had tons of great family time and celebrations of Jerry's 80th. It was full-on cousin mayhem, with all 9 of them on Kate's side gathered together. A great way to start the new year, and something to look forward to getting back to! 

Best wishes to all in 2012!