Happy Halloween! Love, The Hooleys

Check out some Halloween fun at the end of this page.

Capitola, CA

I took this picture when we first got to Capitola. We pulled over and I just had to take this beautiful picture. Breathtaking. We went to the beach my birthday weekend. Boy were we all so happy to be there. It had been a long summer for us and a lot happening in our lives and never made it to the beach this summer. So this vacation was so overdue. Sure wish we could of stayed longer and wish the weather was better but boy we had a great time. So blessed to be able to go when we did. Great Birthday!!!
This is the beach we went to. I took a picture of it from a distance.
Same beach. Just moved the camera over to the left and took another picture.

This is us now on the beach. This isn't one of my favorite beaches because it is very touristy and the beach isn't one of the cleanest but we hadn't been there for a while and it was fun to visit. I like the different feel that you get there in Capitola. Kind of feel like you are in Mexico in a way because of the colorful buildings, Margaritaville, etc. It's just fun to spend a day there. We enjoyed the beautiful sites and it was fun being a tourist there for the day.
Kaitlyn Posing. Say Cheese!

Jason loves to take the kids exploring on the beach. They can't wait to see what they can find.

He always has to find something to climb on. Such a little boy.

So cute. He loves the beach. He loves nature.

This picture makes me laugh. It was too cold to go in the water that day we were there, so this is my children seeing how far they can get without getting their feet wet.

Say Cheese. Jason taking a picture of us.

She loved playing in the sand.

He loves playing in the sand!

Such a cutie!

Always a funny guy!

Bridge over the Koi pond. The fish followed all around this pond. It must of been close to feeding time for them. They really thought we were going to feed them.

Koi pond at our hotel. I really wished I was there by myself sitting at this beautiful Koi pond, reading a book. A mom could dream right?

The pool at our hotel.

Lexie, Dillon and Kaitlyn doing some late night swimming. They had sooooo much fun. Next time I think we just need to go on vacation and spend all our time at the hotel pool because they loved it so much. The pool was heated too.

Hot Tub!

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park AND my 33rd Birthday!

It was my birthday and we decided to go to Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park after my mom saw on the news that they were having "Live History" during that weekend. Since Dillon is in 4th grade this year, he is learning about California History, so we thought this would be a great field trip for him and for us, to learn about the gold rush. And we sure did. We even got hands on with that era. It was a lot of fun. Hope to do more field trips like this. Nothing better than seeing history in person.

Dillon getting a lesson on panning for gold.

Dillon giving it a try.

Look, Dillon found Gold!

Kaitlyn's turn. She didn't find any. But she had fun.

Jason's turn. He found a couple small pieces.

Me searching for gold. I never found any. It was fun trying. I really wanted to find some, I wasn't ready to leave.

They had a blacksmith there and he was making a candle stick out of iron. He said we all think that recycling is new, but actually it started 100's of years ago.

This guy looked like this the whole time he was singing. Love happy people. They played and sung old pioneer songs. It was great.

Trading Post

The girls got these cute braclets at the Trading Post. And Lexie got a wooden snake too. She REALLY wanted that snake. She is so funny! She can be really girly, but then once in a while. she loves things like this. I think it's cute. It's nice because she will be girly with Kate but then still can get dirty with Dillon. Best of both worlds.

Kids taking a break. Love this picture of them.

Can't go somewhere like this without getting some sassafras. So yummy! The kids loved it.

All the docents were dressed in pioneer clothes. Them dressing like this really made it feel like we were back in the 1800's.
Great background for a picture.

Old saw millHere is some Mormon history during the California Gold Rush....Though the great majority abandoned their other activities to search for the precious metal, one enterprising Mormon merchant named Samuel Brannan had a better idea. He bought all the mining supplies he could find, and filled his store at Sutter's Fort with buckets, pans, heavy clothing, foodstuffs, and similar provisions. Then he took a quinine bottle full of gold flakes to the nearest town, San Francisco. There he walked up and down the streets, waving the bottle of gold over his head and shouting "Gold, gold, gold in the American River!" The next day, the town's newspaper described San Francisco as a "ghost town." Samuel Brannan quickly became California's first millionaire, selling supplies to the miners as they passed by Sutter's Fort.

I love hearing about the mormon pioneers in CA.
Click on this picture to enlarge, so you can read.
There was a great docent inside this cabin telling about the mormons during the gold rush. Who knew they were part of the history.

American River

I love this picture of my kids. Crossing over the American River. They really weren't thrilled about holding hands but this is such a sweet picture. They will like it when they are older.

Look what we saw on the side of the road. We saw 6 deer all together. The kids were so excited. Watch out cute little deer! It's October and that means, IT"S DEER HUNTING SEASON!

Our Play Room and School Room

This is our school room and our play room. We spend a lot of time in this room. Hope to paint the walls someday, just to brighten up the room. Lexie loves this room. She loves to play with her doll house in here because of all the room.

Lexie reading. What a good girl.

Cute Lilly wanting in on the fun.

This is where the kids play the Wii and Rock Band. They love having all this room to play.