Winchester Mystery House

The room where Mrs. Winchester died. Outside the window, there is a crescent moon shaped hedge, with the tip pointing at the window. There are those who believe it has some supernatural meaning, with the tip pointing to the room. It's just coincidence, right?
One of the unfinished rooms on the ??? floor of the house. We walked up and down so many stairs, it was hard to tell where we were. This room was in the front of the house, which was closed off and not worked on again after the earthquake of 1906.
The front of the house. The house was painted in the 70's, thus the horrible yellow color. Currently, though the state of California has it registered in the state historic locations, it is privately owned and has been for quite awhile. Even if you ask the employees who signs their checks, the only answer they can give you is "Winchester Mystery House". I would love to own this house. The history behind it, being able to walk through it whenever I wanted, not to mention the money it brings in during October and on Friday, the 13th.
One of the two basements in the house. This one had the coal chute and when it was unlocked, there was coal still covering the floor. This basement is considered the most haunted of the two basements. With all the fireplaces (47), Mrs. Winchester had grates built into the floors of each one, which the servants would use to send the ashes from each fireplace down a chute into this basement. Instead of 47 fireplaces to clean and carry the ash from the house, the servants would only have to clean 7 chutes, which was supposed to be easier.

There are so many amazing facts about this house, so much history and information. Mrs. Winchester had the modern of all conveniences, including elevators. For further information, you can visit the official website, www.winchestermysteryhouse.com, or do a Google/Yahoo/MSN search, whichever you prefer to find out more.

Will These Photos Never End?

The family at the Redwood Forest at the top of the mountain near Brookdale Lodge. Not exactly the place I had intended to take the kids. When I was living in California with my mother and stepfather, we used to go to the Redwood Forest that had some of the largest, oldest trees on the North American continent. There was one tree in the forest that had grown so large that by the time it had been discovered, it had already fallen over and died. It was old when America was discovered. The bottom of the trunk, with the roots still in the ground, was smoothed over and finished and was once used as a place for square dancers. A portion of it, still standing next to the trunk, was used to show the rings and distinguish the age of the tree. There was also a tree that grew in such a way, cars used to be driven through it. You know, the small Model T's.

Nevertheless, this was not where we went. Needless to say, I was extremly disappointed and after we made the journey through the trail and discovered the Mother of All Trees, over 400 ft tall and the Father of All Trees, almost 400 ft tall, we left and made our way to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. The drive through the forest was beautiful, if a bit curvey. The small towns we came across were beautiful. And the house was worth the trip.

Continuing Up The Coast

About noon, the clouds started coming in. At first it looked like there was a fire, but then we realized it was the clouds and we stopped a few times to look at the sight. It was amazing.
At one point, we stopped and we were above the cloud line. It was like looking at a bed of cotton balls. Again, Micaela was afraid if we got too close to the edge, we would fall.
We stopped at a small motel, restaurant and gift shop. There was a nature trail that led down the mountain, but it was blocked off. We were able to walk down partway though and get into the clouds.
And of course, the sunset. I've heard people say Las Vegas has the most beautiful sunsets, because of the heat, the pollution sadly and the way the sun lights up the mountains. But this sunset put every single one to shame. As we wound our way through the mountains, and drove to Santa Cruz, we had to stop several times, just to take the pictures. It was as if the sun melted into the ocean. Breathtaking, beautiful, amazing.

Vacation Pictures Continue - Drive Up Highway 1

Terry and Nick climbed down to the water from the road to touch the water. They had to stand on the rocks, because there wasn't a dry place anywhere for them stand. And the water was cold! Or so they said.
Micaela got very scared because the second time we stopped, the rocks down to the water were just a little steep and she was afraid everyone would fall down and hurt themselves. It was a beautiful sight to see though; the waves pounding against the rocks, sending up sprays of water.

Last Day At Disneyland - Part 2

The girls! Mom and Micaela. Micaela's such a ham. But we love her. Watching the enjoyment she and Derek had while we were at the park made the cost and the pain in the feet worth it.
Ok, so here's a picture of me. Now leave me alone.
Isn't this a beautiful costume? But can you imagine wearing it for the better part of two hours as you walk through Disneyland, from Main Street to It's A Small World?
The Boys! Nick really had a lot of fun. He said he rode a lot of rides with us that he had never ridden before with his friends. And Derek really bloomed into a personality we never knew he had.

Last Day At Disneyland - Part 1

Family picture in front of the 50th anniversary flowers at the entrance of the park.
I'm not real sure what these two were doing, but I lifted up the camera to take a shot and they did this. Such goofballs. Like father, like son. Derek definitely gets it from his father.
Eeyore is my most favorite Disney character, next to Belle from Beauty and the Beast. But Eeyore is #1. I love getting pictures of him.
Waiting for the parade. The kids were 'forced' to watch it because we are so very mean to them.

Still Doing Vacation Pictures - Disney's California Adventures

The morning started with an early breakfast at Chip n' Dale's Storybook Restaurant. We were able to see Kenai and Koda, as well as Chip and Dale. Nick argued with us the entire trip about which of the chipmunks was Chip and which one was Dale. After Terry and I showed him the difference, it just became a way for him to irritate and harass his niece and nephew.

While we were waiting for entrance to the park, we were entertained by this most interesting looking woman. Her date, husband, boyfriend, whatever he was, looked 'normal', at least in regard to her dress. The shooes were canvas high tops. *shakes head* Wow, some people are stress relievers just because they make you laugh so hard.

