Beach Days

We got to spend two days at the beach. We were not ready to hit Disneyland the day after arriving in California so we took advantage of Tuesday being the warmest day of the week and spent it at the beach. At 71 degrees with a good breeze it wasn’t exactly swimsuit weather but the kids couldn’t resist by the afternoon. Thanks to the breeze, though, we were able to fly the Spiderman kite that we brought.  

We started the morning at Newport Beach and then headed to Huntington around lunchtime. Newport’s sand was so fine and relaxing and we were able to park the car right by where we sat. We saw tons of awesome surfing right in front of us too. Lucy and I spent a good amount of time looking for seashells that we put in her “Ana and Elsa box” that she found at DI a couple days before our trip and had to have. 

We also saw three older people sitting in beach chairs a ways down and the man had a BYU hat on so we dared Owen to go talk to him. Sure enough, Owen walked right over and struck up a conversation. I finally went over and introduced ourselves and one of the ladies told me that Owen told her we were from Idaho. When she asked what city we lived in he told her “the United States of America”. Haha :) Turns out they were all raised in Shelley, ID, but now live in CA and WA. 

We grabbed some Dairy Queen for lunch to bring down to the beach with us in Huntington. Once we got down to the last of our French fries the kids had a good time feeding the seagulls. Seagulls provided a LOT of free entertainment on all of our beach days. It was amazing to see how different all of them looked. Ava and I played some rounds of Uno while Devin and Owen looked for sand crabs - they hit the jackpot! 

Ruby’s Diner was doing half off milkshakes from 2-5pm so we packed up and walked down the pier to get some before going home. We got Oreo, Chocolate Banana, and Strawberry. Really yummy, and I’m glad they were half off because they would have been $6 each otherwise…welcome to California! It looked like a cute place but we didn’t have time to stay and eat before our parking time ran out. We were impressed that parking at both beaches was less than $2/hr.  

               

We also knew that we wanted to eat dinner at the IHOP near our hotel because kids eat free so we headed there after showering. The kids were so excited about their smiley face pancakes. We didn’t get to bed QUITE as early as we should have for an early morning the next day but everyone was really excited about Disneyland! 

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Bear Lake Family Time

Getting kids home and bathed and all of us fed after days at the beach was always kind of crazy but there was still a little time for fun before bed. The first night after the beach Marissa had a pinata for everyone which is always fun to watch but I didn't get pictures because I had to keep Owen away from the bat at all times haha - needless to say, the kids went to bed a little later that night due to all the candy and fun ;) But the next night we did bubbles in the yard which was a total hit too!

Even the dads got in on the fun :) Owen is looking so much older in this bottom picture to me and he sure loves his big cousin Ike!

After the kids went to bed the adults got to have the famous raspberry shakes - which Devin and I have determined that Quick and Tasty was better than Zips or Bear Lake Pizza Co but we never did get to go to Le Beau's this time, so we'll have to try again next year, or just convince his dad to make his own because his are better than all of them ;)

Wednesday night we played the whisper challenge game where someone puts on headphones with loud music playing so they can't hear and they have to read our lips to guess what phrase we're saying. Each of us takes a turn saying the phrase and they have to repeat what they think it is after every person - so funny! The person with headphones on was always SO loud or talking really funny. Some of our funnier ones:
"World's greatest farter" - strings and forks
"Born in Pennsylvania" -  Portland?
"I don't want it to suffer" - I don't want kids ever
"Shari does the dew" - "Shari doesn't like you? Shari does like me!"
And when Heather was the guesser and the phrase was "These pretzels are making me thirsty" she just started dying laughing because she knew what it was and the Seinfeld reference had her in tears.

The last night Laura had these posters with ancestor pictures on it and she had some really cool stories from their life that she read and each couple had to take turns guessing which ancestor went with that story. I was impressed with how many Devin and his siblings knew and it was really inspiring to keep reading and learning more about my own. Of course it was even more fun to get Neil's famous prizes after each one. You never knew if you were going to get a gift card or some handy device/gadget from his "stash" aka closet :) always a good surprise though!

Dinner/breakfasts were rotated between families for who was in charge but planning for 25 people usually leaves quite a bit of leftovers so Friday morning before check out was kind of a free-for-all/clean out the fridge. How cute are these two girls enjoying their last breakfast together on the deck? I have always thought Rose reminds me of Ava but wow, especially in this picture.

Kind of a random assortment of pictures that weren't beach related but that I still wanted to document because it's amazing how fast these kids grow up and the things we forget but there was so much effort to make it happen and it really does go by so fast! Pin It

Fifth Wedding Anniversary!

Ok, we didn't go to France or anything but our fifth anniversary dinner was magnifique! We realized we make good food a top priority on our anniversary! The last 3 years (Melting Pot, Asiago's, Chandler's) have probably been our most expensive meals but definitely worth it! 

So here's the story!

