Abi Goes to Kindergarten!

Our little girl began Kindergarten this year! We are so happy and excited for her to learn all sorts of fun and neat things. She so far has really enjoyed it and is making lots of friends! Most of them being boys and she is having fun chasing them around. Yikes!

Blackberry Picking

We took the kiddos up north a little to pick some blackberries. This has become an annual tradition for us over the last few years and the girls are beginning to really enjoy it. Abi really had a great time, she was wanting to camp and fish and play in the water but we were not prepared for any of that. So we will plan better next year.
Mid-summer our air conditioning went out so we tried to stay positive and cool any way we could! It can get a little difficult to smile when the temp outside is above 100 degrees and the inside is only 90 something. But we made it!

Summer Fun!

This year we had a lot of fun on the beach! All the kids had a great time playing, jumping and "surfing" in the waves as well as digging in the sand and making their own sand creations. The little boys had fun staying on the beach towels and eating some sand for their snack. Yum! We took walks down to the restaurant on the pier and ate some snacks. We also went strawberry picking before going to Legoland! The kids all had a great time at Legoland. They rode on all their favorite rides and played in the very large splash pad which included a toddler area(where mine stayed) and a big kid area that looked like a boat and had a huge bucket that spilled water on them. My girls are not so adventurous. I hope
someday they discover the fun. :0)
The morning of the 4th we went to some tide pools on La Jolla and saw some starfish, lots of crabs, fish, and a snail!! That baby was huge! Our brave Abi was one of the first to touch it. Way to go Abi! We also saw lots of these sea creatures that close up when you put your finger in them. Abi had a great time closing them all up. Leah, not so much. When we returned home Mike made red, white and blue crepes in honor of America's birthday. We spent the rest of the day at the beach and had front row seats to the fireworks that were set off at the pier. They were spectacular!
Some close friends of ours were vacationing the same time and in the same area as we were so we met up and had a great time with them! The kids got buried, caught sand crabs and had a fantastic time together!
I had a great birthday this year. We went on a little family outing up to seal beach in La Jolla and spent most of the day there. When we went down to the beach there where a couple of seals playing in the water relatively close to us humans. It was fun to watch them swim around and poke their heads up out of the water. We also went down into a cave that let out right on the ocean. The girls were a little scared but they made it down and back up those steps. We visited the tide pools for a bit but because the tide was a little high we didn't get to see much and decided we'd go back when it was low tide. Then we finished the day off right with a late lunch at the best sandwich place around, Panera! And later that night had a very yummy chocolate ice cream/cake birthday cake. So yummy I cant believe I forgot to put a picture in here! Thx Debbie!
Andy and Mike went on their deep sea fishing trip and this time Riley got to go. He was so excited to fish with the big boys he couldn't keep his hands off the poles. Usually the guys get the fish filleted before coming home but since this was Rileys first catch they brought it back whole so we all could see it. Way to go Riley!! They did good this year. They brought back enough to make fish tacos! Yum! Don't knock'em till you've tried 'em!
We also visited the zoo while in Cali and had a great time seeing all the animals, taking the sky ride and the bus tour.
Overall I think we all had a good time. It was hard to come home to the heat but we enjoyed our break from it.