California trip part 2

 Tues June 30
We packed up and headed to the beach!  On the way there we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory for a tour.

Grandma and Conner waiting in line for the tour to start:

Micah and Dad:

Wearing cool hats so that we can go on the tour.  Behind us is a picture made up completely of jelly beans.  It was amazing the detailed pictures they made with jelly beans:

The tour was fun.  We got free samples of what the jelly beans tasted like at various stages of production.  The only bad thing was that it smelled funny in the factory.  Alan was particularly affected, he only breathed through his mouth on the tour and told me he felt like throwing up if he breathed through his nose.  Afterwards we went to the candy shop there and let everyone pick out some treats.  I personally liked the chocolate best!

Everyone enjoying their treats:

 

You had to eat fast outside because it was hot!:

We made it to our hotel and dropped our stuff off.  Then on to the beach.  About 45 minutes later we were in the car and we knew we were getting close to the beach.  Then we see a wall of grey ahead of us and we thought what any sensible westerners thinks: fire!  I was pretty sure that was smoke, because it was so hot out it could NOT be mist.  It was mist.  Turns out it was way cooler by the ocean. 

We pulled into a parking lot and the kids jumped out and made a beeline for the water.  It was fun to see their reactions to seeing the ocean for the first time.  The ran to the edge of the water and then they just stood there looking at it.  Eventually they waded in:

Racing the waves back to shore:

The water was pretty cold:

I think Brooklyn felt safer in Dad's arms:

Grandpa keeping a hold of Micah.  We stayed close to the little ones:

 

Here we are burying Micah

More fun in the water:

 

We eventually got cold and headed back to our hotel:

Wed. July 1(Canada Day)
We packed up that morning and headed to a new beach.  Before we went I did some research and found a beach that people said was good for swimming.  It was called Heart's Desire beach.  It was perfect for us - not too crowded, with no waves.

Micah digging in the sand:

 

Alan swimming with the board:

 

Reed, Alan and Brooklyn swam out a ways and then Reed started calling for me to hurry and come out.  Conner really wanted to come so he and I swam out to where they were:

At first I was worried but then I found out they (the kids) just needed my help to swim out to this platform.  We climbed on and Grandpa took our picture (with a random person beside us):

 

Conner and Brooklyn playing with the beach ball:

Reed took the boys out one on one to look for shells.  Alan and Conner's main goal was to collect seashells.  We found a few small ones.  Conner was happy with his haul (all of the kids were):

As we were leaving we took at picture by the sign.  Micah was not at all interested in looking at the camera:

Then we drove up the coast to our next hotel/cabin.  The kids crashed after a busy day:

California Trip Part 1

My grandparents live in California.  We have never been there (since we have had kids) to visit them because it is so far away (according to google it is about 16 hours, but with little kids I would say more like 20).  However, their health is declining and we felt like we were up for a long road trip so at the end of June we headed to California.  Here is a synopsis of our trip:

Saturday June 27th
We had the car packed the night before so we woke up early, woke the kids up, and hit the road at 6:00 am.  The first day we planned that the drive would take about 12 hours so we wanted to get started early. 

Here we are pulling out of our driveway.  Brooklyn still looks a little confused as to why we woke her up early and immediately strapped her into her car seat:

The kids did really well that day and we made great time.  We made it to Elko, NV by late afternoon.  We got checked into our hotel, did a little exploring and then went out to dinner.  When we came back we went swimming, and then headed to bed. 

Sunday June 28th
The next morning we got up early and enjoyed the continental breakfast.  Then we packed up and hit the road again.  This time we estimated the trip would take about 7 or 8 hours.  Even though it was shorter the kids didn't do quite as well.  We learned that the 2nd day of a road trip is never as good as the first.  However, the kids still did pretty well.  It helped that I packed a lot of stuff to do.  Each of them had a back pack with activities in it and I had my own bag that I packed with surprises that I gave out every once in a while. 