I was a doofus - I had mistaken the steakhouse that I had heard of for the one that we received a gift card to and made a reservation at the wrong one! I was pretty bummed when we pulled up to Chandler's because I knew (Ruth's Chris) had something special waiting for our anniversary and I had heard good things about it, and because calling to cancel the reservation about a minute before we were supposed to be there also felt weird. Guess who's not in charge of reservations anymore? ha! 

It also meant we didn't have a reservation at Chandler's, so we had to eat at a table near the bar, opposed to a more quiet, secluded booth with a tablecloth. But the perk was that we were right next to this awesome pianist! To be honest, it felt too chaotic at first. People at tables all around us were seemingly loud and that mixed with the piano on the other side felt just as chaotic as the 1 and 2 year old I had just left at home after a busy week. 

But then whoever was so loud behind me left and the chatter died down and Devin could actually hear what I was saying and I kept catching measures of some favorite songs that this man was playing. And in perfect timing they brought out each amazing course and everything was perfect! 

(Unfortunately this post is iPhone pictures only)

Some of my favorite songs he played were "On My Own" from Les Miserables, I Say A Little Prayer For You (From My Best Friend's Wedding), Hotel California by The Eagles, and more that I can't remember but definitely enjoyed. It was a really good mix!

Devin could have cared less about the reservation mix-up, or lack there-of. So here he is being content as can be, wondering if he could someday do this piano gig at fancy restaurants when he retires :) ...he totally could!

Food, glorious food! I can't wait to go back. I loved my "Rocket Salad" with shaved asiago and pear and apple-cider vinaigrette with crispy onion straws on top. Devin's halibut dish was TO DIE FOR. He let me have a bite so I reached over and thought I was cutting into halibut but it was actually mashed potatoes that the fish was resting on (same color) and I let out a little surprised sound because it was so soft...haha we laughed about that for a minute. But then the halibut really was almost that melt-in-your mouth with that lemon cream sauce. seriously. I got lamb chops, like the true carnivore that I am, and they did not disappoint. Also so tender and they came with this small stack of potatoes au gratin that were out. of. this. world. I could have just eaten those and been so happy. And needless to say, dessert was a really good idea.

We were talking about our anniversary the year prior and how crazy it was that we had no idea I'd be having a baby the next day. This is making to be a busy weekend in our lives!

The best thing ever was coming home to both kids being asleep. That hasn't happened...almost ever. We were kid-free from 5:30 pm til the next morning! I had set up the tent in the backyard earlier that day because we hardly went camping this summer and that was something we REALLY had wanted to do. But Idaho's horrible fires brought a strong smoke smell in late that afternoon so even though the tent was set up we didn't really want to breathe that outside all night. So we "camped" in our living room.

I convinced Devin to play cards with me, something he doesn't usually enjoy. I had this deck of cards made on Shutterfly.com (free, just paid shipping!). We played Rummy 500, an old favorite of mine, to my Joshua Radin Pandora station, which was the best thing ever. It just kept playing the best songs and we were having fun and it was a perfect, "chill" night. I was happy we were relaxed at home and not on vacation, and not watching a movie for a change either!

5 years has brought us 2 kids, 4 places of residence, 5 cars, a boat, 2 peach trees, and learning how to grow together as a family, financially, spiritually, sharing responsibilities, and recognizing/appreciating all of our blessings.


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Easter Festivities

 The time we took a 4 month old, a 15 month old, a 3 year old, and a 4 year old out to the Lava Flows.  It was fun to see how Devin's truck could handle the dirt road out there!  If it hadn't been so windy, it would have been fantastic!  Neil was so nice to build us a fire to roast hot dogs on :)

 Saturday Easter Egg Hunt

 Checking out their stash :)

 Ava had a blast chillin in the stroller, which was the first time we used it because it's the first time we've been in nice weather! She was watching cousin Lily jump on the trampoline and thought it was so funny! She also cracked up any time Talane talked to her.

Be back soon!

We came back to Boise for church on Sunday because Devin was playing the organ and our choir was doing an Easter program.  Later that evening, we got together with some friends at a park for a picnic!

 Me and Emma with our babies :)

 Madison and Tuck have a bit of a love/hate relationship.  But it's so cute!

 Easter was such a lovely day to think about how lucky we are to know that all will be resurrected and what a glorious thing new life is, thanks to Jesus Christ.  I am looking forward to this weekend where we get to hear from our Prophet, Thomas S Monson and the Twelve Apostles in General Conference.  How lucky we are to have a prophet on the earth today who has a closeness with God like none of us do.  That he and those with the right authority can teach us by the spirit that we might learn what Heavenly Father would have us learn and do.  This time of year can get kind of busy with activities, so I am excited to have a weekend to just relax and soak it all in.   If you're interested in what this is all about, tune in on BYU-TV (if you have cable) or go here to watch online: gc.lds.org

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