Cottage & Family:
Beach

Part of blogging for me
is so that we can not
only share inspirational
ideas but also so you can
get to know us too :)


If you don't already know
I have two daughters,
Kristin and Stephanie,who
also are part of
Katies Rose Cottage ~

They both have babies and
this was our first
adventure on an airplane
with them ~
Their daddies got to go too
so that was fun!


Alot of our family lives
on the central coast of
California so that is one
of our very favorite places and
where we headed ~


They were excited to have the
babies visit the beach since
it is one of all of our
favorite places to be ~
The weather was chilly but
it was still a beautiful
and sunny day!
We went to Avila Beach which
we love!


Ellie thought it was
just the best thing ever!
The swings were great...
The sand was great!

Isaac pretty much didn't like
it at all! We are definitely
going to have to teach
him that it is fun!
Mommies arms were great!

This is my mom and I
with Ellie ~

My son in law James
took the following pictures ~
It is awesome having
a photographer along :)

Ellie loved swinging!

Isaac loved hiking!

This is my most favorite picture of all .... My mom and dad
with their great grandbabies!!
What a beautiful and precious
picture!! I adore it!

It was fun and there
is so much more family
and pictures but
this is just a glimpse
of our time there ~

Thank you for visiting
with us!

Lori

My husband and I got
to spend a week at the
central coast of California
visiting with family ~
That is where we are from
so it is going home for us ~

When I go back I often
am amazed at what I took
for granted when
we lived there ~
I just LOVE the beach and
LOVE the mountains that
you have to drive over
to get to the beach ~

This is Avila Beach
where I spent so many
days in the summers~
I want to come spend
a week just here now ❤

Who would have thought
that swinging on the beach
could be the most fun ever!!

I LOVE my mom and dad's house
that is on a mountain that
overlooks 3 towns ~

I LOVE driving the winding
roads seeing the beautiful
wineries and vineyards that
are everywhere ~

Spending time in California
with my family that lives
there is just some
of our best times!

This is my sister, Kim
and I in Morro Bay~

Thankfully we get to
go back a few times a year
which is a blessing for sure!

Lots of hugs,
Lori

I just got home from a few days

in Central California ~

Oh my goodness it was glorious

there! The weather was awesome

( it was great to get away

from the Texas heat )

and well I just pretty much

love it all ~

Family, childhood memories, the beach,

the mountains, the vineyards,

the weather... I could go on and on ~

It is funny how when we lived there

I completely took the beautiful

hills and ocean for granted ~

It has been 16 years since we

moved to North Texas and I am

a happy gal to have family

in California and flight privileges :)

I am a lavender freak so seeing it

all over is amazing to me!

This is a beautiful bed and breakfast that

a friend's wedding was at in Templeton ~

This is a really fun place in Avila Beach called

Avila Valley Barn ~

This is my sister and niece

picking yummy apples ~

I have been home a day and am totally

ready to go back ~

Hopefully in October for the

Remnants of the Past Vintage Show

and

Three Speckled Hens Show ~

Now it is back to work (fun)

for me ~

It was one of my most favorite times of the month

last weekend .......... Canton!!!

What is it about junkin' that is

sooooo much fun ???

I LOVE it !!

Canton is full of junk places to dig

through stuff and

full of places to get beautiful things that

are displayed gorgeous!!

This month I went with my two girls,

Kristin and Stephanie

and our friend, Bethany ~

Our first stop was Laurieanna's Vintage Home

which is always amazing !!

She has such a wonderful talent of making

her shop over the top gorgeous!

I am kind of

wondering why this guy

never unloads his trailer ~

I think I have taken the same

picture before ..... like maybe 2 years ago ~

See that fence gate wayyyyy on the bottom..... I want it !

I am not thinking that this bike cuts

it for my beach cruiser ~

But there were tons of them

and they would be super cute

in the yard with flowers ~

I bought some flowers here because she

had them displayed in old stuff and they were so cute!!

Two of the 3 girls ended up with puppies ~

We wanted to "save" them all but couldn't ~

I have been adding some of the things

I got at Canton and to my shop and

will continue to this week ~

I already can't wait until next month !!

I am longing for a Beach Cruiser Bicycle :)

Every time we go to California and are by the

beach I see people with

their wayyyy cute bicycles!

Then when we went to the

Orange County Swap Meet

there were so many super cute baskets ~

Everyone in my family in California

have them

and always talk about riding

on the Bob Jone's Trail

at Avila Beach ~

So needless to say I am thinking I need one

even though I live in north Texas ~ I can pretend

I am by the beach :)

Oh my gosh I found the

sweetest bicycles ever !!

They are on the Beg Bicycles website

It would be wonderful to ride to

the flower market

and fill my basket full !