Brooklyn taking a nap and Conner working on an "I spy" bag that my mom helped make:

 

Snacks were important as well:

That day we stopped in Reno for lunch.  We stopped for gas and asked about any parks nearby where we could eat our picnic lunch.  They said there were no parks nearby.  Then we realized that behind the gas station was a huge hill of dirt and rocks.  Who needs grass?  So we ate lunch around the van and the kids had fun conquering the dirt hill:

 

 

We made it to Lincoln by mid afternoon.  My parents were already there.  We met up with them and checked into our room.  Then we went for a swim because it was hot!.  Me and Micah trying to stay away from Alan:

Conner worked to improve his dives.  He started out doing huge belly flops but by the end they looked more like dives:

 

Brooklyn jumping to Dad:

Conner jumping to Dad.  Conner made huge improvements in his swimming on this trip.  At the beginning he couldn't really swim without help and by the end of the trip he could swim the width of the pool by himself:

Alan showing us his dives:

That night we went to see my Uncle Bud and Aunt Carrie.  It was great to see them, as well as my cousin Tessa and her family.  We had never seen each other's kids so that was awesome. 

 

Monday June 30th

That morning after we got dressed and had breakfast we went to play at a park before it got too hot. 

 

Alan and Conner chillin' out under some of the equipment:

Micah scaling the rock wall with Grandpa spotting him

Grandpa giving Brooklyn a piggy back ride:

Then Reed stepped on a wood chip that went right through his sandal into his foot.  Ouch!  We left the park after that and went to see my grandparents.  It was great to see them and get caught up a little bit.  That evening we went to a park for a barbeque and cake.  We were there as well as my grandparents, Uncle Bud and my cousin Tessa and her family. 

Here we are eating dinner:

 

My Grandpa and Grandma



Happy Father's Day!

Here are a few pictures from Father's Day.  Reed is such a great dad!

Breakfast in bed:

Conner showing the "I love you" sign:

The kids presenting Reed with their cards and gifts:

Snuggles from Brooklyn:

 

We love you Dad!

 

End of School

The boys got out of school late this year - not till the middle of June.  At the beginning of June the boys had their awards ceremony.  Alan got an honor roll award and Conner got an honor roll award, a citizenship award and a perfect attendance award (for the 2nd semester).  Conner was so proud of his perfect attendance award.  It is the first of its kind in our family.  When he stood up front with his award he started dancing, earning himself some chuckles.  It was pretty cute, and it was great to see him so proud of himself. 
The boys were excited for summer vacation to start but I think they were a little sad too.  They will be leaving Whittier and going to a new school in the fall and they will miss their friends and teachers.  Both boys had awesome teachers this year:

Here is Conner with Mr. Stevens:

Alan with Mrs. Schroer: 

Good bye Whittier!  We will miss you!

Dinosaurs, Day Camp, and New Furniture

Reed and I ordered furniture from a furniture store for the 1st time.  It was pretty fun.  I have always wanted a couch that our whole family could sit on together.  Here are the kids enjoying the new sectional couch:

Brooklyn had been sleeping on her crib mattress since we moved to our new house.  We bought a queen bed to put in her room, so that when guests come they will have a bed to sleep on.  Brooklyn wasn't too sure about the new bed.  It was a lot bigger than what she was used to.  She slept on her little mattress for a few more nights.  I finally found some hot pink sheets and a soft pink blanket to put on the bed and then she got excited about sleeping on it.  Here she is on her crib mattress:

To complete our living room my parents gave us their piano!  So exciting!:

At the beginning of June we headed north to see my Grandpa P. and celebrate his 90th birthday.  I didn't get any pictures of that but I did get a bunch of pictures from our stop at the visitor center of a little town.  They have all these fun rock formations to climb.

Alan

Brooklyn, Reed and Conner

Micah

Micah sitting on a T-rex's toe:

All of the kids posing with the dino:

Oh, I almost forgot, when we were at Grandma and Grandpa Pitcher's house Brooklyn got stung by a wasp.  It was almost bedtime and she was walking around in the backyard in bare feet.  Suddenly she started kicking her foot and screaming.  Turns out she was stung on her big toe.  She cried and cried and cried for more than an hour and a half.  Then she finally went to sleep but she woke up again a half hour later and cried for another hour.  Poor girl, I felt so bad for her.  She still talks about getting "scung on my toe, and I screamed". 

 



Cub scout day camp started right after school got out.  Alan was excited to go and I had fun going to help on the first day.  Here is Alan's group at the leatherworking station:

8, 9 and 10 year old boys can be so silly and funny.  They are fun to be around. 

On the last day the kids did their skits.  All of the leaders and most of the youth from our group left so I went up and helped the boys with their skit: