California Final Chapter!

I think the beach by far was my favorite part of California. The cooler weather didn't stop Mason from having fun. One morning was especially cold (you can see all of us with our sweaters on) and Mason just out playing in the waves, oblivious to the icy water! (I'm not going to mention the fact that we JUST bathed and dressed the kids for the day and decided to take a quick walk along the beach before heading to Sea World... Yeah... we had to re-bath and dress Mason! crazy kid!) Noah spent a lot of time chasing birds!!!! Super cute! But... I kinda felt sorry for the birds.

Callie was mesmerized by the ocean. She loved watching the waves.

Mason tried really hard to get Noah to join in on the fun... Noah is a little too smart for that!

We visited Mission Beach one afternoon. Kind of a mistake... Pretty cold and just messy!

Callie surprisingly enjoyed kicking her feet in the sand.

Mason made up a game were we counted and jumped when the waves came in... what a fun kid.

1...2...3!

JUMP!

And of course we buried Mason.

California Vacation Part II

While we were in San Diego we also got to go to Sea World! I LOVE Sea World. Something about the marine wildlife amazes me. I also love how family friendly it is! Children of all ages enjoy visiting this park. My favorite part is just watching my children enjoy everything there.

Ron and the boys got to sit in the "soak zone" during the Shamu show. I think they enjoyed it. Noah really enjoyed watching everyone around him get wet. He thought that was really funny until... he got wet himself. He kinda got mad at Shamu for that.

This is our one and ONLY family picture with all of us in it. AWFUL I know! Keep in mind we'd been in the car all day just before this picture! UGH! Poor Noah was not wanting it!

Mason REALLY enjoyed all the rollercoaster rides. He would have riden them ALL day long over and over again if we let him! He has such an apetite for adventure.

Poor Noah. He was so good about waiting for Mason to go on the rides. I think the Dolphins were my favorite! We really enjoyed petting them and just watching them! I love how the shape of their mouths makes it looks like they are always smiling. Super cute.

We even paid to feed them. Very fun!

Poor Noah! This was pretty much him the ENTIRE time at Sea World! About 10 ft. behind us just taking his sweet time getting from point A to point B! Those little legs just couldn't keep up! I'm embarrassed and ashamed to admit we did lose him at Sea World for about 5 mins. Scariest thing EVER! It happened just before we got to feed the Dolphins. When you feed the Dolphins you have to stand in line, it's a 'first come, first served' basis. As were were entering the Dolphin area I could see the line was already pretty long. Ron told me to just go ahead quickly and wait in line and that he'd catch up to me with the kids. Well, I had the empty stroller because Ron was carrying Callie. So I quickly pushed the stroller to the end of the line and waited. A couple mins. later Ron shows up, looks at the empty stroller and asks "Where's Noah?" What do you mean where's Noah? Obvious miscommunication. He thought Noah was in the stroller and I thought Noah was with him! Immediately we split up, Ron back tracked through the Dolphin area with Callie. I had Mason and covered the area just past where we were. My thinking was he might have followed me over to the line area and then just kept walking past where I was... We both had NO luck. As I started looking in my general area Mason pointed in a TOTALLY different direction and announced that Noah went that way. I glanced in that direction but ignored Mason thinking that he didn't know what he was talking about. When I didn't find Noah and Ron didn't either we split up again and Mason pointed AGAIN and announced "Noah went that way". At this point I am PANICKED, SWEATY, and teary eyed! I'm picturing Noah crying, or worse someone stealing him! So I ask Mason "Are you sure?" and I run in that direction. I run with the stroller up and over a HUGE hill... No sign of Noah... I continue around the next bend in the path... No sign of Noah ANYWHERE. I ALMOST turn around to go find Ron (there's no way he made it this far on his own). I'm already planning in my head next plan of action. I need to find some park security and figure out how they are going to help me find my child. But something prompts me to run up the next hill. As I get to the top of that hill I see Noah just ahead slowly walking. He's calm and walking at his usual pace! I can't describe the rush of relief and joy I felt! What a blessing! I offered a quick prayer of gratitude and RUSH to Noah and scoop him up in my arms. I learned a few things: I think I need to listen to Mason more often, Heavenly Father answers prayers (ok I already knew that), and no matter how perfect you think your child is they can still wander off. I never thought I'd lose Noah. He is always right by me and not super adventurous.

All this being said, I am just going to say this once: I think I'm allowed to lose each of my children ONE time and that's it! So Callie you better watch out!

The End!

California Vacation!

We went to California for a Family Vacation. I don't even know where to start!!!! The trip was super fun, exhausting and memorable. We stayed in a condo just off the beach right near the Village in La Jolla, California. It was AMAZING! Mason kept referring to it as our "new house" and also that he didn't ever want to go back to our old house. Haha! We fell asleep every night to the sounds of the ocean and enjoyed the 75-65 degree weather (hard to come home to 100+)! The first day we got there I got some great pictures of the kids as the sun was setting. The first morning Ron and I woke up at 5:30am to this: Both boys looking out our window marveling at the ocean.

We spent most of our time on the beach exploring and wandering. We found some really interesting little sea creatures including some sea anemones, crabs and fish.

We were very close to the Casa Beach (also know as the Children's Pool). This is a tiny cove protected by concrete breakwater. It used to be a swimming area designed for children to play at but the harbor seals and sea lions took it over. Literally! The beach area is FILLED with seals! We visited this beach our first day in California and enjoyed watching the seals out on the rocks near the shore but none were up on the sand.

Ron and I decided if we lived near the ocean in this climate we would be much more physically fit! It would be easy to exercise in such gorgeous weather with spectacular views. The next morning Ron graciously let me take a BEAUTIFUL jog along the coast I stopped at the Casa Beach to peak at the seals again. I was amazed at the number of seals out on the beach! They must be more brave during the early morning hours when there isn't as many visitors around. I could walk down and be right next to them!!!! I ran back to get Ron and the boys to come see.

Mason of course wanted to go pet them. He is such a brave little curious boy. I wish he could have but of course we didn't let him. Noah on the other hand was really interested in them but wanted to keep his distance.

SIDEWAYS!

Just look at this poor Palm Tree...Yes this tree is growing sideways in my front yard.

Sometimes I feel like this sideways tree! No matter how hard you try sometimes life just seems to keep pulling you down!!

This past weekend Ron took it down. I loved that tree! But I guess we couldn't let it grow into our backyard...

Now what? I want to put another palm tree in but... it'll probably do the same thing!!??

Bearizona

For Labor Day weekend we drove to Flagstaff and went to a drive-thru Wild-Life Park Bearizona. It was a long drive there because of delays and construction but definitely worth it! All the kids thoroughly enjoyed it!

These are some of the smaller animals that we saw in the exhibits that you walk around to view.

My favorite was the baby bears! They were so cute and very close. Callie was VERY interested in them too! She just starred at them.

They had a petting zoo and an AWESOME bird show!

The larger animals were in fenced areas where you drive thru to see them. It was AWESOME!!!! The Bears were up and about. They walked right in front of and next to our car. Amazing! I wanted to open my car door and play with them! (But I didn't of course!)

It was hard to come home. I really wanted to stay in the nice 75 degree weather!