{Images courtesy of Beg Bicycles }

{I am not sure who to give credit on this picture because it was a google search }

I loved this picture too because

it is so pretty all in white ~

Target has some

pink bicycles with baskets~

I am thinking my birthday is

coming really soon :)

I just found this

super cute design and printed

it on a bag ~

It is perfect for my new obsession ~

I just wanted to stop in real quick
and say hi from Cabo ~
We are at an All-Inclusive
which we haven't done before but
it is great!
We have walked on the beach
and then in the evenings
there are lounge chairs in the sand ~ It is
wonderful to go out and listen to the waves
and watch the sunset ~

The food is amazing !!

The weather in Cabo is wonderful ~
I forgot how nice
dry heat is :)
The pool is really cool because it looks
like it drops off in to the ocean ~

It is always fun to shop but oh my gosh
the prices are crazy expensive !
Mexico isn't inexpensive like it used to be ~

Ice tea and lunch are calling my name ~

Talk to you soon !!!

It is funny how when you grow up somewhere you don't really appreciate it until you move away ~

I grew up on the Central Coast of California and did spend alot of time at the beach but truly did not know what I had just a few miles from my home ~

Now I live in Texas about 5 hours from the ocean and long for the days that I get to sink my toes in the sand and hear the crashing waves ~

Over the last few months we have been from one side of the United States to the other and each seashore brings a different, but so very much the same, awe inspiring feeling ~

I get lost in the beauty and majesty of the ocean ~

Here are some images that take me back that my son in law has captured so beautifully ~

I have had alot of people ask me if his prints are available for purchase and they are at James Brandon Photography ~ Just create an account and you can view his whole gallery ~

He also specializes in travel, family and wedding photography ~ He just did a destination wedding in Cancun that is gorgeous !

I have been loving the sunshine in Miami and Key West for a few days with my family ~

My husband is a pilot and has been based in Miami for the whole month so we got a chance to go spend some time there ~

A couple of the days we went to Key West and I just fell in love with the homes there because they are all little cottages in the prettiest pastel colors ~ All of the houses have picket fences and front porches ~

The ocean water is so warm, it is wonderful !

This is our girls Stephanie and Kristin ~

This is our son in law James, Kristin and Stephanie and my husband at one of the beaches ~

James took this gorgeous picture of Key West ~ It is so awesome to have a photographer in the family ~ You can see more of Florida on his blog soon at James Brandon Photography ~

This is James, our son in law ~ Kristin, our daughter ~ my husband, Dana and I at one of the beaches we hiked a ways down to ~

This is our first time to the island of Hawaii ~ it is so diverse compared to the other islands we have been to ~ We have spent the last 2 days driving to the Hilo side of the island which is so tropical ~ the Kona side is dry and has alot of lava ~

These pictures, that James did show the different climates on the island ~

My son in law took this picture of my hubby and me ~ he does such a great job !! You can visit his blog at James Brandon Photography ~

Today we drove across the island to an area that they said you have to be invited to go to ~ I am not sure I understood that since we just drove there with no invitation but there was a guy giving us permission to go in once we got there ~ It was this really really huge valley that you had to have 4 wheel drive to go down ~ The road was soooo incredibly steep that it freaked me out being afraid of heights ~ At the bottom of the hill we passed several cars that didn't make it many years ago and rolled down the hill ~ it was sort of disturbing !
The kind of yellow thing is a car ~

We went to this one area and James took his mega buck camera in the river to get some shots ~

All of a sudden a couple of horses just came up and walked across the river ~ We found out later that they are wild there ~ We could not figure out why horses would just be roaming around like dogs ~

Later we drove to different beaches ~ the first one the sand was black ~ it was really beautiful ~

Until tomorrow.....

My niece is getting married next Saturday in Central California ~ We decided to make a vacation out of our trip so we flew into Santa Ana airport and have been sight seeing before we head up the coast ~
We spent our first 2 days at Disneyland and California Adventure which was so much fun ~

Today we went to Laguna Beach and got to put our toes in the sand, which I love to do ! We are from California and miss the ocean very much so every time we visit I have to go to the beach ~

My daughter Steph and I enjoying watching the waves ~

These are my daughters, Kristin and Steph in one of my very favorite Laguna shops called Cottage Furnishings ~

I guess I took a little too long there so this is how my family
waited for me ~

We are heading up to Templeton tomorrow so I will post more pics soon !

Change of plans ~ AA canceled flights so we won't be going until they are back up and running ~

Tomorrow, April 9th my husband and I are going to California for a week vacation !!! I am so excited because we are from California and I miss it alot ~ Most of our family lives there too so we will visit with them and go to the beach and also visit some of my favorite towns like Cambria ~
I am going to take a camera and try to blog along the way if we have internet access ~ We are starting in Southern California and then taking a drive up the coast to the central coast where our family lives ~
I will talk to you soon !