The Stanley House at Stanley Ranch

The first part of our tour began at the Stanley House, home of Agnes Stanley, the first person to be born in Garden Grove, and her family. You can see this house on Euclid Avenue as you drive by. This post is more about the details than room photos--those will come later. I'm not a fan of Victorian homes, but I will say that the home was brighter on the inside than I imagined.








Armilyn and Alex trying out the old pump organ








Alex is fascinated by the workings of an old, hand-cranked washing machine


Detail of an ornate door hinge

The entire tour of the ranch lasted 2 hours, but we spent almost the entire first hour in the Stanley House. That's how much stuff there was to see!

Stanley Ranch Firehouse

At the Stanley Ranch, we saw a reproduction of an early firehouse, one of the two non-original buildings at the Ranch. It was full of a ton of vintage fire fighting gear and memorabilia.

Walt Disney's Garage at Stanley Ranch

On Sunday we paid a visit to Stanley Ranch in Garden Grove. The ranch is actually a historical district anchored by the Victorian home of Agnes Stanley, the first person born in Garden Grove. There are many historical buildings from the city that have been moved to the site, but in this post we will focus on the garage that Walt Disney began his career in California at. The garage was not originally in Garden Grove, but donated to the historical society by friends of Disney when the original location was slated for demolition. Surprisingly, the Disney studio nor Disneyland or the city of Anaheim wanted the structure. It's a simple garage from the early 1900s, that is roughly 10x25 feet, just enough to get 1 car and some extra storage room. There are cases with memorabilia from a Disney fan club inside, and they hold meetings there every so often.

A projector from the nearby Gem Theatre. Not Disney-related, but from the same era.

Walt overlooking a model of 1955 Disneyland. More from the Stanley Ranch in future posts. We had a 2-hour tour of the place and took lots of pictures.

Summer vacation is ending

2 more days until school starts.

Kayaking in Newport

Yesterday we decided to try kayaking in Newport. Southwind Kayak offers rentals right where PCH meets Newport Bay. It was $20 an hour for a 2-person kayak, but since Alex looks to be under 40 pounds, he could go in the middle. We set off on a cloudy afternoon, but that was fine as it kept us from getting too hot. The rental place recommended heading into the harbor first, as we would have the wind to our back on the return trip, when we were more tired.









I sat in front and Alex sat on David's lap in the back. Alex tried to row a few times, but he didn't really have any power, so David rowed and Alex just enjoyed the view. Though the harbor wasn't that busy, we stuck to the side, looking at all the mansions and their fancy boats. It took us about a half-hour to reach the main channel a half-mile away (where the wedding boats cruise) then we turned around and headed back for the bay. We cruised in there for a little while, not getting too far and headed back. It was tiring but a lot of fun for an hour.

After we were done, we headed next door to this little floating fish market. The outside looked very "yaaarrrr!" like an old sea captain. We bought a filet of halibut for under $5 and went home and fried it up. Yummy!

Another Independence Day

The day after our nation's Independence Day, we celebrated one of our own, as Alex rode his bike for the first time without training wheels. We still had to help him get started most of the time and ran after him just in case, but he was all smiles as he rode around the park. Between this and starting drum lessons 2 weeks ago, he's having a pretty big summer. Next step, swimming without a vest.

FV Classic Car Show

Last Saturday we checked out a classic car show in Mile Square Park.












Alex, the (fire) engine inspector








If you haven't guessed, this was the 33rd Hudson built.

Alex got a chance to sit in a real drag racing car.

I have it...

I just can't remember where I left it.

High on a Mountaintop

In mid-January, we went with Miki and Tkay up to her aunt's cabin in Idyllwild. We had never been to there before, and we drove through parts of Riverside and Perris that we didn't know existed.

For going up to the mountains, the journey was pretty easy compared to other local mountains. We left before the sun came up, so that Maia would be sleeping and not get carsick. So we arrived at the cabin before 9am, just in time for breakfast.

The cabin is huge. We couldn't even fit it in the frame of the camera. It's around 2 years old and has 4 bedrooms--1 master suite on 1 side of the house, and the other 3 spread on 2 levels on the other side. There is a great room in the center with the kitchen, big screen tv and pool table.

There was no snow, as we were at 5500 feet and it hadn't snowed for a few weeks. Though there was a week's worth of storms coming as we left.

My phone somehow erased all of my pictures before I could download them, so all we have are a few that David took on the first morning before he got sick.




Later in the morning, the dad's took the kids up the street to look at a fire truck.




Can you smell the fresh air?


Behind the house is a ravine, with a small creek running through it. We all went down to have a look.




Right after the picture above, Alex step in the water.

We had a great time and hope to visit one time when there is some snow.