We had a free day and what does a homeschooling mom of three who has way too much on her plate do when she has an unexpected free day? Well, she goes on a field trip of course! It's not like she could use the day to get caught up on schoolwork or anything. That would be silly. Actually, after 11 years of homeschooling, I do realize that it is silly. If you have a chance to take your kids on a field trip, you should, especially if it's something of interest and your kids will learn something from it. So, we packed our lunches and headed to the nearest mission, Mission San Jose.
Mission San Jose is actually in Fremont which is only about 20 minutes from our house without traffic. Of course, this is the Bay Area, so we ran in to traffic. None other than a terrible accident. People need to slow down, me included. After about an hour, we arrived at the beautiful mission.
I was taken by how large it was. Well, of course it was large, it had to house a lot of people, some willingly, some not so willingly. We'll save that for another conversation, not my happy little blog. Besides, my girl wanted to run and dance on the sun washed steps. She's smart.
The wall had fallen down in an earthquake and was never truly rebuilt. The absence of the wall does allow you to peer into the gardens as you walk by. It makes you want to see more.
Signs clearly marked our destination. I appreciate that.
Local history, that's what I really like. Make it mean something. Ranch San Ramon, doesn't get closer than that.
You would never be able to tell that my beautiful children have been raised in church by this picture. Nothing but absolute respect for the house of God.......um....well.....
The inside of the mission housed many artifacts, this one caught one of my children's attention. Just what he needs, his very own branding iron.
Apparently people were much shorter back then. My almost six foot boy didn't fit through the doorways very well. Watch your head!!
Ah, Father Junipero Serra. I've heard so much about you and that would explain the small doorways.
It was a long walk my friend, but you made it.
The beautiful fountain in the gardens. Time has only made it better.
Oh, the chandeliers inside the big church! They were gorgeous!!
They almost seemed out of place for a wooden and stucco church but they were just so beautiful.
This one feels so "beauty and the beast" to me. Loved it.
The view of the church from the back. Very fancy.
I had to take one more.
And these are my lovely sons who just really appreciate that I want to take pictures of them on beautiful historic grounds. I kept reminding them that we could be home doing math.....
Palm trees! Now they make great photographic subjects.
And the famous El Camino Real bell marking this very historic route in California. All in all, it was a lovely day and my dream of seeing all the missions has begun. So, 1 mission down, only 20 more to go!!!
