August 6, 2016

Oxnard Beach Week

I've been looking forward to our beach trip this entire summer. Once again we got a beach house with our friends the Ewells and the Connors in Oxnard and we had a great time. Every year we seem to be adding to our numbers - this year it was 6 adults and 6 kids!

Nora was so happy to play with Penny and Jane - even if she wasn't always the nicest to Penny.

 Mostly we have been vacationing together for almost 6 years now because we all want to do the same things: sit on the beach and eat. We take our meals very seriously and even have food spreadsheets -- even if it mostly consists of nutty bars and cherry coke.

Amber and her cutie pie Lily.
 We had gorgeous weather all week - it would start to get cold and windy everyday around 4:30ish but that was perfect timing for us to go in and get ready for dinner :)
 Benji's sand angel











Like most rentals, the beach house we stayed at had a little guest book for people to write comments about their stay. Travis being Travis, decided to take our entry one step further -- and this is what he came up with.

 Reader, I married him.

I don't think any of us wanted to go home when the time came. It was such a relaxing week and the kids all did great and played really well together. 
We're already looking forward to next summer!

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Travis took work off one day and we took the boys to Six Flags while Nora stayed at home with a sitter. Peter was excited to finally be tall enough to ride lots of the bigger roller coasters. I took him on several big ones including one that drops you from 400 feet! He was so proud that he didn't scream at all (I did!) and when we got off, he said, "That's exactly what I  needed for my spy training!" Apparently, he is like me and really enjoys roller coasters like I do.
Travis took Peter on another big called X2 where it goes all around and Travis said he looked over at one point and he was all white faced and had a death grip on the bars. Travis was worried and when they got off, he asked, "Are you okay buddy? Was that too much?"
Peter answered, "That. Was....AWESOME!"
That kid cracks us up!

 We might have thrown Benji for a loop though. We took him on the Ninja roller coaster first off - the biggest one he could go on - and he maybe freaked out a bit and refused to ride anything even remotely fast for the rest of the day. Poor kid.



 We got him to go on a few with us but he really just wanted to stay in kiddie land which was actually okay.
We had so much fun and I think everyone was exhausted by the time we got home that night.

August 5, 2016

Summer Fun

By the time we got back to Utah, it was well into July and our summer was almost over!! With just three weeks of summer left, we decided to hit as many items on our summer fun list, including a trip for froyo,

Nora and her 'Princess Anna' hair that I somehow managed to create one Sunday. Just don't ask me to do it again. I have no idea what I'm doing with girl hair!

We enjoyed summer movies with friends (I think it was The Sandlot here),

a visit to Chuck E. Cheese's with friends,


and an art themed playgroup at our house where we let the kids loose with a giant drop cloth and paint.


Of course, no summer is complete without numerous trips to the library.

There is nothing like that blissful half-hour of quiet you get after a successful trip to the library.

We even made it to Ventura beach with some friends one day.

Nora perfecting her surfer pose.




And then on our way home, we caught the smoke clouds from the giant Sand Fire that was about an hour away from us. Due to the wind, the next day our 'sunset' looked like this -- with a giant cloud of ash blowing over our valley. Needless to say, I kept the kids inside all the next week which wasn't ideal but what are ya gonna do?
Only the beginning to every post-apocalyptic novel ever!

Seven Magic Mountains

On our way home from Utah, I decided to stop at the Seven Magic Mountains art installation just outside of Las Vegas.

I had heard about these from a friend and we passed them on the way up but couldn't figure out how to get to them. So on the way back with just me and the kids, I was prepared for the stop so we could all get out and explore awhile.
 I'm so glad we stopped! The precariously stacked, mammoth day-glow rocks were incredible!

I asked the kids to pick their favorite colors -- you can also catch a glimpse of Benji's little snaggle tooth smile. He lost his first tooth while we were in Sweden! This little man is growing up so fast!


And this little thing kept running around, yelling "Pink! Purrple! I wike dis one! I wike pink! I wike purrple!"


The exhibit is slated to remain up for the next two years, so if you get a chance, be sure to stop to see these magnificent rocks. You won't be disappointed.




Road Trip to Utah

After Travis and I got home from Sweden (I'll get around to posting those pictures...eventually), we decided to head up to Utah the following day to celebrate the 4th of July with the Lee family. 

As you can see below, my kids were a bit pooped even before we hit the road.

We stayed with my sister Tracie and enjoyed playing in the water outside for the 4th. 


Or as I like to call it "Happy Blow Something Up Day"



We headed up to the side of the mountain to watch the Thanksgiving Point fireworks with Tracie's family and got to watch the entire Utah Valley go crazy with their fireworks. I've never seen anything like the hours-long constant display of fireworks from all over the valley. It was beautiful!


Sadly, Travis had to go back home the next day for work (which is part of the reason we went up, so I wouldn't be home alone so much) so my mom and I took the kids off to farm country at Thanksgiving Point.

The kids were super excited to ride the ponies -- even Nora after some initial hesitation, rode by herself just fine.



Hanging with Grandma on the wagon ride.

Nora loves Tracie and she spoiled her rotten while we were there!



The next day, my mom and I took the kids to the dinosaur museum.



When I asked the boys to pose in front of the shark I said "Shark attack!"...

 apparently, all they heard was "Attack!"


And! I also got to go to an author signing with the extraordinarily talented Victoria Schwab at a bookshop in SLC.

There are so many fun family-friendly activities in Utah, we really didn't want to leave! The kids especially didn't want to leave their cousins and grandparents, but after almost 2 weeks on the road, we decided to head home.