Micaela and Derek enjoyed their day at the park. Neither of them wanted to ride the roller coaster, California Screamer, or The Tower of Terror. The tower was excellent! I really enjoyed it. From what I understand, at least for the one at Disney World, each ride is supposed to be different than any other. And Rod Sterling's voice was integrated perfectly.

While we were California Adventures, we saw Cruella DeVil, Hercules, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, The Incredibles and Woody. Terry and I watched the Bug's Life show, which was interesting. And at the end of the night, we watched the Electric Light Parade.

Father's Day At The Beach

Since we were in California for Father's Day, I tried to make sure Terry got to do what he wanted for the day. He had really been looking forward to the beach, so we went to Huntington Beach for a few hours.
The kids really enjoyed the water, and didn't mind how cold it was. It was a bright day, with a breeze, but the water was great.
Micaela just loves to pose for pictures. My dad would call her a ham, cause she's always hamming it up for the camera.

While I watched, after soaking my feet in the salt water for awhile, the family rented a few body boards, except Micaela. All three boys got sand burns on their bellies, however, Nick was talented enough to get a sand burn in other areas.

After the beach, we went to dinner and then Downtown Disney. Micaela bought herself a Hello Kitty stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear Workshop. We checked out the pins at the different stores, Derek was bought a collectors set of Star Wars Tie-Fighters (5 tie-fighters in one box) and we spent a lot of time in the Disney Store.

Even without going to Disneyland, I love Downtown Disney. You still get the feel of Disney, without having to pay for the admission.

After Only One Day...

of amusement parks and excitement, the kids were already beat. But we had a 7 a.m. appointment with early admission to FantasyLand and 8 a.m. early admission to Toon Town.

In FantasyLand, we were able to ride Peter Pan and Dumbo before the lines got too bad. Those rides usually have an almost 2 hour wait. Then we rode the Matterhorn and the Teacups. With a trip to Small World behind us, we went into Town Town.



The taxi cab ride was a lot of fun and just enough to occupy us until the Toon Town show began. We were all made honorary Toon Town citizens. Then we were able to get pictures with the characters without waiting for hours. We were able to get Micaela to ride Gadget's Rollercoaster, which is still pretty cool, even for a small coaster, designed for the kids.





We spent the rest of the day with a ride on Autopia. Micaela got to drive her car by herself for the first time. Space Mountain was awesome. The new design and music was great and a definite improvement from before. Buzz Lightyear's ride was lots of fun and everyone enjoyed competing with each other for the highest score.

We bought lots of pins (we love to do the pin trading thing). Nick even got involved with it. Splash Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, the pirate ship, Big Thunder Mountain, everything was fun.

After a break in the afternoon, we closed the park. Dinner wasn't the best. We ate at a place we love to eat at, but the food wasn't the best that night. Pirates was closed because they were revamping the ride for the new movie premiere and Fantasia didn't show the entire time we were there because of the big premiere they had planned. My feet were killing me. I had developed blisters the first day and could barely walk, but Terry helped with new shoes and lots of band-aids and love.

For our first full day, it was pretty eventful.

Derek and Nick

Derek and Nick in the old West town of Knott's Berry Farm.

Oysters are YUCK!

Micaela wanted to try an oyster. Terry and I tried to explain to her that oysters were kinda yucky and that she was not to chew them, but she insisted she wanted to try.



We tried to tell her to just let it slip down her throat, again telling her not to chew. I even made sure the oyster was clear of the muscle holding it to the shell.



But despite her best efforts, she couldn't swallow it. She even spit it out! It was the funniest thing I ever saw.

San Francisco Ghost Hunt Guide

This was our guide for the Ghost Hunt. To verify his stories, he spent quite a few years doing research on the houses, the stories, verifying his facts, talking to people who experienced events in the buildings, etc. He was very informative, very nice and very entertaining.

If you're going to San Francisco and don't mind an almost 3 hour walk around a very beautiful part of town, look this hunt up. The site address is www.sfghosthunt.com

Ghost Hunt San Francisco Style

Will O'Wisp, also known as J.D., joined us for the Ghost Hunt. He's such a sweet person and we had loads of fun on the walk.

We heard several of the more well known stories of ghosts in San Francisco and even a few things that could not be easily explained. A key connected to a murder flipped in the hand of the host as well as a guest. And, after listening to the story of a voodoo priestess, we each made a wish on a wishing doll and watched it stand up in our host's hand.

It was a really fun night.

Alcatraz From The Ferry

We made a visit to Alcatraz. Terry and I had visited it on our honeymoon, and we wanted the kids to see it. Story has it the government has decided it costs too much, so the National Park Service is doing everything they can to keep it open.

San Francisco Sea Lions

These are some of the seals that like to call San Francisco home. They have the life: Sit around all day and sun themselves. Jump into the water every so often, catch a fish, get back to the sunning.

Brookdale Lodge - Brook Room

These pictures are out of order. I still need to get the rest from hubby's computer.

However, this is the dining room for the Brookdale Lodge. In the middle of this room is a brook. The sound outside of the restaurant doors was really loud, so I could only imagine how loud it is inside.

It is said this is a haunted room because of a child that is said to have drowned in the brook. People have seen the little girl in a white dress playing on the second floor and in the main hall where the reception desk is.

There is also a mermaid room where it is said people hear the sounds of a big band and a large party late in the evening.

We didn't hear or see any of that, but the place does give a spooky feeling at times. Terry laughed at me because I got shivers down my back while reading the newspaper articles and said we needed to leave.