spontaneous vacation

eric has been flying to san diego for work for a few months now (just part time, he still has to do his job here) and so we went out for two weeks over 4th of july because we miss him so. it was super fun, but also exhausting, and it is so great to be home.

legoland was kind of cool, at least the amazing things that they build out of legos, but i think we were all a little too old for the rides. the most exciting thing to calvin and jack was the gift shop.

jack, erin, annie, clayton

del mar beach was great, the water was warm, and this was probably the nicest day we had while we were in socal. (that little guy was a neighbor who only had big teenage brothers and was excited to have some younger kids to play with. his family comes out and stays in a condo for six weeks every summer, talk about fun!)

at the wild animal park, this baby bird was trying to learn how to fly, but got tired and landed right in the middle of the sidewalk. his mommy kept bringing him food, but we were afraid he would get stepped on if we left him, so we babysat him until the security guard came.

getting to see the animals in a more natural setting was fun. i especially loved the baby elephants, there were at least three tiny guys (relatively speaking)

sea world was amazing! i wouldn't let the kids sit in the soak zone, though, because the temp was only in the low sixties. there was a lot of cool educational stuff too, besides the shows.

jack

we did the beach again, because i was too tired to go back to another park. so we missed the zoo, but we have a great zoo here, so we didn't feel too bad.

calvin, jack r., jack e.

on the way up to norcal, we stopped off in valencia and saw Eric's Uncle Bob and Aunt Anne, their son John and his wife Ginger, and their two boys, Jack and Justin. our Jack and their Jack are only a few months apart in age, so they have a lot of fun together.

annette, moi

in Hollister, we stayed at our good friends the Anderson's who were out in Utah (thanks again, Caroline!) it was so nice to have a home base and to be able to do laundry! it was also great because they live right next door to the Dickson's, who are also awesome!

kayla, erin, corey

Annette and Loren fed us and let our kids sleep over every night! Erin had so much fun catching up with Kayla, and Calvin and Jack couldn't get enough of playing with Corey and Bradley!

calvin, erin, tyler, caleb, jack, sam, annie

on saturday we drove up to Eric's parent's place to spend as much time as possible with Grandpa. Dean's family came down from seattle, so we got to hang out with some cousins!

annie, mercedes, reef

we went back down to hollister for more fun with more friends, here we are at the beach in santa cruz with the Sowards! the kids were a little shocked to find the water a bit colder than in san diego county, though!

calvin, beau, jack

tuesday night is family night at the santa cruz boardwalk, which means all rides are $1, so we went and hung out there, it was a lot of fun, i can't believe we never went there when we lived there. well, yes i can, we had 4 tiny kids, so that would have been torture. we stayed way longer than we should have (i got a parking ticket) but it's just so hard to say goodbye. i'm sad that i didn't get any pictures of Brandon and Tiff's new little guy Cruz, he's adorable.

we miss you guys a ton! it was so fun to see you all!

New Year's Family Reunion

We got together over New Year's with Eric's family in Southern California. We rented a beach house near Dana Point, it was incredible, we walked out the back door, across the sand and right to the ocean. All of Eric's brothers and their families came, as well as his mom and dad.

We went up to Burbank on one of the days and an old friend of Tina's gave us a tour of Walt Disney Studios. It was really amazing to see all of the old memorobilia and the way they draw the animations.

A few days later we went to Disneyland, and it happened to be the only cold and rainy day we had while we were there. Within 15 minutes of getting there, we ran into our friends, the Dickson's, from Hollister! That totally made my day, to be able to catch up with them and hang out together all day!

On New Year's Day we had Eric's cousin Mark, his wife Lisa, and their daughter Amanda over for a barbeque, as well as Mary's sister, Anne, her husband Bob, and their kids, Angie and Dave and John and Ginger, and all the boys. That night we saw the most amazing sunset - we could see Catalina and San Juan Island silhouetted against the beautiful sky.

Mark lives very close by and makes custom surfboards for a living. He took the guys and some of the kids to his shop and they got to see how the surfboards are made.

The hot tub was the biggest hit with the kids! It was constantly full of little people, and about the middle of the week the pool guy had to come do a complete clean out (apparently, everyone under the age of 8 should wear a swim diaper!) Gross!

It was such a fun and relaxing week, and it really made me homesick for California!

