Summer Vacation in Southern California

This year for our summer vacation we decided to spend some time in California. We went to SanDiego first to stay with our good friends, George, Julann, Skylar and Aidan. We went to the beach, Scripps Aquarium and basically hung out and relaxed. The weather was beautiful and it was a fun time.

Julann and I with our giant Margaritas

Fun in the sun at the beach.

Scripps

The line at Hodad's. If you haven't been there, you gotta go! They have the BEST hamburgers in town. Totally worth the wait. Ocean Beach.

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After saying good bye to San Diego we drove up to LA and Knott's Berry Farm. Who knew that there was so much history there and that it actually started out as a little berry farm? Not me.... So, we went into Knott's Berry Farm amusement park to ride the rides. It was pretty fun, especially when all the school kids left for the day. Knott's Berry farm is also known for it's Fried Chicken Restaurant. It was really good.

Snoopy at Camp Snoopy, Knott's Berry Farm.

Daddy and Cassi on the Pony Express. What a fun ride. We even got Calvin to try it. You sit on an actual horse and go really fast!

Horse

Horse

Rooster

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Then we went to Soak City at Knott's Berry Farm for the day. It was really nice to hang out together as a family at the water park. I had gotten really really sun burned down in San Diego so we rented a cabana for the day. It was money well spent. We had a place to keep all our stuff, our own table and chairs and lounge chairs under the shade of the tent. Our cabana boy was really nice too bringing us yummy food and drinks.

Cami just loved this tree and wanted me to take a picture of it.

Waiting for the waves to come.

Where's Calvin?

Cassi was brave and went down this slide a couple times.

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On Friday we took the day off to rest and relax. We hit Down Town Disney and then went over to Santa Monica to meet with Jill, Paul, Brooke and Audrey at Paul's parents house.

We went down to the Santa Monica Pier with the LaRosk family.

The LaRosk's we so nice to get a birthday cake for Brian.

They hosted us for a delicious BBQ dinner.

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The next day we were off to Disneyland for the day. This year you get in free on your birthday, so we went on Brian's birthday. We were thinking that it would be packed on a summer weekend day and we warned the kids that we may not be able to ride many rides. Boy were we wrong. We went on 32 rides that day. We were first in line when the park opened at 8am and stayed 'til 1pm. Then we went back to the hotel to swim and rest. About 6pm we went back to the hotel so we could watch the parade and fireworks. We closed the park down at midnight and then got ice cream on Main Street since they are open for another hour. Very fun!

Aren't these caramel apples too cute?

On the Teacups

Toone Town

It's a Small World

Flowers, flowers everywhere.

One of my favorites, The Haunted Mansion.

Tinkerbell

We had a great time.

Quick Summer Review

I can't believe that I didn't blog at all this summer. The summer flew by!! I better put up a few pics of what happened. So Here we go. Our summer at a glance.

Swim team was fun because we love getting ribbons.

Cami got first place.

The newest members of our family. Jack and Annie are red eared water turtles. They are about the size of a quarter. They are very cute and easy to care for.

Angie came to visit for a week.

Cassi went to Girl Scout camp up near Prescott.

Beth, Ailie and Ian came for a visit.

Cami and Ian having fun at Macutu's Island.

Cassi, Cami, Calvin and Brady.

Ailie and Cassi at McDonald's (why is this pic so blurry?)

Beth relaxing by our pool.

Logan had his 7th birthday at Build a Bear. So I made this cute bear cake for him.

Happy birthday Logan!

Calvin had a pool/water slide party.

Happy birthday Calvin!

On a very sad note, we had to say goodbye to our dog Penny after discovering she had lymphoma. We kept her as comfortable as we could and decided to put her down before she experienced too much pain. She was 14. We miss you Penny.

Happy 4th of July.

Red Velvet Cupcakes. mmmm

Pool party at the Bonfigt's.

They had carnival games and prizes for all the kids.

Fireworks at the Nipars.

Swim Team

Swim team has started for the summer. We are at the pool most every day practicing and learning new strokes. Our first swim meet was a lot of fun and everyone liked getting ribbons.

Build a Bear

Cami's Daisy troop decided to go to Build a Bear for their end of the year party. They really did a good job keeping the kids entertained and the all got to pick their own color bear and make them with love.

Cassi Donates Her Hair.

Before

Getting ready to cut.

The deed is done!

All styled up. How beautiful!

At first she wasn't sure what to think of short hair, now she loves it.

Bridging Up

Cassi and her troop are now officially Junior Girl Scouts. They had their bridging ceremony at the beautiful Ocotillo Golf Course where they were able to walk over an actual bridge to bridge from Brownies to Juniors. The girls had a great time.

Eddie Izzard - Cake or Death?

Things I love...Cake or Death. I love Eddie Izzard. Hilarity at it's best.

The Bangs are Back!! (praise the lord)

As you may or may not be aware, much to my chagrin, Cami was trying to grow out her bangs. She came to me this morning and said she couldn't stand it anymore and didn't like the hair in her eyes. (angels sing 'hallelujah'!) So I ran, yes RAN to get my scissors. Now we can see that cute little face again.

Question for the Tooth Fairy

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

I lost my tooth and think it is in my stomach. Will you still give me a dollar for my tooth?

Love, Calvin"

"Dear Calvin,

My tooth alarm went off in the middle of the night last night to let me know that you lost a tooth. I do believe that you swallowed it. Thank you for the note explaining what happened. I ham happy to pay you a dollar for your tooth. Don't feel bad. A lot of kids swallow their teeth.

Keep brushing your beautiful teeth.

Love, The Tooth Fairy"

That's what happens when you don't take up your mom's offer to remove (not pull) the very loose tooth from your mouth.

Keurig Coffee Heaven

A couple people I know have these awesome little coffee machines. We are pretty much weekend coffee warriors. We don't have the time to make the coffee during the week and when we do make coffee on the weekend, we don't even go through a whole pot. So I decided to get one of these single cup brewers which I think will be perfect for us.

The machine came with lots of different coffees, tea and hot chocolate to sample. It can also just brew hot water for soup or noodles. Yum

"Meat Pie"

No words needed.  A picture is worth it all.

Meaty, cheesy, goodness.