Family Retreat in Watsonville

It was a bit dramatic with the fires in Wastonville, but despite an evening of emails laced with uncertainty we packed up and drove to our small group's family retreat last weekend. It was only about an hour south of our home, but a different world. The highways were open, but it was sad to see the blackened terrain and burnt homes along it. Please pray for the families of those displaced from the wildfires in California and I guess while you are at it all the other families in this country affected by natural disasters this summer.

We arrived at a beach where Mia enjoyed playing in the sand with her friends. The rest of the families were amazingly prepared in terms of gear with umbrellas, canopies, and a fold-out picnic table. We had plenty of yummy food to enjoy as we watched the kids play. Then the lightning and thunder started rolling in. We were under a black cloud, then it would move away and another would replace it. The beach patrol had everyone take down their umbrellas. What a dramatic weekend.

We opted to leave and try to check in to our hotel while most of the other families stuck it out and waited for the storm to pass. And it did. Meanwhile we ventured into Watsonville since we were denied early check-in. We browsed for Mia's new mattress at Mattress Discounters, and checked out the downtown. Not much to see.


Once we checked in, Mia enjoyed the warm indoor pool, then the other families drifted in and joined us. We ate Panda Express for dinner and had an evening full of fun activities. The next morning we went Strawberry picking at Gizdich Ranch which Mia enjoyed thoroughly because Caillou had gone strawberry picking in an episode she watched a day or two beforehand. We topped off the weekend with a yummy Korean lunch back in Santa Clara. What a fun weekend!