I  literally only have a 20 minute window until we need to go visit Opa so I am doing a quickie post with Kendra’s fun Answer Me This! 🙂

1. How did you celebrate the 4th of July? (Or, for you international types . . . Do anything fun this weekend?)

Point Lobos, CA

We originally planned to go hiking at Point Lobos because it’s gorgeous and it’s our family tradition to hike and picnic there but even though we got there earlyish it was ALREADY packed. The parking lot was full and there were about 100 cars lined up and down the street. Forget it. We’ll go back when the tourists leave. Instead we ran back home, grabbed our beach gear and headed to the beach instead.

Matthew and Andrew loved playing in the sand and splashing in the water.

John-Paul, on the other hand, is not a lover of nature. He didn’t care about the beautiful view or the fact that we saw dolphins swimming in the ocean. He just wanted to know when we could get away from the sun, wind, sand, water and insects. Sigh. He’d drive me crazy if he wasn’t so cute. 😉

As for fireworks, a few years ago they stopped doing the public show in Monterey. (Besides, most years the fog was so thick you couldn’t see them anyway.) Private fireworks are banned so we’d have to drive out of town to find any. Brian and I discussed it for about a minute or so but since the kids are getting ready for bed by 7:30 and asleep by 8 PM, we had no desire to search for them. Let’s face it, the party life is over for us. We’re much happier watching Daredevil on Netflix with a scoop of  celebratory ice cream.

2. Do you sunburn easily?

Not really since I’m Hispanic, although I did burn my back a little at Lake Tahoe. Brian and I were just talking about this. The areas of me that don’t see the sun – like my stomach and lower chest are close to white. But my arms and legs, at this point of summer, are dark brown/Indian red. I’m a gringo underneath my clothes but have a lovely Mexican farmer-tan on the rest of me. LOL.

3. Hot dogs. Yay or nay?

I don’t mind a hotdog but we’ve gotten used to eating turkey dogs made with white meat and no nitrates. They are tasty but you must eat them as soon as they are cooked or else they turn into a hard, shriveled mess. But anything cooked over an open flame it pretty much delicious!

4. Have you ever personally set off fireworks?

I don’t remember lighting one myself, unless you count the sparklers I played with as a kid. Like, I said earlier, they are banned here. We are content to wait until Thanksgiving for our annual trip to Disneyland to see an awesome fireworks show. LOL.

5. Have you ever jumped off the high dive?

  No. And at my age, I am content to play at the shore of the beach.

6. Do you do anything weird in your sleep?

I don’t know since I’m sleeping…but I did ask Brian and he said no. However, sometimes to help myself fall asleep I lie (or is it lay?) on my stomach and rock my foot back and forth until I dose off. Is that weird enough?

Okay, times up. Did you have a fun 4th? Are you allowed to light fireworks?? Hope it was fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads Letterboxd, Spotify or Instagram. 😉
PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

I’m linking up with Kendra for Sunday’s Answer Me This. 🙂

1. Beach or Mountains? Where would you rather be?

Living along the Central Coast of California, we’ve got the beach and mountains right next to each other so to get the best of both worlds, I’d climb the mountain that looks down at the ocean. If I was forced to choose only one, I’d say beach…but the quiet beaches here not the crazy, loud ones with too many people.  😉

2. Which is more fun: Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning?

Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve we attend the children’s Christmas Eve Mass, which is nice, then we go home and have dinner. Afterwards it’s been a tradition to go to my in-laws for dessert. It’s enjoyable and stressful at the same time because the boys are used to being in bed at a certain time and when they stay up past their bedtime they get hyper and/or cranky and we just land out eating and running but it’s a family thing so what can you do? On the other hand, Christmas morning with kids is still magical. We bring out baby Jesus, give Him our cards/letters and sing Happy birthday and then enjoy the usual Christmas festivities. I’m a sucker for Christmas. 🙂

3. What’s the most embarrassing childhood outfit you remember wearing?

source

 I wasn’t a child but around age 19 or 20 I bought a culotte type jumpsuit with a floral print. It was during my BC days (before Christ) so maybe I was drunk but God only knows what possessed me to buy it. (I think it was on clearance so cheap I couldn’t resist.) But can you imagine?? I mean it is borderline ridiculous on a tall, leggy blonde but on a short, chubby Mexican? OMG, it would have been a SNL skit. Thank God I never actually wore it. Regardless, two decades later and my mom still teases me about that outfit. LOL.

4. Your house is quiet, you don’t have to do work (housework included). What do you do?

Hmm…it is a toss up between blogging/writing or watching a movie or if I am in the middle of a page turner, then finishing my book. Right now it is quiet so I did all three. I finished the book I was reading. Then I started this post as I am watching The Book Thief with Brian. It is the end of the movie and I don’t feel like bawling so I am purposely ignoring Death.

5. What movie do you want to watch when you’re feeling under the weather?

Okay, this is nearly impossible to answer because we literally have 100’s of movies in our collection. Something nostalgic would work if I was under the weather. I’d either do a classic B&W like Shop around the Corner or the modern version You’ve Got Mail or else I’d go literary classic like Persuasion or Sense and Sensibility.

6. Did you have an American Girl doll when you were little? If so, which one?

source

No, I did not. I remember that my little sister (child #6) got an American Girl but the older kids had the Fisher Price “My Friend” dolls. We had all four of these. I had the first one pictured – the red headed Becky. Ah, such memories. 😉

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads, Letterboxd or Instagram (It’s set to private but I’ll approve you.) 😉

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.