Back from Cali

We had a great time in Northern California last week! We started off the trip with a 6 hour flight to San Jose, where Tiff picked us up from the airport. We dropped the kids off at her house, and then met up with a bunch of other girlfriends for lunch. We then drove kids around, picking up Tiff's kids from school and taking my kids to play with friends, etc. We had dinner with our awesome across-the-street neighbor, Debbie, and her kids Marcus, Mia, and Matteo (who are all way too tall). Eric flew in that evening (he was on a business trip) and picked up our rental car and drove down. We stayed the night with Brandon and Tiff, then headed to the beach Thursday morning.

The beach was awesome! This is the perfect time of year for the beach in Northern California, really warm and mild. My kids had an absolute blast playing in the sand with Mercedes, Beau, and Reef.

We then headed back to Tiff and Brandon's for a barbecue which she had coordinated with all of our amazing Hollister friends. It was so fun to see everyone and pick up right where we had left off last summer at Trinity. Thanks, Tiff, for heading that up! You are the ultimate Activities Committee Chairperson!

Erin got to see her friend from down the street, Harleen, and I was so glad to get to see Harleen's mom, Paramjit, when I went to pick her up.

Well, this all made for a very late night driving up to Clayton where Eric's mom and dad live. The kid's all slept on the floor so they could play with their cousins in the morning, and Eric and I stayed at a hotel (it was a pretty full house, with John and Tina and their 5, and Dean and Andrea and their 3, plus our 4)

The next morning (Friday) we decided to take the kids to the beach because John and Tina's kids had never been. So we packed all 20 of us into 3 cars and drove the nearly 2 hours back to the beach we had been to the day before. There are beaches closer, but they are nearly always very cold, windy, and the waves are too big. The kids had so much fun burying each other in the sand and looking for seashells, but we only stayed for about 2 hours because we had to fight our way through traffic to get back for the family dinner that night.

The dinner was really fun. It was at a Mexican restaurant in Pleasant Hill called La Tapatia, the food was really good, and it was really fun to meet Justine's family.

The next day (Saturday) was hectic and crazy, running around making last minute preparations for the wedding, but we still managed to have a barbecue at the park and let the kids play.

The wedding was wonderful! Very simple and beautiful, and to the point! Justine looked so beautiful in her dress, and Paul looked so happy. What a perfect pair they make! Oh yeah, and Lucy (the dog) was quite lovely in her floral wreath!

The reception was across the street at Skipolini's Pizza, the perfect place! It was outdoors, there is a playground for the kids to play on, and the food was amazing, as usual! I LOVED catching up with Eric's Aunt MaryLou, Aunt Anne and Uncle Bob, and his cousins Angela and her 3 boys, and John and his wife Ginger and their 2 boys. (Jack Ellis and Jack Ritchie really hit it off, too!)

We went back to Mary and Jim's for a bit and then headed over to Paul and Justine's to see their new place. Now, normally, I wouldn't crash the honeymoon, but there were about 30 other people already there. That's where the after-reception party was being held.:) What a great investment they have made in their home! It's on a 1/2 acre, with a pool and mature trees, the floor plan is great, and it's in a fabulous neighborhood. Mary's favorite house that she's ever lived in is just down a few streets. They lived there when John and Eric were little, before they moved to Grand Junction.

We headed back to the hotel that night (with the kids this time) and woke up bright and early to head to the airport. Eric dropped us off, he had another business trip, and we flew home. It was pretty uneventful, and the kids were great the entire trip.

We are truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful family, and to have so many awesome friends! We miss and love you all so much!

Trinity 2004

Well, the whole gang is headed to Trinity sooner this year rather than later. We're not going this time because, well, because of last year. Maybe I'll tell that story sometime for those of you who haven't heard it. For those of you who don't know, Trinity is a lake in Northern California where my husband had vacationed with his family throughout his teenage years. About 4 years ago, we started going with our friends from Hollister, and then the next year, we moved. But the tradition has stuck.

Here are my all-time favorite Trinity pictures:

We were trying to load up the gear, so J was getting ignored, but he seems to be content, wouldn't you say?

The dirt just comes with the territory at Trinity, and believe it or not, this was my absolutely favorite year camping there.

My kids are sad beyond belief that we're not going. It's no wonder why, when one is allowed to run around half naked and loll about in the red dirt while picking all the M&M's out of the snack mix.

Have fun guys!