Back to the Beach

After a day of the girls shopping and the boys watching the kids we headed back to the beach for a birthday party. Technically we were celebrating Addie's birthday that would be in a few weeks and Isaac's birthday that was in March, but somehow we ended up with presents for all and a couple of cakes.
Soft landings are a great thing. (Comment from Nick: Look at that kid spot the landing. Seriously, you can't teach that in school.)


As are self-portraits while making fishy faces.

Picturesque scenery with bright colors is pretty cool too.


Welcome to the deafening mob.





We were going to roast marshmallows and Starburst on the beach, but it was windy and the backyard worked just as well.

Rachel was very patient waiting for her Starburst. We really had to draw the line after fifteen though.
Kidding aside, I think we did have to draw the line at fifteen for Addie and marshmallows.


The next morning we braved the beach again and this time the kids played in the water too.


I'm not sure Lizzie liked it much better this time. She likes the idea of the beach and the ocean but when the water met the sand it was a bit cold.

Addie is learning the ways of the self-portrait master.


This is a fun activity consisting of dragging your child on a boogie board behind you on the wet sand. Sam dos this very well without incident. Nick tried it and dumped Addie into a large wave the first go around. Addie did not let him try again.

The Fun Continues

The trip ended up being a nonstop party. This day proceeded in a similar fashion.

We started the day with some homemade lemonade,


Lizzie tried very hard to make sure they got every drop,

a little reading and coloring with their new books,

and then off for a good hike that only lasted until we made it to the first swimming hole.



After hiking Sam and Nick took off surfing and we headed over to Mark and Michelle's to play on the water slide and eat really good food. (Palazzio's in pretty hard to beat)

Addie was more interested in the pet turtle (Frieda) than swimming


We ended the day with ice cream sundays, goofy faces, and a lot of happy kiddos.

The cousins arrive

Sam, Taryn, and the boys arrived Monday night and the girls were very excited to see their Houston cousins in the morning.

They immediately went to the park and started playing

After a while Nick and Sam let the kids join in too.
After that it was off to the beach to swim with the dolphins. (There was actually very little swimming since the water is cold and there were a lot of dolphins and Lizzie wasn't convinced they weren't sharks.)Sam and Nick took Isaac and Addie and rented Kayaks. Addie came back pretty excited about seeing a seal, but not so thrilled that they got hit by a wave and tipped over.

That night we went to the farmers market and then left the kiddos with Nana and Aunt Sara while we went to dinner. The kids got to learn important street skills like juggling

and how to buy organic produce.
After dinner they headed to bookstore and picked out books

and then had a very long story time with Nana.

California here we come

We headed out to Santa Barbara on a Saturday afternoon and arrived very early Sunday morning. The drive went pretty well minus an incident in Las Vegas, some throwing up, and almost running out of gas somewhere around Barstow. The first day we took it easy and visited the turtles,

played at a cool park,


played in some cool trees,

and visited some very cool cousins.The next day we went up to Solvang (one of my favorite tourist stops) and hit all the highlights.

Kissing the bear,
sitting in a shoe,
buying Christmas ornaments, and eating pancakes at Paula's.
Later on in the day we went to the Santa Barbara zoo where the favorite attraction was not the otters or giraffe, but sliding down the fake grass on boxes.
We ended the day on the pier eating fish at my favorite restaurant. I just wish the family picture could have had one of us looking at the camera.

Life Goal #2, check.

This post was started by Natalie so it says that she wrote it. That is a slanderous lie. How dare you not allow me to correct this Blogger, how dare you?

I'm a little slow but this must be documented. This girl made her debut on the slopes. Didn't I just write this post about Addie? Yikes.

I don't know if you can tell from her face but she kind of liked it.

We took both girls up to Alta on the last Saturday that it was open so Lizzie could get one day in this season. If we didn't make it up that day she wouldn't have gone until she was three. That is unacceptable. Lizzie loved it as long as we were going fast. Every time we had to stop or go slow she was unhappy. When we sped up she laughed and sang. Her rendition of "Bah Bah Black Sheep" during an extended fast time brought many looks and laughs. I have to say, it really was a good version of the song.

Addie got taken off of the Racer Chaser and skied by herself on the big hill, not the rope-tow, for the first time. She was a little scared and had her share of falls but did really well considering. I did regret teaching her that falling down can slow you down if you are completely out of control. The definition of "completely out of control" is very very relative. Next lesson for Addie will include how to get up by yourself. In all honesty though she did really well and made huge steps toward being able to ski by herself.


Here is the happy family. Notice how Lizzie has one ski on and one boot without a ski. She decided to hit her skis together near the end of the lift ride. That continued until... POP, one ski was suddenly on the ground. Luckily it was right at the top of the lift so we didn't have to walk too far to get it. I don't know how many times I have heard not to do that but I have never seen anyone lose a ski. That trend is now broken.

Honestly, I don't know if many things could make me happier than pictures like these. Why didn't I go up every weekend with the girls? Mental note for next year.

And a farewell picture from the punk of the day. Life is officially good.