California Trip

Went to California this weekend. Summer got Gwen Stefani tickets for her bday and wanted to take RJ. He had a great time. We had no a/c in our van on the way out and so we all had a large ziploc full of ice that we used to keep cool. For the trip home, my mom loaned us her car while my dad takes the van to his guy to fix it. My dad's handyman was able to change out the motors in our front windows so they roll down. Yippee!

It's hard for so many of us to visit anyone. Since I have been accused angrily in the past of "allowing" my children to cause so much damage to other people's homes because I do not watch them (and also told that I probably did it on purpose out of hatred for the person we were visiting -- sheesh!) I am especially cautious to try to leave no *footprint* with the people we visit. It's hard to keep my kids from breaking things, damaging things, and make sure they are following all the spoken and unspoken rules of other people's houses. Tiring. I am relieved to be home where there are only our crummy, inexpensive things that can get broken.

My mom gave me the camera she used for a photography class while I was out there. It's pretty nice and I'm excited to use it. Now I have something I can take great pictures with. I will be limited only by my inability to take great pictures. :)

While in Calif we went to the beach and Dennis took pics of us. This is the first time he's had the whole family together at once to take photos of us. On every other trip either there is no time for fancy pictures or we are not all there together. Patrick, Connor, Annalyn and Sawyer had never been to the beach. They didn't play tons because it was the sabbath but they did get to walk through the water a little and splash around with their feet. Their comments:

Sawyer said, "Dad, this is just like fun."
Annalyn said, "I didn't realize going to the beach was such a hassle"

RJ got stung by a bee that he stepped on. Owie. I had not removed my crocs before he got stung but definitely did not remove them after.

Otherwise, the beach water was lovely and the sand near the water was soft and fun to walk in. The children were enchanted with it.