Christmas in California, Part 7--Escondido!

After our Christmas morning activities on Tuesday, we started to discuss plans for the rest of the day.  One person in the family really wanted to go to Escondido in order to get some favorite Wedeking's cookies.  Others felt that would be a pretty long drive, JUST to get cookies, even though they are very yummy!  So Matt came up with a couple of other things we could do in the Escondido area, so we set off.

Our first stop was Wedeking's Bakery, and we were pleased to see that they still have pretty much all the same delicious treats that we remembered.  So we all enjoyed some baked treats, and reminisced about the good old days when a Wedeking's visit was the usual reward for surviving things like dental appointments, shots, etc. etc. I also bought a couple of their coffee cakes for the next day's breakfast. (Grandma fail---no pictures of this stop.)

Our next stop was Bates Nut Farm, which was a favorite place for outings when the kids were little.  We have had many picnics there, spent time feeding the animals, picked out pumpkins in the fall, and of course always enjoyed the store.  The outdoor area really has not changed very much.  There were still lots of animals to feed.  Things in the store had changed a bit---it had been enlarged a bit and some new things had been added.  (Like a fudge counter!)  They still had a lot of the same nuts, candies, and other treats that we remembered.  But we did miss the containers that they used to have for sampling.

Jeremiah got the "flat hand" technique down pretty well.

Josie got a bird's eye view of the place.

She got into the feeding, too.

Hope did lots of running around.

Wissink family shot

I don't think this was planned, but Ben and 

Neil were sort of dressed like twins that day. 

One of the kiddos was missing from these pictures---Evan was not feeling very well that day, and I think he was sleeping in the car when these pictures were taken. Poor Evan! :(

The next stop was Stone Brewery.  This place was new since we had lived there. At least we were not aware of it, if it was there. In addition to the brewery and restaurant, they have some beautiful outdoor areas.  While some of the group did some sampling, others enjoyed the garden areas.  Oh, and I think Evan and Cheryl spent that whole time in the car, as well, as Evan was sleeping. Poor Evan and poor Cheryl! :(  And this time the lack of pictures was a tech failure.  My phone died, so no pictures.  It was a beautiful spot, though. 

We topped off the day with dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, Cenote Grill. I had seen this place mentioned by some of my Escondido friends on Facebook, so we decided to give it a try.  And it was actually very close to our San Marcos house, right in the little strip mall by the 7-11 that we used to walk to.  Memories!

I think I'm down to about 2 or 3 more Christmas posts to go.  Next one will just be some pictures of our time hanging out at Matt and Cheryl's house.