California

I am a pretty pathetic blogger as of late, pretty pathetic. We went to California in February and there's still not a single picture on here, nor any detail of the trip. I had it all planned out and was all excited to post pics and write down all we did, but then life happened. Seems to happen a lot.
So, here goes nothing. I hope I can remember everything. :) I'd sure love to edit some of these pix, but then this would NEVER get up, oh well.
We went to Oceanside and stayed in the most amazing beach house, porterbeachhouse.com, check them out and tell them I sent ya, with the Brimhall's and my friend Laura and her boys. I love this house! It's one of those places that's waaaayyy nicer than your own house that you get a little depressed when you have to go back to your own house.
First item of business was the BEACH!! Conveniently located a block away, we made frequent visits here. We could've stayed there all day every day, but the weather didn't permit it. There was a massive rain storm that weekend, but luckily it managed to skip over Oceanside for the most part. Good thing because if you want a happy Macey, just take her to the "ocean" She. LOVES. it. That girl would play in those waves night and day if she could. She was the first one in, no fear. It didn't even phase her that the Pacific Ocean in cold, especially in February. She had goose bump, purple lips and was shivering uncontrollably, probably pre-hypothermic, but she was as happy as could be. Oh, so I have some great traveling-with-kids advice. I had the greatest idea ever. We brought my 12-yr-old niece Mckay along for the trip. Seriously genius on my part! She is just about the sweetest, most mature 12 yr old you'll ever meet, and super fun, and happens to love little kids, and they happen to love her too! All of the kids wanted to be with Mckay the whole time, and man does an extra set of hands come in handy. She and Macey played in the water for hours at a time. It was fabulous. We got to be in the water as much as we wanted, which was no where long enough for Macey, but Mckay loved the water just as much. We loved having Mckay there, and not just for the babysitting/entertaining perks.

Ok, day 2 of getting this blog post up. To simplify things even more, I'm going to make a bullet list of highlights.

The Beach!! There's nothing better. In a perfect world I'd have a beach in my backyard. Give me the choice between mountains and beach, 9 out of 10 times, I'd choose beach. I'm pretty sure my beach bum genes have been past down to both kids, neither of them could get enough of it.
Great weather. It's California, enough said.
Morning run on the beach. Heaven.
4 nights/5 days of No work and All play!! Bonus: having Benton around all day long!
Really great company, game nights, movies, and tummy aches from laughing so hard.
Scripps Aquarium
San Diego Temple grounds. Gorgeous. We tried to have a little photo shoot, but as you can tell, our kids, mainly Macey would have no part in that.
La Jolla Cove. We could've played the whole day there. So much to do and see.
Driving up the PCH
Watching the para and hang gliders. One of the most peaceful places I've ever been. So cool!! It was so beautiful! Had we more time, we would've hiked the gorgeous hike that leads to the nudey beach (thankfully not very popular in February :))
Eating at Kneaders on the drive over. I. Love. that. place!
Watching Crew and Lydia flirt. Ok, so maybe babies can't flirt, but they were so cute. We have their future planned out, prom and everything :)
The beach house. Again, it's incredible. I kinda like living in luxury.
Waiting for and watching the train with Macey multiple times a day. She's had a mild obsession with trains ever since
visiting and eating at my cousin's restaurant, Devine Pastabilities in San Diego. Yum!
Macey singing "Old MacDonald" over and over and over and over the ENTIRE time. Literally, if she wasn't playing in the waves or sleeping, she was sing this song, and Only this song. Good thing she's so stinking cute, cuz that could've gotten really old really quick.
It's so pretty there! Have I mentioned that already?
Bike rides
Watching the sunset into the ocean
Getting away with the whole family. It was absolutely perfect!!
view from the balcony


Mckay and Mace, they were like 2 peas in a pod
I kinda like this guy. What a hunk. :)
The one smile we caught on camera from Macey. She was so happy until she saw a camera, then that smile would vanish.


My boys. Aren't they handsome?
the little love birds
My cousin Damien, me (looking gross), and Benton eating some delicious "Torpastas"
Beach bum

.
Again, the kids not cooperating
Our first little beach bum
Loved this place. Wish we had something like it around here.
I found our old family van at the para glider place!





this pic cracks me up, I think Crew's a little nervous
La Jolla cove
milly, Jeddy, Macey, McKay and Abby



one for the cheese factor

I laid down to take a pic of the temple, and Macey decided to join me
Macey kept asking to "touch the temple" so this was an exciting moment for her
Me, Anna and the babes at Scripps

Crewber being a ladies' man
Pretty cool pic, eh?


Macey with her "spoon"