Gingerbread Houses at The Cube

A few weeks ago, we visited the Hilbert Museum to view their special Christmas art exhibit. The artworks were challenging to photograph due to the glass protecting most of the paintings but here’s a selection of the ones with the least glare. They were all beautiful, though!

I think this one is my favorite. On the way home with a tree, to spy Santa in his sleigh. Even the doggie is amazed!

I loved this winter scene and the artist’s bio, which I included for your enjoyment.

I believe this is a genuine Dr. Seuss. Since I couldn’t escape the reflections, we posed!

This is a very special favorite. 🙂

Greg Hildebrandt was a prolific artist and illustrator. Among all the books and art he produced, one of his most iconic is an image for the original Star Wars.

Naturally, The Husband, who played both Scrooge and Cratchit (not in the same shows ~ LOL!) for 30 years at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Bird Cage Theatre, wanted to pose with the Scrooge McDuck artwork.

From there, we hopped down the street and around the corner to the Discovery Cube. After a French Onion Grilled Cheese sandwich, we wandered around the Science of Gingerbread exhibit/contest, oohing and aahing over some of the amazing architectural achievements. Here’s a bunch of the best:

For those of you with kids or grandkids, do they do the 6 7 thing? I’ve heard it’s just a silly phrase kids use to get a rise out of their parents? Anyway, this is pretty cute.

I thought the “solar panels” were adorable 🙂

Couldn’t resist the doggo’s!

The Capitol Records building has a place in my heart ~ The Husband and I met right down the street from that building ❤

This one reminded me of NASA. Our last, out-of-state trip before the lockdown was during the Christmas season of 2019, to San Antonio and Houston, TX. We spent a day at NASA, then went back again in the evening for a special holiday event. Lights, lights, and more lights, hot drinks and snacks, and wintery projections on the Saturn V rocket. Great memories!

Some of the displays were under colored lights… I tried to color correct but some worked better than others…

This one cracked me up!

Gingerbread men ~ they’re just like us!

One of several Small World entries.

Very Keith Haring.

Gru and the Minions.

This one reminded me of The Mom. We originally thought we’d be settling in the San Francisco area when we moved to California and we did visit up there but eventually settled in Orange County, in the southern part of the state.

Another It’s a Small World rendition.

Toothless and some cute sheep from How to Train Your Dragon.

Loved the small details and little critters.

And the Pièce de Résistance!

I’m sort of inspired to try our hand at a gingerbread house, but I think it’s too late this year. If I happen to see a kit on sale, it might be fun but I’ll probably use the next year to design a bookstore! Anybody out there have gingerbread projects to share in the comments?!

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Thursday Thoughts ~ July 17, 2025

Happy Friday Eve!

The VW bus saga ended on a high note last Thursday (In case you missed it, here’s the beginning of the saga). The tow truck driver, Miguel, called to ask if he could come an hour early ~ a definite YES! He turned out to be a really nice guy, who gave us the reaction we hoped for when he realized the bus had an automatic transmission ~ he was excited to see it and understood exactly how special it was. He handled the entire operation himself, backing the bus down our driveway, and using a winch to get it onto the flatbed. We watched it drive down our street to its new adventure at the auction and hopefully, a buyer who will appreciate it as much as we did.

We dream of it being fixed up and cruisin’ around town! It was hard to see it go but it was time. If you missed The Husband’s guest post last week ~ his ode to his VW ~ here it is.

Continue reading “Thursday Thoughts ~ July 17, 2025”

Thursday Thoughts ~ July 10, 2025

Thursdays come fast and furious!

It’s been a busy, yet frustrating week. We had an appointment to have The Husband’s VW bus picked up for donation on Sunday. Understand, this is a very emotional situation ~ he’s had this vehicle for 31 years and it’s hard for him to see it go. So, we’d been gearing up for Sunday, nervous and stressed. We sat for hours, waiting for the towing company, who we couldn’t contact on a Sunday… Actually, couldn’t contact at all… they never showed. Since then, we’ve been calling the auction house that claimed the bus and they’ve been as frustrated as us. Now we have an appointment for pick up (hopefully not the same towing company as the first appointment…) for later today. I’ll tell you how that turns out next week. Think good thoughts for us!!

Lots of pictures this week!

First, on Fourth of July morning, we visited the Fullerton Train Museum. It’s been one of those things, when you hear about something interesting in your local area but just never get around to visiting. I happened to see on Facebook that the museum would be open special hours on the Fourth, and since we had no plans, why not? It was about time, really!

This is right next to the train station in Fullerton.

First Class lounge

Continue reading “Thursday Thoughts ~ July 10, 2025”

Looking for Some Holiday/Winter Reading?

I usually don’t seek out holiday books like I do holiday movies, but this year, I find myself reading to a winter theme. Some are part of cozy mystery series, but you can read them as stand-alone stories. Maybe some will even pique your interest!

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews ~ After a painful divorce, Ivy and her dog, Punkin, move to a rural farm to begin the adventure of their new life. The discovery of a child’s note in the pocket of a Santa suit in the attic sets Ivy on a mystery that brings her friendship, love, and the life she could only dream about. I’m planning to make this an annual read because it was so lovely and satisfying.

Continue reading “Looking for Some Holiday/Winter Reading?”