Trip to CA June 8, 2013

When I heard my brother Chris and his family were going to be in Southern California I really wanted to drive the kids out to see them. A 6 hour drive sounded much more doable than a 12 hour drive to see them where they live in Northern California. Except there was one problem, I am direction deficit and do not trust myself and my GPS to get my kids pretty much anywhere outside of a 30 minute radius.
  I thought it would only be a dream when Chris called and suggested we just leave Friday after Tim got off work. What a great idea!! (He's always smart). Tim had a deadline that Friday so we were nervous he would have to work really late, but we were still hopeful. Luckily we got on the road by 6:30 that night!
  Saturday morning Chris spoiled us with donuts and then it was off to the beach!

   Bear didn't care for the freezing cold water much, but he LOVED looking for sand crabs. He had so much fun picking them up and holding them in his hand. He loves animals.

He insists on wearing this shirt backward. He likes the, "lifeguard," to be on the front. I also tried to buy him a new suit that actually fits, but he didn't want it. Saved me some money I guess. Now we just roll the waist and hope he doesn't moon people like he had at the splash pad. 

 

Kyle and Kate were crazy and played for hours in the frigid water. I can not get over how much fun these two have together. All I could hear from the ocean was non-stop laughter from these two. I hope they will always be good friends.

I told them to put their arms around each other. Kate listened and Kyle didn't throw a fit about it. I consider that a win-win.

 Kate was brave enough to try the boogie board. She was the only one who did it. 

 

 Cute Jenny and sweet Pierce watching Kate go!

 Lots of playing in the sand!:

 Fun mom Jenny running with the girls:

 

 These 3 make me happy!

After the beach we went and spent some time on Balboa Island with Uncle Roger and Aunty Cheryl. They have quite the little set-up there. We went on a nice walk and then had some yummy dinner with them and Lisa, Audrey and Brady. On the way home we stopped off at the frozen banana stand. Bear devoured mine and told Kyle, "These sprinkles are healthy Kyle." It was delicious!

Playing Uno with Uncle Roger. Nolan called Roger, "Papi." Last time we were with Roger he got him confused for my dad too :).

 Love these kids. Getting all four of them to smile was impossible. Their faces crack me up.

On Sunday morning we woke up and went over to Lisa and Dave's for a delicious breakfast with some cousins. Here is the second generation of cousins:

 Joe, Cara, Chris, Jenny, Dave, Lisa, TRay and Me! I think Kyle was our photographer.

 Wonderful Aunt Cheryl and I:

 We figured out that Dave and Tim had never met even though Tim has been in the fam for 7 years. I bet taking this picture made their dreams come true:

I am so grateful we were able to make the quick trip to CA for the weekend. It was so wonderful to spend time with Chris, Jenny, Kate, Macy and Pierce and my Heyman cousins. We always have fun when we are together. I am glad we were able to make memories with my little family. Some of my favorite memories are road trips with my parents and siblings growing up. Thanks Chris for letting us tag along and thank you Roger and Cheryl for all of your help!

Hopefully we can make another beach trip when it is actually warm and sunny!