Sunday, May 27, 2012

SAN DIEGO

this is how happy we are to go ...

the ocean!  we SO missed it...
it only took us 5.5 hours to get here!  not bad!?

this is actually in Oceanside, where our condo was.  we stayed there with Marty's mom and his brother Ryan and Becca and their two girls. it was a 3 bedroom condo that sat right off the beach.


lots of grandma time...they love her.!

Charlie was terrified of the waves, he'd hide among the rocks most the time unless we walked out with him and held his hand.  he warmed up a LITTLE bit at the end...

Marty's bro on the left, they look nothing alike but act every bit alike:)  Charlie called him TIGER the whole trip...we wondered where that came from.  this is what we figure.  his name is Ryan sounds like lion-and to Charlie; lion and tiger are the same thing...so hence the title TIGER.  (he just called him that now as i was posting this picture)
Or maybe it's cuz he's big, tall and hairy with red hair (fur) like a ferocious tiger :)??
Liam got quite a workout...he'd haul the water up the beach pour it out in his sand hole and run back down to refill.  I tried to tell him the water would just sink down and never accumulate.  but, to no avail, he was too determined.

it was cloudy the whole day Thursday...i never believed the 'myth' that you can get sun burned when it's cloudy out.  but it was proven to me that day.  i got a little sun burned because i didn't have any screen on! 
 it was thick, set-in clouds too-not the wispy thin kind. 
learned my lesson there!
Charlie in his little creative, on-the-go mind made this rock into a slide.  it worked quite well with his slick swim-suit and wet surface...and without any real effort to get to the top again, it was a perfect playground for him.  he went down again and again...and again.


we would get in the hot tub everyday after playing on the beach and the ocean was right there behind us while we soaked in the hot water..it was perfect, so relaxing. let me tell you a really cool secret connected with a brain fart (of my cute husband:). 
 Marty got out after being in the hot tub for like 30 min. and realized his cell phone was in his pocket!  talk about maddening for him...and me.  so we drove to an AT&T store and the clerk told us to try putting it in RICE (to draw out the moisture) for two days.  he'd thought marty had just 'dipped' in and out real fast not realizing he'd soaked for half hour.  but we still decided to try it before buying a new phone.  so we took it all apart and covered it in rice. 
 after 24 hours it worked!..but no sound/audio...
'put it in for TWO days' i said when marty was going to throw in the towel...so he did.  after 48 hours it TOTALLY worked~!  what the?!
so next time your phone falls in the toilet, you jump in a river or pool or throw your pants in the wash-throw it in some rice! 
miracle little grain it is.
Friday we went to Safari Park in San Diego.  expensive.  worth it though for the 1st and only time.
armadillo up close and personal.  ducks and charlie, such a duo.


we rode a tram around the park with a tour guide...the kids loved it and it was nice to SIT for a bit, cuz for the next 2 hours we walked and walked and walked.




it was a 'batty' time...
WE LOVE YOU OCEANSIDE/SAN DIEGO.
 We will probably be visiting again soon and quite regularly. 
 kids need oceans. adults need oceans. 
Thanks Ryan and Becca for inviting us and letting us crash your trip!:):)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

0-60

i swear the temperature has not been fair lately....we had family come visit a week and a half ago and it rained ALL DAY SATURDAY.
believe you me, we still went to Dixie Rock for hiking regardless of the rain!!  Ruby is acting like she is going to die-(she is the hunched over one in the black), it wasn't THAT cold but it was pretty chilly for St. George.

Brystun (my nephew) was Liam's little hiking buddy...Liam was in high heaven. hiking really is his thing...can that be a high school sport? :)
of course these two cousins love to be together, this is how i found them the first night.  they started out on the floor in sleeping bags.!  hilarious. 
i didn't get any other pictures with our guests, but we went to 'anti-gravity' after lunch on Saturday, since it was RAINING ALL day.  Lo and behold, Sawyer (my little nephew) breaks his arm there!  Poor trip for Ryan and Jaimi!  I am so sorry guys-
crappy weather + a broken bone=i want to scream! ha!
 please come again and re-try, i swear to make it up to you....
and then not a day after they left...it heated right back up again! 
this is Charlie's FAVORITE past time lately.{it's our man made sand box} and luckily we have our trampoline acting for a shade tree:)  it's perfect.  Charlie could stay out here for days.........

our roses in the front...we didn't get to enjoy these last year because we moved here in the summer.  they are so pretty!




Ruby's teacher appreciation gift. thank you pinterest! 
 although 20 other mommies probably put together the same gift!  ha!
Charlie on the 'train' at the {KITE FESTIVAL}.  it was NINETY degrees on this Saturday!  In April!!!  What the?!


yes, i had to ride with him...., it was bonding for us.


trying to find some shade, and trying out the kite...


cutest thing ever- watching your daughter run with her kite as she glances back every couple steps to watch it fly.
love it.


after the festival... in 90 degrees, in April...what do you do?  get wet!  and eat macaroni! 
and yesterday {monday} it got up to 97 degrees, so no, this was not the hottest day so far, we almost hit 100....in APRIL.
talk about zero to sixty!

Friday, April 13, 2012

e.a.s.t.e.r. spells...

the Sunday before Easter...we were going to be out of town for Easter...
so they dressed in their clothes the week prior..


Charlie, the mini-man, in this picture.

a we had an Easter hunt and lesson for FHE
on the Monday before Easter with some friends...

Ricki, Teresa and I

The weekend of Easter, Megan and Trevor came into town to go camping.  We met up with them at their campsite near Zions for some hot dogs; oh and marsh mellows:)

Ruby's so sad in this picture because I had just told her she was NOT sleeping over with her cousins...poor thing.
Ruby had no school Friday and Monday the weekend of Easter so we headed up north on Friday afternoon.
{Coloring eggs with cousins}
it was not, easy believe, me with all these cups of colored water and 5 small, eager children
who are very independent and wanted to do it all on their own!


Charlie was crazy over these eggs, he decorated more than the others combined.!


the not so calm before the storm...
my dad corralling the kids before they 'release the Crackin!' 

notice all the moms in the reflection with their cameras...





a curious find ..
...hot dog among the candy?..
(it was dropped off a platter just 30 min earlier, so still pretty fresh)

this basket looks totally normal to Charlie...he is a hot dog maniac.

so exciting...he was saying "wooowww.."


all the loot.........after its found, it all needs to be organized so the kids get a fair load...
my Mom is a very fair
Grandma and Easter Bunny.

Oh, brothers...
get along so well,
yet can fight like cats and dogs...

{the real Easter morn}
We played Easter Bunny on Sunday, leaving baskets by their beds.
In the future I am going to keep it all on Saturday and
leave Sunday to the real reason, focusing on just that.

{i love spring!}