Day 5 - Sunday

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We began our day yesterday with a short hike to the top of a waterfall. Very nice change of pace from the bus riding! We feasted on a picnic lunch of pb&j, apples and oreos...does life get any better than this? I heard more than one adult ask why they ever stopped eatting oreos! Our biggest excitment at this stop was the rumor of a mountain lion observing us from the top of the waterfall! The marker stated they were really only fond of small children - I felt pretty safe!

We visited this little town named Solvang, which looks like a litle town in Denmark. Very cute...think Helen, GA to Germany! The Mission Santa Ines is found in this town and they were having a very special ceremony (which I think was all in Spanish) for their HS graduates. It was a treat for us to get to watch the procession and listen to the chanting and singing. Such beautiful pagentry and tradition. The folks celebrating at this mission were mostly all hispanic. A very intimite peek into another culture and tradition.

The Mission La Purisma Concepcion de Maria Santasima was a HUGE example of a self contained and self supporting mission. They had lots of animals...prairie dogs, goats, horses, steer with huge horns, and the occasion snake tracks. Again, beautiful gardens. I am amazed at how much the kids enjoy the beauty of the flowers, fountains and garden paths.

Our finale of the day was taking the kids to the beach. Of course, only a handful were planning to get in the Pacific Ocean....next thing we knew - they were all frolicking like water nymphs! Bill started a rousing game of fling the kelp. NASTY. There was an aborted attempt to throw Bill in - he was heard screaming like a girl! Speaking of girls, the sweet, sweet girls decided I needed a huge, tight group hug...since they were all soaking wet! We all smelled sooooo good at the end of this adventure! As we were getting ready to leave, Chad started yelling like Captain Ahab, WHALE. Thar she blows...we all watched a pod of humpback whales. One of them was polite enough to breach for us!!!!

What a fun day...we invaded a pizza joint for supper. They are probably still trying to recover from all our polite, hungry kids. Yes Ma'am could I please have more pizza? They were blown away by our well mannered Southern children! That really stands out in CA!

We ended our day with evening prayer...we are actually getting pretty good at that!

Off for another mission! And the Hearst Castle!!!

All the kids are doing well. Please continue to pray for us. Love and Peace to All - Karen